Tag: Whimsy pieces

Stevie the Hedgehog

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Stevie the Hedgehog by John Francis – Wentworth – 15 pieces

Of the three kid’s puzzles I got from Wentworth, this is the one I’m keeping….for now. He’s too cute for me to give away just yet. Besides, it’s always a good idea to have an extra gift hanging around the house for emergencies.

Stevie is absolutely adorable, and he was a lot of fun to assemble too. The extra big pieces, bright colors, and sweet image made for a great time; Wentworth did such a great job with these puzzles for children, they’re truly lovely.

It makes me wish my kids were still little so I could do these puzzles with them. We would have had so much fun with these. (I miss my kids being little 😭)

Such great whimsies, all ones that even young children will recognize. A snowman and Santa are pretty easy to spot, and there’s also a little representation of Stevie himself. Adorable!

Wanted to show you the extra large pieces that are easier for little hands to hold and work with. Mom always said to give a reference when a puzzle was larger or smaller than normal, so that people can appreciate the actual size. When you see this piece in my hand you can tell that this is a puzzle with extremely big pieces made especially for children.

I loved this one! 🦔💖

Tinsel Town

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles5 Comments

Tinsel Town by Richard Macneil – Wentworth – 40 pieces

Tinsel Town was the last of the micro puzzles from Wentworth that I assembled this season. (Don’t worry, there are still plenty left to show you, this isn’t the end of the holiday puzzles) It was a little more time consuming than it looks like it would be, but it was a fun assembly. I had a good time in spite of myself. 😉

This was purchased a couple of years ago, but for some reason I never got around to putting it together. Most likely it just got lost in the shuffle, it’s probably not because of the image. A couple of years ago I bought EVERY single micro puzzle Wentworth had without regard to image. It’s one of those holiday puzzles I don’t normally care for; however, with such a small piece count it wasn’t nearly as tedious as my brain thought it would be.

Don’t get me wrong, the artwork by Richard Macneil is absolutely beautiful. I appreciate the colors and the use of light – it’s truly lovely. I just have an (admittedly) irrational dislike of puzzles with traditional Christmas images. They just all seem the same, and for me that’s boring. I recognize and appreciate the artwork, they’re beautiful. Honestly, some of them – like this one – are stunningly beautiful. They’re just not what I like to assemble, that’s all.

The usual nicely accented whimsy pieces; my favorite is the snowman with his pointy carrot nose. ⛄🥕

Checking it Twice

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

Checking it Twice by Terry Good – Wentworth – 25 pieces

Another beautiful micro puzzle from Wentworth, this is one of their “Cracker Puzzles” that come in an organza bag inside a Christmas cracker shaped box. Perfect for stocking stuffers, or just a fun treat for yourself!

The quality of these Wentworth puzzles is excellent, I’ve never had a problem with any of their products as far as I can remember. The only time I’ve ever contacted customer service was when I didn’t know what the shape of one of their whimsies was. (It was a symbol for the London Tube *their subway system*) They were very nice in responding to my odd request and got back to me right away. 👍

Wentworth micro puzzles are a godsend when I’m feeling awful and in bed; I can still work on a puzzle and take my mind off of things. All I need is a small cookie sheet lined with paper and I can puzzle while in bed. Because they’re so helpful to me when I can’t sit in front of my puzzle table I’m always happy to order myself a bunch of their small puzzles once a year; I try to get every single one whose image speaks to me. I’m totally worth it!

The artwork by Terry Good is so beautiful, and it would make a fantastic puzzle of any size – all the way up to 1000 pieces. There’s so much detail, and even though the colors seem slightly muted they’re still bright enough to make a captivating image.

Look at these cute whimsies; the detail Wentworth etches into them make them even more special. Most whimsy pieces are just the outline of an image or figure, but they go the extra mile and give them detail – love them!

The Seven Chakras – Eagle Update

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling5 Comments

So, after many attempts to put together the multipiece eagle, and failing every time – I finally broke down and emailed Liberty Puzzles to see if they could give me some help. After exchanging several emails with members of their customer service team I have quite the update for you.

