View Full Version : Any other puzzlers out there?
Jigsaw puzzles appear to be sort of an easy/silly hobby to have. But dang......they can really give your mind a work-out. I finished a 500 piece one of Robert Bateman's Great Blue Heron. Then I started on another one of his that is 1000 pieces....and mostly greys. It's such an exercise in patience. It seems to work a part of my brain that I don't usually use. You become aware of colors, textures, shapes. I think I may have given up, had it not been for the fact that my DD gave it to me for christmas, and I don't want to disappoint her. I might spend an hour looking for one piece and can't find it. Then I go back later, or first thing in the morning, and pick it right out. Shows me how much better we think when we've been refreshed.
I framed the Heron one, and used a matte finish glue on it, but the plexiglass it came with is too reflective. So I'm trying to find a less expensive non-glare option. The non-glare glass was going to be over $50.00!
This puzzle is a love-hate thing. But I think it's a good workout for my brain.........and learning patience and perseverance. It's about 26.5" x 19".
Anyone else work on these?
Here's a picture of the one I'm working on now. I don't know if I posted it before. It's unbelievably hard. I couldn't do this with a cat around. And with my arthritic fingers, it can be a challenge to pick up the pieces......but onward I go.........
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f129/Catherine50/Bateman%20Owl.jpg
I love puzzles. I find it relaxing and a good alternative to being on a computer. I like to listen to podcasts while I do puzzles. I don't have any right now due to limited space, but once I move again I'm going to have a permanent puzzle table set up again.
Hi Kestra. For some reason, I find that I am talking to myself the entire time I'm working on the puzzle. haha
It would be great to have a big table that turns, with perfect lighting overhead........but that's just a dream for now.
Like I said, if my old cat were still alive, I just couldn't do this. He would eat the pieces....
I'm sort of surprised at my fairly new interest in them. Even though they can be very frustrating at times, I do enjoy them. And I feel good not being on the computer or watching TV.
I just talked with my son and he said he was playing a board game with his girlfriend and having fun. It's good to hear that people still do things like this!
freshstart
2-14-16, 6:55pm
that looks so hard but beautiful!
My mom loves puzzle but she has an end stage disease and couldn't really sit at the table long enough to do them. She found online jigsaw puzzles and she is addicted. She gets upset if her iPad mini has to be taken in the the Genius Bar and she is without them for a few hrs, lol. I couldn't understand how on earth a puzzle done on such a small device could be challenging, I figured what's it going to have, 50 pieces? But they are challenging if you want them to be and quite pretty when done. So if you don't feel like putting a large one together, maybe you would enjoy these.
I won a large painting on a cruise, that I am so sick of and wish I had never spent the money to have it framed. Because of its size, they used I can't think of the right word right now, maybe like plexiglass? It's not glass, very light wt plastic that you can bend and I would imagine, cheap. I bet it's online and cheaper than getting it at a framing place. This one is matte so no glare.
Thanks freshstart.
I actually happened upon an online jigsaw puzzle and was amazed that they were out there. I think I'll stick to the old fashioned ones for now. I'm glad your mom enjoys the online ones. (Modern technology does have some advantages!).
I have some of Robert Bateman's limited reproductions and the framing always costs more than the print! Maybe you can sell that one you're tired of?
Thanks for your suggestions!
freshstart..........do you have matte plexiglass on your picture? I'm finding it hard to find.
mschrisgo2
2-14-16, 9:17pm
I love Jigsaw puzzles! I live in an apartment building and there is always one in process on a table in the community room. I ca usually find at least a few pieces. I had dozens of puzzles, collected over many years, several cartons full. I donated all of them to a senior center.
freshstart
2-14-16, 9:23pm
I just can't think of the right word, it may very well be plexiglass, very thin, thinner than glass, transparent bendable plastic. Do you have Micheal's? their framing dept would know what I can't think of, so sorry. It's not bad even though it's not glass, it makes the art so much lighter
LOVE them!! The hours tend to fly by though. In my condo building is a common room where residents will leave boxes of puzzles for others to use, so there's always a new one there to try. Some of them have really oddly-shaped pieces; haven't tried one yet but I'm sure it'll be frustrating.
As for the puzzles I own, after completing I'll take it apart and put the edge pieces into a small bag. I find that finding those pieces when starting is the hardest part!
I like on-line jigsaws like those at Jigzone. You can change the number of pieces and their shapes, for infinite variety. And you don't have to worry about losing pieces.
http://www.jigzone.com/puzzles/daily-jigsaw
I also like word games like those AARP offers:
http://games.aarp.org/
And I have a number of puzzles on my tablet, as well as old favorites like Sudoku and Concentration. Every once in awhile, I buy a boxed jigsaw puzzle at the thrifts, but I usually don't want to spread a thousand tiny pieces out and then worry about losing one or two while I get a kink in my neck from leaning over the table squinting at the picture.
IshbelRobertson
2-15-16, 11:30am
A Christmas tradition in my family, since my maternal grandparents time is to buy a very large jigsaw and start it on Christmas Eve. It is laid out on small, expanding table and anyone passing adds pieces. The object is to have it completed by the end of New Year's Day! It is thendonated to a charity shop.
Funnily enough, we never do puzzles at any other time of year.
LOL Jane........speaking of kinks in the neck......I have one from doing puzzles! I also have a few other pains here and there that I'm thinking are from leaning over at the puzzle table.
I like crosswords too. I'm afraid I stick to the easier ones though........and it makes me feel smart. haha
I don't know how many I'll keep doing, after I've done all the nature ones by Robert Bateman. I plan on gluing them all and framing them. I figure it's cheaper than his limited reproductions......of which I have 5. I think I'll send him a pic of the finished puzzles and see if he will give me a freebie print. (yeah, right). Like I've said.....I'm sure he painted these in less time than the puzzles are taking me. haha
Speaking of crosswords, I was on a cryptic crossword jag a few years ago. I should pick that habit up again, because they provide quite a workout for the brain. Each clue is a puzzle in and of itself, and there are certain rules to how the clues are set up. Devilishly challenging. Once you get the basics, they're a lot of fun:
http://lovattspuzzles.com/online-puzzles-competitions/daily-cryptic-crossword
Thanks for that link Jane......I'll check it out!
I love puzzles. I have a table set up in the living room just for puzzles. Unfortunately, I don't seem to have the time anymore to complete one. (It's really hard to dust a table full of puzzle pieces)
Peggy....you could use your leaf blower! :0! Or do what I do, and just blow. :)
I am a puzzler too. I started working on them a few months ago and keep one in progress on my coffee table. I like to work on the puzzles while listening to the TV. With lots of debates going on these days, I'm doing lots of puzzles.
I have purchased some new ones, but have a nice stack of ones that I liked and will work on again. The ones I don't like go to Goodwill. I have found the ones with flimsy pieces are not my favorites.
Thanks for the links for the online puzzles, I had no idea there were online jigsaw puzzles.
freshstart
2-15-16, 6:29pm
I should probably add puzzles of some sort to my homemade brain rehab plan, I like word puzzles. I am so bad at cross word puzzles now, I don't even do the one in the back of the gossip magazine, lol.
I love jigsaw puzzles. I like to keep one out in the living room to work on and have guests join me when they are in the mood.
500-piece is my favorite because they go quickly and I get that "Did it!" feeling sooner.
I've done some 1,000 piece ones. One was a Hieronymous Bosch painting. Very cool.
Puzzles that depict museum paintings are my favorites, esp Impressionists. I get them from online museum gift stores.
My ex-boss got me a 3D one of Notre Dame in Paris. Hated it. Took so long to get that satisfaction feeling.
I love dogs. I found a puzzle in the shape of a dog bone with pictures of dozens of dog breeds.
I'll be undertaking a long distance move soon so I donated all my puzzles to the Senior Center. It will be fun to get new puzzles once I'm settled.
My local library has lots of puzzles anyone can borrow.
happystuff
2-19-16, 8:56pm
Another jigsaw puzzler lover here! I do anywhere from 1-3 puzzles during the holidays, trying to start sometime around Thanksgiving and finish up as soon as possible after the new year. This year was a 2000 piece of The Last Supper and a 1000 piece of The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Upon completion, I take pictures of them, take them apart and either pass them on to friends or donate them. Can't wait to see what I can get my hands on for the end of this year!
Wow happystuff! I'm having a really hard time with this 1000 piece puzzle. It has sooooo many similar colors. Was the 2000 piece one really hard? I find them much easier when there is a lot of color.
My last one is glued and framed and I will glue and frame this one. They are really nice images of wildlife by my favorite wildlife artist. I think it's really good for the brain to do these. (Although I'm still as forgetful as ever. haha)
So what kinds of pictures do y'all prefer? I like country scenes, harbors and Grandma Moses type pictures.
I like wildlife, but I could be talked into other rural themes. I've had a couple 300 piece ones in the closet for a couple years. I think after I finish this 1000 piece one, I'll do those! One is of a cardinal pair and the other is of a bluebird pair.
I think I'm driving my husband crazy. Whether or not I make progress on this puzzle seems to influence my behavior the rest of the time. hahaha I mean seriously........what a drag spending a couple hours on a puzzle, and only finding 2 pieces that fit.
I've even found pieces that actually fit in more than one place. I'm almost finished with the 2 big trees in this pic, and am close to starting on the owl. But then everything else is just various shades of white. My husband's really going to love me then.......when it takes several days to find just one piece! haha
It's funny......since I've been doing these trees, I'm so much more aware outside of how many different colors are really in a tree!
When I have areas that are solid colors, I separate those pieces into shapes; wishbone-shaped ones, ones with angles, ones with 2 or 3 knobs. Sometimes you can tell what sort of shape will fit when there are no distinguishing things on it. Then I'll just try each piece for that shape and eventually one will fit.
For detailed pieces, I always have a magnifying glass nearby.
I hate it when I'm doing the edge and it seems that all the pieces are in the right place, but one side is longer than another.
I might like to put together a Charley Harper puzzle; love his artwork.
I might like to put together a Charley Harper puzzle; love his artwork.Good Taste! Charley was a local artist and my wife became enthralled with his work. We have about 20 or so of his prints in our lower level rec room, about half of them signed. I'd think all of his work would make excellent puzzles.
sweetana3
2-23-16, 12:15pm
The small bookstore in Bloomington, IN has a great selection of his and his families art books. I could study them all day.
I've always had a fondness for illustrators over fine artists; Charley Parker was an original. He's sorely missed.
Ultralight
2-23-16, 12:31pm
This thread is tempting me with another hobby! haha
I've always liked puzzles but go through stages on actually buying them and doing them. I don't like to re-do one I've already done and don't like to save them. I can work on one for weeks and as soon as it's done I can barely let a day go by before I put it back in the box and pass it on to someone else.
I do little ones on the computer a lot when I'm waiting for something to do at work. http://www.thejigsawpuzzles.com has a lot of themes and I get kind of hung up on trying to do all in one category, like bridges. They also have a daily challenge. And I like that you can change the count size for each puzzle.
Pony Mom.........I had that problem with my last puzzle......it all fit together, but one side was longer than the other. Finally discovered that one of the pieces was in the wrong place. It fit almost perfectly in the wrong place, so I could hardly notice it. It was driving me nuts, so I'm glad I figured it out. So now, I always check and make sure that every piece fits together perfectly and doesn't have the slightest space in it.
The puzzle I'm working on now is even......but I just found a frame piece. Not sure what that will mean!
