Barnyard Dreams by Dan Hatala – MasterPieces (Childhood Dreams Collection) – 1000 pieces
Another in the Childhood Dreams Collection, and I absolutely love them! The images are nostalgic and sweet, and they make for excellent puzzling.
This one really reminds me of my youth. We lived out in “the boonies” and my dad had a John Deere tractor that he absolutely loved. He would use it to split wood, mow the lawn, drive the kids around the property teaching us how to drive it, and pull city people out of the ditch. (They had no idea how to drive on the back roads in winter!) This puzzle brings back fond memories for me. *sigh*
Mom and I worked on this puzzle together, although I think she did much more of the work than I did. We started it together, but it wasn’t complete when I left so she finished it by herself. Great job mom!
Besides the finish being a little too shiny, the quality of these puzzles has been very good. They fit together very well and are a good thickness, and you can see that the image reproduction is beautiful – very crisp and detailed. We have several of these Childhood Dreams puzzles yet to do, and I’m looking forward to every single one of them.
If these are your kind of puzzle images, I highly recommend them. They’re wonderful to work on, and they make me smile. 🙂 🙂
Night Village by Karla Gerard – Artifact Puzzles – 164 pieces
I finally treated myself! I’ve wanted a wooden jigsaw puzzle for a very long time, and I decided it was time, I deserved it! (I could say it was a reward for the 1 year anniversary of the blog, but honestly it was just because I finally decided I wasn’t going to wait anymore to get myself a wooden jigsaw puzzle 😉 )
Artifact puzzles are very reasonably priced compared to many other wooden puzzle companies in my opinion. Many companies are $100 or more for even a small puzzle! And if you’re looking for the “Rolls Royce of Puzzles”, Stave puzzles are the most expensive I’ve found. The smallest puzzle starts at over $800 for a 100 piece, and if you would like a 1000 piece Stave puzzle, be prepared to spend almost $7000!!!! 😮 Even if I were a millionaire I don’t know that I would be able to spend thousands of dollars for a puzzle! My small puzzle cost only $38 dollars. That may seem like a lot to some, and perhaps it is; but I really wanted to treat myself and I make no apologies, I’m worth it!
First of all the box feels luxurious, the pieces are wrapped in tissue paper inside a beautiful blue box with a magnetic clasp. And for me, I loved the smell of the pieces. They smell like Michigan to me. I know that sounds bizarre, let me explain. I grew up in Michigan, and in our house we had a wood-burning stove. The smell of these puzzle pieces reminds me of the smell of our house in fall and winter when we had the woodstove going. It smells great and makes me feel nostalgic.
I chose this image because it’s colorful and fun, and I like the shape of the pieces. On the website artifactpuzzles.com you can see a preview of the pieces that each puzzle contains; so you can choose a puzzle with pieces that you’ll like. I didn’t want regular looking pieces, and I wanted an image that would be fun to do over and over. I chose Night Village; it met all of my requirements. If you want to treat yourself click on the link above and see what they have, there’s a wonderful catalog of reasonably priced puzzles to choose from.
The assembly was a joy! Somehow I found the willpower to wait two whole days before I started working on it because I wanted to put it together with my mom on our weekly visit/puzzle day. We had the best time, and it was just so damn cool working with the wood pieces for the first time! I love the way they fit together, I love the feel of the pieces as they “plunk” into place, I love the image itself and the interesting piece shapes; in short – I loved this puzzle! 😍
If anyone is looking for a gift for me…..there’s a link 2 paragraphs up, pick out something fun! 😁
You can really see the piece shapes from the back
Details:
Title: Night Village
Artist: Karla Gerard
Brand: Artifact Puzzles
Piece count: 164 pieces
Size: Approx. 7 x 9 in. (18 x 23 cm)
Purchased: New
Quality:
Board: 1/4″ thick wood
Cutting: Excellent, laser cut
Image: Excellent
Box: Excellent box with magnetic clasp
Fit: Normal/Average (I’m not sure this applies)
Puzzle Dust: 2 tiny bits of broken off wood, did not affect the image at all
Piece cut: Random cut – amazingly detailed and intricate
Piece shapes: Designed specifically for this puzzle (awesome!)
