I only finished the blue today and wasn’t able to get started on the twinklies. But I made progress and that’s what counts. 🙂
I hope to have some time tomorrow when I’m feeling well enough to sit and work on the puzzle for a while. It’s been a rough few weeks for me physically and I’m not always able to work on the puzzle as much as I’d like to.
Edges get started tomorrow! Yay! I was able to lay in bed today and separate the twinklies by shape, so that’s a small head start on tomorrow’s work. I really have enjoyed all these sections and I’m getting kinda sad that it’s coming to an end. 😦 I have plenty of puzzles to keep me busy for probably 3 or 4 years, but it’s been fun having a giant project to work on and having this blog to keep a record of it. Apparently I’m feeling melancholy this evening. It’s the damn menopause, it seems to meno-pause-my-sanity for a bit.
It took me a week to get The Lion King off the board, things happened and I wasn’t feeling well; and I also realize that I’m probably trying to make this puzzle last so I think I was stalling. 😐
There are only 2 sections left and it takes a little over 2 weeks per puzzle, so I only have a month left of work on this thing. Holy guacamole! How in the world did it go so fast? I still haven’t decided what to do with this damn thing yet!
This is honestly 2 days worth of work, as I did lay in bed one day and started working on the characters on trays. Not really fun assembling on the trays so I left that alone and waited to get The Lion King off the board before I kept going. I do assemble on trays in bed when I’m not feeling well and can’t really sit or stand to work on the puzzle, but it isn’t as fun as working at the board to me.
Filmstrip is done. Not bad for a day’s work! Tomorrow will be the dark blue and perhaps starting the twinklies. I’m so glad to be back working on it. I’m torn between wanting to get it done and wanting to make it last. I’m not sure which side will win, stay tuned to find out!
Sequoia National Park by Eric Dowdle – Dowdle Puzzles – 500 pieces
I really love the art of Eric Dowdle, but I must also say that they make for some difficult puzzles – this one was a challenge!
Part of the challenge was that at the factory a mistake was made, the puzzle inside the box was not what was shown on the box. We thought we were purchasing Redwood National Park. The box says we did, the poster inside was for Redwood, but the bag of pieces was what you see here. Still a cool puzzle, I wasn’t really that upset. But it did make for a more challenging assembly, no picture to go by! Of course I sometimes do this to myself purposely, I put the box away and do a puzzle with no helps just to give myself a challenge (and because I’m weird) 😉
Also, I don’t usually comment on the boxes the puzzles come in but Dowdle boxes are pretty cool in my book. Extremely sturdy one piece box that has a lid that folds over and is closed with velcro. There is a slipcover that goes over the box with the info about the puzzle, and on the inside you get a poster of the puzzle to work with, and a zip closure plastic bag to store the pieces in once you’ve finished the puzzle. A++ for the box!
This puzzle was quite a challenge for me, there is so much green and trees in the background it took way longer than is normal for me to complete a 500 piece puzzle. But I love the scene and I had no problem taking on the challenge. There are so many little animals all over the puzzle, it was fun to figure out where every one went. And at the very end I found the big eyes and one paw of an animal you can’t really see and don’t notice in the image unless you’re looking for it (or putting in the pieces there). If you look on the left edge of the puzzle about midway up you can see the paw, the eyes are darker and in the background – not easy to see, but they are there. Great puzzle 🙂
The quality of the puzzle was quite good. The pieces were about average thickness and very sturdy and they fit together quite well. The pieces were predominantly the 2 prong 2 hole variety, but within that they were all different shapes and sizes so it didn’t seem monotonous to me at all. The finish was glossy was caused a lot of glare, which is difficult sometimes with a Dowdle puzzle because there are a lot of darker areas and it’s difficult at night under lights. And a lot of the Dowdle puzzles have quite a bit of symmetry and sameness in the backgrounds which can add an extra challenge. Nothing wrong with a challenge though, it’s fun to do and you feel like you’ve accomplished something when you’re done! I love the artwork, there isn’t one Dowdle puzzle that I wouldn’t love to own or do, so even if there is glare I don’t mind that much. Awesome images make for fun puzzles in my book!
Ok, it’s a 100 piece puzzle, what on earth am I putting this on the blog for? Cause I want to! Mom got this at the thrift store for a friend’s son, and we put it together to make sure all the pieces were there. So I figured, why not put it on the blog? I did it, and just because it’s only 100 pieces doesn’t mean it can’t be a cool puzzle that’s fun to do!
It was pretty fun, but I had to be careful at the top with the sky. The pieces are only two shapes, and they all pretty much fit together. I was surprised at how much we had to pay attention and how many pieces we had to move when assembling the sky! We had fun though, and put it together pretty quickly.
I’d never heard of Janod before, the quality was exceptional! The pieces are extremely thick and sturdy and they almost feel like wood. They fit together well and I was able to pick the puzzle up by the corner and flip it over without anything falling apart. It’s pricey, about $20 for a 100 piece puzzle – but you never know, you might find one at a thrift store and only pay $2! Or if price is no object, go for it, really great quality. 🙂
This puzzle was so much fun!!!! Started it in the morning with coffee, and had it finished before dinner. 😮 It’s one of those puzzles where one section leads to another and then to another and before you know it the whole thing is done!
My first puzzle from Andrews + Blaine, and I have to say I love the quality. The image and colors are gorgeous, the pieces fit together beautifully and are thick and sturdy. The only drawback for me was that the finish was glossy and caused some glare. The piece shapes were mostly 2 prong 2 hole, but to be honest I loved the image so much and had so much fun with the assembly I really didn’t care about the shapes. It has to do with the overall quality of the puzzle, I think, and how entertaining the image is to assemble. For me, that is. That’s all I can come up with. Sometimes the lack of diversity in piece shape is SO ANNOYING to me, and sometimes it’s “eh who cares? – it was fun!” (I never said I’m sane, or that I always make sense) 😉
This image by Kathy Weller is just adorable! I love everything about it, and it was so much fun to assemble that I was swept away and before I knew it the whole thing was finished. I’m definitely going to look up her artwork and check the Andrews + Blaine website to see if there are more puzzles by her. Definitely recommend this puzzle! Fun, fun, fun!!
My Jigsaw Journal 