What's so hard about this puzzle is that different areas around the entire (large) puzzle have extremely similar colors.....and that confuses me. Plus, there are tiny tree branches through the whole thing. I thought the main subject (an owl) would be easy.......but it has feather colors that go in all different directions. I'm trying to go by shape.......but so often, something "should" fit, but doesn't. What's funny though is many times I pick a piece up and say "This isn't going to work".......and it fits!
So now I try to say that with every piece. hahaha
It's always a big "Ta DAAA!" moment when I get the right piece.
It's always a big "Ta DAAA!" moment when I get the right piece.
haha.......me too pony mom. It's a big loud "Whoot! Whoot!"
I was looking at PuzzleWarehouse's website and just saw a puzzle with 33,600 pieces in it!! Others were 6,000-9,000. I'm struggling with just 1,000! One person said he works on the bigger ones over several winters. That would drive me crazy, for sure!
Wow happystuff! I'm having a really hard time with this 1000 piece puzzle. It has sooooo many similar colors. Was the 2000 piece one really hard? I find them much easier when there is a lot of color.
My last one is glued and framed and I will glue and frame this one. They are really nice images of wildlife by my favorite wildlife artist. I think it's really good for the brain to do these. (Although I'm still as forgetful as ever. haha)
Actually it was easier than I thought it would be, although still had some tough parts. It is the first puzzle I ever completed where I did the outside edge last! LOL.
I find the picture is usually what ends up making a puzzle easy or hard, not so much how many pieces. Although wading through all those pieces for the right ones takes more time - lol.
I actually do whatever puzzles I end up getting, either from friends, as gifts or cheap from thrift store, etc. For a while my bil was giving me puzzles of famous paintings as Christmas gifts.
Finished my puzzles. I still have more to go, but I'm taking a break. They do seem to take over my life until they are done.
These are the 3 big ones I did recently. The owl one was extremely difficult. The Moose one was fun. The heron one was pretty hard too......but not nearly as difficult as the owl one. Fortunately, none of the pieces were missing at the end. I glued them and put them in frames. Now what to do with them? I might have to add on a puzzle room. haha
These are all images painted by Robert Bateman.
I think my next one won't be a Bateman, but still cool..........It's of a family of barn owls.
Try to ignore my 44 year old orange/brown carpet! I think that's why I scored so low on the quiz that someone posted recently.. hahaha
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f129/Catherine50/Blue%20heron%20puzzle%20pic.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f129/Catherine50/Ghost%20of%20the%20North%20puzzle%20pic.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f129/Catherine50/moose%20puzzle%20pic.jpg
I'm bumping this 'cause I don't think it showed up on "new posts".
CathyA, those are great. I have two Robert Bateman books loaded with his art that I bought cheap at a book warehouse years ago. Luckily they made the "Keep" pile when i decluttered.
I can't imagine doing a puzzle that had more than 1000 pieces. Where would you put it all? I have one of those puzzle storage things---it has drawers under the working part and a cover that slides over it. It claims that you can easily carry it by the handle and not disturb the puzzle, but they lie. All the pieces just slide to the bottom edge. Even that doesn't hold all of 1000 pieces and I have to use the box to keep some in until I assemble some of the puzzle.
Good work, Cathy! Keeps the mind and fingers nimble.
Haven't done any puzzles lately. I discovered that even sitting on a big pillow on the chair, it makes my legs ache so bad. (I'm getting that checked out now). Anyhow.....I do miss doing puzzles, but I've gotten lots of things done around the house now! haha I get a little addicted to them when I'm working on them and don't get much else done. My only problem now is figuring what to do with them all.
These are the last 3 I did. They aren't Bateman's and are only 300 pieces...but 300 is a good size to not get frustrated.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f129/Catherine50/Wren%20puzzle.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f129/Catherine50/Burrowing%20owls%20puzzle.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f129/Catherine50/Emilys%20Garden%20puzzle%20-%202.jpg
I'm a sucker for quilts, so I like that one best. You've been busy.
My boyfriend sometimes helps me with my puzzles. It makes me so happy. Ex-husband refused to even consider it. I can't wait until I move and I can make my young nieces and nephew do puzzles with me!
I try to do puzzles once in a while, but for some reason I am just so, so bad at it.
I find that I have to really be interested in the subject matter of a puzzle. It also helps to have a bit of OCD. haha
The whole thing that got me going was finding a couple of my favorite wildlife artist's paintings available as puzzles. They are a lot cheaper than the limited reproductions!
My neighbors leave their old puzzles in our craft room. I found the "world's most difficult puzzle" there and gave it to my cousin to try. The photo is just lots of dalmations, but the puzzle is two sided, with the same picture rotated 90 degrees on the other side. He's up for the challenge.
I think I would get too discouraged if it was too difficult.
Here are the last 4 puzzles I've done. I get pretty obsessed with these things! I love nature ones. I have to stop every so often between puzzles because sitting there makes my legs hurt so bad for some reason.....which is a bummer.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f129/Catherine50/Barn%20owl%20puzzle%20framed.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f129/Catherine50/saw%20whet%20owl%20puzzle-1.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f129/Catherine50/GH%20owl_1.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f129/Catherine50/Turkey%20puzzle%20cropped.jpg
happystuff
10-7-16, 5:33pm
Very nice, CathyA! They are beautiful!
freshstart
10-7-16, 5:57pm
beautiful! what do you do with the ones you don't frame?
freshstart
10-7-16, 6:25pm
does anyone have one of those puzzle mats that you can roll the whole thing up while you are working on it to get it out of the way? does it work?
where's the best place to get puzzles inexpensively?
Thanks happystuff and freshstart. Well, I guess you could say I have a problem. haha I've been gluing quite a few of them and framing them. I buy the cheapest frames from Michaels. But I haven't framed a number of them. The glare off the plexiglass sort of ruins the image, but I just figured out how to remove the plexiglass (it was glued in) and I'll frame things with no plexiglass on them. The ones I haven't framed and haven't glued, are stored in cardboard science fair tri-fold things and the glued ones are just hanging around. haha There surely will come a point when I realize I have no space for these! Our house is fairly open and I don't have many walls. The ones I wasn't crazy about I took apart and will probably give them away. I had only planned on framing the Robert Bateman images, but after I spent so much time on others, it's hard to just take it all apart. I don't know why I enjoy it so much. I guess I like looking for and finding things! :)
As far as the Bateman images, these in print are hundreds or thousands of dollars........so I feel like I'm getting a real bargain at $12-15!
I like Robert Bateman. Years ago I went to a book warehouse sale and bought two gorgeous books filled with his prints.
I received this a few years ago: http://www.bitsandpieces.com/product/the_bits_and_pieces_puzzle_center_1500/gifts?p=0959289&utm_medium=shopping_engine&utm_source=googleshopping&utm_medium=google&CAWELAID=120020260000000662&CAGPSPN=pla&CAAGID=17068691912&CATCI=pla-122089092512&gclid=CIjeiq76yc8CFckehgod2-YPyw Mine may be a bit smaller. Anyway, it's great for storing everything to keep it out of the way when not working on it. However, there's no way you can carry it by the handle without ruining the puzzle---all the pieces will just slide to the bottom. It's made of cardboard and OK if you don't lean on it. When doing a 1000 piece puzzle, some of the pieces don't fit in the drawers. Since I don't have a place to work on a puzzle, I can set this on a wooden chest that I use as a coffee table, set the drawers around me on the couch, and I'm good to go.
We used a big piece of plywood and would store it under a bed or in a garage, then set it on a dining room table - fun times! We could pick it up at anytime and carry it carefully so as not to dislodge the pieces.
freshstart
10-8-16, 6:50pm
I feel like doing a jigsaw puzzle so bad right now, lol
Pony Mom......I had looked a lot of those things over when I started my first puzzle, and ended up going pretty simple. I bought one of those 3 drawer plastic units for different colored pieces of the puzzle. I keep it on a TV tray next to the card table. I bought a tri-fold smaller kid's science fair project cardboard and it works great. That way, I can move it if I need too. If I want to glue the puzzle, I will slip waxed paper under it, and that protects the cardboard. Also, I do a lot of 18"x24" puzzles, and if I can't decide if I want to glue them or not, the outer sides of the cardboard fold over the puzzle and protect it somewhat for flat storage under the bed.
freshstart.........lol! Go get a puzzle! :)
It's funny, if I finish a pretty challenge puzzle, I think to myself "man, I need a break from this"........but within a couple of days, I'm thinking of starting another one. I don't know what the draw is for me. What's most important to me is the subject matter of the puzzle. I don't think I'd have any interest in something like a dozen colorful donuts, or beer labels or firetrucks, etc. I love nature scenes and birds. I just love looking for things (puzzle pieces), finding them, and then putting them where they're supposed to go! I wish I was into house cleaning that much!
I just can't get enough of puzzles. I don't quite understand the "addiction". Just finished a cheap "hot dog" one for my son. He eats incredibly healthily, (vegetarian/pescatarian) but loves an occasional hotdog. He even had a wallet with a hot dog image on it. haha
I bought him a cheap hot dog puzzle and he loved it. Well, he loved getting it, but it was cheaply made and all the pieces were the same shape and never stayed in place, so he gave up. I offered to put it together for him. Man, what a difference it makes between a cheaply made one and a good one. Several times I almost gave up, but always went back to it. I finally finished it last night. What a labor of love! When I would make progress on it, it would come apart in various areas. Soooo frustrating. I just find it curious that I have so much patience with puzzles.
Anyhow.......I've done about 15 this year, and bought about 6 more to work on. But I just discovered wooden puzzles. They are very interesting (and quite expensive). The pieces are many times made out of "whimsical" shapes.....fish, trees, etc. I've seen a couple very beautiful ones.....like cherry blossoms, water lilies. But many of them are very small and cost around $50-60.
I do lots of other things during the day, otherwise I'd be a bit concerned about all the puzzles I do. I like to call it "perseverance" but I think it might also be called OCD. haha
I just have to shake my head, wondering why the heck I love these so much. Mostly, it's the image. I couldn't do any hot dog-type puzzles again....unless it was for someone I loved who wanted it!
Take a look at the Wentworth wooden puzzles, or the Artifact Puzzles. Some are pretty bizarre.........but others are beautiful.
Zoe Girl
10-22-16, 10:57am
I recommend the book Flow. It is kinda related. It is about getting into something and getting out of your head in the simplest terms. He talks about artists and their process but honestly I think puzzles, games etc. are things that bring out the same mind state.
I will do puzzles when I don't have cats! Meanwhile I play solitaire on the computer and do fill-in puzzles.
Ah, puzzles with cats in the house... a challenge. We've been doing cheap, 500 piece Family dollar puzzles. They are amazingly fun and yes, a bit addictive. They are cheaply made, so not always tightly locked in place, but quite workable if no cats come to share.
frugal-one
10-22-16, 12:41pm
I've always liked puzzles but go through stages on actually buying them and doing them. I don't like to re-do one I've already done and don't like to save them. I can work on one for weeks and as soon as it's done I can barely let a day go by before I put it back in the box and pass it on to someone else.
I do little ones on the computer a lot when I'm waiting for something to do at work. http://www.thejigsawpuzzles.com has a lot of themes and I get kind of hung up on trying to do all in one category, like bridges. They also have a daily challenge. And I like that you can change the count size for each puzzle.
Shared this website with a friend who was very thrilled! Thanks for the info!!
messengerhot
10-27-16, 3:01am
Those puzzles are nice and amazingly done! I'd love to try some other puzzle but I'm very busy most of the time. By the way, you may see a wide range of puzzles on BrainBashers. I found some easy and difficult but I just thought, it would be interesting.
