Yosemite Fall by Alexander Chen – Wentworth Wooden Puzzles – 40 pieces
Another hospital puzzle, but at least the whimsies in this one made sense. It’s a beautiful image that was a bit more challenging than Fuyune, but luckily my daughter helped me with this one too. I love working puzzles with her. ❤
I liked the whimsy pieces in this puzzle, they went along perfectly with the picture; a squirrel, a butterfly, a rabbit, a bird, and a tree. The assembly took a little more time than what seems to be the average for these micro puzzles, but I had plenty of time for concentrating and puzzle assembly.
This image isn’t one I would normally buy, but because there were only 40 pieces there was absolutely no hesitation when purchasing it. In fact, of all the micro puzzles available at the time there was only one that I didn’t buy – an image of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip; I’m not much of an anglophile, and it didn’t interest me at all. There are several puzzles that I did buy that I would never purchase new in a large piece count. There’s something about such a small amount of pieces that it gives me confidence; I can absolutely do that one, it’s only 40 pieces! 🙂
I should have pushed the pieces together to take a better picture. Still, even with the less than perfect picture this puzzle is beautiful with a stunning image by Haruyo Morita – so pretty!
My daughter helped me assemble this puzzle, it seemed to be a popular pastime when visiting me. I’m a little cranky and not fun to be around when I don’t feel well so perhaps it was easier to deal with me when I was working on a puzzle? 👼
I can’t figure out why the whimsies in this puzzle are holiday themed, it doesn’t seem to lend itself to the image. It was still a fun assembly, but the incongruency of the whimsy pieces took me out of picture a bit. All in all it was a beautiful puzzle that was fun to put together, I’m really glad I have so many small puzzles that can be done almost anywhere; they’re the best!
Spectacular Peacock by Aimee Stewart – Wentworth Wooden Puzzles – 240 pieces
This puzzle fit very nicely on the beside table in my hospital room, I need my puzzles! This stunningly beautiful puzzle was 240 pieces of boredom therapy; I loved taking my mind off of everything else going on, and being able to do something other than stare at the television. Is it too much to ask for the hospitals to have Netflix? LOL
I know now the reason that I went a little insane last year and purchased 30-some micro puzzles from Wentworth, along with a few of their “midsize” puzzles. I was going to need them in January for my hospital stay! Mom brought me a bunch of micro puzzles and 2 of the larger ones to keep my puzzle brain happy and engaged while I was laid up. Thanks Wentworth – I love them so much❣
This puzzle and the next 8 posts coming up are all from my week in the hospital. Two of them are larger (over 200 pieces), one is a 100 piece, and the remaining five are micro puzzles from 40-60 pieces. My apologies for having so many very small puzzles in a row, but I’ve almost completely used up my “bank” of puzzle posts, and will have to work to build it back up once I’ve completely recovered and am able to sit and puzzle again.
This Aimee Stewart puzzle is absolutely gorgeous, everyone who saw it exclaimed over it and how beautiful and unusual it was. Of course it’s beautiful, it’s an Aimee Stewart! The irregular edge and amazingly detailed image made this a bit of a challenge, but that was exactly what was needed to stave off the boredom that comes with being bed-ridden. Luckily puzzles can be done almost anywhere you can find a flat surface. 🙂
The whimsies included in this puzzle are as wonderfully detailed and beautiful as the puzzle itself. There are several peacocks, flowers, butterflies, and more. Gorgeous! Assembling the edge took a bit of time, but I loved every moment. Holding a wooden puzzle piece while contemplating it’s placement is almost as satisfying as the plunk when it falls into place. The entire assembly was a joy, and exactly what I needed. Aimee Stewart and Wentworth Puzzles to the rescue!
I know wooden puzzles aren’t for everyone, and the added price is a bit much for some. But I encourage every puzzler to treat themselves at least once to a wooden puzzle. There are some reasonably priced companies out there (check out my post on wooden puzzle companies and their products here), and maybe you could request a smaller, reasonably priced wooden puzzle for your birthday this year. Artifact has the best prices and a wonderful catalog to choose from starting at only $18, Liberty’s extra small puzzles are intricate and amazing (around 100 pieces) and start at $39, and Wentworth micro puzzles are deceptively simple looking but a fun challenge and start at only $12. They are puzzles you will want to do again and again, and end up being absolutely worth the additional price. You’re worth it – treat yourself! I’m planning on requesting some small Liberty puzzles for Mother’s Day this year. 😎
It’s a Hoot – Wentworth Wooden Puzzles – 259 pieces
This is a striking image that was a lot of fun to work, and not really difficult at all. Mom and I assembled this one together, and we had a great time doing it. It didn’t take as much time as we thought it would with the repetitive cut, I think it actually makes assembly a little bit easier. You can see in the picture below the repetitive shapes, they’re like little owls!
I love working with these wonderful wooden puzzles. I like the feel of them as they fall into place, I love looking at the interesting shapes, I love the smell of the wood, and the care they take in packaging the pieces. They’re just excellent in every way.
I highly recommend the “extra difficult cut” you can get with some of the Wentworth puzzles. This is the second challenging cut that I’ve done, and I actually found it easy to work with. I’m not sure if I’ll be trying the winter scenes though, lots of snow and trees is too close to winter aspen for me.
It’s so wonderfully bright and colorful, I’d love to hang it on the wall for a while, but there’s no bleeping way I would glue any of these wooden puzzles! They’re too much fun to only assemble one time; mom and I loved this puzzle and will definitely be doing it over and over again.
The Physical Impossibility of Sadness in the Mind of the Befriended by Vikram Madan – Artifact Puzzles – 292 pieces
That is quite the title! But let me tell you, this less than 300 piece puzzle is worthy of such a great big name. What a wonderful treat it was to assemble, it’s bright colorful image and interesting and challenging piece shapes made it a delight to put together.
Since the wooden puzzle experiment I can’t seem to stop myself from spending lots of time on the websites for Liberty, Artifact, Peaceful, and Wentworth puzzles; there are so many fabulous images and interesting piece shapes to look at! While looking through the Artifact website I found this puzzle with the most wonderful shaped pieces and I couldn’t help myself. In my defense, I was left unsupervised. 😇
They call this piece cut “split tendrils”, I call it amazing! It took a few minutes to wrap my brain around how the pieces fit together; it makes for a more challenging puzzle but it’s the best kind of challenging! The whimsies are so adorable and they fit in with the piece shapes rather seamlessly. I can’t recommend this company enough, they have so many different types of cuts to choose from!
This artwork shows a creature sitting at the table having a bowl of cereal with a wall full of memories of adventures with his friend. It’s so sweet, and I love the picture as much as I love the piece cut. It’s just a great puzzle all around and I’m sure it will be assembled many more times. Amazingly entertaining!
With the obvious piece shapes it’s a bit easier to see the image from farther away, so to speak. Adorable artwork, amazing pieces – so much fun!
I’ve never really made New Year’s Resolutions, but I’m going to do my best to treat myself to more awesome wooden puzzles in 2018! I hope everyone has a safe and fun New Year’s Eve, and may the next year be filled with love, laughter, kindness, and many, many fun puzzles! 🎇🎉🎇
My Jigsaw Journal 