Are these cute or what? (Photo by Fashion4Freedom)
I first saw these on a blog about wooden puzzles I like to read every now and then. She only posts about wooden puzzles, but posted about these shoes because she was traveling and the TSA screener saw them in her bag and commented on them after seeing them on the x-ray of her bag. Aren’t they adorable?
Apparently they’re handmade by an Etsy seller, and WAY out of my price range, but I just love the look of them. They’re not currently listed on the seller’s page, but judging by the shoes that are for sale now I definitely wouldn’t be able to afford them ($450-$950) – even if I could walk around in high heels – which I absolutely can’t!
If you’d like to check out some outrageously beautiful handmade shoes – click here. 🙂
I’m having another one of those not-really-a-problem problems. I cannot seem to make a decision about what puzzle to do next.
I feel as though I should do a Christmas puzzle, since the season is officially underway, but, ugh. And most of the holiday puzzles I have are wooden. I’ve almost exclusively been doing wooden puzzles this month because most of the ones I have are small and I was able to assemble them in bed. I have four 250 pieces and a bunch of micro Christmas puzzles from Wentworth, but I really want to do something cardboard. On the other hand, I could probably assemble all the micro puzzles in one day, and that would definitely help to rebuild my queue of finished puzzles ready to post.
I’ve got a 1000 piece puzzle from JaCaRou (new brand I’ve never tried) of The Nutcracker, and while I’m excited to try a new brand I’m just feeling blah about Christmas puzzles in general at the moment. Still, I love trying new brands, and the image isn’t your typical Santa and the Christmas tree, which is a big plus in my book.
I also have a REALLY cool older 500 piece puzzle mom found at a thrift store. It’s an American Greetings brand called Fitting Reminder, and it looks to be from around the 1970’s. The image is a gorgeous picture of a mosaic made from petrified wood. And while it’s an awesome image, the pieces are very muted and fuzzy. It’s one of those images that looks amazing completed, but the pieces separately are quite indistinct. It’ll be a challenge, and I think it would be more fun if mom and I assembled it together. The more difficult ones don’t seem as bad when there’s someone helping with the assembly.
I keep going back and forth in my head. I’ll decide on one for a minute or two, take off the box cover and hold some of the pieces in my hand, and then I put the lid back on. I realize it truly isn’t a REAL problem to have enough puzzles that I can’t decide which to do next, but I can’t decide what to do next! 😐
It’s Thanksgiving here in the United States, and just plain old Thursday in most other places; so Happy Thanksgiving or Happy Thursday to all my puzzle friends! Whether it’s just another day for you, or you’re spending the day eating lots of food with family and friends, I wanted to send out my love and thanks to everyone who reads and/or comments on this blog. I appreciate your suggestions, comments, well wishes, and everything you do; you all help me more than you know and even if you’re not celebrating this American holiday I’m still extremely thankful for all of you! ❤💖❤
This blog has always been only about puzzles. I don’t talk about religion or politics or anything other than puzzles and my puzzling. Today though, I’m feeling as sad as this handsome puppy looks, and feeling the need to share a bit. It’s partly about puzzling, I suppose, as it affects my ability to work on my puzzles.
My recent surgery was supposed to help with my pain. If only… 😦
The surgery only provided a small amount of relief, and not nearly as much as the doctors and I had hoped. It was the trial of a device, and it’s since been removed; so even the small reduction in pain is gone.
You tell the doctors and the people around that you’re not getting your hopes up and you have realistic expectations – but deep down you’re hoping to be one of those lucky people who gets an enormous amount of benefit and feel almost like their old selves again. It’s depressing and frustrating and a gigantic letdown when it doesn’t work for you. It’s been years now, and this was sort of the “last hope” – something doctors do as a last resort when all other traditional remedies haven’t worked. For many it’s extremely beneficial, for me it was more painful than I expected, with less than hoped for results. I don’t know where we go from here, I’m hesitant to try any other therapies and contraptions; they get more and more invasive and scary (at least for me).
So from here I’ll try to be as thankful as I can be that I still have some mobility, and that I’m still able to puzzle. I can sit for a while or lay in bed and become engrossed in a puzzle, enjoy the feeling of holding a piece in my hand while I contemplate it’s placement, and enjoy the benefits of my meditative state of mind while I work on reassembling a beautiful image that’s been cut into little pieces. I have this blog where I’m able to talk about my puzzles, hear from puzzle friends in the comments, and have a somewhat creative outlet – even if it’s only about jigsaw puzzles.
I always try to be upbeat in my posts, even when my feelings that day aren’t upbeat at all; but I needed to vent a little today, as I’m dealing with my disappointment. Tomorrow’s post, however, will be much less depressing (and more about puzzles) – I promise! 🙂
*Tomorrow’s puzzle will also include that sweet doggie shown above – I love his sad little face!
Today is the start of National Game and Puzzle Week here in the US, which is perfect for taking some of the stress out of spending time with family over Thanksgiving. Is Aunt Matilda always making you wait hours and hours for your holiday meal? Set up a jigsaw puzzle to help pass the time, what a lovely way to spend time with your family and loved ones!
You’ll get no board game recommendations from me – it’s too easy to end up arguing (just my opinion, of course). I love board and card games, but hubby is unbelievably competitive, as are many other family members. A fun game of euchre with my parents ends up with the men getting frustrated with mom and I because we “don’t take it seriously”. Mom and I then purposely try to lose, which mean we almost always end up winning; and we giggle hysterically while it’s happening. It’s safe to say the husbands are unimpressed with our behavior. 😁 I’m a jigsaw puzzle gal all the way; everyone can help, you don’t need to explain the “rules”, and everyone wins. Viva le puzzle!
So onto today’s puzzle, I chose this one for today’s post because it’s a puzzle of playing cards which can be used for many games. This puzzle had me so enraptured that I almost couldn’t walk away. I kept coming back to it even though I wasn’t feeling well; I just had to get a few more pieces put in, and I had to know if all the pieces were there!
Another good quality non-traditional Ceaco. This one is called a Conversation Pieces Trompe L’oeil jigsaw puzzle. (trompe l’oeil is a visual illusion in art, it means to trick or deceive the eye to see the painting as a three-dimensional object) Ceaco has a few of these conversation pieces puzzles, but this is the first one we’ve found in the thrift stores.
I wasn’t planning to document this assembly, but mom was here at the beginning and helped me assemble most of the first part. She went home to get some things done, and I kept sending her updated pictures. So I’ve got pics of the assembly as I went along! We started with the face cards, they were harder to assemble than we bargained for!
Next I assembled the rest of the cards that were face up, and I tried to place them all approximately where they belong in the puzzle. It sure doesn’t look like much, does it?
The next morning I put together the edges; it wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t as difficult as I’d thought either. I was so excited to get that done! All that’s left is to fill in. I can’t explain how engrossed I was in this puzzle and how happy it made me. So happy!
I was hoping to have a picture of it glued and mounted on foam board and hanging in my daughter’s game room. Unfortunately, it’s not on the wall yet. Bummer. Still, we had a great time with this puzzle, and it looks so cool!
Conversation Pieces – Ceaco – 500 pieces
If you’re not up close to see the piece shapes it looks like cards strewn across a table. I think it’s going to look amazing on the wall! Perhaps over the holiday I’ll get it hung up – my daughter and her husband are hosting Thanksgiving this year in their new home. I’m bringing the pies, and something to hang up this puzzle! You might just see a picture of it sometime soon. 😎
My Jigsaw Journal 