Heroes & Heroines by Aimee Stewart – Ravensburger – 1000 pieces
This was my last puzzle of 2019, I’m glad I made it a good one – it’s an Aimee Stewart. I don’t have a lot to say about it other than it was a beautiful image and an excellent quality Ravensburger with exceptional fit and great hand feel.
It wasn’t an easy assembly, but that’s part of what made it fun – the challenge is both engrossing and entertaining.
These were my favorite couples to assemble, Marguerite and Armand (from the 19th century novel La Dame aux Camelias by Alexandre Dumas), and Christine and Erik (from Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux). I haven’t read either of them, but they were fun to put together.
After reading the insert, I must admit that I didn’t know who some of the heroes & heroines were; I haven’t read many love stories and not a lot of the usual literary works either. And yes, that means I haven’t read Wuthering Heights, The Great Gatsby and many other works of literature that most people have read. Oh well, I have no inclination to read them now either – I’d rather spend my time with my family or a jigsaw puzzle to be honest.
This puzzle was great fun! I had such a good time that I could barely walk away from it, every piece put in lead me to another and so on; it went together much more quickly than most 1000 piece puzzles do for me because I was having such a good time. Collages are the best!
Sometimes I’m torn between keeping at it because I’m having so much fun, and slowing down to make it last longer. Usually I choose to keep at it; because – why put a damper on my puzzle fun? But sometimes I choose to walk away for a bit or just slow down putting in the pieces to really savor the assembly. This was one of those that I chose to keep on puzzling, it was extremely enjoyable.
The quality was a bit disappointing though; the fit was loose and spongy, and the piece shapes are very obvious in the finished image. Most likely my particular copy of this puzzle was produced at the end of the run when the die was duller. It happens with every puzzle brand, and it doesn’t mean the brand has poor quality. The assembly was delightful, but the overall the fit made it slightly less satisfying.
My first thought when I saw the puzzle was that I had no idea C. S. Lewis was so prolific, but a closer look showed that there are many books shown multiple times with different covers. Both The Screwtape Letters, and The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe are shown with five different covers!
This was my favorite of The Screwtape Letters covers. I’m not sure why; usually I go for lots of color, but there’s something about this one, maybe it’s the pointillism – it’s quite striking. And believe it or not this was one of the easier covers to assemble. It just looks so cool. 😎
I had a great time assembling this puzzle even though I was somewhat frustrated with the quality. I’m recommending it as it was so entertaining, but am cautioning about the quality – specifically the fit. For me, the fact that putting it together was so absorbing outweighs the annoyance of the loose fit; but ultimately it’s something you’ll have to decide for yourself.
*I’m fully aware that my thoughts about this puzzle are all over the place; and I have no excuse other than to say that they are factual. Collages make me truly happy when I assemble them, and unless the quality is completely horrid I will enjoy myself. But I also feel a responsibility to let my readers know if there are quality problems, even small ones. If there is a problem with the fit, the cut, the chipboard, or anything else I need to let you know. So even though I thoroughly enjoyed myself, I still have to let you about any issues I found. (This paragraph made sense in my head, I hope it translated well enough to be somewhat understandable. 😉 )
This is technically two days worth of work but most of the day yesterday was spent away from home, and therefore away from my puzzle board. I did slip away to the board last night (insomnia, yay) and worked on it for a little while; it’s a bit of a challenge, and I find I’m enjoying the slow coming together of the image.
The pieces and I are getting to know each other, and every time I go through my trays looking for something specific we get more and more acquainted. Once I start seeing them over and over, and seeing the assembled bits and what might attach to them I get more familiar with the pieces and the overall image. What looked like a bunch of pieces that were very much alike are now becoming old friends, and when I get ready to assemble that curtain or a specific book I know which pieces I’m looking for and what tiny little blob of color on a certain piece will fit perfectly.
Sometimes I like a quick fix, a little puzzle with few pieces that goes together quickly, especially after working a larger or difficult puzzle. But sometimes I truly enjoy the challenge of a puzzle that takes a bit more brain power and goes together more slowly. This is one of those puzzles.
Aimee Stewart’s images are my happy place, and I’ve assembled many of them. The colors she uses and the way she blends them together makes for not only a beautiful image, but for puzzles that are pleasing to look at and even more pleasing to build. This one is going together more slowly than usual for a 1000 piece puzzle, but I’m enjoying the placement of every piece. 😍
What? Another Christmas puzzle? I know, but I had three of them already assembled and waiting in my queue before I purchased the Terrible, Rotten, No Good, Very Bad Advent Calendar. So you’ll just have to put up with this and two more holiday puzzles before they are all done for the year.
Although the image is fun and interesting, the fit of this puzzle was not at all to my liking. It has the super tight fit that some Springbok puzzles have, where you have to use some upper body strength to press the pieces into place. It also makes for a puzzle that doesn’t always lay completely flat, because it’s so tight that it curls up in places. I know that some people prefer this very tight fit, but it’s just not for me.
Gnarly fit aside, the assembly was still engrossing and relaxing. Each of the fabrics/textures in the background were easy to pick out and assemble, and at the end it was just a matter of filling in each ornament. Calming, absorbing, entertaining, and all together lovely.
This was my favorite of the sections; Santa after work with his honeydew list of chores. I was able to read some of them, and he certainly has his work cut out for him! Fix the landing beacon, tune the glockenspiel, insulate the attic, and several other things that I wasn’t able to read. That ought to keep him busy and out of Mrs. Claus’ hair for a little while. 🔨🎅
How adorable are these two? Mom has chocolate dipped strawberries for feet, and dad has a licorice scarf and a peanut butter cup hat! Too cute!
Even though the fit was too tight for me, this puzzle still made me happy and provided me with several hours of alone time early in the mornings – peaceful quiet and puzzling. Lovely.
This puzzle is part of a batch of puzzles I’ve brought over from mom’s house. She loved this type of puzzle, especially with the Hallmark ornaments, and grama loved them too. Collages are my favorite type of puzzle, and these Springbok collages with the fabric backgrounds are so fun to assemble – that makes three generations of women who loved to puzzle, andloved this type of puzzle as well – and I assembled it this year in loving memory of the two women whom I deeply loved and learned my love of puzzling from. 💖
The 20th Party Parade by James Alexander – Jumbo (Wasgij) – 1000 pieces
I love being able to show an entire Wasgij puzzle without having to worry about spoiling anything. Normally I have to make sure I’m photographing the correct person from the finished puzzle, and I have to crop it so I don’t show anything extra. This time I didn’t have any worries at all, this is the box image bonus puzzle and there are no spoilers here. It was a very busy image, but it made for a fun puzzle.
This was definitely not an easy assembly, the image is so detailed and all the boxes everywhere gave me quite a challenge. Most of the boxes in the foreground were pretty easy, but the ones in the background were much more difficult. There were so many in the store that all the smaller boxes looked alike. I saved them for last, but they were still a bit of a challenge. Overall though, I enjoyed it very much.
The intricacy of this illustration is amazing, it’s only about 15 pieces out of 1000 but it’s so incredibly detailed. I’ve actually assembled the Wasgij Mystery Puzzle #13, and this is exactly what the box looks like. I’m sure computers helped out quite a bit, but still, this entire image must have been a LOT of work!
I haven’t put together the actual Wasgij yet, this one is from the perspective of the priest, I wonder what everyone is looking at. I guess I’ll find out soon enough. 🙂
