Tag: 40 pieces

Clown Fish

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

Clown Fish – Wentworth (Mini Mindful) – 40 pieces

This Mini Mindful puzzle from Wentworth certainly lived up to it’s name! The collection is designed to “calm your mind, piece by piece” with mostly difficult shapes and images that require concentration. You had to pay extremely close attention and I ended up finding that the rest of the world almost fades away as you’re looking for the next piece or color to fit into the picture.

Wentworth’s mini puzzles were already favorites of mine, but the Mini Mindful collection is even better in my opinion. Sometimes with the regular 40 piece minis it goes together a little too quickly, but the Mini Mindful puzzles take more brain power and it normally isn’t a quick assembly – love that!

The triangular pieces made this already challenging image even more so – it probably took me around 25-30 minutes to put this one together. Exactly what I needed that day. 🔺💖

Ruby the Red Beaked Emu

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Ruby the Red Beaked Emu by Susan Janson – Mr. Bob Puzzles – 40 pieces

Isn’t this an adorable and very different holiday image? I love it! Ruby the emu is looking so proud of her red beak and the fact that she’s out in front of the “sleigh”, so adorable!

This puzzle has been laying around the house here for at least a year, maybe more. However long it’s been, I’m so glad it’s finally gotten assembled, cause it’s so damn cute. Santa has on a t-shirt and some holiday trimmed shorts with sandals. So sweet. 😊

We all know how Stacey feels about Christmas puzzles and their sometimes sickly sweet cookie cutter images (🤢); this one certainly isn’t one of those, and that’s part of why it makes me so happy! It went together pretty quickly, and was entertaining and just difficult enough to be interesting. Perfect!

The whimsies aren’t overly Christmas-y, but I’ll take ’em. Love the teddy bear. 🧸

Are you feeling in the holiday spirit yet? I’m not. But maybe all these little puzzles coming up will get me there. 🧩💚

Happy Hanukkah this evening to all those who celebrate! 🕎

Candy Calaveras

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles12 Comments

Candy Calaveras by Randy Wollenmann – Wentworth – 40 pieces

This amazingly detailed and gorgeous image made for a bit of difficult puzzling, even at only 40 pieces. But it’s so beautiful and my love for the decorative skulls (calaveras) and my appreciation for the holiday Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) made it even more fun, even with the tougher assembly.

The skulls are very cool, and the cactus is ok – but a taco and a chili? I’m not so sure about those two.

I enjoyed putting this little puzzle together; the bright colors and busyness of the image made it a little challenging, but having whimsy pieces makes it a bit easier. The odd shapes and the pieces that fit around them are always a good place to start if you’re having trouble with the image itself. Once you get a few pieces put together it becomes easier and before you know it you’ve got a completed puzzle. 🧩💚

The Day of the Dead is a two day Mexican holiday for remembering and praying for friends and family members who have died. I’m not of Mexican heritage, but I’ve always loved the meaning of the holiday and especially the traditional decorative skulls. The candy form, called sugar skulls (calaveras de azúcar) represent loved ones who have passed on and are used as an offering – they’re typically placed on an altar or a gravestone – to the spirit of the dead.

To me the skulls are beautiful, and what they represent is even more so. A day to remember the loved ones you’ve lost, what a wonderful holiday. To me, saying “Happy Day of the Dead” just seems wrong, so I’ll just send you good wishes today, and hope that the memories of your loved ones bring you happiness.💕

Beneath the Waves

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

Beneath the Waves by Lauren Altes – Mr. Bob Puzzles – 40 pieces

Please forgive the wonky pictures in this one, I have no excuse other than possibly exhaustion from all the travel. This is the first of the puzzles from our recent visit to Michigan, so get ready for a week or so of beautiful (mostly) wooden puzzles assembled by me and the new additions to my puzzle posse

Still, isn’t this a bright and beautiful little puzzle? It was so nice to sit and talk while my sister-in-law made dinner and I put this colorful mini puzzle together. (I did offer to help with the cooking, but sometimes the most helpful thing you can do is stay out of someone’s way – that was the case on this particular evening.)

It didn’t take much concentration, the colors and the whimsy pieces helped to make this one pretty simple to put together – but it was still nice to work with even as easy as it was.

It seems these were just a generic set of whimsies, they didn’t really match the artwork at all. But that’s ok with me, it was still lots of fun.

The artist, Lauren Altes, also did the artwork for the puzzle that Mr. Bob Puzzles was commissioned to do for the National Breast Cancer Foundation of Australia in 2021- Look After Your. I loved her sense of humor, the colors, the composition; it made for a fantastic assembly and for such a good cause too.

I’ll have to check the rest of my Mr. Bob Puzzles here at the house and see if there are any more by this artist, I enjoy her work very much!

Bluebells

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Bluebells – Wentworth (Mini Mindful) – 40 pieces

As beautiful as this image is, I have to say this Mini Mindful was a bit disappointing for me. All of the other puzzles in this line that I’ve done have had tessellating pieces, or a repeating pattern of interestingly shaped pieces – this seemed just like a regular micro puzzle from Wentworth.

There’s not a thing wrong with Wentworth’s micro puzzles, but I was hoping for more of a challenge with the Mini Mindful; one that makes you really focus because it’s more difficult than a “regular” puzzle. This is just my opinion of course, but that’s what this blog is – my opinions about the puzzles I assemble.

Cute whimsies to go along with the outdoor image. They made the puzzle even easier to assemble, the shapes around them were very easy to find. 😢

Still, it’s a lovely image and I enjoyed putting it together even if I was a little let down by the piece shapes.