It’s National Jigsaw Day in the UK! The Gardener’s Cupboard

On November 3, 2018November 3, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Jigsaw Puzzling4 Comments

I’m celebrating National Jigsaw Day by posting an awesome puzzle from the UK, The Gardener’s Cupboard from Wentworth. I’ll also be celebrating by working on a puzzle, big surprise, huh?

In the US we have National Puzzle Day on January 29; it isn’t specific to jigsaw puzzles, but includes all types – sudoku, crossword, brain teasers, etc. In the UK this is the 4th annual National Jigsaw Day, especially for us dissectologists! (That’s just a ten dollar word for someone who enjoys assembling jigsaw puzzles – with today’s exchange rate that word is worth about 7.7 pounds sterling 😎) I’m way over here across the pond, but I’m an avid puzzler so I’m down with celebrating any day that celebrates jigsaw puzzling!

Wentworth is celebrating by offering 10% of any regularly priced puzzles, and having a Golden Whimsy Piece Competition. Buy any of their micro puzzles from their Stocking Filler Collection this weekend (Nov. 2-4, 2018) and you may receive a Golden Whimsy piece. If you find one of the 3 special pieces you win a year’s worth of puzzles – the prize is 12 x 250 piece puzzles of your choice. Wow! My puzzles are already ordered, wish me luck. 🍀 Check out their website for all the details, and happy National Jigsaw Day!

Now to this beautiful Colin Thompson puzzle – it was so much fun! The whimsies were perfect for gardening…

I love the spade stuck in the dirt (top right), although it took a few seconds to register exactly what it was. It’s so enjoyable to open a Wentworth and find all the whimsies to see what they are and how they relate to the puzzle image! I need to get out more, right? I’m WAY too excited about these things. 😉

The micro puzzles from Wentworth are a godsend to me, allowing me to puzzle when I’m unable to get out of bed and sit at my puzzle table, or even when I can’t sit up in bed to work with a puzzle on my whiteboard. I can put all the pieces on a cookie sheet lined with paper and complete one of these beauties while laying down. That’s exactly how I worked on The Gardener’s Cupboard.

I think I’d like to work this image in a larger piece count, there’s just so much to see! Colin Thompson’s cupboard puzzles are filled with interesting (and weird) things – and all those adorable little pink people! Even though it might have been better with more pieces, this puzzle was great fun. Two thumbs way up! 👍👍

Harvest Farm

On October 31, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

I didn’t plan ahead very well this year, so I didn’t have a Halloween puzzle to assemble. Last year there were fun, spooky, ghosty puzzles to post about; not so this year. I promise to attempt to do a better job next year! The attempt is all I can promise, my brain isn’t what it used to be.

This beautiful wooden puzzle made me so happy after not touching a puzzle for 2 whole days – it was a lovely way to feed my puzzle addiction. Once I saw it all together I knew this would be my puzzle for Halloween; I love the pumpkins, gourds, corn, and especially the little hanging scarecrow!

As usual, we start with the whimsies, they are fall/Halloween themed. I was surprised to see the bat and ghost in there; I thought it would only be fall whimsies so the spooky ones were a fun surprise. 🦇

I think the scarecrow is my favorite, but the tractor comes in a close second. The detail on these Wentworth whimsies is so fun, and I can’t wait to see the whimsies in my new puzzles on their way to my house! (Yup, I went crazy again and bought more Wentworths and also one from a new wooden puzzle company I haven’t tried before 😎)

It’s such a beautiful fall image from Alan Giana, and it made for a wonderful assembly. I started with the words as usual, and then for some reason decided to go with the grass next. There was no real plan, I went where the puzzle took me. It’s so nice to not think and just go with it. A beautiful puzzle that took me out of my head for a while, I couldn’t ask for more.

Happy Halloween! 🎃

Still to Life

On August 29, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

This micro puzzle has beautiful, deep colors and was great fun to assemble. I love the images of Dominic Davison; they’re serene, beautiful, and calming.

As usual, this Wentworth puzzle was excellent quality. It has the loose fit that almost all wooden puzzles have, but I don’t find it as distracting as I do with cardboard puzzles. It’s probably a bit hypocritical on my part, but for me the added pleasure of working with wooden pieces makes up for dealing with the loose fit. The image reproduction is excellent, and adhered well to the wood. There are a good variety of piece shapes, including some whimsy pieces – shown below….

This puzzle had another rerun of whimsies; these are the same pieces in the Sky Roads micro puzzle. They made much more sense for this image than they did for the hot air balloons puzzle, in my opinion.

My to do pile of Wentworth micro puzzles is dwindling, there are only 5 left. They’re perfect for when I don’t have much time, when I might have to spend time in waiting rooms, or for when I have to work on puzzles laying down. I’m going to have to make these 5 puzzles last – or perhaps I should purchase some more. 😉

Sky Roads

On August 12, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles1 Comment

I needed a quick puzzle fix on a day where I couldn’t get out of bed or even really sit up to work on a puzzle. On these days the puzzles I can assemble entirely on a cookie sheet are a godsend! Thank goodness I still have more micro puzzles to assemble. 💗

At between 30 and 60 pieces, Wentworth’s micro puzzles are easy to do lying down; I can put all the pieces on a small, paper-lined cookie sheet and assemble them without even having to sit up!

This image is full of beautiful colors and made for an excellent immediate dose of puzzle happiness. I’m not sure I understand the theme of the whimsies; this image is primarily about balloons and not really about nature other than as background to the hot air balloons.

Even with interesting choice of whimsy pieces the difference in themes didn’t really detract from my enjoyment of the puzzle. It was still entertaining and took my mind off of other things if only for a little while. That’s one of the reasons why puzzling is so very important to me.

No matter what reason makes puzzling important to you, keep on puzzling my friends!

Farmyard Cabbage

On August 10, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

Farmyard Cabbage was an excellent quality puzzle that was great fun to assemble. I adore the image – it’s so different from your average jigsaw puzzle – and it’s so cute!

Wentworth puzzles have excellent quality, with thick wooden pieces that have a great feel in your hands. There are a good variety of shapes; and while their pieces aren’t Victorian cut they do have intricate whimsies that compliment the image. The image reproduction is excellent with beautiful colors and is expertly adhered to the wood.

The whimsies for this puzzle are shapes I haven’t seen before from Wentworth and were perfect for this farmyard image….

I especially love the detail on both the tractor and the cow. They’re all so fun to pick out when you first open the box – searching through the pieces to find the whimsies is almost as entertaining as putting the puzzle together!

The beautiful colors and interesting image made this assembly so much fun, and I loved every piece! I don’t use the box image when putting together wooden puzzles (unless I’m REALLY stuck), and this one tested me – but in the best way possible. I started with the dirt on the bottom of the image and worked my way up from there. The cabbage itself was the most challenging part, especially finding where each of the animals fit in.

I usually end my posts about wooden puzzles by telling you that you should treat yourself to a wooden puzzle if you can – this post is no different. Perhaps you could ask for a small one for your birthday or for Christmas. You can find small wooden puzzles starting at $12 for Wentworth, $18 for Artifact, and $39 for Liberty. They are definitely worth it – and so are you! ❤