The Pinwheel Gator

The Pinwheel Gator by Alex Beard – Liberty – 512 pieces

How cool is this puzzle? I stared at it over and over when I was window shopping on the Liberty site and ended up telling myself that if it fascinated me that much that I needed to get it for myself – so I did!

There’s something so fun about the image, and it absolutely didn’t disappoint in the assembly either. It’ll be no surprise at all when I tell you that I loved it. REALLY loved it! 💜❤💛💚💙

Liberty Puzzles is one of my favorite current wooden puzzle makers. The design of the puzzle pieces, how they fit together, the number of whimsies in each puzzle, the artists they work with – it all fits together to make extraordinary puzzles that have never disappointed me. Ever. I once had an issue with a puzzle and their customer service was beyond exceptional. I love Liberty Puzzles. 🧩

The whimsies in this one reminded me of Mardi Gras, which is why I wanted to post this puzzle today, on Fat Tuesday. I’m not a Catholic, so I don’t really do Ash Wednesday or give things up for Lent, but pretty much everyone knows about Mardi Gras and the celebrations they have in New Orleans.

Specifically these whimsies made me think of Mardi Gras and the parades in New Orleans. Aren’t they fabulous?!

If you look closely you’ll see that the whimsies of people are marching all the way around the image along the edges; they’re on all four sides. It was such a fun assembly, and I always love to see great wooden puzzles from the back – the design of the pieces and how it all works together make this proud puzzle geek extremely happy. This was such a great puzzle!

I really did have such a fun time putting this one together, it was an absolute joy. 😊

…Gator In Progress…

The Pinwheel Gator by Alex Beard – Liberty – 512 pieces

This one is going slowly, but it’s nothing to do with the puzzle itself, I just can’t sit for long at the table. Besides, I don’t look at the box image when I’m working on a wooden puzzle; it makes it last longer and I can really be in the moment and enjoy everything a wooden puzzle has to offer.

Normally I don’t work from top to bottom, but that’s just how this one is going. I started with the purple color at the top and am working each color from there down. It’s quite fun!

From what I can see from the pieces I think this is another puzzle from Liberty that has an additional character/image to assemble. Remember The Seven Chakras where each little puzzle had a representation of the chakra that could be assembled as a multipiece whimsy? Well, I’m pretty sure this puzzle has a big gator that can be assembled with some of the pieces.

It doesn’t seem to be one like Birds, whose Alternate Solution used every piece; it looks as though only some of the pieces will be used.

I hope it isn’t too difficult, because I really wanna try to get it done when I’m finished with this puzzle. 🐊

The Pinwheel Gator In Progress…

The Pinwheel Gator by Alex Beard – Liberty – 512 pieces

It’s sorted, but hasn’t been started yet; and there are SO MANY whimsy pieces that laying them all out to take a picture is gonna take a very long time! Therefore you just get a little preview today of some of the whimsy pieces in this gorgeous puzzle.

Many of the whimsies seem as though they’re Mardi Gras themed, and since Mardi Gras starts this Friday I thought this was the perfect time to get this puzzle going. I’ve had it here for months and months, and have really been looking forward to it. 😍

Hope you all have fabulous puzzles in the works right now, I know I’ll really be enjoying myself putting this beauty together!

Imagine!

Imagine! by Lana Kissinger – Liberty – 284 pieces

This is not your typical jigsaw puzzle image, and that’s why I love it! Plus, part of the proceeds from this puzzle go to a program called Imagine! that assists and benefits those with intellectual and developmental disabilities – you know I can’t resist that either. 😊

It was the most difficult puzzle we assembled on our trip, but the challenge was part of the fun. And everyone who helped thought it looked too difficult, but everyone was able to find pieces that fit together. That gave them more confidence, and they kept at it. (I’m working on converting my entire family into jigsaw puzzling loving freaks just like me.)

Such fun whimsies, the couple having a picnic was one of my favorites, and the woman painting at the easel. (Hubby wasn’t thrilled with the bee whimsies, he was attacked by an in-ground nest of yellow jackets that he disturbed by accident and ended up needing medical attention – not the most fun vacation for him) I tactlessly pointed the bees out to him when he was helping me with the puzzle, and for some reason he didn’t think I was very funny. 😉

I love the little tableaus playing out, a couple on a hike, the children playing with the dog, nature everywhere. Liberty puzzles and the design effort they put into their pieces is absolutely fantastic, it’s part of the reason they’re my favorite current wooden puzzle company.

My beautiful niece came to hang out with me one day, and although she really isn’t a puzzle person she did help me find a few pieces that connected. Sit Long and Talk Much is the motto of Liberty Puzzles, and that’s exactly what we did. We sat, visited, talked about family, friends, life, marriage – pretty much whatever came to mind. It was a fantastic day and I’m so happy we got to spend that time together.💛

This was our last vacation puzzle. We didn’t do as many puzzles this time, but worked on more difficult ones. It was a great trip and every person who helped with the puzzles has become a beloved member of my puzzle posse.

Vacations and puzzles go together for me now, why didn’t I think of this earlier?

Vacation Puzzle In Progress…

Imagine! by Lana Kissinger – Liberty – 284 pieces

Got started on this gorgeous Liberty puzzle yesterday with some assistance from my beautiful niece who spent the day visiting with me. Liberty’s motto is “Sit Long, Talk Much” and that’s exactly what we did. She’s not a puzzle person for the most part, but she seemed to enjoy looking at the interesting shapes and trying to find ones that fit together. She found a few pieces too, so she officially helped me with this assembly!

I hope she had as much fun as I did, it was lovely to spend the day together. We sat long, talked much, did a little puzzling and enjoyed each other’s company. 💖