Tag: jigsaw puzzles

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Completing the Puzzle – February 2025

I only did two of the puzzles from my Completing the Puzzle subscription this month. I decided to put my subscription on hold and they asked that I send the puzzles I had back within 7 days, so I only had time to do two of them. I wasn’t too upset about it, though, because the other two weren’t from my wish list and I didn’t mind skipping them.

The first one was Paris in a Day from eeBoo, and it was 1000 pieces. It was the first rectangular eeBoo puzzle I have seen. This was right up my alley with all the different buildings and windows; it helped that there were so many different colors and textures in the image.

The second puzzle I did was Paris from Galison; it was a 1000-piece puzzle and the artist was Michael Storrings. It was a bear to complete, especially compared to the Paris in a Day puzzle I just did. The building colors were all very similar, as were the windows.

I am always drawn to Michael Storrings artwork, but I hesitate to get his puzzles because they seem hard. I do have a 500 piece that is pretty doable, but I wouldn’t want to do this one again.

Once my puzzles are confirmed back at the warehouse, I am planning to cancel my subscription. I have enjoyed getting to do some puzzles that would have been harder or more expensive to obtain, but I am ready to go back to puzzling whatever I want on a given day instead of having to prioritize the subscription puzzles.

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Beach Huts

Beach Huts is a 1000-piece puzzle from Magnolia, and the artist is Olivia Gibbs. Gibbs is one of my favorite artists for puzzles, and I have several other puzzles that she has designed. This one was on my wish list for a while because it was a bit pricier and harder to find. I eventually found it on Fairplay Puzzles, which carries a curated selection of jigsaw puzzles celebrating diversity, equity, and inclusion. Beach Huts is sold out at the time of this post, but they do have an interesting selection of puzzles worth checking out.

The quality of this puzzle was exceptional. The fit was great, which always makes it so much easier to solve. Magnolia has a difficulty rating on their boxes, and they rated this one 3 out of 5, which I would agree with. It was a bit of a slow start but eventually got moving at a decent pace. The pieces have a matte finish, so glare is not an issue. There was a lot of puzzle dust, but that doesn’t bother me now that I have my little desktop vacuum to deal with that.

The image was just perfect for me. It didn’t have too much sky or sand, it had lovely buildings to put together, and it even had some signs with words on them, which I always enjoy. The colors were vibrant and the scene made me happy during one of the coldest weeks of winter so far.

I have one more of her puzzles on my to do shelf, so I am looking forward to that. Do you have any favorite puzzle artists?

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Dog Walkers

Dog Walkers is a 500-piece puzzle from Dowdle. I received this as a gift from a friend and did it now after using the randomizer on my puzzle app to pick my next puzzle.

Honestly, I am not a huge fan of this brand. Something about the artwork just does not appeal to me. I also encountered a lot of false fits with this puzzle, especially in the top section. The top third of the puzzle took quite a while to complete.

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The Artist’s Desk

The Artist’s Desk is a 1000-piece puzzle from Ravensburger. I picked it up at a thrift shop and was pleasantly surprised upon opening the box to find a small ziploc bag with the edge pieces separated out. It was nice to be able to jump right into puzzling!

This was a fun image to put together. I did have to shape sort for the darker areas, but it still wasn’t too hard. And, of course, the Ravensburger quality is always excellent!

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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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Bright Heart

Closeup of the center of the puzzle

Bright Heart is a 500-piece puzzle from Buffalo Games. The artwork is from EttaVee, which is the brand created by Jessi Raulet, an American artist living in France.

If you are looking for a challenge, this is it! I chose this puzzle because of its striking artwork; it has such beautiful colors and patterns!

I started this one with my friend Suzanne, who did the border and a bit of the interior, and then I finished it up by myself. There was a lot of looking at the poster and I decided to sort by shape when I was only halfway through the puzzle.

I’m not complaining, though. Even though it was hard, the image is amazing and the puzzle quality is really good. I highly recommend!

Another note about the artist: when I visited ettavee.com on my phone, a popup gave me the opportunity to access downloadable wallpapers and I now have a bit of her artwork on my phone screen!

Here are some pictures of the progress along the way, along with the finished puzzle.

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Happy National Puzzle Day!

Happy National Puzzle Day to all my fellow puzzlers!

From the National Day Calendar website, here is the origin story of this day:

In 2002, Jodi Jill created National Puzzle Day as a way to share her enjoyment of puzzles. As a syndicated newspaper puzzle maker and professional quiz maker, Jodi Jill developed classroom lesson plans especially for the observance and the popularity has grown year after year.

I started puzzling in June 2021, after my therapist suggested I find a hobby in addition to my interest in reading. Here is the puzzle that started it all:

This was titled Rare and Beautiful, a 500-piece puzzle from Puzzle Crush. Since then, I have completed 172 unique puzzles and done a few a second time as well. I have connected with fellow puzzlers on Facebook, Instagram, and even Reddit.

National Puzzle Day is for any type of puzzle, not just jigsaw puzzles, so you could do a crossword, word search, Sudoku, or a brain teaser, to list a few examples. I am having a friend over tonight, and we will be doing a jigsaw puzzle together.

Do you enjoy any kind of puzzles?

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Completing the Puzzle – December 2024

It took me more than a month to finish the four puzzles I got as my Completing the Puzzle subscription for December. I finally finished the fourth one last night.

Rooster from Cloudberries, 1000 pieces

Common Quilt Block Patterns from Cobble Hill, 1000 pieces

New York City Life from eeBoo, 1000 pieces

50 States Quilt Blocks from Cobble Hill, 1000 pieces

I enjoyed all four of them, even though the two quilt block puzzles were very similar. The New York puzzle had one piece missing on the upper left corner, but the 50 States puzzle came with an extra piece form some other puzzle, so I guess it all evened out! I will send the extra piece back in a separate bag with a note so the staff can look for where it goes.

I have 12 more puzzles on my wish list at Completing the Puzzle, so I’m planning to keep my subscription for another 3 months at least. I’m not guaranteed to get puzzles from my wish list, but so far all the ones I have gotten were from there.

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Puzzle Complaints (Repeat)

Puzzle Complaints is a 500-piece puzzle from Workman Puzzles, and the artist is popular children’s book author Sandra Boynton. I had done this puzzle very close to when I started puzzling in 2021 and decided to redo it to bring in the New Year.

It is such a fun puzzle! I love all the different sayings and the complaining chickens. The text around the border of the puzzle is pretty amusing as well.

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Winter Lights

Winter Lights is a 500-piece puzzle from Galison, and the artist is Joy LaForme. This was a gift from my friend Kim. She is really good at picking out puzzles I like, and this one is no exception!

It is kind of hard to see from a photo, but the puzzle has gold foil accents on it, which are so festive. I enjoyed putting together all of the buildings and vehicles most of all. The image is a bit dark, but it wasn’t too bad to work with.

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!