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!
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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
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Candlelight Vigil
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Golden Frost
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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.Attachment 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.
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".
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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.........
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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)
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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. I think I'd rather be in prison. Seriously. Plus, I just couldn't work on the floor like that. hahaQuote:
Originally Posted by Float On
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. hahaQuote:
Originally Posted by Lainey
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.
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.
I just bought a beautiful wooden puzzle for my mother from these folks: https://zenartdesign.com/product-cat...igsaw-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.
Cathy: You sound like my husband. I tell him it must be hard to be in charge of quality control for the universe! ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by CathyA
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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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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