Float On
10-27-16, 10:15am
Shared this website with a friend who was very thrilled! Thanks for the info!!
Oh, your welcome.
I found this online the other day thought it was pretty funny......knowing how crazy it can make you, to be missing a puzzle piece.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f129/Catherine50/missing%20puzzle%20piece.png
JaneV2.0
12-20-16, 10:52am
I just ran across an interesting jigsaw puzzle on line. A little pricey, but I bet it would keep you busy:
http://calamityware.com/products/copy-of-sketchbook-puzzle-2-evil-twins
Oh gosh! I don't think so! I'm into nature scenes. I think that one would surely drive me nuts! haha I've been looking at a couple wooden ones. But I bought a bunch of the regular ones to do in the future, so it might be awhile before letting myself get into wooden ones.
Here's a really neat one. It's a bit cheaper than the others. You can see in an image to the side how unusual the pieces are.
https://www.amazon.com/Artifact-Puzzles-Naughty-Wooden-Jigsaw/dp/B00HY60XTQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482247060&sr=8-1&keywords=wooden+puzzle%2C+naughty+bird
Here's my last 2. The first one is of Wood Ducks, and the second one is "The Road to Yesteryear". I love getting lost in the puzzle. I had to force myself to stop a couple weeks ago, because I have too much to do for christmas.......but when New Years comes..............
1670
1671
You pick the prettiest puzzles.
LOVE those wood ducks! Who is the maker of your puzzles, Cathy?
That Naughty Bird puzzle looks like fun--I like the puzzle shapes.
Some of those wooden puzzles are called "artifact" puzzles........I think it's because of all those hidden shapes. Some of those wooden puzzles can have quite bizarre images, but I like more nature stuff. But as you could see, it's pricey.......and some are $150. So......I wouldn't want to get addicted to those!
LOVE those wood ducks! Who is the maker of your puzzles, Cathy?
Well, the makers aren't usually the artists who have created the image. But they are the ones with the jigsaws! I like several of the companies. Cobble Hill made the Bateman ones and makes others. The only thing I don't like about them is that it seems they need to sharpen their saws. They always have a lot of white tags on their puzzle pieces and if the puzzle is darker, it really shows. I bought a package of different colors of permanent Sharpie markers and it covers up those tags very well. Also, Some people don't like Cobble Hill's style because all the pieces are different shapes and they don't go straight across the image, but are in wavy patterns. Some people really don't like that and find it too difficult. But some of us like that challenge.
I also really like Buffalo Games company and SunsOut company. I'm sure there are other good ones, but the puzzles I seem to like are from these companies. Mostly I look for images that I like the most, and go with whoever makes that one.
I bought my son a Puzzlebug one of hot dogs. hahaha It's a thing he has. He's a vegetarian for the most part, but has a soft spot for a good hot dog. Anyhow, it was too hard for him and he gave up. I told him I'd do it and boy, was it cheaply made and because of that, it WAS really hard. It wouldn't stay together and sections of it would pop out, just by looking at it. But I finished it and glued it. But along the way, I had to put weights on those areas that kept popping up. It ended up making a good image, but I don't think I would order their puzzles again. And it definitely wasn't a nature scene! haha
Here's a pic of that silly, frustrating puzzle:
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freshstart
12-20-16, 4:23pm
I just ran across an interesting jigsaw puzzle on line. A little pricey, but I bet it would keep you busy:
http://calamityware.com/products/copy-of-sketchbook-puzzle-2-evil-twins
this puzzle would put me in the looney bin!
freshstart
12-20-16, 4:27pm
I bought my mom two puzzles and a puzzle mat for Christmas. I got 500 pieces, she's struggling with those now but wants to keep all these 1000 piece ones we have from decades ago. I don't forsee us getting up to 1000 pieces for a good long time. How many pieces do you guys do?
You pick the prettiest puzzles.
Thanks Kestra. :)
My first one was 1,000..........but it was soooo hard. It was mostly gray and white. I've done a couple 1,000 piece ones, but I'm not crazy about them, unless they have a super cool image. I've come to like 500-550, but those can be hard too at times.
For a nice break, I'll do a 300 piece. I think those are the best for a very short-term project.
I did buy one with 1,500, but don't know when I'll tackle it. It's such a beautiful image......of fall with a horse-drawn wagon on a stone bridge over a stream with some mist over it.
I bought a 1,000 piece one that looks fun. They have several similar to this with different subject matters. It's made by ceaco and is called "Coming to Life" It has a framed picture on a mantel that has the subject matter coming to life and coming out of the picture. Mine is an English cottage by a pond. But a squirrel, a duck and ducklings, birds and even the water is flowing out of the picture onto the mantel. It's a cool idea.
freshstart
12-20-16, 7:17pm
that puzzle does sound cool
Just starting to get back into puzzles as a prelude to my 2017 retirement. The 1,000 piece was definitely too much for an amateur like me, so the 500 piece we've started is more my speed. I am also learning to appreciate the differences in the more expensive puzzles as has been mentioned here.
The 500 piece puzzle was made by a German company, and even though it is many years old it's still sharp and the colors are fresh. I think the maker is "Heye."
We get 500 piece at the dollar store and enjoy them. The more expensive do fit together better, especially if you do them over and over...we only do them once- then pass them on.
I love doing puzzles while listening to the radio. Heaven!
My middle daughter loves puzzles. For Christmas I got her a small (for her) puzzle - 500 pieces. But the puzzle itself is just one solid color that transitions from a turquoise green to turquoise blue, left to right. She really liked me giving it to her - I hope she still thinks that after she starts working it.
This reminds me to look for one at an after Christmas sale. Puzzles are good for your brain to prevent dementia.
I'm addicted. I did about 25 last year and I'm on #3 already this year. I always take a little time between them, in order to get anything else done! My DD is sending me a couple custom-made puzzles of a couple of my photographs that I took! (christmas present that didn't arrive on time). I am just totally mystified why I love doing this so much. But they do have to be images I really like. Here is a picture of one of the wooden puzzles I did recently.
1679
freshstart
1-9-17, 10:28pm
I'm picky about images, too. Found a 1000 piecer with a picture of a pile of buttons at the Dollar Store. I don't have high expectations that I will ever finish that one!
They go on sale now? Hmm...going to check into that! I just remembered this morning while reading this thread I used to have a co-worker with the neatest, coziest, quirkiest house (it had a turret!!). She collected hooks and they were on the walls all over her house in unexpected places, different shaped, fun. Anyway, she was a puzzle aficionado and after finishing one she especially liked would glue them and use them around her house the way some might use a doily or placemat. I remember she had one on her hearth. She was so clever. She passed away a few years ago, but these little things I remember about her bring fond feelings to mind.
Here's one I just finished. It was hard, but I love the image. Remember those sleds? I don't see kids sledding as much as we did. We had a little hill beside our yard. Unfortunately, at the bottom was a creek.....but we still chanced it.
1680
Whew.........this one was really hard. But I finally finished......thanks in part to having some OCD. haha
The image was painted by Rosemary Millette. I think it's beautiful. Now to glue it and frame it.
1705
Well, it's finally up on the mantle. I can't believe what a hassle this one was. After I put 2 layers of glue on it and was about to put on a 3rd, I realized I put 2 pieces in the wrong places. They were exactly the same size and color, but the color was reversed. This puzzle was so complicated, I went by shape a lot of time time. I realized that the one piece could get by where it was wrongly put......but the other one was a partially black piece that was sitting right in the snow! This began a several week process of trying to fix it. 3 trips to Michael's for frames (I figured the size wrong twice!). Then I tried to match the color of the snow and planned on covering up the black. But it's a very strange color and I couldn't match it. So I ended up putting a few pine needles onto that black blob. That didn't look good, so I tried to cover them up with a green color, which was too bright. I bought an X-acto knife, thinking I could cut the 2 pieces out and reverse them, but decided I could end up with a bigger mess. So now, that piece looks like a big black bug on the snow. haha I'm probably the only one who will notice it, and continue to be driven crazy about it.
Then, there is no frame that completely fits this picture (1,000 piece), if the plexiglass is not holding it in. I hate the plexiglass because all it shows is reflections. So I removed the plexiglass, but then had to figure out how to hold the puzzle in the larger frame. After several more trips to stores, I decided to get a giant black permanent marker and fill in the frame's back board sides, top and bottom with it. Then I put double-sided tape around the puzzle, so it would stick to the back board. Then I had to cut a piece of cardboard the size of the puzzle, to help it hold tight more. Then I realized that I had to put it on the back, since the backboard and puzzle were now glued together. So I had to cover up the hanger thing......but that's okay, since I wanted to put it on the mantel. Whew......never had so much trouble framing a puzzle. I just get cheap ones at Michael's on sale. But I hate the reflection in the plexiglass. I looked up how much a custom piece of non glare plexiglass would cost.........and it's over $50.00. Forget that!
So right now I'm on hiatus from puzzles. I need a break from frustration. But I do need to figure out some heavy flat object I can put at the bottom of the puzzle now, so it doesn't slide off the mantel and break in two. haha Wouldn't that be funny? Not!
Here's a pic of it on the mantel.
1722
Hmmm....after much research, I'm still not sure if it's mantel or mantle. :~)
Mantel. Yours is just like mine. Seventies' house?
That owl looks majestic, if a bit judgmental. :~)
Hi Jane. Yes, the house was built in the early 70s. I love the fieldstone, but we have to keep applying waterproofing to the outside chimney or the rain pours in through the stone. I guess it's very porous. Did you ever have troubles like that?
I think the Owl was ticked that I screwed things up. He tried to tell me those pieces were in the wrong place, but I wasn't listening. :~)
Yes--the rain occasionally soaks the mantelpiece on both sides. Just one of the wonderful quirks of this house--I often say it's like living under a bridge.:~) I think the view is supposed to make up for it...
Here's a pic of my latest one. It was hard, but fun.
1729
Okay guys.........I guess by now you could call me a puzzle addict. I do love all the nature scenes!
This one was hard, but the image is really neat........of wood ducks.1734
Okay guys.........I guess by now you could call me a puzzle addict. I do love all the nature scenes!
This one was hard, but the image is really neat........of wood ducks.http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1734&stc=1
Nice! Puzzles are a great simple living activity. I used to not care for them. But at work people do puzzles during lunch break. I started hanging out with then. After a bit I picked up the puzzle habit too. haha
We did a 1500 piece recently. We're gluing it and framing it. :)
That's cool, about people doing them at work during break. I think I would have trouble "sharing" my puzzle-making though. I'm a puzzle loner. haha
I find it interesting that I'm so attracted to doing them. It must fulfill something in me. Maybe it seems like a reasonable alternative to housecleaning. haha
I'm not at all artistic and paintings/drawings seem like magic to me. So maybe I feel a little artistic by putting these beautiful images together....if only in puzzle form.
Here's my latest. Started out pretty easy, but then got kinda hard. It will look better after I glue it. I keep looking at a cross-stitch I started a couple years ago and feeling like I need to finish it. I've done lots of cross-stitch patterns, but puzzles seems funner. :)
1757
I could see where that bottom left half would have been tough because of the colors being such subtle variations of each other.
We're doing puzzles here more too since the Phoenix summer hibernation has started with the 105+ degree heat. Found a great one at the Goodwill last week for $1.50, so this hobby has to qualify as definitely simple living.
We put together a 2000 piece puzzle at my work recently. Puzzling is super popular with my coworkers. They do them at home and at work during lunch break.
