The Puzzle that Broke the Ice – Wentworth – 40 pieces
I did it! I think. Okay, I’m 97.5 percent sure that I did it! You can see why this puzzle reminded me of Winter Aspen – so much snow and trees. *shudder* It truly was the most challenging Wentworth puzzle that I’ve ever assembled, and it was only 40 pieces! Can you imagine getting any of the larger versions? This also comes in 252 and 510 pieces. I’m not sure if more pieces would make it easier or more difficult, but I definitely won’t be finding out.
I started by turning all the pieces upside down to sort them by shapes, it’s easier if you don’t see the image and just look at the specific shape.
After the sorting the real work begins. Obviously. A close look at the image on the box showed the irregular edge, and that there would be the top of stars and tree trunks along the edge. I started with the darkest and thickest trunk in the image on the far left. From there it was trial and error and a LOT of squinting to be certain each piece I added matched up with all the tree trunks and branches.
It was difficult as there was snow obscuring some parts of certain trees, but as I said I’m 97.5 percent sure I put this one together properly. 😎
One more holiday puzzle down! I’m pretty proud of myself for finishing this one and not putting it off any longer, I was truly dreading it (because I had tried before to assemble it and failed – my brain is being cooked from the inside by hot flashes and isn’t as sharp as it used to be). But as difficult as it was, it was still pretty awesome, completely absorbing, and looks very festive!
Wentworth has some extremely difficult holiday images like this one with repetitive shaped pieces and they all have fabulous names like The Puzzle that Burnt the Turkey, and The Puzzle that Ruined Christmas. The silly names make me laugh, but these little puzzles are no joke! They’re the typical excellent quality that the “regular” puzzles are, and even if they take me a little bit more brain power I really do enjoy the added challenge. I’m giving this one a difficulty rating of four out of five ice cubes. 😉
So there was another puzzle sitting on my board waiting to be sorted and assembled, but I just wasn’t feeling it yesterday or this morning. So, back to the pile it went to wait for another day – and now I’ve got this adorable little 300 piece on the board that makes me extremely happy to look at, and I hope happy to assemble too!
Sometimes I’m just not in the mood for certain puzzles, and I’m trying to listen to my brain when I feel that way. I put pressure on myself occasionally to assemble a puzzle that “the readers will like”, forgetting that this blog is about the puzzles I choose to assemble. It’s ridiculous, I know, but I’m trying to do better. If I feel like putting together a bunch of very small piece count puzzles that’s what should show up here, even if many of my readers only put together larger puzzles.
Onward to a lot of adorable doggie faces! There’s quite a bit of fur along with lots of tongues and noses, but it is exactly the puzzle I want to be assembling right now. Even if it’s a little bit difficult it’ll be entertaining, and that’s what I’m looking for today. 🐶🐾🐕
I wanted to start the month with a completed puzzle on the first day – so this was assembled December 1st. I’ve been saving this puzzle since very early in the year; mom bought it for 69 cents at the thrift store, and although it was cute I thought it should be saved until the holiday season.
This is my kind of holiday puzzle, I love images that aren’t the typical Christmas themes. I think that’s why I don’t care for Christmas puzzles much, they all seem to look alike to me and I prefer to assemble images that are different and interesting. Just my opinion of course. 🙂
It wasn’t the best quality, the fit was slightly loose and there quite a bit of image lift, but both of those things could be because it was purchased secondhand. It may have been well loved and assembled many times – you never can tell. Still, I don’t expect perfection from any puzzle, let alone one from the local Goodwill store.
If you look closely, you’ll see that all the snowflakes are made up of Minions, how adorable is that?
This puzzle makes me think of mom, knowing she bought it specifically for my “adopted” grandson who loves puzzles more than anything. Whenever she found a kids puzzle she would always buy it for him, especially if they were boy-themed or something a young boy would enjoy. She always brought them to me to assemble first because 1) we needed to be sure whether or not it was complete before it was passed on to the kiddo, and 2) because I love putting together kids puzzles perhaps more than the kids do. 😎
I’ll be giving this to my “grandson” soon, so he’ll be able to enjoy it for this holiday season. It’s the last puzzle mom was able to buy for him; he’s too young to appreciate the significance of that, but I’m not. Miss you momma. 💝
Browsing & Butterflies on 5th Avenue by Charles Fazzino – Sure-Lox – 2000 pieces
Browsing & Butterflies on 5th Avenue is part of the new Art Gallery puzzle collection from TCG Toys’ Sure-Lox brand. I was happily surprised at the quality of this puzzle, and enjoyed it much more than anticipated. This is the first puzzle I’ve assembled with artwork by Charles Fazzino, and I loved the 3D Pop Art style – it made for a wonderfully entertaining assembly!
