Canyon Camper

Canyon Camper is a 300-piece puzzle from Ceaco, and the artist is Stephanie Peterson Jones. This is part of the Happy Camper series that I am collecting. She also did a series of 500-piece food trucks that I love.

I really enjoyed this one. There was one day that I wanted to puzzle but didn’t feel like tackling any of my larger puzzles, so I pulled this one down and it definitely scratched the itch. The quality was not great, but I have found it to be hit or miss with this brand, so I wasn’t totally surprised.

Library Puzzles

I posted the other day that I had borrowed a couple of puzzles from the community collection at the library. I was excited to do them, so I sat down last weekend and ended up doing both of them one after the other. They didn’t take very long since they were both only 300 pieces and they had extra large pieces.

The first one I did was A Pie for the Parson, which is from Buffalo Games and features art by Charles Wysocki. It is the first winter scene I have done this season, so it was a refreshing change from all the fall puzzles I have been doing. I love the idea of a pie wagon coming around to my house!

The second one was called Sailing on the Wind, and it is also from Buffalo Games and the artist is Steve Sundram. I love how bright and colorful it is! It was so much fun to pick out all the different patterns on the hot air balloons.

I am hoping I will find some more great choices when I return these to the library!

The Bookstore

The Bookstore is a 300-piece puzzle from Buffalo Games, and the artist is Charles Wysocki. There was one piece missing, which is unfortunate. I got this at a puzzle swap, but it is possible that I lost the piece myself – I need to double check under the couch to see if I can find it.

I enjoyed this image. It went very fast due to the smaller piece count, but it was still a lot of fun.

Reconciliation Quilt

Reconciliation Quilt is a 300-piece puzzle from Pomegranate. The original quilt was made by Lucinda Ward Honstain in 1867. It depicts scenes of domestic life and public events in the 1860s, and the name comes from a block depicting former Confederate States of America President Jefferson Davis reunited with his daughter. It is currently on permanent display at the International Quilt Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska.

The puzzle is made with thick, extra large pieces. I got it used so the pieces were a bit soft but still fit together pretty well. This is the first puzzle I have done from Pomegranate.

Brunch & Craft

At the end of September, my church held an event called Brunch & Craft. It was open to anyone who wanted to come, and we were encouraged to bring a craft to do and, if possible, a dish to share. This is the second one of these we have had, and it was a lot of fun the first time.

My friend Suzanne and I decided to do puzzles during the crafting time. We did two puzzles, and our friend Brianne joined us for the first one before settling down to color. My friend Renee, who lives about 45 minutes away, came with me as well and she was doing some crochet.

I really enjoyed the event. I brought a sausage hashbrown casserole to share and had some other delicious treats that other people had brought as well. I brought four puzzles and let Suzanne and Brianne choose which ones we would do. For the first one, they immediately chose Cats in Quarantine, which is a 500-piece puzzle from Exploding Kittens. I have done it a couple of times already and love it.

The picture above shows it in progress, and here is the finished puzzle:

For the second puzzle, Suzanne chose Waterfall Camper, a 300-piece puzzle from Ceaco. The artist is Stephanie Peterson Jones. I have a bunch of her puzzles and really like her artwork.

This was such a fun event. Usually I get drained being around a lot of people, but I was so focused on our little group and the activity of puzzling that I actually still had a lot of energy after it was done. Renee and I went out for a late lunch/early dinner and then ice cream and hung out for a bit at my place before she went home.

I hope we do it again!

World Landmarks Map (Repeat)

World Landmarks Map is a 300-piece puzzle from Ravensburger. I had bought it a couple of years ago for a puzzle challenge and recently did it again for another puzzle challenge!

The prompt for this challenge was something that reminds you of high school. I wasn’t sure if I had any puzzles with school related items but when I saw this one on my shelf, I had to do it. During my senior year of high school, I took a geography class as one of my electives. Even though the class was mostly full of freshmen and sophomores, I loved it. It was so satisfying to fill in the maps with all the different countries and other geographical items.

Part of the challenge includes an item to add to the photograph of the finished puzzle, and I chose to use my senior high school yearbook. I flipped through and couldn’t believe that my picture had been cut out of it; I have absolutely no memory of doing that and can’t imagine the reason why!

This was a nice, easy puzzle and would be good for kids or families. The quality of the brand is excellent, although they are known for having a lot of blue puzzle dust in their bags.

Whimsy Garden House

Whimsy Garden House is a 300-piece puzzle from PieceRelax, and the artist is Olivia Gibbs. I love her artwork and was excited to come across this one when I was first checking out the PieceRelax website. PieceRelax puzzles are different because the pieces are plastic and the white borders are interchangeable pieces.

I took this puzzle with me on my recent trip to Illinois and did it in the hotel room one morning. Since it came with a poster, I just took that along with the bag of pieces so it wouldn’t take up much room in my suitcase. And since the pieces are hard plastic, I could just pack the puzzle flat without taking it apart for the trip home.

This was a nice, easy puzzle, although as you get more and more pieces in, it can take more pressure to make the pieces snap fully into place. As a bonus, it came with a free puzzle magnet. I have done one other puzzle from this brand, so this is my second puzzle magnet. I love that they include those with their puzzles.

Here is the magnet:

I would definitely do more by this brand or by the related brand Pintoo.

Storin’ Up

Storin’ Up is a 300 piece puzzle from Buffalo Games, and the artist is Charles Wysocki. I needed a quick one the other day, so I grabbed this one off my shelf.

As always, I enjoyed doing the buildings and the signs. But how cute are all those buggies! I especially loved those.

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!

Mr. Swallowbark

Mr. Swallowbark is a 300-piece puzzle from Buffalo Games, and the artist is Charles Wysocki. Between the thrift store one weekend and a puzzle swap the next, I ended up with two copies of this puzzle – oops!

This was so much fun to put together. I love the red barn, and I am especially fond of the row of brooms hanging on display.