Songbirds

Songbirds by Neiko Ng – Mudpuppy – 500 pieces

This is a cute image, but it really wasn’t as entertaining for me as I’d hoped. There’s nothing wrong with it, really, perhaps my mood wasn’t right. It just seemed like it would be more fun than it actually was. Just my own personal opinion.

The quality was good. In typical Mudpuppy fashion there is only one piece shape – what I call ballerinas – two prong/two hole pieces. Boring. The reproduction is good, but the finish is very shiny; and the backing is that “sharp” white backing that I do not care for. Overall it’s a good quality puzzle, it just wasn’t my pile of pieces.

American Girl – Josefina

American Girl – Josefina – Mattel – 150 pieces

This was quite a unique set of puzzles I haven’t seen before; they go along with the American Girl dolls and books. It comes with three puzzles that are 50 pieces each and a frame so that you can display whichever one you’re feeling like showing off at the moment. There’s only one frame to go with all 3 puzzles; you can assemble one puzzle at a time in the tray, place the clear cover over top of it and slide it into the frame.

They were pretty good quality, better than I expected. The pieces are on the thinner side, but are very sturdy, the finish is extremely shiny and hard to work with under artificial lights, but otherwise the reproduction is very nice and there are a good variety of shapes. Overall I was impressed because they were nicer than I thought they would be.

Love the blue dress, and that it looks like there are three generations of women here. 💗

I love the brightness of this one, and the beautiful colors. It was the easiest of the three to assemble.

I love her shawl, and the adorable little goat she’s cradling. So cute!

This is the frame that comes with this set of puzzles. If you had a child who enjoys the American Girl dolls/books/toys this might be a nice set of small puzzles for them. I found two sets of them at the thrift store, maybe you might get lucky and find some too!

The Golden Girls

The Golden Girls – Cardinal – 300 pieces

I love the cartoon style of this image, and found this at the thrift store just a few days before the death of the last surviving Golden Girl – Betty White; she was a comedic force to be reckoned with, and a classy lady all around.

This puzzle was unopened, and I was hoping that it would be good quality, but I was sadly disappointed. The pieces were on the thin side and slightly bent out of shape, but it was the extremely loose fit that made it so terrible to work with. Cardinal Puzzles can be hit or miss with their quality, and this was a big miss.

I wish I’d been able to enjoy this puzzle as much as I enjoyed Betty White’s hilarious performance in the silly horror movie Lake Placid – that movie makes me laugh every time I see it, and her potty-mouthed character was awesome!

Sadly, this puzzle didn’t measure up.

Nothing in Progress

I’ve chosen which puzzle is next, but I haven’t started sorting it yet. Mom bought this at the thrift store five years ago (so says the sticker) and I’m just now in the mood to assemble it. It’s funny how many puzzles are still here that she bought for us.

Yesterday was the first time in three days that I’ve even sat at my puzzle board. I finally took pictures of the Gorey book covers puzzle and disassembled it. I put together a super quick 300 piece puzzle and now I’ve decided to give Streets of France by Ravensburger a go.

Hope all is well with you and yours and that whatever puzzle you’re working on is entertaining and fun.

Bee Farm

Bee Farm by Tom Wood – SunsOut – 300 pieces

There’s something about this image. I don’t know why, but it’s just compelling. I’m not much of a SunsOut fan, but when I saw this puzzle at the thrift store I had to get it.

The puzzle itself was good quality, I loved the random cut pieces – it’s a nice change from grid cut. It takes a few minutes for my brain to catch up and remember how to look at the pieces and see how they could fit together; but it’s nice to switch things up and keep my gray matter on it’s toes, so to speak. The fit was on the loose side, but it’s a pre-loved puzzle and that’s to be expected sometimes.

The assembly didn’t take very long, and the most difficult part was the two beehives. I enjoyed it very much and it was completely worth the $1.99 I spent on it. Excellent image by Tom Wood, and it made for a great afternoon of puzzling.