Country Store by Art of Eduard – Buffalo – 500 pieces
I enjoyed this puzzle very much, and if it suits your fancy I highly recommend it! The quality is excellent, and the image makes for entertaining puzzling. Mom came over to help me finish it and we both had a great time. 🙂
General Store puzzles are usually great fun – there are so many little signs to assemble, and so many things to discover. One of my readers asked me to be sure to show what was behind the windows, and here they are…
You can’t see much with all the signs and things in the way, but there are some shelves inside that you can see.
I love the “Free Beer Tomorrow” sign – it’s never tomorrow! 😉
Fall’s Bounty was an entertaining puzzle with beautiful artwork by Marjolein Bastin. And I have to say it was one of the best quality Ceaco puzzles I’ve done. Shocked? I was too!
I’ve done Ceaco puzzles with very good quality and some that were awful, it’s always a guess whether or not you’ll be getting a good one. That’s why it’s normally a brand we only purchase from thrift stores. This puzzle though, and another from this series that I’m currently working on, are very good quality and I was quite impressed. The pieces are a good thickness, with a wonderful fit and beautiful reproduction.
The assembly went quickly, but the image had enough challenge to make it interesting at well; I enjoyed placing every piece. Marjolein Bastin’s beautiful nature artwork makes for great puzzling and is definitely recommended. 👍
The Messenger by Kevin Sloan – Artifact – 313 pieces
Mom and I assembled this gorgeous puzzle together, and had a great time with it! Many thanks to Penny, my email pen pal and fellow puzzle blogger who sent this in a puzzle swap. We loved that we just got a bag of pieces with no image – that meant more fun for us!
I didn’t take a picture of the whimsies beforehand, but I did turn the puzzle over to see the outline of pieces from the back. It has odd coloration on the back though, and it’s difficult to make out all the shapes.
There were a bunch of turtle shapes, a globe, an alarm clock, what looks like a person standing in front of a fire, and in the center a small tableau with 2 elephants in front of a mountain range. I love the Roman numerals around the border too – I was so proud when I figured out that they would be in order around the edge! Our favorite though was the large multipiece turtle…
The irregular edge is supposed to look like the edges of books stacked on each other. It took me a bit to realize that the edges weren’t going to be straight. I was so absorbed in looking at the pieces and colors that I didn’t see that there weren’t straight edges!
This was the second of the Victory wooden puzzles that hubby bought for me, and it seems as though the ridiculously loose fit is just how they are. I’m not a fan.
I did enjoy the image much more than the previous one, the colors were much nicer to work with. It’s just a preference thing, many people prefer photographic images but I do not.
I didn’t really think anything about it until my mom mentioned it, but I agree with her that it’s a little annoying that the whimsy pieces have nothing whatsoever to do with the image. Having automobiles, a jet, a battleship, and a tank (I think) makes absolutely no sense for a puzzle with a historical image. Hengest and Horsa were legendary brothers who are said to have led the first Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain in the 5th century. I wasn’t there, but I’m pretty certain they didn’t invade with fighter jets and Ford Fairlanes!
All of the drawbacks aside, I enjoyed assembling this puzzle much more than Swiss Market Square. The image was the main factor for me, as the quality was pretty much exactly the same. The colors are gorgeous, and it was fun to figure out the picture as you went along. The two Victory puzzles I have don’t come with an image on the box, and has an explanation why…
“NO GUIDE PICTURE is provided with this Gold Box VICTORY Jig Saw Puzzle. To do so would destroy much of its absorbing interest. The greatest pleasure is derived from not knowing beforehand the subject which the Puzzle will make and then to see the picture gradually form as the pieces are assembled.”
My husband is a sweetheart, and we just celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary. I appreciate his getting these puzzles for me, it’s so sweet! But having assembled a world class puzzle earlier in the year I feel as though I’ve been ruined for any other vintage puzzle. The amazing quality of the Municipal Building puzzle doesn’t seem to have an equal and every other puzzle has fallen far short for me. It makes everything else seem disappointing. Perhaps I just need time.
The recent Artifact puzzle that mom and I assembled wasn’t disappointing, in fact it was great fun for us. Maybe it’s just vintage puzzles I need to stay away from for a while. 😉
Coffee and Donuts by Aimee Stewart – Buffalo – 300 pieces
Aimee Stewart puzzles are colorful, entertaining, and full of wonderful details – they’re the best! ❤
I’d love to work this same image in a larger piece count; I’ve done many donut puzzles in my time, and they’ve always been lots of fun. This one was as well, but it would be enjoyable in a 500 or 1000 piece too. 🙂
My Jigsaw Journal 