Tag: Mini Puzzles

Sew Happy

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Sew Happy – MicroPuzzles – 150 pieces

This went together VERY quickly, and I absolutely adored it. After typing up my post for Frosty Frolics I really did want to put together a MicroPuzzle. So I did. This image jumped out at me as I was looking through what there was on hand – and I had the best time putting it together.

The bright colors on a white background made it easy enough to assemble, but no so easy as to be boring. The quality was the usual excellence I’ve come to expect from MicroPuzzles; great fit, beautiful and interesting images, and just an overall well-made puzzle.

The fit was so nice that I got to take one of my favorite pictures, standing on it’s edge!

Frosty Frolics

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Frosty Frolics – MicroPuzzles – 150 pieces

*Yes, another puzzle from the land of 2024. Apologies. But I did assemble them so why not show them off, right? Unfortunately all I did for this draft was download the picture and put it into a draft with the info above – that’s where the story ends.*

So…what’s you’re going to get here is general information about MicroPuzzles and my impression of the image, because there is NO recollection of assembling this one at all. On the plus side, if there were no notes in the draft about anything negative that means this puzzle left no bad impressions and had an overall good experience with the assembly.

Usually when there is a problem with a puzzle’s pieces, fit, image, etc. I always make a quick note in the draft of something specific I want to remember to talk about when ultimately the post is typed up. In the last puzzle that was posted, Squish Summer, what I put in the draft was only three words; but they reminded me that I was unimpressed with the quality overall, and specifically that the pieces were warped.

This image is very cute, and I’m certain that the lines between sky and snow on each level helped make the assembly a bit easier. MicroPuzzles always entertain me, and even though these aging eyes need help I still enjoy working on the tiny puzzles that can be put on a tray and taken to whatever room I want/need to be in.

Thankfully I have plenty of MicroPuzzles yet to be assembled so that when a 1000 piece puzzle seems like way too much of a commitment I can pick an adorable image that I know will be a well-made puzzle that can be done almost anywhere.

Long time readers will remember how I feel about Christmas-y images, but this one wasn’t too sappy of a portrayal and/or with too much white snow that ramps up the difficulty and makes it frustrating to put together. Although I don’t actually remember assembling this one, just looking at the image I can say that it was most likely a pretty fun puzzle.

Just typing up this post has made me want to assemble a MicroPuzzle once I’m finished with the one currently on my board. Luckily I have plenty to choose from! 🧩

Balloon World

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Balloon World by Royce B. McClure – Wentworth – 40 pieces

Looking back through the blog I see that it’s been six years since I’ve completed a puzzle with an image by Royce B. McClure. Oh my! His artwork is always so colorful and imaginative, it’s no wonder there are so many puzzles with his images on them; they’re so fun to put together.

This isn’t an image I would normally choose in a larger piece count, but I enjoyed it on this mini puzzle very much. On a larger puzzle this might be quite a challenge!

I don’t remember any other Wentworth puzzle that I’ve done that had whimsies that were all the same like these; but it’s always nice when the figures they choose are perfect for the image.

My (ever dwindling) collection of mini puzzles are certainly helping me out with building up my queue again, they don’t take much time at all and when I’m in need of a puzzle to post it’s easy to put one of them together quickly.

Plus, they’re great quality puzzles that are always entertaining; perfect to make this puzzle geek’s heart go pitter patter. 💓

Distant Mountains

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Distant Mountains by Bob Ross – Thunder Bay Press – 96 pieces

This is the first puzzle from my Happy Little Jigsaw Puzzle Book full of Bob Ross images that I bought in November of last year. At only 96 pieces this was a bit more difficult than I imagined it would be, but I still love the look of it and am pleased as punch that there are still so many more to do.

As I said in my first post about the puzzle books that my daughter and I found, the pieces are extremely thin – almost like cardstock – but the fit is exceptional. It has to be in order for them to stay in the book properly. Even though this puzzle was removed from the book to assemble, it still took a bit of effort to put it back in so that it would stay there without falling out. It’s back in place and the book can even be stood upright and the puzzle remains in place without danger of it coming out. Very cool!

The quality other than the thin cardboard was excellent. The image reproduction is GORGEOUS, there are a good variety of shapes and the fit is wonderful. I’m so glad my daughter and I found these books, and am really looking forward to assembling the remaining 17 puzzles. (Plus the nine images in the Game of Thrones book also come together to form a large map of the country/areas in which the show takes place🗺)

This is the page this puzzle comes from, the image is from Season 14, episode 1. Even though the show was on the air for only eleven years, there are 31 “seasons” of The Joy of Painting. He made 403 episodes of his show, that’s amazing!

I also learned from a little research that he created three versions of each painting. The first one was done before the show and was used as a template to paint the one he made on air. The second was painted live during the show, and the third he painted after the show was taped to add more details for use in his instructional books. All of the paintings were either donated to various public broadcasting stations, the Smithsonian Institution, or kept by Bob. With 403 episodes, that’s a lot of painting!

On the page opposite each puzzle is a little blurb about Bob Ross; his philosophy of painting, his life, and his thoughts about nature, etc. His works of art aren’t images I would normally choose for puzzling, but at less than 100 pieces they’re beautiful little one coffee puzzles that make me smile – happy little clouds and all!

Main Street – Day 6

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Main Street by Joseph Holodook – Cra-Z-Art – approx. 83/500 pieces

And now we’re at the end of this set of Main Street puzzles, the last two buildings. They were all entertaining to assemble, and the Americana theme made for twelve beautiful shaped mini puzzles. I loved them all!

The quality was quite good for one of these sets with a good fit, beautiful image reproduction, an excellent variety of shapes and chipboard of a nice thickness. The buildings were all different shapes and sizes so there wasn’t any repetition and each one was a nice little puzzle to be solved. There have been a couple of sets that were disappointing, but this wasn’t one of them.

I’m very much looking forward to getting the three other puzzles that I haven’t yet done. (One may be a bit boring as they’re all the same shape, but I’m certain they’ll still be fun to put together.)

According to the sign Doc Ritter can cure your critter – large or small, there’s care for all. I love the look of this one, it actually reminds me of images by Wysocki and Jane Wooster Scott; it has such a homey feel to it. 💖

This one is another one that looks like fall to me, both the pumpkins in the front and the colors too. Raven’s Perch Pies – that seems awfully specific doesn’t it? At first I thought that it was just a place that made fish pies, then it finally clicked with me that it’s just a pie shop called Raven’s Perch – not a place that makes Perch pies run by a person named Raven. Duh!

I’m not too proud to tell you that it took me WAY longer than it should have to figure that out. I used to be smart! LOL

I enjoyed this set more than other sets of buildings for some reason, but again I don’t seem to be able to put into words exactly why that is. Even though I can’t seem tell you why, all that really matters is that they were fun to do – at least that’s what matters to me.

Happy puzzling today my friends, I hope you enjoy whatever puzzle you’re working on as much as I enjoyed these!