Tag: Eurographics

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Speed Puzzling & Puzzle Swap

I had so much fun at the speed puzzling competition last Saturday. It was really enjoyable to watch the competitors and see how quickly they finished the puzzles. Everyone was very nice, and the puzzle swap was a big success.

For the competition, the solo winner completed a 300-piece puzzle in 30 minutes. The pairs winners finished a 300-piece puzzle in 16 minutes, and the team winners did their 500-piece puzzle in 30 minutes. Those times are all so impressive; I could never puzzle that fast!

Solo
Pairs
Teams

The puzzle swap table was filled with a variety of piece counts and images. I brought 14 puzzles to swap and ended up coming home with 10 new puzzles. I am very happy with the ones I got. I could have taken more but didn’t want to bring anything home that I wasn’t in love with.

These are the puzzles I got in the swap:

  • Pumpkins & Gourds, Ceaco, 300 pieces
  • Sugar & Spice by Charles Wysocki, Buffalo Games, 1000 pieces
  • Birch Point Cove by Charles Wysocki, Buffalo Games, 1000 pieces
  • Chickenology by Camilla Pintonato, Princeton Architectural Press, 1000 pieces
  • All Cool Things Are Wild & Free by Valesca van Waveren, Workman Puzzles, 1000 pieces
  • Bon Appetit by Lucia Heffernan, Eurographics, 300 pieces
  • Home Sweet Home by Demelsa Haughton, Ravensburger, 500 pieces
  • Art Studio by Jen DellaGrottaglia, Ravensburger, 500 pieces
  • Disney & Pixar Color Pallette, Ravensburger, 500 pieces
  • Potted Posies, Page Publications, 1000 pieces

The Bon Appetit puzzle that I got in the swap was the one used in the pairs competition, so I decided to time myself doing it to see how I would compare. I did it in 53:46. I am really happy with that time, but I don’t plan to continue timing my puzzles. I didn’t like the pressure and wasn’t able to enjoy the image because I was just looking for patterns and details.

This was a fun event to attend, and I’m really glad I went.

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Completing the Puzzle – January 2025

The first puzzle I did from my four-puzzle subscription this month was Envelopes by Tania Wicks. I have wanted to try one of her puzzles for quite a while, but they are pricey and not readily available here in the state, so I was excited to get this one to do.

I absolutely loved it! The image is stunning; I love the subject matter and the colors are so rich and peaceful. The puzzle quality was really good as well, and it was a joy to solve.

My second puzzle was Copenhagen from eeBoo. I always enjoy their puzzles. I like the size and shape of their pieces, and I don’t mind that they are glossy – I have never had a problem with that.

This image is so charming with all the different buildings. I like how some of them are slanted and how they have different textures. So fun!

My third puzzle was Asian Oil Paper Umbrellas from Eurographics. It is a stunning image with lots of bold colors and lovely details. I really enjoyed doing this one. It was challenging without being frustrating, and I’m glad I got the chance to do it.

The quality was okay, but it has definitely been done many times; one of the pieces was smashed and one was missing a corner. Despite that, I had a lot of fun solving this one.

My fourth and final puzzle for this shipment was The Greatest Bookstore in the World, also from Eurographics. I love books and bookstores so was immediately drawn to this image. It started out pretty easy with a few of the larger objects and color blocks but then got tricky with all the tiny little books.

The pieces were all two in, two out, so I couldn’t shape sort. Thankfully they were all unique and I didn’t have any false fits. It was secondhand and there was one piece missing. Overall still a nice challenge.

Closing Thoughts

All four puzzles this month were 1000 pieces. I like that because it feels like I am getting my money’s worth out of the subscription. I am definitely doing one more month of the subscription, possibly two.

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A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte

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!

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The Potter’s Shed

The Potter’s Shed is a 500-piece puzzle from Eurographics, and the artist is Jason Taylor. I got it from a local puzzle box, and this is my first time doing this brand. Unfortunately, it ended up having one missing piece, which was disappointing.

Despite that, I did enjoy the puzzle. It was somewhat difficult for a 500-piece puzzle due to the busyness of the image. The aqua blue color of the work table (which I loved) reminded me of the stove color in the Alchemist’s Kitchen puzzle I did recently. I liked it enough that I might hold onto for a while even though there was a missing piece.