Tag: 150 pieces

Abstract Love

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles5 Comments

Abstract Love – MicroPuzzles – 150 pieces

The blocks and shapes of color in this image made for such a fun assembly – absolutely loved this one! As an added bonus my daughter helped me finish this one when she came to spend some time with me following my surgery, puzzling with my loved ones always makes me happy. 💕

I was about halfway through the assembly before I realized that the image spells out “love” in an abstract way – well done Captain Obvious. Sigh.

This is one of the puzzles that came in my subscription box from MicroPuzzles in the summer of last year, Both puzzles are double-sided, and the reverse side is a line drawing of the color image on the front. The surprise gift in the box was a small set of paints, two small paintbrushes, and an easel to display your artwork once it’s been painted. So fun!

I didn’t paint anything, as you can see. I’m too much of a perfectionist, and deciding what color goes where and making sure I didn’t mess things up would be too much stress for me. My decision was to just enjoy the puzzle itself and forego the painting.

These mini puzzles are quite small, in this review of Stained Glass Tree you can see how small they are with something next to the completed puzzle for reference. I know that these little ones aren’t for everyone, but if they look like something you might enjoy they are highly recommended.

Even with my aging eyes I can still see well enough to work with these little pieces, and there’s something about putting the small puzzles together that is so satisfying. Can’t wait for this month’s subscription box to see what’s next!

In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling8 Comments

I’ve got a few puzzles going at the moment…

Color Garden – MicroPuzzles – 150 pieces

This is one of my “bathroom puzzles” in progress. The lighting in this picture doesn’t do it justice; it’s an excellent image that I’m truly enjoying working on even if it’s only just a few pieces at a time.

Kuala Lumpur by Harimao Lee – Blanc Puzzles – 300 pieces

This is the puzzle on my board right now. Yesterday was a terrible pain day and I basically didn’t get out of bed until early this morning to update this post – so this puzzle sat alone and unloved all day. I thought it would be finished by now, but it looks like it won’t be completely assembled until perhaps later today or maybe even tomorrow. It’s been pretty fun so far, but the easy part is over and now all that’s left is the more difficult section at the top, we’ll see how it goes.

Flower Bee – Crafthub – 146 pieces

This horrid little puzzle is something I’m almost regretting purchasing in the first place, but at the same time I’m glad I gave it a shot. At the very least I can warn others not to purchase any of these terrible quality things.

In the beginning it was being assembled in one of my trays (in bed) but I had to move it to one corner of my fabric-covered board – because the pieces do not connect together well or at all, and the slightest touch will disrupt everything. I was constantly having to reposition pieces that moved around because they were accidentally brushed with my arm or merely by trying to connect another piece. The fabric makes it a little less likely that pieces come apart with an accidental touch.

I bought this wooden puzzle because it was – no joke – $7.99. Here’s what I’ll say about that…you get what you pay for and I should have known better. To say I’m disappointed in the quality would be a gross understatement; I’m disgusted with myself for buying it and am finding the assembly oddly engrossing as well as extremely frustrating. But, as usual, I’ve got a bee in my bonnet (no pun intended) about finishing this one. You’ll be hearing plenty from me when I post about the puzzle once it’s complete. I have MUCH to say about it. 🤬

I’m hoping to have all three finished before we leave for our vacation on Thursday. It’s always good to come to home to an empty board; we might find a fun looking puzzle or two while we we’re out and I might want to get to assembling it right away when we return. 😎

So those are the puzzles in various states of assembly right now at my house. What are you working on?

Secret Ingredient: Love

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles3 Comments

Secret Ingredient: Love – MicroPuzzles – 150 pieces

My apologies for the wonky picture, as you can see it wasn’t taken on my board; it was on a tray in my bedroom and getting the lighting and the angle just right is difficult in there. I did my best, that’s all I can do. You can’t really tell because of the glare at the bottom, but it says p.s. the secret ingredient is love. 💕

If all that dark blue makes you think this was a little difficult you are absolutely right. Luckily there was some extra help available – this is a double-sided puzzle with a recipe for “Puzzle Pie” on the back, all those wonderful little words were perfect for when finding the right blue piece became a challenge. 🥧

This one was sitting in the bathroom for a while, but hubby seemed to want nothing to do with it, so the assembly fell completely to me. That’s alright, it was easy enough to take into the bedroom and work on it while watching tv. Besides, with the darker side better lighting was a must.

This recipe isn’t too far off from my own apple pie recipe, sounds like it would taste amazing (as long as it was a homemade pie crust). You can see in instruction #5 that you need to cut using MicroPuzzles cutters; they came in the box with that month’s subscription – two baking themed puzzles and four cookie cutters shaped like puzzle pieces.

I’m not feeling up to making pies just yet, but I’m looking forward to making some puzzle shaped sugar cookies soon. 🍪

Heart Nosed Ned

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Heart Nosed Ned by Dylan R. – MicroPuzzles – 150 pieces

This puzzle had me a little faked out; the border was a bit of a challenge, but I didn’t find the interior of the image overly difficult to assemble. In the end it was a great puzzle that makes me smile every time I see it. 💖🐶

When I started this puzzle it had been almost a year since my last MicroPuzzle was assembled, and I was honestly a bit hesitant – my eyes are almost a year older and surely haven’t gotten any better! My worries were unfounded, all that was needed was good lighting and the pieces seemed to fall into place (as long as I’ve chosen the correct ones of course).

Heart Nosed Ned seems like a puzzle made especially for me. Not only does it look like our beloved Buddy, who left us about a year and a half ago, but it was painted by a young man with autism; if you’re a long-time reader you may remember that both of my sons have autism. Once I saw this beauty on the MicroPuzzles website and read about it’s artist there was no way it wasn’t going to find it’s way home to me. It’s my perfect puzzle!

This is an excerpt from this puzzle’s web page:

The price includes a charitable donation to Art with Intention.  Art with Intention is an art enrichment program for those thriving with autism, Alzheimer’s, down syndrome, cerebral palsy and stroke recovery.

— ABOUT THE ARTIST –– DYLAN R.

Dylan is a young and energetic artist with autism. He shows his creative talents with drawing, painting, and clay. When he has a brush in his hand, he often loves to paint trees and animals. Other activities he enjoys include hiking, kayaking, and DreamWorks cruises. Dylan has been painting with our program since early 2016 and his work has always been a crowd favorite.

As an added bonus, this month’s puzzle subscription box had this fantastic stand to hold your puzzle container. It’s a great help to have the image available and upright so if help is needed you can make sure you’re looking for the correct piece.

I absolutely adored this puzzle – great quality, beautiful image, wonderful artist story – all around fantastic! 😍

To all our puzzle posse members in Canada – I pray you are all safe and well despite the raging wildfires, and you have my continued prayers for the safety of you and yours, and for a quick end to this horrific situation. Please stay safe, you’re important to us!💖

Lights, Camera – Puzzle!

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Lights, Camera – Puzzle! – MicroPuzzles – 150 pieces

This was the companion image to the 3D puzzle that I posted back in March 2022. It was a difficult image for me, and I found myself constantly checking the online image to see where the tiny things made of two pieces went.

This one was apparently too hard for hubby as well, because after many days of no progress I had to take it out of the bathroom and work on it under better lighting in the puzzle room. Oh well, that’s alright, it got completed, and it must have been somewhat entertaining because I didn’t just give up on it.

All recollections were either typed up when I composed the draft of this post, or found from my blurb on the completed puzzles page of the blog. Thank goodness there’s something around to jog this aged old memory!

Love a double sided image!