Tag: Wooden Jigsaw Puzzles

Seattle

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

Seattle by Eric Dowdle – Dowdle Puzzles (Mini Wooden Puzzle) – 250 pieces

This was much more enjoyable for me than I thought it would be at the beginning, don’t you love it when that happens? After putting the border together I thought this puzzle was gonna be horrible, the fit is so loose! Once I got it onto my puzzle board where the fabric helps keep it from moving too much and once I started assembling the image it got so much better.

These mini wooden puzzles from Dowdle are adorable, but I can’t say the quality is optimal. When I take a picture of a wooden puzzle I take time to “smush” it together as much as possible first (smush being a technical term 😉), so that it reduces obvious piece shapes and you can see the artwork more clearly. I did that here, but you can see – especially in the sky – that there are quite large gaps and it does not fit together snugly at all. In addition, all the pieces are the standard ones you would find in a grid cut cardboard puzzle which is a little boring for a wooden puzzle and there are no whimsies. All that being said this was still entertaining to put together, and when Penny sends me more after she’s finished them I will definitely be assembling them.

Mostly the main reason for how much I enjoyed this little guy was Eric Dowdle’s artwork, I love his images although many times they make for challenging assemblies. With this mini puzzle it was so interesting to study the pieces to see what’s happening and where something might go, and with each piece I found my brain sent me some dopamine and I was happy. That’s why I puzzle!

Loved this little plane with the banner. I’ve never been to Seattle, but I’m sure it’s lovely.

Most people know about the fish market in Seattle, if you don’t then you should google it – one of the images that comes up looks quite like this little section including the clock, “farmers market” sign and one that says “meet the producers”. It was difficult to zoom in this close on such a small puzzle, but I did the best I could.

My momma always told me to try and show how big or small some puzzles are because you can’t really tell in my pictures, so this next picture is in her memory….

She was right, of course. You can’t tell from that first picture how mini this mini puzzle is without something for comparison. This little guy really is a little guy!

Extremely loose fit but still entertaining, the artwork was absolutely beautiful and detailed and made for a very nice assembly.

Living In Bird World

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles9 Comments

Living In Bird World by Lisa Houck – Liberty Puzzles – 498 Pieces

This artwork is beautiful and so different, it made for excellent puzzling; I had a great time with this one and found myself completely absorbed in the assembly, which is exactly what I needed at the time. Beautiful artwork on an excellent quality puzzle and I even got to spend a little bit of time with my wonderful daughter who puzzled with me for half an hour or so, it was lovely. 💕

Liberty Puzzles are my favorite modern wooden puzzle company, their puzzles have beautiful artwork, and their pieces are complex and designed by some of the best in the business. Liberty puzzles have more whimsies than most other companies, and they are designed to go along with the artwork. I’ve never been disappointed by one of their puzzles, or their customer service. When I came back to the puzzle board after my two year hiatus I went a little crazy and ordered four of their large puzzles, and this beauty is one of them.

Look at these whimsies, so many birds! And because this is Bird World, there are no people at all, just birds, insects, and foliage. It made for such an entertaining assembly.

I hope you guys like these pictures of the back of wooden puzzles, because this one was a bear.🐻 When I was flipping it over I accidentally hit the light above the puzzle board and bleeped it all up! It probably took about five minutes or more to put everything back where it belonged. It made me think though, wouldn’t it be a fun exercise to assemble one of these puzzles upside down? It probably wouldn’t be as difficult as it may seem, but the only way to know is to try, right?

The symmetrical section in the middle is where I started with the assembly, the pieces were obviously easy to find. Want to know why those shapes are in this bird puzzle? Well, they all fit together to make an interesting little bird house!

I saw the image on the Liberty website, on the page for this puzzle, so of course I had to try it for myself. It took a bit of doing, and figuring out how to get the pieces connected without breaking them took me several tries and several minutes, but eventually I got there. It’s adorable! The top looks a little wonky, but I did my best. 🕊🏠

The Golden Trio In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling2 Comments

The Golden Trio – Wentworth Wooden Puzzles – 225 pieces

I am absolutely LOVING this puzzle! It’s one of the nine (yes, nine) I purchased when I found out that Wentworth was having a sale and that all Harry Potter puzzles were 70% off. This gorgeous 225 piece puzzle was mine for less than $19! If you’re a teeny bit jealous, don’t be; as of today (July 2, 2026) the sale is still going on.😁

Normally this puzzle would have been finished yesterday, but I spent almost all day with my daughter; we went and got our hair done, she went with me to a doctor’s appointment, went to the bookstore (yes, I bought a few puzzles) and then we just spent time doing nothing together at my house. I probably only put 10 pieces into this puzzle yesterday, but it doesn’t matter one bit cause I got to spend the day with my beautiful baby girl. 💖

The cut on this puzzle seems trickier than I remember Wentworth puzzles being, and there have been several times where I absolutely could not find the right piece because I thought I knew what the shape would be – it turned out to be very wrong. It’s been so much fun! I love a good challenge, and the cut is giving me a run for my money, and I haven’t even started with most of the flowers yet. Flowers are really hard for me most of the time, I’ll let you know how it goes with these flowers everywhere.

