Tag: jigsaw puzzles

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Holiday Stamps/Holiday Village/Merry Market

Holiday Stamps is a 550-piece puzzle from White Mountain, and the artist is Lois B. Sutton. I have had this on my shelf for almost a year and was so excited to finally get to do it! I just love seeing so many different holiday stamps that have been issued over the years. Each one is special in its own way. I did this one on December 23rd.

Holiday Village is a 1000-piece puzzle from 1canoe2. I love this brand, and this was another great puzzle from them! I love the color scheme, especially all the greens and pinks. I worked this puzzle Christmas Eve and Christmas Day while watching some of my favorite movies.

Merry Market is a 1000-piece puzzle from Galison, and the artist is Joy LaForme. This was a lot of fun to put together with the market stalls and the row of buildings in the back. The colors are beautiful, and the foil accents add a special holiday touch. I started this one Christmas Day and finished it the day after Christmas.

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Villager Traveling Puzzles

One of the puzzlers I follow on YouTube offered several bundles of traveling puzzles earlier this year, and I eagerly signed up for one. Not all of them filled up, so I got the chance to sign up for a second one, and that’s the one I received last week. Both puzzles in this bundle are from Villager Puzzles, which is a woman-owned Canadian brand that features Canadian women artists.

The first puzzle I did was Cottage Country, which is by Nicolle Lalonde and is 500 pieces. It was fairly easy. I love how the setting sun looks reflected on the water.

The second puzzle was Lupines Meadow by Diana Pinnell. It is 1000 pieces. This one was quite challenging, but it is so lovely.

Now it’s back to Christmas puzzles. 🎄🎅☃️

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Paris Christmas

Paris Christmas is a 1000-piece puzzle from eeboo, and the artist is Jennifer Orkin Lewis. I love all of the great colors and details in this festive holiday image. My favorite part is the twinkle lights on the Eiffel Tower.

There were a few sections I was able to do in the beginning, but after that, it was mostly pick and place for the rest of the puzzle. It was still fun, though.

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Holiday Drive In

Holiday Drive In is a 1000-piece puzzle from Cobble Hill, and the artist is Diane Dempsey. I love the mid-century modern theme of this image, with the vintage cars and the fun signage. My favorite parts to put together were the movie screen and all of the signs – I love puzzling words!

I have done a couple other puzzles from this artist and really enjoy her style. Cobble Hill is a really good quality brand that does random-cut puzzles. I tend to do more ribbon or grid cut puzzles, but the random cut didn’t bother me with this one because it was such a great image.

Have you ever been to a drive in movie? I have fond memories of going with my family as a child and playing on the little playground beneath the screen before the movie started.

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Winterfest

Winterfest is a 550-piece puzzle from Vermont Christmas Company, and the artist is Randy Wollenmann. I actually won this puzzle in a contest over on Reddit, so I was pretty happy to get it!

I have only done one other puzzle from this brand. It was another holiday puzzle called Camping for Christmas, and I did it in December 2022, which was the first year I did Christmas puzzles. (I started puzzling in June 2021.)

I find this image so charming, and I love the idea of drinking cider or cocoa while watching the children skate on the ice. The quality is decent, although there is a fair amount of puzzle dust and the pieces aren’t as crisp as some other brands are.

Here’s a throwback to the puzzle I did from this brand in 2022:

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Festive Fun Car

It’s that time of year when I start doing my holiday puzzles! I collect them throughout the year and save them up to do in December, and this is my first one for the season.

Festive Fun Car is a 500-piece puzzle from WerkShoppe, and the artist is Helen Black. I have only done two or three puzzles from WerkShoppe, but they are definitely one of my favorite brands. The packaging is gorgeous, with a slide out box with a ribbon pull tab, a resealable plastic bag for the pieces, and a nice reference poster. The pieces are medium thick with a smooth finish that feels so good, and they fit together beautifully.

I also love, love the image on this one. It truly is festive and fun, and I really enjoyed all of the great details. The shaped balloons and hearts made of candy canes are my favorite parts, if I have to choose.

This was a great start to my holiday! And I do mean start because, even though we did bring the Christmas decorations out of storage, we haven’t put them up yet.

Have you decorated for Christmas yet?

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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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Crows Nest Harbor and Young Patriots: A Double Dose of Americana

Crows Nest Harbor is a 1000-piece puzzle from MasterPieces, and the artist is Art Poulin, who was an American folk artist. This puzzle was actually the oldest on my to do shelf. I kept passing it over and finally decided it was time to pull it down and do it.

I really enjoy puzzles with buildings, and this one was especially fun with the distinct bright colors for each building. The amount of dock and sky was small enough that they weren’t very tricky, either.

It felt good to be puzzling after an almost two-week break. (No big reason for the break, I’ve just been reading a lot more.)

I was still in the mood for Americana the following day, so I did this 500-piece puzzle from Buffalo Games called Young Patriots. It is a Charles Wysocki and features more of my beloved buildings along with other charming details. It was a lot of fun.

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Puzzle Haul

I have had some fun puzzle mail recently and wanted to share it here.

  • A Day at the Bookstore from Galison, Michael Storrings
  • Cat Stamps from Re-marks
  • Starry Seasons from 1canoe2
  • Spooky Sweets from 1canoe2
  • The Chocolate from Magnolia, Alice Celia
  • Corner Bakery from Ravensburger, Elissa Della-Piana
  • Princess on the Pea from Enjoy

This Saturday I am attending a puzzle swap that is part of a puzzle competition at a local game store. I purchased a spectator/puzzle swap ticket and will be taking 15 puzzles to swap. I am really hopeful that there will be some good options for me to choose from.

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Rainbow Sunrise

Rainbow Sunrise is a 500-piece puzzle from Buffalo Games, and the artist is Josie Lewis. This was such a relaxing puzzle to put together, and the rainbow gradient is so beautiful.

I have actually started collecting Josie Lewis puzzles because of how much I love them. I have five so far, three of which I still have left to do. I also started following her on TikTok, where she shares her current art as well as spotlights other artists who are doing interesting work.

Buffalo Games puzzles are very good quality. The pieces have a nice smooth finish to them that is very pleasant to the touch. I wish I liked more of their images, but unfortunately a lot of them are not my preferred style.

Here are the three Lewis puzzles I have on my to do shelf right now: