Tag: 1000 pieces

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The Beautiful Pirate

The Beautiful Pirate is a 1000-piece puzzle from Magnolia, and the artist is Romi Lerda. This is my second puzzle with Romi’s artwork, and I just think it is so pretty.

This puzzle was definitely challenging though. Magnolia has a difficulty star rating on their boxes, and they marked this one as 3 out of 5. I would have rated it higher than that, so I don’t think I want to try any puzzles they think are even more difficult!

I just heard there are some new puzzles coming out with her artwork, so I will definitely be checking them out. I wouldn’t mind getting a few more of her older ones as well.

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Pumpkin Spice Cafe

Pumpkin Spice Cafe is a 1000 piece puzzle from WerkShoppe, and the artist is Maria Taylor. I know it’s not quite fall yet but I just couldn’t wait to do this one. I just love the scene it presents, with the wind blowing the leaves all around and the cozy scenes in the windows of the buildings.

Solving this puzzle was so enjoyable. It didn’t have too much of any one color, and the piece shapes were really interesting.

The packaging was also beautiful. The pieces were in a plastic bag inside a resealable bag and the box slid open from the side via a small fabric pull tag. The only downside was that a lot of the pieces were still together, and when I tried to pull them apart, I found that they hadn’t been cut all the way through so the paper would tear. I had to apply a lot of pressure to compress the pieces as I pulled to prevent that.

I think I would do more from this brand despite the issue with the pieces being stuck together if I really loved the image.

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Stay Cozy

Stay Cozy is a 1000-piece puzzle from New York Puzzle Company, and the artist is Lore Pemberton. One of my favorite things to do is to get cozy in bed with a good book, so this charming image really drew me in. This was my first experience with New York Puzzle Company. I have bought a couple, so I figured it would be a good idea to try one out to see how I liked it.

The puzzle is very high quality, with a nice matte finish to the pieces. It is a random cut puzzle, which definitely makes it harder than other puzzles. Random cut is not my preference because of how difficult it can be, but it does increase the satisfaction level when I finish, so it’s not always a bad thing!

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Midnight in Rome

Midnight in Rome is a 1000-piece puzzle from KI Puzzles. It is part of the Cities at Midnight line, and the artist is Madalina Tantareanu. My son actually got this for me for Mother’s Day earlier this year. He has access to my Amazon wish list, so he usually picks something from there when he wants to get me something. It’s nice because I get to enjoy being surprised without worrying that I won’t like the present. 😊

The quality of KI Puzzles is pretty good, in my opinion. They are a good thickness and finish, and they fit together well. The image is challenging without being frustrating. I did have to sort by shape but only at the end, mainly for the sky.

I really enjoyed doing this puzzle. I generally like to start with the border, and I was nervous about this one because the edges are white, but there was enough color on the edge pieces that I was able to put it together. This artwork is so interesting because the buildings in the foreground have a different look than the ones in the background.

I have done two from this series and have one more on my shelf to do. There are three more that I have on my Amazon wishlist, so hopefully one day I will have them all.

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Toy Stamps

Toy Stamps is a 1000 piece puzzle from Ceaco, and the artist is Barbara Behr. I picked this up at 2nd & Charles when I visited their new location to check it out. This one stood out to me as being fun and whimsical.

It was a lot of fun to put together. I enjoy collages, especially stamps, and the subject matter of this one was especially appealing. I stayed up way too late so I could finish it in one sitting. I had to sort by shape when I was about 75% done, so it was a good challenge.

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London Cafe

London Cafe is a 1000-piece puzzle from Pieces & Peace, and the artist is Miranda Sofroniou. This was my first experience with the Pieces & Peace brand, and I absolutely loved it! I was so happy to open the box and see grid cut pieces, which are my favorite, and the pieces had a great feel and fit.

The image was amazing as well. It was challenging but not frustrating, if you know what I mean. I definitely want to do more from this brand!

P.S. One of my friends on Facebook asked what grid cut was, and this is what I told him.

It means the pieces are cut in rows rather than random shapes and they have an assortment of in and outs. Ribbon cut is when the pieces are in rows but all of them have two ins and two outs. Ribbon cut puzzles are more likely to have false fits, where a piece seems to fit somewhere that it doesn’t actually go. With grid cut you can sort by shape (meaning the different arrangement of prongs) if you get stuck and then look for the shape you need to make it easier to find the piece you need. I did that for the floor in this puzzle.

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Two More Repeats for a Puzzle Challenge

I redid two more puzzles for a challenge I am doing in a Facebook group I belong to. These were the last two clues for the event, so this one is done now.

Clue #9 was an umbrella, so I redid Town Park, which is a 300-piece puzzle from Ceaco. It was illustrated by Olivia Gibbs and features patio umbrellas above the tables outside one of the shops.

Clue #10 was bathtub. For that one, I redid The Alchemist’s Home, which is a 1000-piece puzzle from eeBoo. The artist is Vasilisa Romanenko. Ironically, I had done a different puzzle with a house cross section that included a bathtub just before the ten-week challenge and had thought about holding onto it just in case, but then I decided to take it apart.

I really enjoyed this puzzle challenge and am looking forward to the next one!

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Simple Joys

Simple Joys is a 1000-piece puzzle from 1canoe2, and it was simply lovely. I have done one other puzzle from them back at Christmas time and was so impressed by the quality of both the puzzle and the image. There is something about this image that just speaks to me. I love the way it highlights each of these simple things, allowing us to see how beautiful ordinary things can be.

I have said this before, but I also love the feeling puzzling gives me. The act of doing a puzzle quiets the noise in my brain for a while, much the same way that reading a book does. I hope I will be able to enjoy this hobby for many years to come.

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Holiday Postcards

Holiday Postcards is a 1000-piece puzzle from Trefl. I purchased this one for a challenge that is taking place in a Facebook group I belong to which has a weekly clue. This week’s clue was postcard, and this puzzle fit that perfectly.

This was my first time doing this brand, and I was very pleased with it. The fit was a bit loose, so it took a minute for me to get used to and make sure I was getting the right piece in the right place, but once I got used to it, things were fine.

The image is a really good one for a puzzle. There were a lot of different colors and textures, and I finished it faster than I thought I would. I would definitely be open to getting more from this brand.

Bonus puzzle: Last week’s clue was ladder, and someone in the group mentioned a puzzle that had a barely noticeable ladder. I had actually done that puzzle before and still had it, so I redid it for the challenge. It is called Northern Lights, and it is a 500-piece Nancy Wernersbach from Ravensburger.

Can you find the ladder?

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Hickory Haven Canal

Hickory Haven Canal is a 1000-piece puzzle from Buffalo Games, and the artist is Charles Wysocki. This one was a Christmas present from my son. 😊

If you do puzzles for any length of time, you will most certainly come across Charles Wysocki and his Americana/folk art scenes. I am drawn to them partly because of my love of buildings, which are very common in his images, but I also just like the general feel of them.

Sometimes they have large areas of one color, like a green meadow or a field of crops, and for those I tend to prefer a smaller piece count so they won’t be super hard. Even though this image has a lot of snow, there is enough going on all over the puzzle that it was not too hard to do as a 1000-piece.

All that to say this was a very enjoyable puzzle, and I’m very happy that Michael got it for me.