I found that the Dollar Tree had a nice bin of puzzles for $1. I went ahead and bought 1 to give it a try and it was really good color and well fitting small pieces. The one I did was a collection of doors. Finished it in 3 settings over 3 days. I'll have to stop in and see if they have more. Moving on to one I picked up at Goodwill in a sealed box (overstock from Target I assume) for $1.50 that is a tray of marbles!
I prefer the ones that are pictures of places--I enjoy seeing photograph of places I have seen or want to visit someday.
I'll have to check out some of those less expensive places.
I have my eye on a wooden puzzle, but it's sooooo expensive. I don't know why I'm attracted to the image. It just seems so rich to me.
Here's a pic of it: I'm sure the puzzle wouldn't be quite as vibrant as this image though.
I've done a couple smaller wooden puzzles, and they're very interesting
.1759
I'll have to check out some of those less expensive places.
I have my eye on a wooden puzzle, but it's sooooo expensive. I don't know why I'm attracted to the image. It just seems so rich to me.
Here's a pic of it: I'm sure the puzzle wouldn't be quite as vibrant as this image though.
I've done a couple smaller wooden puzzles, and they're very interesting
.1759
That's a beautiful image. but I've had trouble with doing puzzles of paintings for the same reason - the subtle variations of color make it harder for me so if it becomes too frustrating then it's not fun. Have to find the sweet spot between slogging through a difficult one and breezing through an easy one. That's why picking out the right puzzle in the first place becomes the goal.
I agree Lainey........no sense in being tormented! Sometimes I do 300 piece ones, just to be sure to have fun! ha ha
It's funny, one of the first ones I did last year was a christmas gift from my daughter. I think she bought the wrong one......not the one I mentioned. It was the hardest one I've ever done. I think I posted the puzzle pic......it was an owl on a tree in winter......all grays/whites. It drove me crazy. It actually started depressing me......but since it was from my DD, I kept on and finished it. I know this sounds nutty, but I've learned, if I really like the image, I can keep going, even if it's days until I find just a couple pieces. For some reason, that seems to be good for me, rather than quitting. I think my OCD helps me through too. hahaha
My son is a pescatarian, who sometimes eats red meat, but not often. Anyhow........he loves hotdogs. Go figure! Anyhow, I bought him a puzzle of hotdogs for him to put together, since I thought he'd enjoy that. Well, it drove him crazy and he quit. I told him to send it home and I'd go crazy for him. hahaha It was the worst puzzle to put together. Everything kept coming apart so easily. I ended up putting heavy coasters on different areas to keep it together. I finally finished it, glued it and put it in a frame for him. hahaha I find it really curious that I like doing them so much. Oh well......there are worse addictions!
deleted. Photobucket wouldn't let me post a pic without paying to do so.
1888
CathyA, Apparently photobucket won't leave up past things you've posted. I started at the begining of this thread and here was what was in place of the first photo you posted. Was it a photo you took or a stock image on-line? I just use the little photo icon and the basic uploader to add my own pictures now.
I've been decluttering diligently, and have arrived at the games and puzzles department of my life. I MUST know all pieces are there before I decide whether to keep, toss, or send to resale. This has resulted in me putting together quite a few puzzles. The last one was 500 pieces and a landscape. The colors of the wildflowers in the foreground were so similar, I had a hard time distinguishing...the parts seemed to be primarily like a human with two "outie" bumps for the arms. I tried to piece the outer edge first, and ended up with two that don't hook together in the bottom row... I even counted to ensure I still had 500 pieces. In the end, I gave up. I had two days into it and even dh could see my frustration. It should be fun, right?
I haven't figured out how to post pictures on here, since Photobucket started charging an outrageous user fee.
I've been doing puzzles, but couldn't post them, but I'm going to give it another try. This one was extremely challenging, but I love the image so much, I kept on. It was 1,500 pieces........which is probably not that much to some people. But there were so many areas that were similar in color, it was really, really hard.
It's called "Autumn Bridge".
2015
CathyA,
I'm very impressed. I've discovered that for me, if the puzzle image is very similar to a painting then it's much harder. I'm still at the amateur stage where I need sharper colors and more delineated lines.
But this week we picked up a 200 piece puzzle from Goodwill for .99 that is 3-D! Haven't seen that before. It's all different-colored beautiful butterflies. Thought it would be easy because it's smaller than we usually do, but of course the 3-D imaging is making us just a bit dizzy so we have to walk away from it. Will be fun when it's finished though.
Hi Lainey. Now, I won't do 3-D puzzles! I find them much too frustrating. I guess I'm just a 2 dimensional person! (maybe even just one? hahaha)
Here's a fun one that tickled my funny bone. I've always like tractor pulls and when I saw this one, I laughed. It's the kind I do in-between the hair-pulling-out larger ones.
Yeah, I've discovered that I tend to pick nature images that end up being pretty hard. And I think the more pieces a puzzle has, the more it looks like a painting......Sort of like cross-stitch. The small the squares are, the finer the image appears.
The last 2 puzzles I did, 2 pieces were missing and I talked to the company and they said it was an older puzzle and didn't have an extras. I could order one from somewhere else, but the chances of those 2 new pieces fitting were pretty low. She said I could just buy a new puzzle and put it together again. No thanks..........even that one might have missing pieces. So I cut a few areas of the pic on the puzzle box and tried to match them. Doesn't look great, but it won't be visible if I hang the picture further away.
Then the last puzzle.........the pieces were horrible, having all sorts of tags on them. I contacted the company and they said they would send me a new one.
Oh.....and another one I did, the printer/cutter left out about 2" around the entire perimeter, so that some of the image wasn't even there. They determined that the printer/cutter had made a mistake. So they will send me a new one, when he fixes the problem.
I think a lot of people (at least from puzzle reviews), don't go through the trouble of contacting the company when things are wrong with it, but being the great complainer that I am, hahaha........I usually get results.
Anyhow......here's that Giant Pumpkin Tractor Pull puzzle.
2018
Oh.....I just realized that that's just the pic of it on the box. I already disassembled it. I save and glue way too many of my bigger puzzles, so I figured this one could go back in the box.
happystuff
12-2-17, 9:27am
Love this thread revival! It's a great reminder to me to start my holiday puzzle(s). I usually do 1 if not 2-3 every year during the holidays. I have two 1000 piece puzzles waiting in the wings. If I get my decorating/cleaning done this weekend, maybe I'll start them! Thanks for the reminder and love the pictures posted!
I actually found two jigsaw puzzles this summer at a yard sale that are black and white, from WWII, marked with an ad to buy Victory bonds. I will pull those out this holiday season--at least see what they look like completed.
Here are my last 2. They were both a lot of fun.
2032
2033
Sometimes my puzzling scares me a little. Sometimes it seems like my arm works without me.........like it sees a piece that belongs somewhere before "I" do and it picks it up and puts it in the right spot.
Tonight was bizarre. I'm doing a neat puzzle of a sunset, a snowy cabin with a couple cardinals in the tree puzzle. Snow is usually blue in puzzles. So I have probably 800 blue pieces. I'd been looking and looking for a piece and couldn't find it. I wanted to show DH how hard it was and picked up the container of all the blue pieces. While I was waiting for him to come look, my hand went into this mass of blue pieces, pulled out the first piece I saw and put it in the exact right spot. It was so bizarre, I almost felt sick to my stomach. How could that have happened? Maybe it was just total luck/coincidence, but it sort of freaked me out!
I find that if I let my mind wander, I do this too--only with online puzzles. It's a little unsettling.
I've had something similar: if I'm stuck and then walk away for 10 or 15 minutes, when I return I can immediately pick up 2 or 3 pieces and put them in their right spot. Seems like our brain is processing these shapes and designs even when we're not conscious of it.
That really happens to me too, Lainey. But for me, it's the first thing in the morning when I can sit down to the puzzle and find many pieces that I gave up looking for the night before. When I start not being able to find any pieces, I know I'm tired and need to quit for awhile..........but it's like gambling..........just one more try!
But last night, I hadn't even been looking in this big container of hundreds of dark blue pieces. I just picked up the container, my hand went in and pulled out a piece........and it fit the place I was looking to fill.
But like you said, our brains are probably picking up a lot as we go, without us even being conscious of it.
I wish I was this obsessed with housework. hahaha
My memory works like that now--kind of like a Magic 8 Ball. I ask it a question, and twenty minutes later the answer floats into consciousness. If I try to force it, it balks. Not on everything, thankfully, just on the occasional item just out of reach, like "What was the name of that character actor in Nine to Five?"
That's funny Jane......same thing happens to DH and me. There's no way on earth I can remember a name of a person or place.......Then suddenly, out of nowhere later on.....there's the answer. I blame it on having almost 68 years of info crowded the highways and biways of my brain and it just takes time for the stored info to come out. But dang, it's frustrating. You should hear DH and my dinner conversation........It's usually a constant "hmmm.....I'll have to get back to you on that." Sometimes we just have to laugh at how ridiculous our conversations have become, because of all the missing words we can't think of.
Ha, we have those ridiculous conversations, too. I love it!
One day for some reason I was trying to remember the NBA player Meta World Peace's name before he changed it. No way. DH couldn't remember either. About 6 hours later at work, I texted him, "Ron Artest." He said it was really non sequitor to him for a minute, then he put 2 and 2 together.
Williamsmith
12-21-17, 10:42am
For some reason I’d never given this thread much thought, which is kind of odd because puzzling is something that has been part of my life experiences since a child. I just gave my mother a 1000 piece beachscape puzzle for Christmas. During the winter she doesn’t get out much and that big house of hers seems like a prison to her. Now I think she gets her interest in puzzles from my aunt. My Aunt K. was a frugal, thrifty, minimalist out of necessecity. She literally lived in a tiny house before they were called that. Her and Uncle H. shared a kitchen, living room, bedroom and bathroom. They always had a puzzle being worked on and any time I visited, we would sit around the puzzle and talk.
We talked about firewood, gardening, canning, baking, what their childhood was like. I learned that often, the Christmas gift was a popcorn ball and an apple. In between talking, we’d pick up pieces and try to fit them in where they didn’t belong and laugh about it. Sometimes, somebody would point out a spot and magically it would fit right in. Then we would maybe talk about the farmers almanac predictions or how Aunt K was doing on the blanket she was knitting for someone else for Christmas or a baby shower.
There were times my Uncle would excuse himself and go out to the kitchen table where he had boxes and boxes of old envelopes sitting waiting for the stamps to be removed by soaking in water. He collected the stamps and sent them somewhere and somehow money would be sent to missionary’s in Africa. And that’s what got me into stamp collecting. But that’s another story.
I don’t know what my Aunt K and Uncle H would have thought about my iPad or the self parking vehicles but I’m pretty sure they would still be doing puzzles if they were still alive. Technology and improvements aside, I’m glad puzzles are still around. They connect me back to a simpler time. A time when it was okay to just sit around and exchange ideas face to face while you worked on something that likely was going to be put back in a box with one piece missing.
And I do miss Uncle Hs pickled beets in mid February and Aunt Ks crescent cookies by the platefull. Here’s to puzzlers everywhere.
JaneV2.0
12-21-17, 11:08am
Friends of mine recently came back from a rainy weekend on Orcas Island with family where, beside enjoying the lovely scenery, one of their pastimes was working on a large jigsaw puzzle well into the night. There are some simple pleasures left.
I love how your write, Williamsmith. You have such a talent for writing. I do miss the simpler times......even though I get caught up in today's "must do/must have" world.
