Tag: puzzling

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House of Colors

House of Colors is a 1000-piece puzzle from Enjoy Puzzles, and the artist is Ivaylo Ivanov. This is a new brand to me, and I was blown away by how nice it is. The colors are so deep and rich, and I love the image!

The puzzle quality is possible the best I have seen so far. The pieces are the perfect thickness and size, and they fit together so nicely without any false fits. I never got stuck or frustrated but just kept moving steadily through the whole thing. It was so satisfying!

One interesting thing in the world of puzzles is the debate over the use of AI, much like in the rest of society right now. I understand that people who want to avoid AI don’t appreciate companies that aren’t transparent about using it. I also understand that it is frustrating to artists to see puzzles with AI generated images that take opportunities away from them or even steal their work itself. However, I feel like it is inevitable at this point, so our best bet is to work on defining how we are going to use it.

All that to say that I post my puzzles in a few different places – Instagram, Facebook, and Reddit – and whenever I post something on Reddit that has any AI connection, other users always comment about it. I didn’t realize that this artist/company uses AI, but apparently they do. I don’t seek out AI images because I don’t like most of them that much, but I have come across a few that were really well done and have been okay with getting them.

I’m curious to know what other people think about this topic. Please feel free to share any thoughts – for or against – in the comments!

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It’s Not Hoarding If It’s Books

It’s Not Hoarding If It’s Books is a 1000-piece puzzle from ellembee gifts. This company sells a variety of products with fun sayings on them, and I thought this one was very cute!

The puzzle was pretty good quality, with random cut pieces that weren’t too small or weirdly shaped. However, it is what is called a “soft touch” puzzle, which means the pieces (and even the box) have a surface like velvet or suede. This is the second puzzle I have done that was branded as soft touch, and I really, really dislike the texture. It feels almost greasy to me (like it would pick up dust) and is very unpleasant. Also, the pieces are hard to move around in my sorting trays.

Many puzzlers love this type of texture, and I have heard that there can be variations in how soft touch feels and that some of them are better than others, but I am planning to avoid them as much as possible from now on.

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Pumpkins & Gourds

Pumpkins & Gourds is a 300-piece puzzle from Ceaco that I got at a puzzle swap a few weeks ago. Thankfully it was still in good condition and had all the pieces.

This was an enjoyable build that didn’t take too long. I did it the same evening that I did the two MicroPuzzles. It would be a great puzzle for fall, but I didn’t want to hold onto it for that long, so I went ahead and did it now. This will be going back into my swap pile.

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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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Starry Seasons

Starry Seasons is a 500-piece puzzle from 1canoe2. This gorgeous puzzle was on my wish list for a long time, but I kept passing it up due to the price tag. Then the brand had a $15 sale on their website, and I snatched this one up right away. I just love the vertical grid design and how beautifully each season is represented. 

The quality was great and the puzzle was not too hard, so I was able to do it in one sitting. I typically pull out the edges while flipping the rest of the pieces and then sort as needed as I go along, and that worked pretty well for this puzzle. After doing the edges and the bottom sections, I pulled out the pieces that bordered each season and it was like doing four mini puzzles after that.

I am in love with the finished product and will definitely be doing this one again.

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Disney & Pixar Color Palette

Disney & Pixar Color Palette is a 500-piece puzzle from Ravensburger, and I had so much fun with it! I had seen people online talking about how hard it was to get and really wanted to have the chance to do it. Luckily, it showed up on the swap table at the speed puzzling event I attended (as a spectator) in November. There was one piece missing, which was noted on the box, but I still grabbed it as soon as I saw it!

I love that this has both a rainbow and a grid aspect. This was a very quick build for me. After doing the border, I started with the pink column and worked my way over to the green. Then I jumped to the red and worked my way back to the yellow. The fit was kind of loose, so I’m guessing this puzzle has been done quite a few times already, but the pieces were still in pretty good shape.

I was surprised by how many of the characters I knew, especially since I haven’t watched a lot of animated films in the last few years. I don’t usually keep puzzles with missing pieces, but I might hang onto this one for a while so I can do it again sometime.

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Lake Camper

Lake Camper is a 300-piece puzzle from Ceaco, and the artist is Stephanie Peterson Jones. This is part of a series called Happy Camper. I have several of these and am hoping to get the rest someday. I just love her artwork style and find these so fun and super easy!

A while ago, I got a multipack set of Happy Camper puzzles that had variations of 5 of these puzzles, but the quality was terrible and I didn’t keep them when I was done. Here is a list of the regular puzzles from the series with their status:

  • Beach Camper, 300 pieces, owned but not completed
  • Cactus Camp-Out, 300 pieces, want to get
  • Canyon Camper, 300 pieces, owned and completed
  • Christmas Camper, 300 pieces, owned and completed
  • Costa Rica Camper, 300 pieces, owned but not completed
  • Downeast Camper, 300 pieces, want to get
  • Green Mountain Camper, 300 pieces, want to get
  • Lake Camper, 300 pieces, owned and completed
  • Mountain Camper, 300 pieces, owned and completed
  • Wine Country Camper, 750 pieces, owned and completed

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St. Basil Cathedral

St. Basil Cathedral is a 500-piece puzzle from MasterPieces. My friend Kim picked this out for me for my birthday, which was really sweet of her. It’s not a typical image that I would choose, but I do like the interesting colors and patterns of the cathedral and really enjoyed that part of the puzzle.

The sky was fairly difficult, especially since there was so much of it. I had to sort by shape and it was still slow going getting the pieces in. Thankfully, each piece is unique so I knew when I had one in the right spot.

I keep a lot of my puzzles to do again, but this one I will be putting in the swap pile to pass on. Once is enough for that sky!

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Snoopy’s Puffer Coat

Snoopy’s Puffer Coat is a 500-piece puzzle from Ceaco. This was a Christmas present from my son Michael, and I just couldn’t resist doing it right away. It is just so stinkin’ cute!

This was a lot of fun to put together. I started with Snoopy’s coat and then moved on to the ground. I finished up with the wavy background. I really like Ceaco puzzles, although the quality can vary.

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Quaint Cafe

Quaint Cafe is a 1000-piece puzzle from Ravensburger, and the artist is Jason Taylor. I fell in love with this image the first time I saw it, and it turned out to be just as beautiful as I imagined.

I love the juxtaposition of the indoors and the outdoors. The interior is so warm and inviting with the wood floors and chalkboard menus, and the outdoor is just as charming with the cobblestone street and cafe seating.

As always, the Ravensburger quality is excellent. The pieces are a nice size and thickness, and they have a lovely matte finish. There are no false fits, and there is enough piece variation that I can sort by shape when I get stuck.

This artist has done several puzzles using the same concept, and I have actually gotten a few of them. I think they are such clever designs.