Thoughts of an introverted bookworm and avid jigsaw puzzler
American Road Trip is a 1000-piece puzzle from TDC Puzzles. It is a shaped puzzle depicting the 48 contiguous states with images of things that are associated with each state.
This is a random cut puzzle with a matte finish. I found the quality to be quite good and enjoyed the puzzling experience. It came with a poster that was as big as the actual puzzle!
Moonlit Blossoms is a 1000-piece puzzle, and the brand is listed on Amazon as PICKFORU. It was my first puzzle on the new puzzle board that I just got. It’s so pretty!
It does have a lot of dark areas, however. I probably wouldn’t have chosen it if I didn’t know it had letters on the back so I could do it in sections.
Koala House Party is a 1000-piece puzzle from eeBoo, and the artist is Uta Krogmann. I know some people don’t like glossy pieces, but I don’t mind them. I really enjoyed this one!
A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte is a 1000-piece puzzle from Eurographics. The image is from a painting by Georges Seurat.
This was by far one of the hardest puzzles I have ever done! I chose it for a puzzle game I am doing that asked for a fine art puzzle. This image has always been my favorite painting, and I have even seen the original in person at the Art Institute of Chicago.
In addition to the pointillism painting style making it difficult, the loose fit of the pieces and the pieces all being the same shape increases the challenge by an exponential amount.
I had it almost done when a friend came over, so she helped me put in the last twenty or so pieces. So glad to have it done!
Beauty Guru is a 1000-piece puzzle from Buffalo Games. The artist is Aimee Stewart. Even though I have heard of her and seen lots of pictures of her puzzles, this is the first one of hers that I have done. I picked it up at Community Aid because I like the colorful, cluttered appearance of it.
This puzzle was definitely challenging to do, although not so much that I got frustrated. I did the makeup brushes last, and they took quite a while to get done. I thought the quality was very good, and it included a nice-sized poster.
Home Cooking is a 1000-piece puzzle from White Mountain, and the artist is Simon Kayne. I got it at the Elizabethtown puzzle box, which has had a much better selection lately than the Harrisburg one.
I really enjoyed this puzzle. It wasn’t as difficult as the other White Mountain puzzle I did a few days earlier, but it was still challenging enough to be interesting. Lately, I have been continuing to pull out the edges and turn the rest of the pieces right side up into sorting trays. I only do a more thorough sort if the puzzles has clear blocks of color or just a few colors, like the Beside the Sea puzzle I did last. Once I get to a point where I feel a bit stuck, I will sort by shape and that usually gets me moving again.
Best Places in the World is a 1000-piece puzzle from White Mountain, and the artist is Lewis T. Johnson. I picked it up at the Elizabethtown puzzle box.
I couldn’t decide which puzzle to do next so I had my son pick two from my stash and then I made the final decision. This one was kind of intimidating but it really wasn’t that bad once I got going with it. It took me two nights to finish it.
Magical Amsterdam is a 1000-piece puzzle from Eeboo, and the artist is Anisa Makhoul. I have grown to love Eeboo puzzles, and this one was no exception. The rows of buildings with all the different windows were my favorite part. I guess this one could go in my Christmas collection, since it’s a winter scene and there are Christmas trees in some of the windows.
I shared a picture of the finished puzzle with my friend Renee and she commented that it would be hard to ride a bike in the snow. I hadn’t thought of that, but it is true!
Hitting the Road is a 1000-piece puzzle from Cobble Hill, and the artist is Mary Lake-Thompson. This was my first puzzle from the Cobble Hill brand. I love the subject matter as it is a combination of a collage with images of campers and other vehicles. It is a fun design with a lot of interesting elements.
Their puzzles are random cut, but it is not as hard as the previous random cut puzzle I did from Goodway Puzzles. None of these pieces were tiny or super weird in shape, so it made for a good puzzling experience. I will definitely be doing this brand again!
When I was finished, I asked Michael what his favorite scene was. He said Into the Woods because of the bear and the fox. My favorite is either Fall Fun or Holidays.
My Happy Place is a 1000-piece puzzle from Goodway Puzzles. The artist’s name is Peggy Collins. I recently ordered a few puzzles from Puzzle Warehouse, and this was one of them. I was impressed by the way Puzzle Warehouse packaged my order; the puzzles were bound together by a ribbon, and the box was sturdy and had a tear-away opening. Very nice!
I chose this puzzle because of the vibrant jewel tones and whimsical nature of the image. I do really like the finished puzzle, but it was incredibly difficult to put together. The pieces are random cut and there were so many tiny pieces with weird shapes. There was also a fair amount of blue sky, which was especially difficult because of the piece shapes.
I don’t think I would buy another puzzle from this brand, unless the image was compelling.
In So Many Words 