But I so love sitting down to the puzzles. I have to admit, I'm not sure I could function with someone else working on it with me. I find it all so curious........I think it's just finding the right place for the piece, but also having a beautiful image when I'm done. I love thinking about shape, color, texture, size, etc., to find the right piece.
I don't remember doing puzzles when I was young. I did a big red apple one about 35 years ago, but none since. Then I saw that my favorite wildlife artist (Robert Bateman) had several of his images on puzzles, so I did those. Then the bug bit me hard.
It's just such an enjoyable, quiet hobby. And I do get lost in the beautiful rural images that I'm putting together.
Was able to complete my two puzzles for this holiday season. They were both gifts from last year and were actually pretty easy. Now I get to go look for a new one!
Good for you, happystuff! I hope you find a new good one.
I've done 3 recently. (Yes, I get other things done, but with my legs hurting so bad, I sit down a lot). I do love Cardinals, but it seems like a lot of bird puzzles have the cardinals in them.......especially the winter scenes. Not surprising, they are so beautiful.
Here they are.
Cardinal's Rustic Retreat
2050
Candlelight Vigil
2051
Golden Frost
2052
happystuff
1-13-18, 9:30am
Thanks, CathyA. I love the rustic/nature themes of your puzzles. How many pieces are those? Thinking I may want to tackle a 2000 piece next time.
Hi Happy Stuff,
I usually stick to 1,000 piece puzzles (since that's what most of the ones offered are), but sometimes, for a nice break, I do 300 and 500 piece ones. The ones I posted are 500, 300 and 1,000.
But I've learned that 500 piece ones can be very challenging too. I've also learned that 300 piece ones can be just as pretty as the larger piece ones.
I'm starting another 1,000 piece one. I think they're catching on that mostly older people are doing these now and are making the pieces much larger. The one I'm working on now is 1,000, but it's 27"x35" big! I'd rather have smaller pieces that make a smaller puzzle. I'm learning when the puzzle is big, to try to do the top half first.......but bring it down to the bottom area, so I'm not leaning over all the time.
The biggest one I've done is the one with a horse driven cart over a bridge in the Fall. It was "only" 1,500 and I don't think I'll do it again......unless I totally love the image. It's just too hard for me, mostly because of all the leaves being similar. But it's sort of like child birth. Right after you say "I'm never doing this again"! But fortunately you forget the pain and do it again. haha
I've seen some puzzles that are 35,000 pieces. No Way! Do you have a specific 2,000 piece puzzle in mind?
I'm not sure if Photobucket removed my picture of the bridge one I did, when I didn't pay to belong and I don't want to go back and lose this message, so I'll post it again. It was REALLY hard........but I love it so much, it's up on my wall.2055
I like the dollar general 500 piece puzzles. The are only 11X14 so I can do it on the kitchen table without taking up the entire space. I can do them fairly quickly and the pictures are very lovely.
happystuff
1-14-18, 12:35pm
CathyA - two years ago my holiday puzzle was a 2000 piece "Last Supper". That was the first (and so far only!) puzzle that I actually did the outer edge last! The edge pieces were soooo similar that I waited until the rest of the puzzle was together and my eyes had adjusted to the minute color differences. That was a fun challenge. Nothing in particular in mind for my next one at this point. Up until this past Christmas, my puzzle had been gifts from a BIL. This year - no puzzle. lol.
nswef - never bother looking at our dollar store for puzzles as my initial search years ago only had children's puzzles. I'm going to look around again and see if they have anything now. Thanks for the tip.
Happystuff.......Yeah, you learn the best way of figuring things out for you after awhile. Silly me, I had never thought of doing the upper portion down low, and had always dreaded all that leaning over. haha In the one I'm doing now, it's all down low and I'm almost finished with the house, the tree and the barn. When I am, I'll just incorporate up to the top edge.
Yeah, sometimes I just can't figure out the edge, so I work on another area. It's funny what you said about adjusting your eyes to the minute color differences......that's so true. I find that after a while, I can see a piece and just know at least which "neighborhood" it belongs to. I really enjoy irregularly shaped puzzle pieces more than all the same, since I go by shape a lot. Some artists choose not to have their images put into puzzles, which is unfortunate. I really like the images by artists like Bateman, Redlin, Brenders, Terry Doughty, and especially Mark Keathley. If you liked the Last Supper puzzle you might really like some of Mark Keathley's puzzles, since some have a religious theme. I love his rural ones. I have no artistic talent at all, and am constantly in awe of people who can paint. Okay.....back to my puzzle. :)
Oh....I just got a fun puzzle to put together. I probably won't get to it for awhile, but here's a pic of the image. It's not my usual subject matter, but I got a kick out of it....especially the dog drinking out of the bird bath. It's called "Birdwatching".
2061
Finished another one. It's by Mark Keathley. I love his rural scenes. It's called "Warm and Cozy".
It was 1000 pieces, but the pieces were bigger than usual.......so it took up almost the entire card table. More puzzle companies are making their pieces larger..........maybe for the aging population that probably does most of the puzzles? On this one, I would rather have had smaller pieces, so the finished thing wasn't so huge.
You can see the 3 deer, but later I realized there was a bunny and a bluejay too.
On to my next puzzle.........
2073
Here's my latest 2. I don't understand my interest in these, but it's sure fun! It's getting harder and harder for me to do a lot up on my legs without a lot of pain........so this is a great/comfortable thing to do.
Can you tell I like owls? (and the country?)
The first one is called "At Home in the Barn" by Jon Ren
The second one is called "Night Watch" by Terry Doughty (I've done several of his puzzles and love his paintings)
2084
2085
We just finished a 1,500 piece puzzle that I got for my birthday called Times Square, made by EDUCA. Beautiful colors, well made.
Their website is puzzlepassion.com, but it's in Spanish.
Hi Lainey. Was that one hard?
Have to admit I only did a small part of it, my SO is an expert puzzler and he did most of it. I wouldn't say it was particularly hard, though, because it had enough variety of color to let you segregate those pieces, e.g., all of the red have to be on either this or that billboard image...
It's the puzzles with similar shades of just a few colors that seem to throw me off.
Yeah, me too. Unfortunately, I really love the images that tend to be hard........like fall leaves, trees, creekbeds, etc. That's why I like puzzle pieces that are pretty differently shaped from each other..........'cause then I can go on shape, instead of color. I hate a difficult puzzle with all the same shaped pieces. I've learned to ask the puzzle companies if the puzzle I want has irregularly shaped pieces before I buy it. But if it's an image I love........I tolerate anything. haha
I've been wondering if puzzles with fewer pieces end up looking much different than the higher numbered pieced puzzles. Is it like cross-stitch where the more stitches per inch is a more solid-looking piece? I'm thinking of maybe getting that Barn owl puzzle in the 1,000 piece size and comparing it to the 285 piece size...........but geez..........a 1,000 piece mostly owl puzzle would no-doubt drive me wacky. haha
What kinds of images does your husband tend to like?
We're living together, not married yet (probably in 2020, basically for financial reasons.)
Anyway, he will tackle all kinds of puzzles as long as it's not a childish image of kittens, puppies or similar. The 3-D puzzle didn't go over well either - too dizzying.
Wow. Ran across this the other day while I was wasting time watching youtube videos, this is one big puzzle and this guy was fully committed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAaFJFdmSDI
Wow. Ran across this the other day while I was wasting time watching youtube videos, this is one big puzzle and this guy was fully committed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAaFJFdmSDI
Wow. I think I'd rather be in prison. Seriously. Plus, I just couldn't work on the floor like that. haha
We're living together, not married yet (probably in 2020, basically for financial reasons.)
Anyway, he will tackle all kinds of puzzles as long as it's not a childish image of kittens, puppies or similar. The 3-D puzzle didn't go over well either - too dizzying.
Someone got me a 3-D puzzle once, and i threw it out. My mind just doesn't think like that. It wasn't any fun at all. Actually, I couldn't even make any progress on it. I guess I'm a 1-Dimensional person. haha
Here's my newest ones. I'm an addict.
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Here's my latest. I've wanted the limited reproduction of this print (Carl Brender's "The Family Tree") for a long time, but it was too expensive. It just recently went on the market as a puzzle! It was pretty hard, but I was very motivated. I glued it and now need to find a frame for it. (Oh, and I need more walls!!) The are saw whet owls.
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Love this puzzle of "Morning Meadowlark" by Susan Bourdet. I occasionally hear a meadowlark in our field.
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I put together a beautiful one of "Hummingbirds and Hostas". It was Very difficult. When I finished, it had 3 missing pieces. I NEVER lose pieces. I talked with the company and they said it was no longer made. I'll need to be creative in how I hide those 3 blank spaces. It's disappointing to work so hard on something and have it be missing pieces. Oh well.....on to the next puzzle, which is Robert Bateman's "Spotted Owl". I have the print of it, but it just came out as a puzzle, so I got that too and am working on it. Such fun!
That looks like the kind of puzzle I'd enjoy.
And it just so happens that the color of my tile floor is mostly the same color gray as the backside of puzzle pieces, so we've "lost" pieces that end up being found minutes later when we hand-sweep the floor and they flip right-side up.
If they are actually lost than we mark the front of the box with the number of pieces missing so the next person doesn't feel they've lost them.
CathyA and other puzzlers:
I'm curious if you like to do crossword puzzles or Sudoku/number puzzles too? or is it just picture puzzles? I've gotten more into crossword puzzles and my SO is into KenKen and Sudoku and I'm wondering if that's all connected as enjoyable hobbies.
Hi Lainey. I LOVE the selection of SunsOut puzzles, but they seem to have more defects.
Cobble Hill is a pretty reliable, impressive puzzle company. They make a lot of their puzzle pieces in very unusual shapes. But I love that and find that it makes putting the puzzle together much easier. And they have a beautiful "linen" finish on their pieces.
But they don't offer as many rural scenes that I like. I have gotten my Robert Batman (wildlife artist) puzzles from them. They have never been missing a piece. Although one time I got a puzzle from them that had almost all the same shaped pieces. I talked to their customer service and she sent me another one (free), with more varied puzzle pieces. AND.....she sent me an extra different puzzle too!.......just to be nice!
SunsOut has good customer service too. I've discovered if you're nice to them, they'll be nice to you! :)
Yes......I do like crossword puzzles. But I have to admit, I do the easy-medium ones. I just like solving "mysteries" or challenges. I don't do Sudoku. Is that kinda frustrating? I wonder if easy crossword puzzles are still good for the ageing mind?
You wouldn't believe my computer room.......there are stacks of boses of puzzles I haven't done yet, and lots of finished puzzles, framed and unframed. It's a disease. hahaha I just love it. What can I saw? There are worse addictions. I only wish I were also obsessed with housework.......but that ain't gonna happen. hahaha
Have you ever done a wooden puzzle? They're pretty cool too. But you have to drop the pieces in just right. I've done a couple of those......but I do prefer the "regular" puzzles.
What am I going to do when I've done all the nature/bird/rural puzzles out there?? :~)
I was on a Cryptic Crossword jag for awhile. They're a devilish two-level puzzle--first you solve the clue, then the crossword. There are a number of clue constructs, which is what makes them devilish. I was thinking the other day I should get back to them.
frugal-one
4-30-18, 4:46pm
I buy puzzles for a friend at garage sales. Last year I got 22 of them for her (total cost $11). She was thrilled. She said only one puzzle had a piece missing and it was an unopened puzzle, no less. It is fun to have something to look for and she loves doing them and then passes them on to her mother. She likes doing the artist ones also.
rosarugosa
4-30-18, 5:45pm
I just bought a beautiful wooden puzzle for my mother from these folks: https://zenartdesign.com/product-category/zen-puzzles-hand-designed-wooden-jigsaw-puzzles/
It is a lovely hummingbird image, and they are made here in Massachusetts. These might not be challenging enough for a puzzle master, but I think it will be an appropriate level of challenge for Mom. They are very lovely though.
