Seems like a fun idea to have a page with pictures and comments about puzzles I have finished this year.  The earliest picture I can find is from January 30.  So here’s my journal of this year’s puzzles, the ones I took pictures of at least!  It may jump around for a while, I’m working on this page when I’m having to rest in bed.  Hopefully I’ll get caught up soon, and can add images as I complete them. Enjoy!

JANUARY 

I know this was a Puzzlebug puzzle, but I don’t recall the name of it.  The quality was, uh, not up to snuff.  Yikes.  There were only 2 different piece styles and the thickness of the pieces was extremely thin.  The finish of the image was shiny and gave off quite a bit of glare. This was a thrift store purchase, and once it was completed we gave it away. Lesson learned.  I am now a jigsaw puzzle snob (according to my mother) and this isn’t a brand I like or recommend.

FEBRUARY

This puzzle was from a 3-in-1 box set.  It was a fun puzzle, harder than it looks with all the browns and darker pieces.  I enjoyed the challenge though, and the end result is almost seamless.  Very cute image.  It seems ages ago that I completed this puzzle, but it’s only been 8 months!  As you’ll see once this page is complete, there have been a LOT of puzzles between then and now. 😉

 

This one I didn’t think I would enjoy, it’s not the typical puzzle image that I like.  That said, I really had fun with this assembly.  My only problem was that there were about 9 places on the edge where the pieces just sat next to each other and didn’t connect.  A pet peeve of mine – jigsaw pieces should click together, not sit together!

 

This is the last of the puzzles from the 3-in-1 box.  I’m glad I did it last, because if I had started with this one I don’t know if I would have attempted the other 2.  It’s odd that they’re from the same company; I found the quality of this puzzle severely lacking but had no problem with the quality of the other two. The fit was extremely loose and if you tried to move pieces or even adjust the puzzle it would come apart. It was about medium difficulty with all the green of the grass, but it was the quality of this cut that was off-putting.

MARCH

This image was so much fun to put together!  It went very quickly, I think I was done in one sitting.  This one is a keeper, even though we don’t normally purchase Mega Puzzles.  Another thrift shop find.

 

I couldn’t find the box to get the manufacturer name.  My husband and I had a really good time with this puzzle, we talked about our favorite Bugs Bunny cartoons from when we were young.  I don’t recall the assembly being overly difficult, and the image was fun.

 

Ceaco puzzles – ugh.  My snobbery is coming though 🙂  Although I didn’t care for the quality of this puzzle, the image was quite a challenge.  For some insane reason I decided that I was going to assemble this puzzle without the aid of looking at the box.  I have no idea why I did that, but I did!  It took much longer than normal for a 1000 piece puzzle, but the extra challenge of having no reference made it feel like a real accomplishment when it was finished.

 

The two puzzles above were from a thrift store purchase of a 10-in-1 box.  These were 2 of the images I really liked, what did we have to lose for only 99 cents?  The quality was quite poor and I did both of these puzzles in one day.  After completing these two the thinness of the pieces was too much for me and I didn’t complete any of the other puzzles.

 

Best thrift store find of the year!  This is not your normal Ceaco puzzle, the pieces were made of thick cork board and there were a lot of whimsies.  SO MUCH FUN! The puzzle was only 584 pieces, but they were quite large – almost too big for my whiteboard which I used at the time for regular 20 x 27 1000 piece puzzles.  It wasn’t an easy puzzle by any means, but I enjoyed every moment and love, love, LOVE THIS PUZZLE!

 

This puzzle is much more difficult than it looks.  The finished image is not overly dark, but to look at the pieces unassembled most seem to be various shades of brown/black/dark.  The finished puzzle looks very nice, but it was quite a bit harder than anticipated.

 

I don’t recall much about actually doing this puzzle. Although it was Ceaco the quality was better than normal for that brand, and I enjoyed the challenge.

 

We love A Christmas Story in our house, so we had a good time putting this puzzle together in spite of it being Ceaco.

 

This was a fun puzzle to assemble.  I like the irregular pieces of the Bits and Pieces brand, and the image looks like it was made for a puzzle.

 

Was this puzzle ever fun!  I am a sucker for collage puzzles and this one was no different. It was a joy to put together and I can’t recommend it enough. It was entertaining to read all the matchbook covers as it was being assembled (the things they used to put on a book of matches – Wow!)

 

This was, I believe, my very first shaped puzzle.  I adore the artwork and think it’s a great image.  It also included several whimsies – a black cat, witch, etc. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, probably because fall is my favorite season 🙂  My problem with this puzzle was with the quality of the cut.  I confess I know zero about how shaped puzzles are made, but the cut of the pieces in this puzzle was horrendous. Not only were the pieces very loose fitting, but there are several places in the puzzle where even after completion all the pieces are not connected.  You can see in the picture above that the witch’s hand can just be pulled away, and there were other spots as well.  To be honest the cut of this picture turned me off from Bits and Pieces; I haven’t ordered from them since.