Fireplace Cuddle

Fireplace Cuddle – Karmin – 100 pieces

Such a sweet image! Perfect for my first day back at the puzzle board. It went together super quickly, and honestly, as I was putting it together I told myself “Hey, you’re still pretty good at this”. It was my very own little internal pep talk, and at the very least it made me smile.

I’m pretty sure that Penny was the one who sent me this puzzle, but I can’t be 100% positive. The memory definitely isn’t what it used to be, that’s for certain. Although, being that this is an image of a Boston Terrier puppy, it is almost doubtless that Penny sent it to me – we both have a deep and abiding love for Boston’s. ❤🐶

It might have been better to save this little puzzle for after my surgery, but I also needed a smaller one to get myself back into the swing of things to start recovering my puzzle mojo. No worries, there are PLENTY of smaller cardboard and wooden puzzles that have found their way to my puzzle room in the past week.

The PADS is severe and I self-medicated with a few online and in-person shopping sprees. 😇

I told hubby that this month I was spending a chunk of my disability money on a bunch of puzzles for myself. Being the awesome man that he is, he said “It’s about time you spent some on yourself.”

💕I love that man.💕

Livingroom Rompers

Livingroom Rompers (Paws Gone Wild) by Giordano – Ceaco – 550 pieces

I love the image, but there really was too much fur and darker areas for my taste. It’s a great “picture”, but the assembly wasn’t as much fun as the doggies look like they’re having. Oh well. 🤷‍♀️

It wasn’t the greatest quality, it had a spongy fit (that’s the best way I can think to describe it) that sometimes made it seem as though you didn’t place the piece correctly. But what else can you expect from a Ceaco? I have them on my naughty list and DO NOT EVER spend any of my precious puzzle budget on this brand; but this was a puzzle sent to me from my friend, so of course I was going to assemble it.

French Bulldogs are my dream dog, look at the adorable face – it’s way too cute! Both of my sons say that our next dog (still not ready for that yet) should be a Corgi but I’ve always wanted a Frenchie. I have a feeling the boys will probably get their way, but that’s ok. All dogs are awesome if you ask me. 😊💗

Perhaps I have a type? This little bulldog with a sweet pink bow is definitely my type, look at that bulldoggy face!

This knocked over coffee cup that says “Love My Doxies” really sets the scene. The puppies everywhere were cute and all, but it’s the mayhem that makes it for me – Puppy Pandemonium!

Monkey Around

Monkey Around – RoseArt – 100 pieces

This was a quick, engrossing puzzle, but not easy at all. I really liked this one even though the image isn’t something I would normally choose; it was much more entertaining than I thought it would be.

The pieces were on the thinner side, but the fit was good and the image reproduction was excellent. There was no variety in piece shape, but with only 100 pieces it wasn’t bad to work with at all.

I almost always enjoy working with kids puzzles, any size puzzle is fun for me! 🧩💚

Lady Bug Land

Lady Bug Land by Michael Searle – Ravensburger – 300 pieces

Beautiful and colorful, this one was a goldilocks assembly – not too hard, not too easy, just right. I couldn’t pass this bright beauty up when I went to the thrift store, it was too gorgeous to leave it sitting there on the shelf.

Great Ravensburger quality even though it’s been assembled many times. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten one of their puzzles from the thrift store that wasn’t in good shape; they hold up well in my opinion. Especially the smaller piece counts and images made for kids, they’ve always been great quality.

Obviously there was a missing piece, but it’s been a while since I’ve had a thrift store puzzle with a piece that’s gone AWOL. It’s a risk we take when buying second-hand, but it doesn’t bother me much at all.

As a friend told me, “Our job is to put all the pieces together until there are none left; even with missing pieces you can still complete your task and put them all together.”

Mission accomplished! 😎

Puppyness*

Puppyness* – Re-marks – 100 pieces

A cute, quick, good quality puzzle that was a welcome break from larger piece counts. And I just couldn’t resist that adorable puppy face! Like many smaller puzzles this one had no title; I wasn’t feeling overly creative when I started typing up this post, so the name is just puppyness. That’s all I see when I look at this image, the sweet puppyness of that expression. 💖

I find that many smaller piece count puzzles are quite expensive to purchase new, so usually I get them from swaps with other puzzlers or thrift stores. I don’t mind spending a dollar or two for a 100 piece puzzle, but unless it’s a truly amazing image I don’t purchase them new. I’m a tightwad sometimes, and proud of it!