Wow.......those are really lovely rosarugosa. I see a couple I would like! I had never heard of that company. I usually just looked at "Artifact" wooden puzzle company. They have some pretty funky stuff that I'm not really interested in, but they had a couple I really liked. Here's their link: https://www.artifactpuzzles.com/ I can't remember if I posted these. Photobucket removed a lot of them when they started charging.
The first one is "Naughty Bird"
The second one is "The Carpet Merchant". Are the ones made by the company you mentioned made with "whimsical" pieces? In mine, they put pieces in the shapes of birds, people, etc. It's an interesting change from the usual type of puzzle.
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Cathy: I recall that there was at least one hummingbird-shaped piece in the puzzle I bought for Mom.
I'm liking their lotus and waterlily puzzles........but they have them marked wrong. They've reversed their titles. Gosh.......can't I overlook anything?? :~)
I tried to contact them, but couldn't get it to work. I actually corrected a puzzle company when they were calling certain cardinals by the wrong names. haha
Thanks for both of these links. I like the fact that both are manufactured in the U.S. And the puzzles for age 4-8 look beautiful too.
rosarugosa
5-1-18, 11:16am
I'm liking their lotus and waterlily puzzles........but they have them marked wrong. They've reversed their titles. Gosh.......can't I overlook anything?? :~)
I tried to contact them, but couldn't get it to work. I actually corrected a puzzle company when they were calling certain cardinals by the wrong names. haha
Cathy: You sound like my husband. I tell him it must be hard to be in charge of quality control for the universe! ;)
LOL Rosarugosa.........It IS hard! :laff:
Here's my latest. It's the puzzle of Robert Bateman's painting of "Spotted Owl" I have the print of it too, but wanted to make it come to life through working a puzzle.
Of course, the print is better, but the puzzle was so much fun!
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rosarugosa
5-2-18, 11:12am
That's a nice one, Cathy. I belong to a FB group, Owls of New England, and I really enjoy the owl pics.
Sounds like a neat FB group! I didn't realize just how much I liked owls, until I realized that so many of my puzzle choices were owls. I just wish we had more of them and more of a variety of them around here.
But around here, it seems that the choices for land are bulldoze it and build huge developments........which isn't the choice habitat of owls......or lots of other creatures. :(
I still have some unopened owl puzzles. Owl puzzles can be really hard to put together because of the funky direction of all the different feathers. But what a beautiful finished puzzle it makes!
The puzzles I make end up looking much better from a distance, as you can't see all the lines of the pieces. I'm running out of wall space! :~)
Ok. Here's my latest one. Carl Brenders is another wildlife artist I like. I found this puzzle of one of his images, called "Hidden in the Pines". It's of 2 young great horned owls. I was a little concerned when I received it, because it was made in China. This is the first one that wasn't made in the U.S. I wrote the company of my concern about the dyes used, etc., and they assured me that they monitor all that comes out of this place. Anyhow......it was the most well-made puzzle I've done to date. It was made by "Master Pieces". The pieces were extremely strong and made in all different shapes. It was very challenging and towards the end I always start to panic that they've left some pieces out......but they were all there.
I would like to do more from this company, but I don't see any other images there that I like. But it was an incredibly well made puzzle.
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That's lovely, Cathy. I really enjoy the irregularly shaped pieces.
This is a bummer. It's such a beautiful puzzle and was pretty hard. When I finished, it had 3 missing pieces, which I'm sure happened at the factory. I emailed the company and they said they don't make it anymore, but I could maybe find it somewhere else and make it again. I don't think so! I've made replacement pieces in the past, but this time it's too hard. I've bought a couple paints, but nothing matches the area. And at some point, I have to quit spending money on trying to fix it. You can see the 2 pieces that didn't go anywhere. I'm developing "Fear of Missing Pieces" at the end of spending hours and hours on a puzzle. But that won't stop me.....yet. :~)
So.....This one will be just a memory. It sure was pretty though.
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We typically buy our puzzles second-hand, and it's not uncommon for 1 or 2 pieces to be missing. I just wish sellers would be honest and mark that on the box so we're not wasting time looking to see if we lost them somehow.
In the meantime we found 4 puzzles at our local Goodwill on half-price day that were decades old. The maker is Fairco. It's interesting to do these older puzzles: the colors are muted and the pieces are not cut as sharply but they're still well-made. And of course the images are all some type of scenery. Good to mix it up sometimes, and for just $1 each it's cheap entertainment!
Hi Lainey, Were the ones you got a Goodwill second-hand too? I suppose they were. I know the kind you're talking about. I actually bought a new one called "Delivering the Milk", and even though it's new, the image is old......thatched roofs, horse-drawn cart that delivers the milk, and sort of a yellow-ish/muted color. Reminds me of an island in the North Sea I worked on when I was younger......they had thatched roofs and milk cans like the image.
I need to get over thinking I have to frame every puzzle I do! It's getting silly. haha I actually did break down one puzzle after I did it, but those are few and far between.
I wouldn't think of donating a used puzzle without being sure all the pieces were there........but lots of people don't think it's that important.
Have fun with your Fairco puzzles!
I've done a couple puzzles since my last post. I could have sworn I posted the "Delivering the Milk" one. I liked it because it reminded me of my summer working on an island in the north sea. All the roofs were thatched.
The second picture is huge, but I love it. It's called "Sunset Barn". I love the light in it. The matte glue I used on it subdued it a little, but it's still nice.
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I agree, love the image on "Sunset Barn." Do you know who the makers are of these puzzles?
For us, if we like some of the images and quality, then we seek out that same brand if we can find it - still used, of course!
happystuff
8-10-18, 7:04am
Saw some nice 1000 piece puzzles in the Five Below near me. I haven't bought one yet, so don't know the quality of the pieces, but the pictures were nice. Actually did some cleaning on the games shelf and found a puzzle I hadn't done yet. May start it soon... not sure. Need to declutter some stuff for a donation pickup.
Lainey, the maker of the Sunset Barn puzzle is SunsOut. I have found that this company makes the largest variety of the kind of images/puzzles that I like. But I've had a number of problems with some of their puzzles......occasional missing pieces, poorly cut pieces, etc. I found out that they use various different cutters and it seems their quality can vary. But I do love the images they offer. I've done several from Cobble Hill and they are extremely well made. There are several pretty reputable puzzle companies out there. Unfortunately, a lot depends on the cutters they use. But I have found that most companies are very good about standing behind their stuff. Lots of people just get mad and throw out a bad puzzle......but I've always communicated with the companies and they have tried to make things right. Unfortunately, I buy a lot of puzzles made in the past, and they get rid of their patterns/dies, after a certain length of time, so they can't send you a new one. And even if you have missing pieces and buy another copy of it (like from eBay), they are not all cut the same, so chances are good another piece won't fit the same hole. I've tried to make my own pieces that were missing, but it's pretty hard to duplicate the colors.
Haha.....forgive me. I'm rather deep into puzzling. haha DH says I should write a book on it.
The one I'm working on now is made by Springbok. It's an image of pumpkins and gourds. I bought it some time ago and just started to put it together. But I read reviews on it, and a lot of them said bad things about it......one person had 15 missing pieces, and many others complained of the pieces being poorly cut. When I first started it, I found so many pieces with bad/ragged edges, I almost gave up. Then I started to get into it, and discovered that if I smoothed the edges with an emory board, most of the pieces did fine. I'm sure lots of people wouldn't want to put in that much effort......but I'm maybe too persistent. haha (or maybe just OCD?)
I love images that "glow". I continue to find it incredible that people can actually draw this stuff. I can't even draw good stick figures.
I guess I'm not being very environmentally friendly by always buying new, but part of that is because you never know if all the pieces are there in used stuff, but the biggest thing for me is the ick factor of the cooties on the pieces. But that's my problem... At least these puzzles and their boxes are very biodegradable. Most all use soy ink.
I could talk forever about puzzles. :~) But I also have lots of other things in my life that I do, in between the puzzles. :)
Other names of reputable companies are: Buffalo Games, Ravensburger, White Mountain, Masterpieces, Ceaco. Like I said though, so much of how "good" it is, comes from the quality of their various cutters.
I thought a Fall one would be good. I like changing out the one hanging in our entranceway, depending on the season.
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Here's another one I did. I love the artwork of Terry Doughty. You must think all I do is puzzles. haha Actually, I get a lot of other stuff done. I just do the puzzles in-between the other stuff. But......I could possibly spend more time on housework. haha
All of these puzzles definitely look better from a distance. What I really liked about this one, was the very interesting shapes of the pieces. They fit in ways you wouldn't expect.
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I've done several since that last one. I have no idea why I love doing these so much.......but I do!
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I've realized I like nature scenes mixed in with some people. Seems to be a bit easier for me to do.
btw, one of our local libraries has started a "puzzle swap." For an hour on a Saturday each month you can trade up to 5 puzzles. I didn't attend that one, but I'm hoping to check out future swaps. Of course, I have to get the okay of my SO/puzzle hoarder first.
Hi Lainey. I guess I'm weird, 'cause I don't like people in my puzzles. I'm pushing it even when there's a broken down tractor in any of them. haha
I guess I just like nature......plain and simple. A couple of mine had people in them, but it didn't seem to hurt to image. haha
Good luck at the puzzle swap.
Well, I'm a puzzle addict for sure. Since I have so much body pain, I guess it's nice to just sit without pain and "accomplish" something.
I've done several recently. Here are the last 2. I really love the quail one.
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happystuff
3-23-19, 8:55am
This is one of the tougher puzzles I've every done. 750 pieces, no edges, with 5 "extra" pieces.
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Wow........that does look hard, especially with the pieces (I think) being all the same shape and no edges. I've never done one with no edge pieces. Funny, there are extra pieces. I wonder if someone else is missing those exact pieces?
Maybe they are spares, in case you lose any. haha What company was it made by? I definitely prefer puzzle pieces to have random shapes. Sure can make it easier. Good job, happystuff!
happystuff
3-24-19, 12:01pm
Hi CathyA - it is called Impossibles by Bepuzzled. And the five extra pieces are actually advertised on the box - LOL. Part of the challenge, I guess.
LOL.......so the extra pieces are to make it even harder. haha Maybe I've said this before, but I've heard of some people requesting that a puzzle be sent without any image of what it's supposed to look like, so that's a much bigger challenge. Wow....not sure I'd like that.
happystuff
3-25-19, 7:17am
I've never heard of that! I'm not sure I could do a no-image puzzle. Maybe a small one to try it out?!?! LOL
Yeah, maybe something like 15 pieces. :~) I have to say, over the years, I've gotten more into not looking at the image on the box, but most of the time I just go by shape and color. I'm a real "shape" person, which is why I like puzzle pieces to be all different shapes. I think more puzzle companies are getting into that. Have you ever done a wooden puzzle? Most of them have interesting pieces of objects in them.......a dog, a tree, etc. They are a different kind of fun.
We're doing a panoramic puzzle now - 3 feet wide. Not our usual either, but since it was on sale for .99 it's cheap entertainment!
Hi Lainey. I've done a couple of those.........one with quail overlooking a farm in the evening, one of ducks, and I still have one I haven't done yet of a fence line of different birds. I like those because you don't have to reach very far to get to the top. :) What's yours of?
happystuff
3-26-19, 6:15am
One of the only puzzles I still keep is a panoramic 1000 "mini" puzzle. LOL. Someday I'll pull it out again. Right now I'm working on a city-scape of Guanajuato, Mexico. Pretty nice and much easier than the golf clubs - lol.
