Wallace & Gromit Christmas Pudding

Christmas Pudding
Wallace & Gromit Christmas Pudding by Nick Park – Wentworth – 40 pieces

Now here is your “not the usual” Christmas puzzle! I love the special whimsy pieces, the image, and the exceptional Wentworth quality. I’ve never seen an episode of the show, but I love this image – it’s so cute!

This is unusual for Wentworth too, this image is only available in the micro puzzle size, you can’t get it in a larger puzzle. It’s a pity, I’d have loved to have seen even more of these fantastic whimsies….

Christmas Pudding whimsies

I’ve never had a Christmas pudding – as a matter of fact, I had to look up what exactly it was! It doesn’t sound very appetizing to me, but I’m sure that’s because it isn’t something I grew up with (and also because I’m an extremely picky eater). I’m sure some of the things I love to eat would not seem appetizing to many others. 😉

This was such a fun puzzle! Merry Christmas pudding! 🎄

Over the River

Over the River
Over the River by Susan Winget – Ceaco – 500 pieces

Over the River is the companion puzzle to one I assembled in February of this year. They come in a book box with two compartments – each holds a puzzle with cork backing, both by the same artist. Like many of the “different” Ceaco puzzles it was very good quality.

🎶Over the River and through the woods, to grandmother’s house we go!🎶

The first one I put together from this box was Simple Pleasures, and it seemed much easier to assemble than this puzzle (although my memory isn’t as reliable as it used to be 👵). There were so many places around the whimsies that didn’t connect at all, and it was a bit frustrating to constantly have to fix pieces that had moved. It can get quite tedious – but sometimes that’s how whimsies go.

With these puzzles it’s sometimes hard to find all the whimsy pieces before you begin; so these are some, but definitely not all of them…

Over the River whimsies

The scalloped edges aren’t as easy to assemble as you’d think, so I began with the words. It took way more brain power than I’d assumed!

Over the River 1

The inset scenes were lovely!

 

Even though it gave my gray cells a little bit of a workout, it was great fun. And you definitely can’t beat the price – 99 cents for two 500 piece puzzles with cork backing! I absolutely got more than a dollar’s worth of entertainment. ☺

 

Snowman Trio

Snowman Trio
Snowman Trio by William Vanderdasson – Wenthworth – 25 pieces

This assembly was a special request by my youngest son. It is 3 weeks until Christmas, and he’s very much in the holiday spirit. He’s gotten himself a Santa hat and he’s ready to go! He said that this was the puzzle I should assemble next, and so I did. I admit that I am absolutely NOT in the spirit at the moment, but I guess I’ll fake it till I make it. Ho Ho Ho-hum.

There’s not much I can say anymore about these little wooden puzzles, it’s all a repeat of things said before; they’re excellent quality and wonderful to work with. It’s a “One Coffee Puzzle” as my friend from Russia calls them. Small enough to sit down with a cup of coffee and finish them both about the same time – a lovely little respite in this hurry up and get going world.

Snowman Trio whimsies

I love Santa’s face, I think he just met the m & m’s! 😉

Sugar Magnolia

Sugar Magnolia
Sugar Magnolia by Phil Lewis – Liberty Puzzles – 881 pieces

Well, here it is, the post that tens of readers have been waiting for – my completed birthday puzzle! It is without a doubt the most beautiful and entertaining puzzle I’ve ever assembled – absolutely fantastic!

Sugar Magnolia whimsies

These are almost all of the whimsies, they’re so beautiful! Laser cutting makes it easier to cut such wonderfully interesting and detailed whimsies; it’s always so much fun to go through all the pieces and find them.

I started with the red flowers, then moved on to the orange-ish colors. It was very slow going because of my surgery and the recovery, but I can honestly say I enjoyed every single piece.

Once I got the bottom done, it was easier to work upwards and figure out what the edges looked like. The artwork by Phil Lewis is so stunning, and it makes for a fabulous puzzle image!

There are so many beautiful areas of this puzzle, it was difficult to choose what close-ups to photograph. I truly had the best time with this one, I’m so thankful hubby picked this one for my present. ❤ He has good taste. (Well of course he does, he picked an awesome wife!)

There’s so much stuff you can’t see until it’s completely assembled and you flip it over. I definitely didn’t find all those skeleton pieces when I first sorted the puzzle, and that gorgeous flower in the center of the puzzle isn’t visible until it’s complete. So pretty!

There aren’t enough adjectives to tell you how happy this puzzle made me, and how much I enjoyed it. It was the best!

Summer Medley

Summer Medley
Summer Medley by Mandy Budan – StumpCraft – 207 pieces

This puzzle was unbelievably difficult, but so very entertaining! It’s from a new brand (to me) – I decided to try some smaller wooden puzzle companies, and I’m thrilled I found this one. From what I’ve seen so far, they make wonderful puzzles. 🙂

StumpCraft is a small company in Canada that crafts beautiful laser-cut puzzles that showcase the artwork of fellow Canadians. I was thoroughly impressed with the quality and cutting, and I can’t wait to try more of this brand. The color-line cutting made it much more challenging than it looks, and the difficulty level increased my enjoyment so much – I was able to turn off my brain and became completely engrossed in the assembly. Love, love, loved it!!!!

Summer Medley whimsies

The puzzle was beautifully cut, with fun whimsies (the beaver is my favorite), the fit was exceptional, and they were the thickest wooden pieces I’ve worked with so far. An excellent puzzle!