100 Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix – Hartmaze – 253 pieces
My son gave this puzzle to my mom as a Christmas present, and the three of us assembled it on Christmas Day. We found out that it is so much more difficult assembling an intricately cut puzzle with no whimsy pieces, but we had a great time working together to assemble it anyway. It is really lovely quality for only a $25 wooden puzzle, and I was thoroughly impressed!
I’ve only ever found Hartmaze puzzles on Amazon, and they only seem to carry a few different images to choose from. But I found the quality to be excellent, and I would definitely love to assemble more.
There’s a self-imposed puzzle buying ban at My Jigsaw Journal for the moment, but eventually I’m sure I’ll be buying one of my own. 🙂
It’s Christmas Time by Randy Wollenmann – Wentworth – 245 pieces
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! This puzzle is a great Christmas holiday treat with a cup of hot cocoa and a cookie. Fun, fun, fun puzzle with unique pieces that added an interesting twist to our afternoon entertainment. Not too difficult, pieces fit nicely together. Awesome quality pieces, colors vivid, and so smooth to the touch!
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Ok, I know I said no more holiday puzzles this year, but today’s post was composed by a guest writer – my favorite sister-in-law, Lena. 💗
This is the puzzle I sent her family for Christmas; they completed it yesterday and she sent me the picture and told me she was sending a “blog post” about it. I think she may have been joking at first, but I told her to write it up and I’d post it here today. Don’t judge my writing too harshly compared to hers – she has a background in communications, and I’m just a wife and mother who loves puzzles. 😉
Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays to all my readers, friends, and family – and some of you are all three of those things! I hope your day is filled with peace, joy, and lots of love. 💝
I’ve been wanting a puzzle that spelled something out for a while now, and I finally got one! 😁
Vintage Greetings by Lois B. Sutton – Wentworth – 250 pieces
This was a beautiful but difficult puzzle – much more of a challenge than I thought it would be. It’s so lovely though, worth every bit of time and money spent.
Partridge in a Pear Tree by Rachel Arbuckle – Wentworth – 250 pieces
Such a beautiful puzzle, and so much more challenging than it looks! Gorgeous colors, fantastic whimsies – so enjoyable!
This puzzle had all the “12 Days” represented in the whimsy pieces. I tried to put them in order starting at the beginning, but funnily enough it was easier to start with day 12 at the bottom and sing my way back to a partridge in a pear tree. 🎶
With six of the days represented by birds of some sort, I had to go over it in my head a few times to be certain each one is in the right spot. I’m pretty sure I got it right, though surely someone will let me know if it isn’t.
As usual, a partridge in a partridge. 🙂 I absolutely adored these puzzles and had so much fun assembling them. They’re so lovely and entertaining to work with, they might become a yearly tradition.
I’m having the worst time being motivated to puzzle these past few days; perhaps it’s the big build up to Christmas and all the things that have to be done, perhaps not. All I know is the puzzle on my board at the moment has barely been touched in the last 3 or 4 days and it’s going to be put back into the box today. There’s been almost no progress at all since the first day I started working on it, so it’ll have to wait for another time.
Not one person has asked me what I wanted for Christmas this year, so I’m taking that to mean either they’re tired of me saying “I don’t want or need anything” or they’re all certain of what to get for me. Hmmm, wonder what that could be? So, in order to be sure that there is ample space to work on any gifts with that may arrive with “some assembly required”, the current puzzle is taking a nap for a few weeks at least. If there aren’t any dissected pictures under the tree, no worries, there are plenty here now!
Two Turtle Doves by Rachel Arbuckle – Wentworth – 250 pieces
I thought this would be easier than Three French Hens, boy was I wrong. It’s so beautiful though thatI didn’t mind one little bit – absolutely gorgeous!
There’s a symmetry and interconnectedness with Rachel Arbuckle’s artwork – I’m not sure I have the vocabulary to define exactly why I love it, I just do. The background, foreground, colors, accents – everything seems to work perfectly together. And pairing her artwork with the quality of Wentworth puzzles makes it even more fantastic in my mind. Loved this one!
I was surprised there wasn’t a partridge in this set of whimsies; Three French Hens had all the correct birds. I did enjoy the Dickensian characters though, so fun!
Doves in doves! This was my favorite of the 3 puzzles in this series so far; even though it was difficult it was completely engrossing and entertaining – everything about it was exactly right for me. 😎
I try to always remind my readers to treat themselves to a wooden puzzle at least once. Or if you don’t feel as if that’s something you can do for yourself, you can always ask for a small one for your birthday. There are a LOT of companies that make reasonably priced small wooden puzzles with excellent quality and you are worth spending a little extra money on!
*It’s too late for this year, but maybe next year write to Santa at the end of November and the elves might make you a fantastic wooden puzzle to put under the tree. 🎄
My Jigsaw Journal 