Sure-Lox puzzles haven’t also been on the nice list here at My Jigsaw Journal, but in the past few months I’ve assembled a couple of their puzzles in the newer packaging and was pleasantly surprised by the good quality. The chipboard is thicker, the fit is exceptional, and the image reproduction is excellent. It’s rare that a puzzle company makes significant improvement to their quality, but Sure-Lox seems to have done it. 5th Avenue makes the third Sure-Lox puzzle from the newer line that I’ve assembled, and they have all been very good quality. Well done Sure-Lox!
I was so impressed by the thicker pieces that I decided to compare them to Ravensburger to see how it held up …
The Ravensburger piece is on the top, and you can see that the chipboard of the Sure-Lox puzzle is almost the same thickness. It may not be as well compressed, but all in all I was thoroughly impressed. The pieces feel good in your hand, and the fit is excellent. You can lift and hold up the finished puzzle with no problem at all. I picked mine up and handed it to my son (who wasn’t too keen on being photographed, but oh well)….
Pretty darn nice fit if you ask me. Perhaps it could even be framed without having to use glue – not too shabby! Wonderful quality all around, and I am well and truly impressed by the new Sure-Lox line of puzzles.
The only criticism I have is that there is only one piece shape. With an image like this it isn’t too much of a problem, most of the puzzle is busy and the only large area of color is the sky. Luckily it’s broken up by quite a few butterflies, but there are a few sections where it can be somewhat tedious. But honestly, I was almost done with the assembly by then, and I was so excited to be finishing that I didn’t find it overly tiresome. Many puzzle companies are using just the one piece shape these days, and I find that I’m slowly getting used to it even if my preference is a puzzle with a variety of piece shapes.
The artwork is incredibly detailed and interesting, and the New York cityscape made for a fun assembly. I think I may be a new Charles Fazzino fan, and will definitely be looking for some more puzzles of his art. 🎨
Rockefeller Center
New York Public Library
Overall I was very happy with the quality of this puzzle – the image kept me entertained and smiling, and it’s one that is definitely recommended – instead of thumbs I’m giving it two Lady Liberties with their torches way up! 🗽🗽
Details:
Title: Browsing & Butterflies on 5th Avenue
Artist: Charles Fazzino
Brand: Sure-Lox
Piece count: 2000 pieces
Size: Approx. 39 x 27 in. (99 x 69 cm)
Purchased: N/A, sent for review
Quality:
Board: Very good
Cutting: Very good
Image: Excellent
Box: Good
Fit: Excellent
Puzzle Dust: Moderate amount
Piece cut: Grid cut
Piece shapes: No variety, only one shape
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, lays flat
Overall Rating: Very good, highly recommended
*I’m going to do something I’ve never done before. Since this is the season of giving I’d like to lift someone’s spirits for the holidays; I wanted to give away my very gently used, autographed copy of Browsing & Butterflies on 5th Avenue to one of my readers. Since many of my readers are thrift store shopping puzzlers, I was sure they wouldn’t mind a secondhand puzzle. I when I contacted the company to inform them of my intent to hold a giveaway, they graciously offered to send a brand new autographed puzzle to the winner instead!
If you’d like this puzzle, signed by the artist, please leave a comment on this post to be entered in the giveaway. I will use a random number generator to decide on the winner, and will post the results one week from today – December 16, 2019. Good luck!
I received this product at no cost in order to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own.
The oddest thing happened to me yesterday. I was taking one of my many mini naps throughout the day and started to dream about a puzzle I assembled quite a few months ago. I remember feeling frustrated about the fit, and annoyed with myself for placing a few of the pieces incorrectly, and was in the process of switching them to their proper positions when I was startled awake by a loud noise in the other room. I opened my eyes and realized that I was holding my hands as if I had puzzle pieces in them, and my hands were moving as if to switch the pieces.
This story is peculiar for several reasons. First, I’m not a person who remembers my dreams. I wake knowing that I had a dream, but can never remember what they’re about or what happens – even when startled awake. So to remember not only exactly which puzzle I was working on but also how I was feeling in the dream is extremely unusual. Secondly, acting out a dream is not something that has ever happened to me before that I can remember (and hubby says in the 31 years we’ve been married he’s never seen me do it). This is especially true with the medications I’m currently taking. With these meds when I do sleep I wake in exactly the same position as when I nodded off; once in the past week I fell asleep holding a tv remote and woke 7 hours later with it still in my hand.
So my puzzle friends, I’m wondering if that dream meant something. I don’t know that dream interpretation is something I put much stock in, but the fact that I was dreaming of a puzzle completed almost 6 months ago and acting it out seems quite bizarre to me.
Have you ever dreamed of working on a jigsaw puzzle? Have you ever mimed your dream while you were having it?
My Jigsaw Journal 