Crayfishing, 2023-02-28

About a year ago, someone in a Facebook puzzle group had done this puzzle and hated it, she pretty much wanted to burn it after finishing. I have to say, I found it perfectly pleasant. The image is a painting by Swedish artist Carl Larsson (1853-1919). While Pomegranate puzzle quality has declined a bit recently, this was still the best kind of Pomegranate, absolutely no false fits and a silky finish that had be running my hands over finished sections thoughout. It wasn’t the easiest puzzle I’ve ever done, but it wasn’t that difficult either.

For my puzzle challenge, this is #14, crab / crayfish (it’s the same word in Finnish).

Crayfishing by Carl Larsson, Pomegranate, 1000 pieces. Completed on February 28, 2023.

Australia and Antarctica, 2023-02-26

This is the second time I’ve completed this puzzle, and I also posted about it before. The reason I wanted to do it again was that I want to sell it, but since I may have taken it into the library to be worked on there, I wanted to make sure that all the pieces are still there. They are ๐Ÿ™‚

Also, for my puzzle challenge, this is #7, Australia.

Australia and Antarctica, Grafika, 1000 pieces. Completed on February 26, 2023.

Beach Bar Breezes, 2023-02-25

This was such a pleasure, especially after those King puzzles. As soon as I saw this puzzle, I knew I would love it, and I did! I like “vacationy” beach scenes in puzzles, although in real life I prefer to stay away from the sand – it goes everywhere and is very hard to get rid of.

For my puzzle challenge, this was #25, a puzzle with 1500 or more pieces.

Beach Bar Breezes, Ravensburger, 1500 pieces. Completed on February 25, 2023.

Titanic, 2023-02-23

The last puzzle from my King box, and also probably the last King puzzle I’ll do for a long time. I can’t see myself buying more of these, the images would have to be really impressive and unique for me to even consider it. I shall no longer be seduced by vintage vehicles!

This was the most entertaining and also the easiest of the set (of five puzzles), there is even some text in there. The artist is Steve Crisp, and for my puzzle challenge, this is the second of two puzzles by the same artist (#28 and #29).

Titanic by Steve Crisp, King, 1000 pieces. Completed on February 23, 2023.

Next, I’m doing a Ravensburger!

Airshow, 2023-02-22

Puzzle number four of five in my King box set. This was reasonably entertaining, and it was easy to work from top to bottom, which I like.

In my puzzle challenge, #28 and #29 are two puzzles from the same artist. I originally thought this meant that we were supposed to do four puzzles (two puzzles by the same artist twice), but have since realized it’s only supposed to be two puzzles total, and the whole challenge is 30 puzzles (not 32). Anyway, this will be the first of those two puzzles, the last puzzle in the box is also by Steve Crisp.

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Airshow by Steve Crisp, King, 1000 pieces. Completed on February 22,

Nostalgia, 2023-02-19

When I started spreading out the pieces for this, they somehow felt sturdier and easier to handle than the two previous puzzles from the box set. I was a bit confused, but then I worked out that after doing two King puzzles, I’ve just gotten used to the subpar quality. This was no better and no worse than the first two puzzles in the box.

I’m especially fond of vintage vehicles, so I did find this really entertaining. The postman in the bottom left corner and his car also appear in Watching the Trains.

For my puzzle challenge, this is #18, vintage.

Nostalgia by Kevin Walsh, King, 1000 pieces. Completed on February 19, 2023.

Street Gallery, 2023-02-16

I no longer buy King puzzles because the quality is poor, but about four years ago, I got a set of five 1000-piece puzzles. I already knew the quality was not great, but I caved because I liked the images. Since I will be able to use some of the puzzles for my puzzle challenge (not this one), I decided to finally get started on the set.

I chose to do the image that looked most difficult first. The pieces were thin, as usual, and they won’t lie flat, but I have to say, I didn’t have much trouble with false fits. Overall this was not as bad as I was expecting.

Street Gallery, King, 1000 pieces. Completed on February 16, 2023.

Most of the images are city or country landscapes, but there are some portraits, but my absolute favourite was this surrealist painting that looks like it could have been done by Dalรญ:

Here you can also see the cut, the pieces were either two tabs opposite, or they had one “wavy” side. I definitely prefer more variety.

Jaws, 2023-02-13

This was a lot of fun! I remember complaining some time ago that there were too few puzzles with pop culture subjects available in Europe, but things have improved a lot lately. Especially Clementoni, but also Ravensburger have many puzzles with images from movies and TV-shows, and I’m loving it!

For my puzzle challenge, the shark in the middle makes this #21, a person or character I would not like to meet.

Jaws, Ravensburger, 1000 pieces. Completed on February 13, 2023.

Student Days, 2023-02-12

A very busy image, but it was fun to do. This is a new puzzle, so for my puzzle challenge, this will be #30, a puzzle published in 2023.

Student Days by Robert Howe, Ravensburger, 500 pieces. Completed on February 12, 2023.

Someone is on the phone, and the phone makes me think the artist must be as old as me ๐Ÿ™‚

I especially liked this poster. I thought it was a piece of abstract art first, but I can now see it says “Jazz”, so probably a poster advertising a concert.