Pretty Kitties 2

Pretty Kitties by Keith Kimberlin – Cra-Z-Art – Approx. 125/500 pieces

Keith Kimberlin really knows how to get animals to look as adorable as possible, doesn’t he? These sets are the perfect size to assemble, not too much fur of any one color – just about right for a cup of coffee in the morning. Or whatever warm, comforting beverage sounds good to you. ☕

I think my daughter would have loved these puzzles glued and hung on her wall when she was younger. Before the rebellious teenage years where they hate everyone, no one understands them or has ever gone through what they have to deal with, etc……. Sorry, got off on a tangent there. Parenting is hard.

If you’ve never assembled one of these sets, they come in a box all mixed together and there are two ways you chould choose to put them together. Each separate puzzle has a colored backing so that you could sort them by color and assemble each puzzle on it’s own. Or you could choose to work it as a 500 piece puzzle with no sorting. Puzzler’s choice! (In case you’re wondering, I’m lazy; I sort them by color and work each one separately.)

I like this one, the pink color is a not really my style but the heel seems a little less like stilts. They’re still pretty high though, I’d tip over if I tried to wear them.

This is Bea, she’s an old soul with a flair for the dramatic. She has no problem mixing a button down and a cardigan with both a string of pretty beads and a sassy heel. She enjoys Gregory Peck and Cary Grant movies and even crochets some of her own clothes. She hopes to go film school and make movies like they used to in the old days; with a great plot and flawed but decent characters. She loves herself exactly how she is and doesn’t care what anyone else thinks. Bea is awesome.

Sparkles! This disco queen here goes by her stage name – Ally Cat. She’s a performer in all ways, despite that sad looking face. When she steps on the stage her face lights up and she brightens the day of everyone in the audience. When she’s not performing she spends some days working at the local community center helping at risk teens, and the rest of her time is spent on self care and alone time. She enjoys jigsaw puzzles with lots of people in them, and would love to have one as a pet!

This wild one is much more my style – or it used to be – love an animal print! Although there is no way that a heel that high was ever achievable for me to walk in. Ever.

This is Bill. He is cranky. He doesn’t know why, that’s just his normal state of being. He’s been sent to pick up a pair of very tall heels for his wife to use in her current sculpture called “The Pain of Beauty”. Bill would rather be at home watching wrestling on the tv and drinking beer. Bill is a typical dude and having to run this errand embarrasses him. I think he needs a break. Chill out Bill.

Pretty Kitties 1

Pretty Kitties by Keith Kimberlin – Cra-Z-Art – Approx. 125/500 pieces

Ok, I know we just finished the freak shakes puzzles a few days ago, and I apologize for another set of these puzzles/posts so quickly – but this blog is about the puzzles I assemble, and this is the order in which they were completed. But, if you enjoyed my posts of Selfies and Unicorns last year, you may enjoy these too. These fabulous shoes and purses with kittens inside them are just begging for backstories, aren’t they?

Trying to ease myself back into puzzling I decided that even though I’d just finished freak shakes a few puzzles ago that a set of these smaller, shaped puzzles would easier for me than a 500 piece puzzle that was all one image.

These sets make me unbelievably happy and for that I do not apologize. There are still three sets here that have yet to be assembled – and four more on the way – but I’m going to try to space them out a little better. (I have a Christmas Town set with 12 buildings covered in snow and holiday decorations that you’ll be seeing in the next month or so ⛪❄)

I love this boot! The color isn’t one I’d choose, but it was pretty darn fun to assemble. These small kitten puzzles are nice because there isn’t too much fur in each one to make it so challenging.

This is Beatrice, and she’s quite shy and introverted but fiercely independent and headstrong. She’d rather be creating her own artwork or curling up with a good manga graphic novel than hanging out with friends. She hopes to attend the Cat-ifornia Institute of the Arts once she graduates, and looks forward to owning and running her own gallery one day.

Not as big a fan of this purse, but love that the kitty seems to be wearing a boa – that tells me plenty about her personality!

This is Francesca, she is a big fan of mirrors and all pictures ever taken of herself. She loves spending daddy’s money, and hearing all about how pretty others think she is. She has no actual life skills, almost no common sense, and no plans for the future – other than becoming homecoming queen her senior year. She is a vapid twit.

Love a platform shoe (to look at, not to walk in), but this one isn’t really my jam. Neither are the kitties to be honest, but I must admit that they’re cute. 😸

This is Steve, he’s a drag queen and loves a super tall heel. He looks young, but it’s just good genes. When he’s not working at his nightclub he’s at home with the family playing in the sandbox and refurbishing their fixer-upper home. He’s funny, faithful, and fabulous. I love Steve.

Freak Shakes 4

Freak Shakes – Cra-Z-Art – Approx. 125/500 pieces

Alas, today is the end of the freak shakes. While the images are so bizarre to me, the puzzles themselves were a joy to put together. Little puzzles I can do quickly have become some of my favorites. While I have completed (very) large piece count puzzles, as I age the smaller ones seem to bring me more pleasure. These sets full of a dozen or more small puzzles to assemble bring a smile to my face, and give me a sense of accomplishment with each completed image. I’m in love with them!

