Chilean Flamingo

Chilean Flamingo – Wentworth (Mini Mindful) – 80 pieces

This little beauty was one of the most challenging of the Mini Mindfuls that I’ve done – it’s right up there with Space Flare. But it is a lovely image, and perfect for assembling at my cousin’s boathouse that is decorated with pink flamingos.

Although during our weekend at the boathouse there was a LOT of family there with their kiddos and it was a bit noisy. That made it a little more difficult to concentrate sometimes, but being with family is worth it; and I just decided to finish it later in the evening after everyone had settled down – kids and adults alike.

As a dissectologist I see patterns all the time in the puzzles I assemble, and recognizing the pattern of how these pieces fit together was easy once you got a few pieces together. With so much pink you really had to pay attention, and I placed a few incorrectly at one point – but eventually all was put to right.

Great little puzzle!

Water Drop

Water Drop – Wentworth (Mini Mindful) – 40 pieces

Excellent image, amazing piece shapes – just an all around wonderful puzzle that had me engaged and focused the entire time I was assembling it. The repetitive shaped pieces were a joy to work with and the colors in the water made for a stunning finished puzzle.

*Sorry about the cockeyed picture. I was on vacation! What do you want from me?!* 😉

This little one didn’t take long to assemble at all, but once I started working on it all I could think about was the next piece, what color fades into the next, and how this shape fits into that one. It was pure puzzle pleasure. 💟

Bluebells In Progress…

Bluebells – Wentworth (Mini Mindful) – 40 pieces

My son has picked out the next puzzle for me to assemble (a 300 piece called Magical Journey), and I’m putting it off just a bit by having a nice, hot cup of coffee this morning and putting together this Mini Mindful puzzle first.

It shouldn’t take me too long, but it’s nice to work with a well made wooden puzzle, and the Mini Mindful puzzles require a bit of extra concentration so you can clear your mind of all the stresses of your day and just focus on the puzzle.

Discerning Dissectologists know that even a small puzzle can help you de-stress, calm your nerves, bring down your blood pressure, stave off memory loss, quiet anxiety, and even help put your brain into a meditative state similar to dreaming. Now why wouldn’t you want a bit of that every single day?

I know I do. 🧩💚

1960s Flower Power

1960s Flower Power by Andrew Farley – Wentworth – 250 pieces

This beauty was a fantastic puzzle that I enjoyed from the first piece to the last – even with all the chaos on my board! There was something very soothing about the way I assembled this one, thank goodness I listened to myself and did things so contrary to the way I normally puzzle.

When I started puzzling again after my extended break I went a LITTLE crazy and ordered many, many wooden puzzles, including quite a few 250 piece puzzles from Wentworth. For me it’s the perfect size for one of their wooden puzzles – not too overwhelming, not so small that it’s over too soon – it’s Goldilocks baby….just right! 👱‍♀️ The quality is excellent, and even with a “normal” cut rather than a Victorian one the assembly is challenging and satisfying.

I absolutely love these whimsies! They even got that funky 60s font for the letters just right and made sure that Ms. Thing on the right had on some big ‘ol bellbottoms. Yikes. It really was one of the worst decades for fashion if you ask me. 🤮

I mean, look at the fabric of this tote bag – hideous! So many fabrics, patterns, and clothes were unflattering or just plain ugly. I still remember taking my mother to task when we would look at old family photos; I would say “Mom, how could you have dressed me like that? That is so ugly!” Her response was always the same, “It was the style, that’s what was in fashion.” Thank goodness the fashion of the 60s has passed us by – and here’s hoping it’s NOT one of those trends that comes back around again.

It’s been almost six years since I’ve assembled a puzzle with artwork by Andrew Farley, and this image is very different than that previous one – African Splendor. The colors in this image, and the way it’s put together reminds me of Aimee Stewart’s art; perhaps that’s why I love it so much. 💗

Great quality puzzle, beautiful artwork, and a chaotic assembly that I adored. There’s not much more to for a puzzle geek to ask for.

Space Flare

Space Flare – Wentworth – 80 pieces

This Mini Mindful puzzle from Wentworth sure does make a person slow down and focus completely on the puzzling – of course I loved it!

The repetitive tessellating pieces made for a challenging but fantastic assembly; the geometric shapes were so fun to work with. The “extra difficult” puzzles from Wentworth are very entertaining, and even in such small sizes give your gray matter a little bit of a workout!

As usual the puzzle itself is beautifully made, an excellent quality puzzle all around. You can see from the picture above the stunning image reproduction. Gorgeous 😍

Once I put together the obviously easier sections (shown above), the difficulty level ramped up significantly. We worked on it in the bathroom for a while, you can also see in the picture above how the light is much poorer than it is in the puzzle room.

My daughter came over to visit and while sitting in the puzzle room with me she asked my son to bring out whatever puzzle was in the bathroom so she and I could work on it together. At first she was NOT happy about which puzzle was there, she was hoping to work on Casual Friday but hubby and I had already finished that one. She was a trooper though and got into it after a few minutes, eventually we had a great time working on it together. I love that she wants to work on puzzles with me when she’s here. 💕

There are quite a few more Mini Mindful puzzles here to be done, and after seeing how entertaining this puzzle was I am very much looking forward to the next ones!