Thoughts of an introverted bookworm and avid jigsaw puzzler
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!
Valladolid is a 1000-piece puzzle from Ravensburger, and the artist is Marie Boiseau. This puzzle was designed especially for the 2024 World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship in Valladolid, Spain, and I was very happy to be able to get a copy of it for myself.
This puzzle was harder than I thought it would be, and now that I have finished it, I am even more impressed by how fast the puzzlers at the competition were able to complete it. I have noticed when puzzle with friends that I am faster than they are due to the amount of time I have spent puzzling, but I am nowhere near a speed puzzler!
The Gardener’s Palette is a 1000-piece puzzle from Ravensburger. The artist is Anne Searle.
This one had been on my wish list for quite a while. I think the image is so pretty, but I also thought it would be doable since each type of flower has its own block within the puzzle. I stopped at Barnes & Noble before my last therapy appointment and picked it up then. Last week, I had a tooth pulled and my friend Renee brought me a dinner of soft foods and hung out to watch some Grey’s Anatomy. I had already seen the episodes and was getting restless, so I decided to start this puzzle. After sorting the pieces, I was glad I had my little vacuum because of course there is so much puzzle dust with Ravensburger.
I worked on the puzzle little by little over the next several days and it was such a joy to do. I love the quality of Ravensburger puzzles. It was so much nicer than some of the puzzles I have done recently (either because of poor quality or having been done so many times that they were soft and breaking apart). The image is just beautiful and it even has words to put together to identify each flower. (I love puzzling words!)
So pretty!
Novel Avenue is a 2000-piece puzzle from Ravensburger, and the artist is Demelsa Haughton. This was my first puzzle larger than 1000 pieces. It was intimidating due to the larger piece count, but once I got into it, it was definitely doable.
The first night I sorted the pieces and worked on a couple of small sections. The following day my friend Suzanne came over and we worked on it for a few hours. She worked on the border (that’s her favorite part!) and I worked on some more of the books.
I worked on it two more days after that and then it was done! I am so proud of myself for finishing it. It is a lovely image and was a true joy to put together.
I like it so much I have decided to frame it and hang it above my couch in my living room. Michael and I just have to figure out how to flip it over so I can tape the back.
Northern Lights is a 500-piece puzzle from Ravensburger, and the artist is Nancy Wernersbach. It is one of their larger format puzzles, so the pieces and the finished size are both quite large.
I really enjoyed this puzzle. It was relaxing to put together. The sky is so beautiful with the Northern Lights, and the cabin deck scene looks so cozy.
Cozy Front Porch is a 750-piece puzzle from Ravensburger. I got it from the puzzle box in Elizabethtown. It’s not my favorite type of puzzle to do, but I knew the quality would be good and that it would probably be a good puzzling experience. I do like the color palette of this image a lot, and I would call the experience satisfying.
I did these two puzzles one day apart. I got them both for free from a local puzzle box and they are from different brands, but when I looked closely at the boxes, I discovered they are from the same artist – Nancy Wernersbach. I thought that was a neat coincidence!
The Ravensburger puzzle had one piece missing and it was the largest 300-piece puzzle I have seen so far. The pieces were so big!
Shopping for the Garden from Bits and Pieces, 300 pieces
Santorini Sunset from Ravensburger, 300 pieces
The Artist’s Palette is a 500-piece puzzle from Ravensburger, and the artist is Lars Stewart. I have had this on my wish list for a while, and it did not disappoint. The pieces are extra large, which made it an easy build. And I love how colorful it is!
This puzzle is very similar to Needlework Station, which I did a few months ago. The pieces are the same size and it has a completely matte finish. It was a tiny bit harder than that one, but still not difficult at all.
World Landmarks Map is a 300-piece puzzle from Ravensburger. It was designed for age 9+ with what they call XXL pieces. I got it because there is a new puzzle challenge on one of the Facebook groups I belong to that needed a puzzle with a map or globe. This one definitely fit that bill!
Even though it was designed for a younger audience, I still found it enjoyable and just a bit challenging in spots. The quality was excellent, as usual with this brand.
Floral Reflections is a beautiful 500-piece puzzle from Ravensburger that I have had my eye on for quite a while. My friend Jessyca came over on Memorial Day to hang out and after lunch we decided to do this puzzle together.
We sorted by color but didn’t pull the edges out and then started working at different ends of the puzzle. It worked out well because there are six sections so we could each do three of them. I finished a little bit ahead of her, so I helped with her last section.
This is such a gorgeous image, and it was very enjoyable to put together. The Ravensburger quality is always good, and it was especially nice to be working on it with another person.
After we finished the puzzle, we talked for a while and then decided to watch a movie. We settled on Falling for Figaro, partly because she had seen and liked the main actress in another movie (Patti Cake$). We both enjoyed the movie, and I plan to watch the other movie whenever I start up my Apple TV subscription again (that will be once Foundation and Silo have new seasons available)!
While she was there, I got a delivery of another puzzle I had ordered off Amazon. It came in a brown paper envelope, and the puzzle box was so mangled that it had torn open on one corner. There were even loose pieces in the packaging! I immediately contacted Amazon to initiate a return!
I had such a nice, relaxing day with my friend. I am so glad that I have been able to meet some people at my new church that I really click with!
In So Many Words 