Hummingbird Garden

Hummingbird Garden
Hummingbird Garden by Rosalind Solomon – Sunsout – 500 pieces

This is a GORGEOUS image, although it was a little tough in certain sections it was quite fun to assemble. It was very odd to work a grid cut Sunsout, there aren’t many of them around that I’ve seen.

This is another secondhand puzzle that my daughter gave to me, and I’m happy to say it was much nicer to put together than the other one. Sunsout isn’t one of my favorite brands, but I’ve worked some really nice puzzles of theirs too. Most of their puzzles that I’ve done have been a random cut, and this was a refreshing change. The pieces were a good thickness, fit together quite well, and the image reproduction was stellar.

Hummingbird Garden 1

As I’m writing up today’s post it’s reminding me of why I love puzzles. Beautiful images cut into little pieces; and I get to bring order to the chaos. A jumbled bunch of pieces with many colors turns into a complete picture using only my brain and hands. And while I’m putting it together it almost a meditative state; all I think about is what shape fits here, and what color goes there. It’s calming, entertaining, and many other words my sleep-deprived brain can’t think of at the moment. Puzzling rocks! 🤘

Pretty Paris

Pretty Paris
Pretty Paris by Howard Robinson – Ravensburger – 300 pieces

Ravensburger 300 piece puzzles are wonderful, and this one is such a pretty picture that it was hard not to love it. 💖

Howard Robinson is becoming a favorite artist for puzzles. I love the pet selfies and other animal images he does, and he also makes some beautiful cottage pictures as well as the gorgeous street scene above. Look at the detail…

Pretty Paris 1

I enjoyed this puzzle so much that looking at the pictures three weeks after I’ve already assembled it makes me want to put it together again!

Pop Culture

Pop Culture
Pop Culture by Charlie Girard – White Mountain – 1000 pieces

Ah…collages. I love them so much. I’ve said many many times why I like them, but reasoning aside they just make me happy when I assemble them. End of story.

White Mountain has the best catalog of collage puzzles around in my opinion. They have so many that it’s difficult for me to whittle down which ones I want. They’re not always the best quality – I’ve had problems with before with twinsy pieces still connected, too tight fit, and fuzzy images. Most of the time though, there aren’t major problems with the puzzles and I enjoy working with them.

Pop Culture 1

Any NCIS fans out there? It’s Ducky! I’m a little young to have watched The Man From U.N.C.L.E. on television, but I know that the actor who plays Ducky on NCIS (David McCallum) was a heart-throb back in the day because of that show. That makes me laugh for some reason. 😉

Pop Culture 2

MAD Magazine and Gumby – love them! I had a subscription back in ye olden times when people actually got magazines in the mail and read them. (It’s sort of like a papery kind of blog – if you’re a young’un and not clear on what magazines were) I’ve always been a fan of satire, improv, and standup comedy, even when I was younger. I think I had more comedy albums than musical ones; which might be a clue why this part of the puzzle made the smile. 😀

Koala

Koala
Koala – CraZart – 100 pieces

More fun than I thought. Thinner pieces and difficult image, but entertaining nonetheless. Kids puzzles make my happy – I’m still able to puzzle when I’m not feeling well, but it isn’t the commitment of a 1000 piece puzzle that might take days.

These days my anxiety is getting the better of me and although I want to work on my puzzles some days being able to get out bed and actually get to it is extremely difficult.

Lighthouse

Lighthouse
Lighthouse – Ravensburger 3D – 216 pieces

Mom found this 3D puzzle at the thrift store, unfortunately it was missing not only 7 pieces it was also missing the top of the lighthouse with the lights in it. It was kind of a bummer all around, but those are the chances we take. 😉

The tube shape was difficult to work with, I found it much more difficult than working with an orb shape…

Lighthouse 2

Once I got one side connected properly it would pop out the opposite side, so very annoying! I much prefer regular jigsaw puzzles laid flat on the board.

Lighthouse 1

Seven missing pieces on the top section – I think they must be wherever the very top of the lighthouse is. 😦

Lighthouse box

This is what it should look like when completed. I think I really would have enjoyed seeing the lights. Bummer.