Tag: mini puzzles

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Woody & Buzz

Woody & Buzz are 70-piece puzzles from Yanoman. I was given these adorable mini puzzles from some friends who got them for me as souvenirs of their trip to Japan. The pieces are tiny, but I love the little Woody and Buzz!

They also got me little cases designed to hold the puzzles. They are clear with glitter and have a carabiner so you can attach them to your bag and keep them with you.

I struggled a bit to get the puzzles inside the cases. But then I used Google Translate to read the directions on the packaging and learned that I was supposed to use the backing card and clear sleeve that were included with the puzzle to hold it together. I should have read the directions first – that would have made it much easier to get it in the case!

I really appreciate my friends thinking of me when they were on the other side of the world and bringing me such a sweet gift! Peanut Butter also checked them out and approves!

Here are some additional pics of the packaging and the individual puzzles out of the cases:

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Mid-September Catch Up

We have had quite the year with the laundry in our apartment building. Our apartment is on the first floor and the laundry is across the hall, which is quite convenient. There have been two occasions this year where something went wrong with the washer and there was water all over the floor in the laundry room when I went to wash clothes. The laundry machines are provided and maintained by Clean Pay, not by our apartment complex, so I contacted them and they came out and repaired the machine.

I was able to do a couple of loads, but then another time I went and there was an out of order sign on the washer. I emailed Clean Pay and got no response. After a few days, I called them and after being in a queue for about 5 minutes, I got sent to a voicemail. I left a message but got no response. After that, I talked to the apartment leasing office about it and learned that the machines were going to be replaced soon.

We did go to a laundromat one time, but since then we have been able to do laundry at a friend’s house. She has four dogs, and one of them, Darcy, thinks warm laundry is the best thing in the entire world. Anytime he can get in a basket or pile of it, he is right there, as evidenced by the picture above!

One of the puzzle stores I order from offers 20% off for three or more puzzles plus free shipping over a certain dollar amount. When I am very close to the free shipping, I will sometimes add a mini puzzle to my order to get over the threshold. This is one of those, a 100-piece puzzle from New York Puzzle Company. The artist is Loré Pemberton, who has had many puzzles made of her art.

I did this one on a midday break one day and really enjoyed it. This brand is know for its random cut, which I sometimes find difficult in a larger puzzle. This size was the perfect puzzle snack.

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In Town

In Town is an 86-piece mini wooden puzzle from Victory, and the artist is Kim Jacobs. They were having a special when I bought the other wooden puzzle offering a free mini puzzle with each medium puzzle purchased, so I got this one for free!

The image is just so pretty, and I love the color palette. This is another image I would hesitate to do in a large piece count but am happy to tackle in this size. It was very enjoyable to put together.

Because this is a smaller puzzle, it has fewer whimsy pieces than the other puzzle I just did, but they are still fun. One of the whimsies is a hand making the letter “V.” This stands for Victory, the name of the brand, and is included with all of their puzzles.

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Alpine Village & Here Comes Santa

Alpine Vilalge
Here Comes Santa

Alpine Village and Here Comes Santa are 150-piece puzzles from MicroPuzzles. Michael put these in my Christmas stocking, and I was so happy to get them. The pieces are so tiny! I would not recommend if you have arthritis or anything like that.

Alpine Village was a bit tricky because of the level of detail on the tiny pieces. Here Comes Santa is just so adorable with the happy snowman!

These puzzles come in a clear plastic tube with a screw-top lid. The packaging is super cute, but it does make it hard to look at the puzzle image as it is wrapped around the outside of the tube.

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A Few Mini Puzzles

When I made my recent trip to Illinois, I knew I would miss being able to puzzle whenever I wanted, but I didn’t have room to take many puzzles with me. So, in addition to the one new puzzle I took with me – the PieceRelax one I posted earlier – I took these three mini puzzles.

  • Cozy Kitchen from Trevell, 99 pieces, artist Marion Reau
  • Llama Bama Ding Dong from MicroPuzzles, 150 pieces
  • Mushroom Patch from WerkShoppe, 100 pieces, artist Emma Jayne

Here are the puzzle details from left to right:

I have done all of these before, but they were the perfect size to pack and I knew they would at least let me scratch the puzzling itch while I was away from home.

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Cozy Kitchen

Cozy Kitchen is a 99-piece mini puzzle from Trevell, and the artist is Marion Réau (aka Marion Brouillard). This was my first Trevell puzzle, and I was super impressed with the quality. Some mini puzzles aren’t the best quality, but this one was really nice.

This image was also done in a 500-piece size, but it was a limited edition and is hard to find these days, so I was glad to at least be able to do the mini version. I just love this image – the colors are great and I love all the little details.

I also ordered another Trevell puzzle with this one, Parenthèse Enchantée. It is 500 pieces, so I’m looking forward to doing that one.

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A Mini and a Micro

I recently treated myself to an early Christmas present and ordered several puzzles from Puzzledly. This included a mini puzzle and a micro puzzle, which I did right away.

Mushroom Patch is a 100-piece mini puzzle from WerkShoppe, and the artist is Emma Jayne. It came in an adorable zip-lock bag. The pieces were a nice size and the puzzle came together quickly. I did it without looking at the image to make it more fun. I think it would be a good candidate for puzzle chess.

Llama Bama Ding Dong is a 150-piece micro puzzle from MicroPuzzles. I have always wanted to try this brand, and I thought this image was so cute! The pieces were even tinier than I thought they would be, but I could still manipulate them with my hands and didn’t need tweezers or anything. The quality wasn’t great, as the pieces would seem to fit almost anywhere and I had to really pay attention to whether they fit exactly right.

Here is a picture of them side by side so you can see how much smaller the micro puzzle is than the mini puzzle. Quite a difference!