Hi Lainey. I've done a couple of those.........one with quail overlooking a farm in the evening, one of ducks, and I still have one I haven't done yet of a fence line of different birds. I like those because you don't have to reach very far to get to the top. :) What's yours of?
It's a lineup of different birds. Birds that would not be together in nature, but look make a pretty scene.
It's a lineup of different birds. Birds that would not be together in nature, but look make a pretty scene.
Haha.....I think it's one that I have, but haven't put it together yet. There are some puzzles of birds I'd sort of like to get, but if they have sort of "unnatural" settings, I don't like it. Like there's a couple of ones with birds on a birdhouse that would never be in that setting. I guess, for the most part, the image has to make sense to me. And I don't like photographs that are made into puzzles. I don't know why. I just prefer painted images. I hate it when I love 99% of the image, but then they put one thing in there that's sort of out-of-place, so I can't get it. There was one puzzle of a nighttime scene, I think of a farm. In the tree was an owl (brown), and then a sort of light grey owl right next to it. I like the artist, but I thought it was pretty stupid of him to do that. Then I started to realize that it was a Halloween-spooky-type puzzle and that light owl was a ghost owl. haha
happystuff
3-30-19, 8:14am
And this is the last puzzle I mentioned... cityscape in Mexico. 2725
No more puzzles left in the house, though, so on to something else until I get a new one. LOL.
Just finished "Brown's General Store", a Buffalo brand puzzle. It was both fun and fun to look at, so we haven't taken it apart yet.
Here's a link to it:
https://buffalogames.com/aimee-stewart-browns-general-store-1000-piece-jigsaw-puzzle/
I like this style, which is under their Aimee Stewart collection.
Wow happystuff........that's a great image! Was it really hard?
Lainey.....that looks hard too! I guess I choose mostly nature puzzles, that aren't too busy (since I have a simple mind.....haha).
Here are several that I have done lately. funny thing..........I began a rural image puzzle of wild turkeys. right after I started it, I looked out my window and there was a hen turkey in our drive!! I've seen in in the past, about 1-2 times/year, but it was really weird to have it show up in our drive right when I started this turkey Puzzle! I'll post that puzzle later when I'm done with it.
Here's the newest ones I've finished:
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And here's a pic of that turkey in our driveway.
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My newest. I love Cobble Hill puzzles. They are real quality puzzles and I love all the different puzzle piece shapes. And I've never had a missing piece from them!
This one was fun......but the top area was a bit of a challenge.
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This one just about did me in. It was soooooo hard. But a pretty image.
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happystuff
10-26-19, 8:52am
Found a puzzle at a garage sale and can't wait to start in on it. It's called "All the world's a stage" and contains scenes from Shakespeare's plays -1500 pieces. Told myself I can't start it until I get three other projects out of the way - LOL.
beckyliz
10-28-19, 12:14pm
Found a 1000 piece puzzle at our library's boutique. It's rows of Christmas cookies decorated as ugly Christmas sweaters.
I think this one was one of the nicest ones to do. It was great quality and the puzzle's colors were true to the advertised image. Many times I've found that the puzzles end up being too dark, but this one was very bright. It's called "A Bend in the Road" by Al Agnew.
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We just did Edward hoppers Nighthawks. Boy, half of the puzzle was shades of black.
We just did Edward hoppers Nighthawks. Boy, half of the puzzle was shades of black.
I was looking at that one recently. I've never bought from that company. Were all the pieces mostly the same shape? I think that makes it extra hard. I like all different shaped pieces.
Was the image light enough? I've discovered that a lot of puzzles end up being darker than they should be, which is unfortunate. It looks like it got good reviews though.
I was looking at that one recently. I've never bought from that company. Were all the pieces mostly the same shape? I think that makes it extra hard. I like all different shaped pieces.
Was the image light enough? I've discovered that a lot of puzzles end up being darker than they should be, which is unfortunate. It looks like it got good reviews though.
The pieces were okay, but not cut the best, so that sometimes you had to wonder, is this right--there was not that satisfying little click feeling.
The image was not light but I don't think the picture itself is very light--I think it was pretty true to the painting. We were constantly turning on extra lights and just seeing the pieces was difficult, with our aging eyes.
And literally half the pieces were various blacks, which meant the first half went fine and then the end really got to us.
But it was super fun to do this painting we knew so well and to see how he had done the color shifts--it was challenging, but we learned a lot about the painting.
I don't think we are at your level puzzle wise though--this was only our second puzzle since we started doing them--we gave up on one as being too hard, another painting puzzle, really pretty, but we were so frustrated.
Currently doing a New England snow scene primitive painting of a village and it's going much better--it is from eurographics puzzles and quality is really nice.
https://www.eurographicspuzzles.com/en/6000-5334.aspx?o=6000-5334
Bought it yesterday at TJ Maxx for 14 dollars.
I'm pretty stubborn and have always refused to give up on a puzzle.......no matter how miserable it was making me. hahaha
When you said you were doing a snow scene, I got nervous for you, since a lot of snow can be challenging too.........(Who knew white could be so many different shades?)....but after looking at the link of the puzzle, I think there will be enough other colors for you to, that it won't be too hard.
It's pretty amazing how the quality can differ so much from puzzle to puzzle, and company to company. They all use different "cutters", and I suppose it depends on their work ethic as to how good they cut their puzzles. Also......it makes a big difference if their equipment is sharp or dull. I do a lot from SunsOut, because they seem to have the most rural images, which I prefer. I bought a lot of their older ones and had trouble with the quality, but the newer ones have been great. (So maybe all my bitching to them helped.....haha).
Cobble Hill company is also great. I've found that if there is something wrong with a puzzle, most of the companies are very fair about sending another one. I had one puzzle where the image was cut off around the edge by several inches. It's nice to get a replacement, but it isn't a lot of fun to have to do it over again.
I see people complaining of having missing pieces all the time. I'm sure that happens, but you wouldn't believe how many people find those pieces later.. I've even read of their friends finding them in their house, after they visited the puzzle-doer's house. haha
I did a puzzle a year or so ago and was missing 3 pieces. I looked EVERYWHERE, over and over. I finally made pieces from the image on the box. Fortunately, you couldn't tell too much. BUT.....over a year later, I was sitting in my "puzzle chair", and looked down, and on each side of the puzzle's arms, were indentations in the arms' plastic.......and there were those puzzle pieces!! So now, I have pretty rigid rules about looking all around the area when I get up from the chair, and right before I sit down in it. haha I'm not too compulsive, am I? :~)
I used to do my puzzles in the living room, by a window that wasn't real bright. then I moved to a corner of the dining room with much more light. It makes a huge difference to be able to use sunlight to work puzzles by.
Which was the puzzle you gave up on?
It's funny to read reviews......some people say it's the hardest puzzle they've ever done, while others say it was the easiest and so much fun. Sometimes I think the people who say a really hard one went fast and easy, are lying. haha
I'm definitely a puzzle addict. I have no idea why I like them so much, but I do!
Good luck with your newest puzzle!
Oh.....I get a chuckle of something I saw someone post online. It's true......after working on a puzzle for a long time and you're missing a piece, it can mean going crazy. The post this girl put up was so funny!
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That is funny, Cathy!
I don't remember the name of the painting on which the national park picture was painted. It was a great painting, probably from the 20's or 30's. I have repressed the whole thing.
LOL! Yeah, I've had to repress some things too. hahaha
Let me know how your latest puzzle goes. Hopefully it will be enjoyable.
happystuff
11-4-19, 8:51am
That is funny! lol
happystuff
12-22-19, 9:40am
Well, I finally finished the project that was taking up the puzzle space. And, except for baking and cooking, I'm close to finishing holiday preparations, so.... My holiday jigsaw puzzle is set up and started as of last night!! It is 1500 pieces and called All the World's a Stage. And the question on the front of the box is: Can you find all 38 of Shakespeare's plays in this puzzle? LOL - let the fun begin!
JaneV2.0
12-22-19, 12:10pm
Puzzles are up to 35% off at Amazon today, FYI.
happystuff
12-29-19, 9:44am
Finished: It's called All The World's a Stage
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Finished: It's called All The World's a Stage
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Wow happystuff......that's great! How many pieces was it?
happystuff
12-29-19, 10:50pm
Wow happystuff......that's great! How many pieces was it?
1500. It went quicker than I thought it would.
I think that the smaller the pieces and the higher the number of pieces, the less it looks like a puzzle and more like a picture/painting. What are the dimensions of your puzzle?
I have done some puzzles that have a lot of light colors....like the sky, snow, and darker colors always seem to do better in not showing the individual pieces. Yours looks really good in terms of clarity of the images.
I hate it when a person's face is divided by 2 puzzle pieces. It sort of ruins it.
Here's two of my latest puzzles. I really liked the image of the first one, but all that lightness really shows the edges of the puzzle pieces. (Time Stands Still)
The second one I really liked. My daughter always loved fairies when she was little, and I love owls and moons, so this one was nice. (Fairy Tales)
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Teacher Terry
12-31-19, 12:23pm
Cathy, those are pretty.
happystuff
12-31-19, 5:32pm
Cathy, both of those are sooo pretty!! Dimensions on last one were 33" x 24".
The owl one must have been especially challenging but they are both lovely.
Thanks happystuff and razz. The cabin/snow one was 1000 pieces and it was hard because of all that white.
The Fairy and Owl one was pretty easy. It had 550 pieces. But my memory is so bad, I can't remember for sure. haha
I absolutely love the Fairy and owl one. Maybe that made it easier to do. The woman who paints those images is mostly into witchcraft (?)-type stuff. This was about the only image of her's that I could relate to. I wish she would do more moonlit night and owl stuff.
Have you ever tried a Liberty puzzle? They're wooden and absolutely different shapes from traditional jigsaws (they have rectangular ones as well, but the pieces themselves are unique.) They're hella expensive but very collectible, so it's possible to exchange them on ebay without breaking the bank. Some people love these and some people hate them. I've found them a lot harder than standard jigsaw puzzles because the language I use in my head to describe pieces simply doesn't apply. Very satisfying to finish!!
https://www.libertypuzzles.com/userfiles/media/images/5213/large_cactus-image-1900.jpghttps://www.libertypuzzles.com/userfiles/media/images/8141/large_cactus-back-500.jpg
kib - that's beautiful!!!
Wow, that is cool, Kib. Actually, I have done 2 wooden puzzles. I think I may have shown them earlier in this thread. One is of a carpet merchant market (I'm assuming in the middle east?) and the other one is of a bird and a vase. Oh.....I just remembered 2 smaller ones I did too. It's amazing the different shapes that they use. And it's different how you put the pieces together. It's like you have to "air lift" them over the opening, and drop them in. It's a different, fun experience!
Sorry Cathy, I hadn't looked through the whole thread. You've done some beautiful puzzles! Funny, my Mom is the big puzzler in our family, I never seem to find time or space here in Tucson, but when I visit her we can spend hours on them and it's so peaceful, such an easy way to be "in the zone" even while I'm sitting next to another person. I really should work on finding more room for puzzling. Happy new year!
happystuff
1-14-20, 8:38am
Here's the last holiday jigsaw puzzle and, actually, is the last one I have in the house right now. Maybe now I'll get some stuff done around here - lol.
