Reef Fish (2)

IMG_4972
Reef Fish (2) – Lafayette Puzzle Factory – 500 pieces

I loved this puzzle! You’re shocked right? It’s just so hard to believe. 😉

Perhaps my love of collages has something to do with how much I enjoy these puzzles. The fun of assembling a collage for me is finding and putting together each small section at a time; it’s like having a bunch of mini puzzles that all connect together. Even when I’m not feeling well and can’t puzzle for long periods of time I can assemble a little part of the puzzle and it feels more like an accomplishment when I see one section finished.

The only difference here is that these small “sections” don’t connect together. You can separate them by the colored backing and put together one whole little puzzle and you have a sense of completion – for me it’s wonderfully entertaining and I can’t get enough of them.

The big girl with the large mouth is my favorite, the colors and overall look of the fish just make me smile. (I’ve made this fish female in my mind because the colors are so pretty. Could be wrong, but she’s a she to me 🙂 ) The box tells me that she is a Picasso Triggerfish – what a fabulous name! From my small amount of research online I have found that she’s an aggressive carnivore that can sometimes be quite small – that definitely sounds like a few females I know! I think she’s beautifully colored and it definitely made for a fun assembly.

Sadly, I only have one more of these shaped puzzles yet to assemble. But I’m sure I’ll enjoy it as much as I’ve enjoyed the others, they really are such a good time!

Cupcakes II

IMG_4957
Cupcakes II – Lafayette Puzzle Factory – 500 pieces

With such beautiful colors, wonderful detail, and excellent fit these puzzles give me so much enjoyment that I can’t seem to put my thoughts into words. I know that shaped puzzles aren’t everyone’s jam, and to be honest they’re not always what I’m looking for either. But these small, separate shaped puzzles are amazingly entertaining.

If you haven’t worked a shaped puzzle before, these might be just the thing to get your feet wet. The colored backs mean that you can separate each puzzle by color before you begin, or you can ignore the colors and treat it like a “regular” 500 piece puzzle.

I think I prefer regular old cupcakes to eat, but these cupcakes are much more fun to assemble. I enjoy sorting them into different piles, colored backs facing up, and then picking a pile to work on and then enjoying watching each puzzle take shape (I put the box away immediately, and don’t consult it at all while I’m assembling). These are my favorites from this batch, but they’re all so intricate and lovely to look at that it was difficult choosing which ones to show here…

Which of these 12 gorgeous cupcakes wets your whistle? If I had to choose, I would probably go for the chocolate cupcake with the chocolate frosting in the lower left corner. As for which one to assemble – all of them!

Birds

IMG_4946
Birds – Lafayette Puzzle Factory – 500 pieces

Are you getting tired of these small shaped puzzles? I’m not! They’re so much fun to put together that I wish I had more of them. There are still a few left that I don’t have, and I’m super tempted to have myself a little online shopping spree and get the rest of these babies on their way to my house!

The only drawback to these puzzles is that they’re not completely separated when they arrive, and some pieces from each one have to be taken apart. I believe it’s due to the colored backing that allows you to separate them before assembly. The pieces are on the thin side, but they are sturdy and the fit is very good.

Bits and Pieces also has a couple sets of small separate puzzles, but to me they are way too much money – $18.99 for a 700 piece cardboard puzzle is way too much for my taste. I’ve worked a couple of this brand’s shaped puzzles before, and the quality was horrible on one, and good on the other. With hit or miss quality I’m not willing to spend that much. Bits and Pieces is a brand whose quality leaves a lot to be desired in my opinion, so their puzzles are ones we only buy secondhand.

Like the last few sets of these puzzles, my oldest son helped me assemble them while we spent time together watching M*A*S*H. I’m enjoying both the puzzles and the bonding. (Not many 29 year old men want to spend time with their mom watching tv and assembling puzzles!) The two birds above were our favorites; the colors are beautiful and although they look a little boring in the pictures they are quite stunning in person. Gorgeous!

There’s more to come, because I find them so entertaining; not to mention it’s easy for me to work these when I’m not feeling well. For the most part each one is small enough to assemble on a tray lined cookie sheet while I’m lying down. Perfection!

Reef Fish

IMG_4913
Reef Fish – Lafayette Puzzle Factory – 500 pieces

My son and I completed these 16 beautiful reef fish puzzles on the same day that we put together the teacups. He enjoyed them almost as much as I do! As a matter of fact, yesterday we put together a puzzle with 15 birds and we had a great time. 🙂

The sizes and shapes of these were all different, which added some to the challenge, but in the best way. The colors are bright and beautiful, and there were some very interesting looking fish. My son took one look at the clownfish and said “I found him!” It seems he’d been looking for Nemo for quite some time. 🐠

They were lots of fun, smallest fish had only 10 pieces, and the largest one (the clownfish and coral shown above) had 63! They were extremely entertaining to assemble, and I’m looking forward to doing the second fish puzzle waiting in the wings.

If you haven’t tried a shaped puzzle before and you’re not quite sure about them I would definitely recommend giving these a try. The quality is very good, and I can’t seem to put into words how much fun I find them – they’re jigsawrific! 😁

 

Review: Teacups

IMG_4907
Teacups – Lafayette Puzzle Factory – 500 pieces

Aren’t these the cutest puzzles? 12 separate teacup puzzles, perfect for the blog tea party being held by Blooms & Beautifuls today – I don’t drink tea, but I’d love to have some hot coffee in one of these beautiful teacups if I could!

These small, separate, shaped puzzles by Lafayette Puzzle Factory are so much fun to assemble that I just can’t seem to walk away once I start putting them together. Each one is quite small compared to a regular puzzle, and it doesn’t take very much time to put them together. Some can be tricky and require a little bit more brain power, but that’s part of the fun! The back of each puzzle is color-coded so you can separate them if you like before you begin; or if you’re feeling like tackling more of a challenge you can ignore the backing and work the puzzles with no extra help – it’s up to you.

The quality is very good; although with the colored backing there seems to be some difficulty with the die cutting all the way through the puzzles. At least a few pieces from each puzzle need to be separated before you begin. I don’t mind so much because I find them so entertaining to assemble that I can overlook the small quality issues.

My oldest son hasn’t been feeling well so he’s been hanging out with me during the day, watching M*A*S*H and assembling puzzles. He helped me with the teacups and he enjoyed them so much that we immediately started on another set. Stay tuned in the upcoming days for the Reef Fish that we assembled together – I’ve added another member to my puzzle posse! 😎

 

The teacups above are our 3 favorites out of the 12, but they are really all quite lovely in their own way. They were so much fun that they were all assembled in about an hour – we just couldn’t stop! That’s my kind of puzzle, it’s definitely recommended – two teacups way up (with pinkies out!) ☕☕

Details:

  • Title:                  Teacups
  • Artist:                Not credited
  • Brand:               Lafayette Puzzle Factory
  • Piece count:     500 pieces
  • Size:                  Varies
  • Purchased:      New

Quality:

  • Board:               Very good
  • Cutting:             Good
  • Image:               Excellent
  • Box:                   Average
  • Fit:                     Very good
  • Puzzle Dust:     Small amount
  • Piece cut:          Random cut
  • Piece shapes:   Very good variety
  • Finish:               Slightly shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating:      Very good, recommended