Finish: Matte finish, lays flat
Overall Rating: Excellent, most highly recommended
This was the first puzzle I assembled after my attempt at Winter Aspen. Even though there was a piece missing it was still very nice for me. The feel of the regular sized pieces, the way they fit together, and the fact that the image was so much less difficult made this an excellent assembly. 🙂
Ravensburger puzzles have such great quality that it’s always nice to work with them; but even more so after working with a puzzle that was difficult for me in any way. When I’ve done a puzzle that was dark, or difficult, or one that just felt tedious I always try to make sure I do a Ravensburger next. It always makes me feel better, and gets me back in my “puzzle groove”.
After failing to complete Winter Aspen I wasn’t feeling like the Supreme Puzzle Goddess that I am, so I needed a Ravensburger fix to lift my spirits. This puzzle was healing balm on my wounded ego, and made me feel so much better! 😊
It didn’t matter that it’s not an image I would normally choose, it didn’t matter that the colors were muted instead of bright, and it didn’t even matter that a piece was missing. What mattered was that I enjoyed this puzzle; it didn’t feel like work or a chore, it was relaxing, fun, and helped me get my mojo back!
This puzzle would be great to frame for the little ballerina in your life, or someone who just loves to dance – it’s so pretty!
This was a weird little puzzle. I like the shaped edge, but I’m stumped regarding the reason that one of the trolls has hair. I suppose it could be to make the puzzle more attractive to young children, but in my opinion it obscures the shape of the piece and it isn’t easy to fit into the puzzle. I’m probably just being a cranky old lady, right? You kids get off my lawn!! 👵
Otherwise this is a cute kid’s puzzle that only took a few minutes to assemble. I haven’t seen the movie, so I don’t know who is who in this image, but I think they’re cute. The pieces are moderately thick and sturdy and fit together very well. There are a few spots where the tabs are sticking up a bit from the puzzle, but I think that’s due to it being a thrift store puzzle that’s been loved rather than from the manufacturing.
I’m enjoying all these kid’s puzzles even if it only takes a few minutes to assemble. It’s interesting to me the broad range of quality that kids puzzles have, not to mention so many manufacturers! I’m always intrigued when we find a new manufacturer and I love to check out their quality.
This was a well-made, cute, simple puzzle….that needs a hairbrush! 😉
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown by Charles Schulz – USAopoly – 500 pieces
Super fun! The first Halloween puzzle I’ve done this season, and I enjoyed it very much. I’ve come around to shaped puzzles, I never really wanted to do them before. Now that I’ve got quite a few under my belt, I appreciate the nice change of pace that they offer. Their shapes make them very interesting to assemble.
I didn’t start with the edge of this one, although I normally try to find all the edges of shaped puzzles to see how much I can assemble. I started with Linus and Sally, they were the easiest to pick out. Then I worked on Snoopy’s silhouette and the moon. The pumpkins were easier than I thought they’d be! I enjoyed the challenge of this one, it wasn’t too easy. I had a great time with the entire puzzle; easy parts were quick and satisfying, challenging parts kept me entertained and focused.
I love the fall and Halloween. I don’t have too many Halloween puzzles, but I’m enjoying the ones I do have. Here’s hoping the thrift stores have some more after the holiday! 😉
Details:
Title: It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
Artist: Charles Schulz
Brand: USAopoly
Piece count: 500 pieces
Size: Approx. 19 x 19 in. (48 x 48 cm)
Purchased: Used, thrift store
Quality:
Board: Thin but sturdy
Cutting: Good – fully separated, some hanging paper
My Jigsaw Journal 