I’m looking forward to finishing this today and seeing the completed puzzle, it’s gonna be beautiful!

Seattle In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling, Miscellaneous19 Comments

Seattle by Eric Dowdle – Dowdle Puzzles (Mini Wooden Puzzle) – 250 pieces

This gorgeous little beauty has been sitting partially assembled on my board for several days. I received a care package from The Puzzle Fairy (aka Penny) on Saturday, and immediately wanted to try out this mini wooden puzzle. The pieces are so small – about the size of a dime! I started it on a tray in the bedroom, but this little guy needed better lighting so I had to transfer it to the puzzle room. Sorry about the wonky picture, didn’t realize that I cut off one of the corners until just now and I’m too tired to retake it.

Unfortunately that evening around dinner time my dad called and asked me to take him to the hospital, and that’s basically where I’ve been every day since. He was admitted on Saturday night, and we’re still there. There hasn’t been much puzzling going on, but there has been plenty of sitting around on uncomfortable hospital seating. I’m hoping that today I can maybe do a MicroPuzzle or perhaps one of my Wentworth minis.

If I hadn’t started this puzzle before we got the call I might have taken it to the hospital the first morning he had his own room, but actually I’m glad I didn’t. The fit is so loose that it needs constant readjustment whenever anything gets moved. Honestly, it’s one of the loosest fitting wooden puzzles I’ve ever done, and without my fabric covered board to help keep the pieces from moving too much it would be a giant pain in the butt!

Even with the loose fit I’m still really enjoying this – even if I only find one or two pieces at a time. The artwork is beautiful, and though I find Eric Dowdle’s images challenging to puzzle it remains an entertaining little assembly. At first I thought I was going to use the little poster that comes with it, but I found that I’d rather take my time and enjoy finding each piece on my own rather than know exactly what I was looking for and where it went. Sometimes I use a poster, but lately I’m just enjoying the puzzles however it makes sense for me on that particular day. It’s been fun!

It struck me as odd after typing up the previous paragraph that my last White Mountain puzzle had me complaining about the loose fit, and here I am saying that although this puzzle has an extremely loose fit that I’m enjoying the assembly. I have no excuses or explanations – all I can tell you is that it’s the truth.

It’s been nice to have this puzzle sitting on my board so that when I come home after spending all day at the hospital I can sit down, even if it’s only for a few moments and find a piece or two to add. Last night, I sat down, found one piece, and that was it. At least I can say I did a teeny tiny bit of puzzling yesterday; even just finding that one piece made me happy, and isn’t that what it’s all about?

*If you have a spare few moments today, send a good thought for my dad that he continues to improve and that we’ll be able to get him home from the hospital without needing any surgery. Thank you my friends. 💕

Living In Bird World In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling, Miscellaneous7 Comments

Living In Bird World by Lisa Houck – Liberty Puzzles – 498 pieces

I’m having a bad day today, and this beautiful Liberty Puzzle has been helping me keep my mind off of things. That’s number 138 on the list of reasons why puzzling is good for your mental health. When you work on a puzzle it isn’t possible to multi-task, every part of your brain must be engaged with finding out what shape, cut, and color you’re looking for. The best puzzles can do that with ease, they keep you engrossed in what you’re doing, there’s no time to dwell on problems you may have or situations you can’t change, etc. It’s a mindful, peaceful meditation, and that’s just what I needed today.

I love to puzzle and being a dissectologist has been such a blessing in my life.🧩❤

The symmetrical section with many repeating pieces is where I started, that’s the top section shown; when that began to become more difficult and I needed something a bit easier I went with the darker section of dots in the bottom corner. It took a bit to reorient my brain to how all these pieces worked together, but from then on it’s been pretty smooth sailing. When that was finished I started on the smaller dots in the section above it and that’s where I am now. I’ve pulled out all the pieces (I hope) with the dots on the light background and am attempting to put everything into it’s place and hopefully connect these two sections together.

When I work a premium wooden puzzle like this one I normally put the box away where I cannot easily catch a glimpse of the image on the box. It makes the assembly last a little longer for me and I enjoy figuring out where each piece and whimsy fits into the overall picture. And when I’m finished it gives me a greater sense of accomplishment.

God Bless this puzzle for being here for me today, to keep my mind otherwise occupied when things that I can’t do anything about are happening and I don’t want to wallow (which I would definitely be doing right now). Puzzles have always been a cozy, warm hug for me when I’ve needed it, and I need many hugs today. 🤗🤗