Yuletide Puppies

On July 18, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

This micro puzzle has the most beautiful colors, absolutely gorgeous! It was fun to assemble and a little more complicated than it looks. It took me a little bit to find the right pieces, but it was completely worth it!

I love Dominic Davison images, they’re beautiful to look at and interesting to assemble. I’ve done several puzzles of his artwork and have enjoyed every one. There are plenty more of his puzzles I’d be happy to do.

The whimsies are so cute!

You’d think that starting with the whimsy pieces and working outward would make the puzzles very easy to assemble; and although that does help some it doesn’t make the entire puzzle easy. If it were too easy I think I wouldn’t be very interested in doing them.

There are still 4 more Christmas/winter micro puzzles to do this month. I’m hoping when I put them together it’ll bring a nice chill to the air to beat this nasty hot weather! ☀

The Puzzle that Froze Christmas

On July 3, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles1 Comment

This is one of the “extra difficult” cuts, and although I didn’t find it that challenging in the micro puzzle, I can see how it would be a bear in a larger piece count. This was also produced as a 280 piece puzzle, YIKES! That one would have challenged both my patience and my sanity. 😱

You can see below that there are very few different shapes to work with, which can be daunting – but as long as you pay close attention to the image as you assemble it you’ll get there.

The repeating pattern of the reindeer is so fun, and to me it even looks amazing from the back – I would display it either way!

I started by separating piece shapes – that seems the easiest way to work these difficult cuts with challenging images. That’s true for this puzzle especially because the color scheme is only black and white. There are left-facing reindeer, right-facing reindeer, and pieces that go in between and on the edges. From there I started with the darkest part of the fence and worked outward. Patience and attention to the image are all that is required. I had a great time with this one!

I still have a bunch of these Christmas and winter themed micro puzzles to show this month, I hope everyone doesn’t get tired of them. There are a couple more “extra difficult” cut puzzles, but the majority of them are regular images with the regular Wentworth cuts. They’re so entertaining to put together, and my hope is that they’re entertaining to see and read about as well.

Winter in the City

On July 1, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

I thought I’d start off “Christmas in July” on the blog with a Wentworth micro puzzle. I’m not that much of a fan of Christmas puzzles, most of the images seem so similar, and they’re just not my taste. I do love a wooden puzzle though, and if the puzzle is well made I could assemble just about any image. 😉

Winter in the City was great fun to assemble, I love grabbing one of Wentworth’s micro puzzles and spending a few minutes putting together such a wonderfully crafted and intricate puzzle. The cut looks simple, but they are more difficult than they seem; it’s so interesting to me that while most of the pieces are “average” looking, they’re more of a challenge than you might think. I love it!

The whimsy pieces are very “Christmasy” – Santa, a wreath, a snowman, an ornament, and an angel. The pieces are so detailed! Each of the regular micro puzzles has 5 whimsies, one in each corner and one in the center; unless it’s one with an extra difficult cut that has repetitive or tessellating pieces. I have a few of these extra difficult ones for this month, they’re pretty darn fun too!

All of the puzzles this month won’t be Christmas themed, but there will be quite a few of them. If you’re a fan, enjoy! If you’re not, there will be plenty of regular images too; as long as I can assemble enough to keep up! 🎄

Bookshelf

On June 25, 2018June 25, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

At the end of a day that contained no puzzling I grabbed a micro puzzle to feed my addiction. This beauty was just what I needed!

Wentworth puzzles are beautifully made wooden puzzles produced in Wiltshire, England. They are made from a specially developed wooden board taken from sustainable sources. The pieces have an excellent feel in your hands, and there’s nothing like the satisfying “plunk” when they fall into place. The whimsy pieces are intricate and interesting, and usually match the nature of the image. It’s so enjoyable for me to just open one of their puzzles and look at all the pieces; even if I don’t start working on it right away I still find it satisfying to just handle the pieces and see all the detailed whimsies.

This 40 piece micro puzzle was pretty challenging, but still entertaining to assemble. I love Colin Thompson’s artwork, and I even have this particular image in a larger piece count from a different puzzle company. I haven’t assembled it yet, but I’m looking forward to having a larger image to work with and reading the spines of all the books.

I love jigsaw puzzles of all kinds and sizes, and even a 40 piece puzzle is entertaining and satisfying for me. I’m enjoying more smaller piece count puzzles these days, and it’s the puzzling itself that makes me happy – no matter how many pieces there are.

Penguin Pandemonium

On June 8, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

This is the most challenging of the Wentworth micro puzzles that I’ve assembled so far. At only 41 pieces you wouldn’t think it would be that difficult, but I actually put it away the first time I attempted it because I just couldn’t get my brain to work right and none of the pieces wanted to fit together properly.

I adore these micro puzzles, and am so glad that I bought a BUNCH of them last year. They’re perfect when I want to puzzle but just can’t get out of bed or even sit all the way up. I can dump out the pieces on a cookie sheet lined with paper and puzzle lying down. I’ve got 16 of them left that I haven’t assembled yet, and will be doing 8 of them next month for Christmas in July. There are a few “extra difficult” holiday puzzles included in those 8 with an extra difficult cut – repetitive pieces and no whimsies. I’m looking forward to them!

The mostly black and white image made it difficult, as did the cut; you can see the shapes of the pieces below…

Luckily my brain cells were firing properly (for the most part) on my second attempt at this puzzle and I was able to get it done. The perspective helped; with the larger penguins at the bottom of the puzzle at the smaller groups at the top. It was an enjoyable challenge to complete this image and I was pretty proud when I heard that last piece plunk into place. Success!