The Stocking Filler by Richard Macneil – Wentworth – 40 pieces
Another lovely, quick micro puzzle from Wentworth, so much fun to assemble and supremely entertaining.
There’s a LOT of red in this image – you’d think I’d love Christmas puzzle images partly because red is my favorite color – but, not really, nope. As with many other things related to my oddly functioning brain, I have absolutely no explanation for it. All I can do is to embrace the weirdness that is me.😎
It’s only 40 pieces but each piece is wonderful to hold in your hand, satisfying to run your fingers over, and has a beautiful sound when it settles into place. Wooden puzzles are a joy!
Two Turtle Doves by Rachel Arbuckle – Wentworth – 250 pieces
I thought this would be easier than Three French Hens, boy was I wrong. It’s so beautiful though thatI didn’t mind one little bit – absolutely gorgeous!
There’s a symmetry and interconnectedness with Rachel Arbuckle’s artwork – I’m not sure I have the vocabulary to define exactly why I love it, I just do. The background, foreground, colors, accents – everything seems to work perfectly together. And pairing her artwork with the quality of Wentworth puzzles makes it even more fantastic in my mind. Loved this one!
I was surprised there wasn’t a partridge in this set of whimsies; Three French Hens had all the correct birds. I did enjoy the Dickensian characters though, so fun!
Doves in doves! This was my favorite of the 3 puzzles in this series so far; even though it was difficult it was completely engrossing and entertaining – everything about it was exactly right for me. 😎
I try to always remind my readers to treat themselves to a wooden puzzle at least once. Or if you don’t feel as if that’s something you can do for yourself, you can always ask for a small one for your birthday. There are a LOT of companies that make reasonably priced small wooden puzzles with excellent quality and you are worth spending a little extra money on!
*It’s too late for this year, but maybe next year write to Santa at the end of November and the elves might make you a fantastic wooden puzzle to put under the tree. 🎄
Christmas Cats by Richard Macneil – Wentworth – 40 pieces
This is my least favorite of the Christmas micro puzzles we bought this year, it seems very bland and colorless other than the blue of the sky and the one orange cat. Still it’s a pretty scene, and it was fun to assemble; and even my least favorite wooden puzzle is still a favorite. 😉
Growing up in the northern United States, this sort of scene is what I think Christmas is supposed to look like – wintry and snow covered. Having lived in Florida for the past 15 years, I’m still finding it difficult to get into the holiday spirit when it’s 85 degrees outside and the air conditioning keeps turning on. Perhaps that’s part of the reason for my lack of Christmas cheer – or it could be I’m just turning into a cranky old lady – or both!
Only four more days until Christmas – and then no more Christmas puzzles until July. (Unless of course I get one for a present, then I may feel obligated to assemble it right away 🎁)
Three French Hens by Rachel Arbuckle – Wentworth – 250 pieces
The artwork of Rachel Arbuckle makes for gorgeous puzzles, and even though I absolutely didn’t need them I couldn’t resist getting the first 3 puzzles in this series. I’m very much looking forward to all 12 of these beautiful puzzles. Although I’d imagine the last 5 or 6 puzzles will be quite crowded looking in comparison to these first few – this puzzle has the hens, turtledoves, and the partridge – if that continues the 12th day will be jam packed!
I love that there are the correct amount of birds in the whimsies! Although if this series continues that would be quite a challenge in the later puzzles – unless you get a much higher piece count. Wentworth puzzles go all the way up to 1500 pieces, but they’re a bit out of my price range. 😏
The 250 piece Wentworth puzzles are just about right for me, in both size and price. They’re small enough that the number of pieces doesn’t overwhelm, I can work on them in bed on my white board when I’m not feeling well, and they’re very reasonably priced as far as wooden puzzles go. Also I normally only buy wooden puzzles when they’re on sale and I can get free shipping, so that the price goes down even more. I’m a proud cheapskate!
These aren’t the last pieces that went into the puzzle, in fact they were the ones I started with (other than the edges). But I thought it was very cool that each of the hens had a hen whimsy in it – three French hens in three French hens!
From here until Christmas Day it’s going to be wooden Christmas puzzles on the blog – both micro puzzles and larger. No clue what’s happening after Christmas – I suppose that depends on if I get any puzzles from Santa or his helpers! 🎅
Jackson Browne – Late for the Sky – RedisCover – 300 pieces
I was very excited to try this new company that makes jigsaw puzzles of album covers – front and back. Unfortunately I was extremely disappointed in the quality and fit, and the entire assembly wasn’t very entertaining.
Surprisingly it had nothing to do with all the black and darkness, it was the poor quality of the pieces – both their fit and the torn and peeling image. The paper used on the front wasn’t heavy or sturdy enough, and at many of the “corners” where pieces meet the paper was torn. Extremely annoying and frustrating!
It doesn’t matter if the image you’re working on is dark or light, busily patterned or all one color; torn and peeling paper ruins the puzzle in my book.
The quality of either the paper or the finish on the back cover was better, and there were only a few corners where it was torn. It’s sort of a boring and very dark image, but I was very excited to work on it anyway. I enjoy trying out new brands; testing the quality, seeing if the image and colors match up to the box, etc. Unfortunately I was underwhelmed with this one. I usually don’t like to make a quality determination for certain until I’ve worked more than one puzzle, but I’m hesitant to even give this brand another try.
Working on this puzzle had me thinking of some amazing album covers from my youth that would be make great puzzle images. This is the very first one that came to mind, I loved this whole album!
I would be “Stone in Love” if I had this as a puzzle, and would welcome it with “Open Arms”. 😎 Don’t Stop Believing!
What album cover would you like to see on a puzzle?
My Jigsaw Journal 