The customer service I received was PHENOMENAL, let me tell you that right away. They replied to my email within five minutes and were more than happy to offer whatever assistance they could. One of their excellent customer service team said that he sat down to assemble the eagle himself so that he could take a picture to send to me, and then that’s where it gets interesting. This is a quote from his email….

“Good news / bad news for you . . . it turns out that there was a design flaw and that multipiece whimsy does not actually fit together. I think you were probably doing it correctly but that the top piece just wouldn’t fit. ….Sorry for the trick we didn’t know we were playing on you and congratulations on figuring it out!“

Hooray! Here I thought that my pain medications and hot flashes were dumbing down and quick-boiling my brain cells to death, and it turns out it wasn’t my fault! I can’t tell you how relieved I was to hear that. Honestly, nothing they could have told me would have made me happier.

The artist who designs their pieces will be “tweaking” the design a bit so that the eagle whimsy will work the way it’s supposed to, and they will be sending out a replacement eagle puzzle. I’m thrilled with their solution, and so thankful for their willingness to help.

Even before they knew there was a problem, someone stopped their day and sat down to assemble the whimsy pieces – just to take a picture to send to me. That is exceptional customer service!

Apparently they’ve sold a good number of this puzzle, but I was the first to figure out that each contains a separate multipiece representation and that there was an issue with the eagle. I’m certain there was a lot of thought and planning that went into the design for each of the chakra puzzles, and along the way apparently something got “inadvertently nudged” and the top piece of the eagle doesn’t quite fit – but just barely.

Anyway, I promised an update about the eagle whimsy. And here it is. Once I receive the new puzzle I will definitely assemble it and show it to you. I did tell them that there was absolutely no rush in sending the replacement. I’m certain they’re swamped with holiday orders and because that one email made me feel so much better, I’m more than happy to wait until after the holidays.

And I’m happy I’ve still got some functioning brain matter! 😎

The P.A.D.S. is strong with me. Even I didn’t know how bummed I was that the eagle had defeated me; that is, not until I learned that it was a design flaw. The relief and happiness that washed over me …. I can’t even describe it.

I have the most severe case of P.A.D.S. ever!

The Seven Chakras – Day 7

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

The Seven Chakras by Phil Lewis – Liberty Puzzles – approx. 94/661 pieces

This is the 7th chakra, Sahasrara, and it is the crown chakra. It was the second of these puzzles that I assembled – because of that fantastic color, it jumped right out at me. Absolutely gorgeous!

Today’s word is dazzling, this image is truly dazzling – the colors are perfection. Phil Lewis is an artist from Boulder, Colorado, where Liberty Puzzles is located. What a fantastic marriage of artist and puzzle maker! Another of his images is one of my favorite puzzles, Sugar Magnolia. (One of these days I should make a list of my top 10 or 20 puzzles ever assembled, that would be an interesting exercise, wouldn’t it?)

Dazzling! I love the images with deeper colors, because it’s more difficult to see the piece shapes in the finished puzzle unless you flip it over. I find that I prefer darker images in wooden puzzles because it’s harder to see the piece shapes, then it seems more like artwork than a puzzle – at least from the front. But even when the pieces are very evident, it’s the enjoyment of the assembly that matters most to me. And these seven little puzzles have given me so much joy!

For all of these puzzles the piece shapes are almost invisible, so I wanted you to see the amazing shapes and cutting by flipping them over. It’s always so interesting to see intricately cut wooden puzzles from the back don’t you think?

We have the final three yoga poses, what looks like the sun, and our chakra symbol inside. The lotus was the easiest multipiece whimsy for me to assemble, good thing it’s one of the first ones I did. I’m not sure I would have gotten that lion put together if it had been first – it was much more difficult! (And we all know what happened with the eagle 😳)

I had the best time putting all of these puzzles together, and am so thankful for my sweet, sweet husband who gave me this beautiful gift.

You may come off like a tough guy to rest of the world, but you’re the most thoughtful and kind man I know, and you would do anything to make me happy. I love you to puzzle pieces! 💖🧩