Cra-Z-Art is about to get a little more of my money, while trolling for puzzles a few days ago I found four sets that I do not own. The purchase will have to wait several days though, as my birthday is very soon and according to family tradition I am not allowed to buy myself things so as not to inadvertently get something that has already been purchased as a gift. But the day after, those babies are gonna be mine! 😉

This one makes a little more sense to me, an ice cream cone on top of a shake – that’s not too over the top. The colors of the shake itself are beautiful.

He’s a tall boy, and holiday themed. Mr. Gingerbread has a scarf on to keep himself warm, and the red and green candies make it seem like this one is for the holidays. I’m not sure what’s at his feet though, if you ask me it looks as though it’s already been eaten. 🤢

Love the sprinkles around the edge of the donut, or whatever that is on the top of the glass. Strawberry isn’t my favorite flavor, but this one doesn’t look too bad.


It may seem odd to some that taking a picture and chopping it into little pieces – only to put it back together again – makes us puzzle people so happy. That’s ok, people can think we’re odd. No doubt odd is probably a pretty tame word for describing me. I make no apologies for my love of puzzles, how many puzzles I own, how much I spend on them, or anything else. It makes me happy; looking at puzzles makes me happy, buying them, assembling them, talking about them, sharing pictures of them, blogging about them – all of it makes this little old lady happy.

When I spend “too much” money on a big batch of wooden puzzles, or cardboard puzzles, or small piece count puzzles in tubes – there is that moment of guilt. Even though the click of my mouse to finish the purchase makes me almost giddy, in my head I’m feeling guilty for a little while. My life has been spent taking care of everyone else; married at 19 to my high school sweetheart, got pregnant five months later, had three children by the age of 23. When there was extra money it was spent on something for the kids, or the house, or my husband – almost never for myself.

Still married to my high school sweetheart (still in love too!), kids are grown, and I’ve finally found something that makes me happy. Jigsaw puzzles. Wooden ones, cardboard ones, little ones, big ones – love them all. And I’ve finally learned to spend money on myself just because. I still have those moments of feeling guilty for spending money on non-necessities, but I stomp those stupid thoughts down – I crush them underfoot. I’m worth it, my mental health is worth it, so guilt can go pound sand. Or take a hike. Or bleep all the way off.

PUZZLES ROCK!

Freak Shakes 3

Freak Shakes – Cra-Z-Art – Approx. 125/500 pieces

Well, here we are for the third installment of ridiculous shakes that would be near impossible to actually consume. They were lots of fun to put together though, and that’s what matters most.

Have these puzzles inspired any of you to give one of these Cra-Z-Art sets a try? They really are fun to put together, don’t listen to the ornery old lady complaining about these crazy new-fangled shakes the youngsters are having. She’s in a mood. Just smile and nod.

And if you’re thinking you might want to give these small shaped puzzles a try – go for it! There is much fun to be had by all. (Plus, I found four new sets that I haven’t purchased yet. Oh my!)😊

As a child of the 70s and 80s, I must confess that little dehydrated marshmallows (like the ones in Lucky Charms cereal) are very tasty indeed. While the shake itself doesn’t interest me at all, those marshmallows look yummy – and squeaky too!

By the way, what kind of ice cream is that purple color? I’m not adventurous with ice cream flavors, mostly chocolate for me – or homemade flavors with fruit. I’ve never even seen blackberry or blueberry ice cream that color, and those are the fruits that turn the most purple.

A muffin, what looks like a mini waffle, chocolate cereal, crackers, a cookie, some other stuff I cannot identify, and lots of caramel popcorn. That is truly a freak of a shake!

Think this is my favorite of them all – just because of the colors. It’s bright and sort of exciting to look at, and it was really fun to put together as well.

Freak Shakes 2

Freak Shakes – Cra-Z-Art – Approx. 125/500 pieces

Although these are shakes that would NEVER find their way to my table at a restaurant, they’re lovely to look at – and assemble! In fact, these most likely are designed as images only. I’ve never seen anything like these out in the world. Have you?

I love these puzzle sets, blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda. You’ve heard it all before. Cra-Z-Art is not a “premium quality” puzzle company, but they have these fantastic sets of small shaped puzzles that bring me much joy. I don’t need them to be the world’s most fantastic quality – just need them to have good enough quality to be enjoyable, and available for me to play with. 😎

This doesn’t even look appetizing to me. How would you pick up the glass to drink it? There are sprinkles and candies everywhere on the outside of the glass. Am I overthinking this? Probably. It was fun to put together regardless of whether or not I would actually drink it.

The colors of this one are beautiful, even better in person than my picture shows. The rainbow strip of candy (it’s name escapes me at the moment) adds a nice touch – especially the part all scrunched up on a stick. Very cute!

This looks like a shake for Valentine’s Day. Pink and red with hearts and love everywhere. Blech. Cranky old lady is back. It looks like a Pepto Bismol shake. Plus, look at all the crap on the outside of this glass! Yuk.

Sorry, back to this puzzle. Despite it sickly sweet appearance, it was a little more challenging to assemble than I bargained for, but it was enjoyable even with it’s difficulty.