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It is "Engelberg, Switzerland", 2000 pieces, 36.25 x 26.5
Not too bad once my eyes started distinguishing the subtle colors.
Could someone please tell me how you upload your photos, step by step? (the photos I posted were just copy paste from online images, not my own pictures.) I'm using a phone to take pix and a pc to access SLN and it takes a ridiculous amount of time and steps to get a properly sized photo from one device to the other. I'm assuming this doesn't take everyone else ten minutes and sixteen steps. :help: (I know Alan would prefer links to actual images, but any method I have to do that produces a pathline, not an actual picture).
happystuff
1-16-20, 6:14pm
Could someone please tell me how you upload your photos, step by step? (the photos I posted were just copy paste from online images, not my own pictures.) I'm using a phone to take pix and a pc to access SLN and it takes a ridiculous amount of time and steps to get a properly sized photo from one device to the other. I'm assuming this doesn't take everyone else ten minutes and sixteen steps. :help: (I know Alan would prefer links to actual images, but any method I have to do that produces a pathline, not an actual picture).
I have the image saved on my computer. When I am in the Quick Reply box, I type my message and hit the Insert Image button along the top of the reply box. It allows me to browse my computer to the file I need to access the image. Hit the button to upload/save/I can't remember the exact terminology. It saves it in the Quick Reply box along with my typed message and then I hit Post Quick Reply.
Sorry if all that came out confused.
Thanks Happystuff. Now I just have to get my pix onto the computer; I have ways to do it, I'm just lazy.
https://www.cbc.ca/kidscbc2/the-feed/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-jigsaw-puzzles-to-celebrate-puzzle-day
Happy Puzzle day! to all the big and little kids.
happystuff
1-31-20, 8:49am
https://www.cbc.ca/kidscbc2/the-feed/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-jigsaw-puzzles-to-celebrate-puzzle-day
Happy Puzzle day! to all the big and little kids.
Didn't even realize there was such a day. Yay!
Here's my latest. I bought it several years ago and started to put it together back then, but the pieces were cut so poorly, I quit. I called the company (back then) and they said they no longer had that puzzle, but that they'd send me a different one with a similar theme. They both had owls in them. Fortunately, I didn't throw the "defective" one out. Now that I've had a couple years of doing puzzles, I decided to give this puzzle another try. I finished it yesterday. Yes, the pieces were still cut poorly and I had to use an emery board on many of them since they edges were so rough. At first, I felt guilty having gotten a new free puzzle out of the deal, but after all that filing down of the pieces, I got rid of the guilt. haha
This one was very hard because a lot of the pieces were the same shape, and the colors made it a challenge. Plus, owls are always fairly difficult to do.
Towards the end of putting it together, I realized there was a piece missing. After it was all together, I asked DH to look under a big piece of furniture that was nearby, since it's too hard for me to get down on my knees. He got a bright flashlight to look.
I couldn't believe it. He found the piece in a little space in the arm of the chair. I had found 3 lost puzzle pieces there awhile back, that I had already replaced by making my own pieces. I have one of those desk chairs with the padded seat and back and arms and is on wheels. And at the bottom of each arm are small recesses that are hard to see. But I had checked those spaces several times, while looking for this lost piece. But I had only felt in there, instead of looking. Low and behold, with his flashlight, he could see the design on the piece, which fit perfectly in that chair arm hole. So........now I have a completely finished puzzle.
I love the images that Terry Doughty paints. They are all rural themes.
Anyhow.........here it is.
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Happystuff.........I don't know how I missed your earlier post about the 2000 piece one! Wow! That's beautiful. And with all that orange, it must have been really hard! I'm not sure I'd attempt a 2000 piece. How big was the finished puzzle?
I know what you mean about getting used to the different color shades. After working on a puzzle for a little bit, I start to get a feel for the different "neighborhoods" of a puzzle. Putting puzzles together is an interesting brain exercise.
I'm like you.....once I finish a puzzle, more starts getting done around the house. haha
Unfortunately, I don't go too long before starting another one.
Very nice job, Happystuff!
That's a handsome owl--really like the light effect!
I should have waited until I had glued it to show it. The spaces between the pieces wouldn't have shown as much. Yes Jane, I love the lighting in this piece. You can't see it in this puzzle, but there are such tiny objects in the background that the artist painted. I can't believe how small he could have painted them......There's a tractor pulling a wagon with straw in it, chickens in the yard, etc. They are soooo tiny. I can't believe how artists do it. I can't even draw stick figures very well. haha
A friend of mine knows how much I love putting puzzles together. Like I told her, I'm not a team player when it comes to putting together "my" puzzles. As I said above, about DH finding that one lost piece and putting it into the puzzle, it was extra funny when my friend sent me this cartoon. It really made me laugh.
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That is funny, Cathy. The last piece!!!!
CathyA - thanks. Beautiful owl! I love the animal puzzles, I just don't seem to get many of them.
We just tried a 500 piece puzzle and it was so pleasant that I just bought another. The pieces in the 100 piece puzzle were so small, and we were getting frustrated, and it wasn't the joyous puzzle experience. Found a 500 piece at a Goodwill and it is the sweet spot--I feel absolutely ancient, that's the only downside. But we both enjoyed it, and it was relaxing.
happystuff
6-10-20, 7:46am
We just tried a 500 piece puzzle and it was so pleasant that I just bought another. The pieces in the 100 piece puzzle were so small, and we were getting frustrated, and it wasn't the joyous puzzle experience. Found a 500 piece at a Goodwill and it is the sweet spot--I feel absolutely ancient, that's the only downside. But we both enjoyed it, and it was relaxing.
Congrats on finding a puzzle you like! I'm not sure what you mean by the "I feel absolutely ancient". I love doing puzzles! I only have one left in the house right now and keep thinking about setting up the puzzle table, but I can't/won't. If I do, everything else will fall to the way-side and I just have too many projects and things to do first. LOL. Maybe sooner rather than later, though. ;)
Congrats on finding a puzzle you like! I'm not sure what you mean by the "I feel absolutely ancient".
It was the 500 piece thing that made me feel old--the 1000 piece puzzles had pieces that were too small to see! So it was an eyesight/arthritis dexterity thing, that's why I said that.
happystuff
6-10-20, 8:51am
It was the 500 piece thing that made me feel old--the 1000 piece puzzles had pieces that were too small to see! So it was an eyesight/arthritis dexterity thing, that's why I said that.
LOL. Thanks for the explanation. I was thinking it was the actual "activity" making you feel old. I can relate to the eyesight!
So we bought another 500 piece puzzle, a Springbok, which had the weirdest shapes ever, which made it much harder and upped the annoyance factor.
I am now learning to look at the shapes to see if we are going to like it.
We are attempting a 1000 piece one that is high in annoyance because of tiny pieces, but it's a great picture, and we are out of puzzles, and I'm too cheap to buy them right now.
We need more estate sale puzzles! Last week I saw one in a plastic bag, no picture, for 5 dollars. That's insane.
I am drooling over this one right now, once we force ourselves to finish the 1000 piece-er.
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81T4p55sY4L._AC_SL1500_.jpg
We had a stash of 500 piece puzzles maybe 5 or 6 which we didn't use in the winter. We've done 2 so far. The are not too hard, pretty pictures and from the Dollar General store. The are only about 11 X 15 so don't take up too much space.
frugal-one
6-26-20, 7:54am
Received thanks from a friend... got her 29 puzzles (varieties she liked) last summer from garage sales. It is helping her save her sanity now.
Received thanks from a friend... got her 29 puzzles (varieties she liked) last summer from garage sales. It is helping her save her sanity now.
That is so cool, Frugal!
happystuff
6-26-20, 2:21pm
Love the Dogs with Jobs - lol. And that was a very sweet thing to do, frugal-one. I'm down to one puzzle which I haven't pulled out yet. Swore to myself that I would get some other projects done before I start ignoring everything to work on a puzzle - LOL.
Just bought two new puzzles at Goodwill yesterday and already gave up on the first one. Even though it s 500 pieces, pieces are tiny, about one inch. Note to self--buy only larger piece puzzles, even if they have weird shapes like the Springbok.
Just finished. I have no puzzles left in the house...for now - LOL.
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Just finished two Buffalo games puzzles from the 80's--one was Boston, which was wonderful, and made me happy to think back on my days in the 70's visiting my brothers at college, and one was of Chicago, which wasn't as great because we lived there and so much was left off the puzzle and they take such liberties with the geography. Sent the Boston one to my son who went to college there, and the Chicago one to sil to pass around the family.
happystuff
12-27-20, 11:35am
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So here is my Christmas jigsaw puzzle for this year. Billed as the World's Smallest 1000 Piece Puzzle, it's title is "Harbor of Hope". I don't have a new one, so did this one again. It will be passed on this time around, but was still fun.
rosarugosa
12-27-20, 5:00pm
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So here is my Christmas jigsaw puzzle for this year. Billed as the World's Smallest 1000 Piece Puzzle, it's title is "Harbor of Hope". I don't have a new one, so did this one again. It will be passed on this time around, but was still fun.
Wow, those must be some tiny pieces! Good job!
I keep thinking that I would enjoy doing one and then get sidetracked with other things. If one is set up, I can put in a pieced as I go by.
Loved the one with all the backyard birds as I look at the projects over the past few months.
Cannot handle the little pieces--that is why we have gone to the 300-500 piece ones because I can't see on the little pieces! Very cool though Cathy if you can stand it.
I bought a US map one with cartoon images of each state and we will do that one when we stop painting and get a place to set it up.
I am using kitchen table for computer and sewing, so don't want to set up there.
Can't wait to do the Boston one with my son's family now that we are in Maine! I wrote a message on the piece that is the college where he went to school, so that will be a fun surprise for him.
So, Tybee, you are moved to your permanent house closer to family that you wanted to do? That would be something really good happening in 2020 to celebrate.
So, Tybee, you are moved to your permanent house closer to family that you wanted to do? That would be something really good happening in 2020 to celebrate.
Thanks, Razz! Not sure yet if it will be our permanent house but it is indeed closer to family and we got to spend Christmas with my two granddaughters and their awesome parents, and it was our best Christmas in ages!
happystuff
12-28-20, 11:31am
Thanks, Razz! Not sure yet if it will be our permanent house but it is indeed closer to family and we got to spend Christmas with my two granddaughters and their awesome parents, and it was our best Christmas in ages!
Congrats! Closer to family - even if social-distancing - is a good thing!
Teacher Terry
12-28-20, 12:49pm
I didn’t realize Tybee that you had moved to Maine already. Congrats!!
I didn’t realize Tybee that you had moved to Maine already. Congrats!!
Thanks, not sure of the permanence yet, as have not sold Michigan house yet, but yes, we are here, for now.
rosarugosa
12-28-20, 2:24pm
Congratulations, Tybee. Maine is a wonderful place. We're practically neighbors now. :)
Congratulations, Tybee. Maine is a wonderful place. We're practically neighbors now. :)
Ay-up (practicing New England speak).
rosarugosa
12-28-20, 3:47pm
Ay-up (practicing New England speak).
Wicked nice job!
rosarugosa
2-15-21, 7:46am
DH and I finished this puzzle last night. It was a lot of fun and we hadn't made a puzzle in a long time. I love these Cavallini puzzles; they are quite beautiful. Buying one is not a frugal, but it does work out to be a low cost per hour of entertainment, if I'm looking to justify the purchase.
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So pretty. We are getting ready to start a new puzzle but can't quite figure out the best place to put it. New house, new puzzle issues!
happystuff
2-15-21, 10:29am
That's so nice, rosarugosa. How many pieces is it?
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