Storytellers Bookshop is a 1000-piece puzzle from Pieces & Peace, and the artist is Elisabeth Dorrian.
I love this cozy image! This bookshop has such great vibes with lots of classic reads and both a dog and a cat curled up for a nap. Out the window, we can see that it’s a beautiful fall day with a farmers market and children playing.
This was an enjoyable build. I did it over two sessions and never got stuck or frustrated. There was quite a bit of blue left at the end, but I didn’t even have to shape sort, which was nice. As a bookworm and a fall girlie, this was right up my alley!
Last Sunday I went to a puzzle swap, sale, and pairs puzzle competition. My friend Renee agreed to come with me so I picked her up on the way. It was raining pretty hard so we did get kind of wet and the drive was a bit harrowing, but we still had a good time.
I took 17 puzzles with me to swap. When I got there, I turned in my puzzles and they gave me the same number of tickets to use at the swap. I also took three puzzles with missing pieces for the missing piece table. You didn’t need a ticket to take any of those puzzles.
Puzzles I took to swap
Once the swap opened, we started at the 500 piece tables since I have been enjoying doing smaller piece counts lately. When Renee found one she thought I would like, she would hold it up for me to look at, and she found several really good ones to add to the ones I picked out.
I ended up bringing home 16 puzzles-well, technically more than that because some were in sets. If you count all of them individually, I got 20. I did look at the puzzles for sale but didn’t end up buying any. Once I had picked out my puzzles, we checked out and then went to grab some lunch. We came back a couple of hours later to watch the speed puzzling competition. It was really impressive as the top two teams finished under 25 minutes.
Puzzles I got in the swap:
They also had raffle prizes. We didn’t win, but on the raffle table, they had envelopes with free samples from Artifact Puzzles. We each took one and put them together at lunch. I thought that was a really cute idea.
Wooden puzzle samples:
Another fun thing that happened was meeting Javy from the YouTube channel Javy’s Puzzle Odyssey. I introduced myself and told him I loved his videos, and he was really sweet and gave me a hug.
Here’s the breakdown of puzzles I got: 1500 piece – 1 1000 piece – 4 500 piece – 9 300 piece – 5 100 piece – 1
It was a really fun day and I am looking forward to the puzzles I got. My to do list is now over 100 puzzles though, so I really need to get puzzling!
Spooky Sweets is a 500-piece puzzle from 1canoe2, and the art was done by the 1canoe2 team.
This is a brand I have enjoyed in the past, and I really like grid puzzles, so this was a big win for me. When I did my first puzzle from them, I initially thought the pieces were plastic, but they are actually chipboard with a paper backing. Some people don’t like them, but I find them easy to work with and like the smooth finish.
I started out doing a few of the more distinct buckets and then decided to fill in all of the frames. I think it looked really nice when those were all in place.
The vintage design unlocked memories for me of picking out my Halloween costumes and candy buckets for trick or treating as a child. My brothers and I always looked forward to that night and the intense candy trading sessions that took place after we got home.
Meowseum is a 99-piece mini puzzle from Happily, and the artist is Nia Gould. She also illustrated the Cat Icons puzzle I did a couple of weeks ago, and I really like her illustration style.
It looks like there is a lot of good stuff in this museum. The puzzle was fun to put together. I was very happy that this mini puzzle didn’t have the same waxy finish that bothered me on their full size puzzle.
Scary Good Boooks is a 500-piece puzzle from Cobble Hill.
Who wouldn’t want to spend an evening in this spooky bookstore? I’m curious what section you would start in. I would probably start in Romance and then head down to Dystopian myself, but there are so many good options.
I really enjoyed this one. It was random cut, which I don’t do super often but like every once in a while. The finish feels very smooth and is so nice to run your hands over after finishing the puzzle.
Sunday Witch is a 500-piece puzzle from Trevell, and the artist is Freya Hartas.
This is a delightful, cozy image that was a fun, quick build. I continue to be impressed by the quality of this brand. The colors are so vibrant, and there are so many great details everywhere you look. My favorite part is the little dragon all all curled up on the bed with her and her cats.
Spooky Curiosities is a 200-piece puzzle from Ridley’s Games.
A fun start to spooky season with this cute little puzzle filled with all sorts of witchy items. I have a few new Halloween puzzles to do, and then I will probably redo some I have saved from previous years.
I enjoyed this quick puzzle – it definitely got me in the mood for Halloween! They have some other puzzles along these same lines that I might get as well. They are pretty inexpensive, which is nice since they are a smaller piece count.
They come in a small canister, which is a little annoying to store but not too bad.
Main Street Morning is a 300-piece puzzle from Galison, and the artist is Elisabeth Dorrian.
I love this cute scene of people and their dogs enjoying Main Street with all of its shops and activities. I did this with a friend and we really enjoyed it.
It is a bit different from other Galisons I have done – it has oversized pieces with a variety of piece shapes and a smooth matte finish. Up until now, all the puzzles I have done from this brand had only one piece shape and were quite glossy. Very nice!
This was a bit of a stressful week, so I was glad for the weekend. I had to go into the office for two days to do some training, which always takes a lot out of me. I did have Wednesday off, though, so that was nice.
Michael is debating whether to stop going to his social skills group. He has been unhappy with it for a little while but isn’t 100% sure what he wants to do yet. They are playing D&D together today, so he is going to see how it goes.
We did get some good news from the neurologist that his bloodwork and brain MRI were clean. We had been referred to her based on the results of a study the GI doctor did. Now that anything neurological has been ruled out, we will likely be following up with a specialized motility clinic for help with both his swallowing and constipation issues.
My friend Kim was over on Saturday and we had lunch and watched a new movie called The Love Hypothesis. It is based on a book by Ali Hazelwood, whom I have not read. The movie was excellent! I think her books can be pretty steamy, but the movie only had one explicit scene, so that was good. We both enjoyed it very much.
I only finished one book this week – Time to Shine by Rachel Reid. It is an MM hockey romance and I really enjoyed it. It is a slow-burn romance but definitely has a lot of spice once it gets going. I especially liked the character of Langdon as he tries to figure out if he is asexual or demisexual.
I hope everyone is enjoying the change of seasons! I am very happy for fall to be here in Pennsylvania!
I have been wanting to try the brand Happily for a while now and recently got two of their puzzles to do, both 1000 pieces. I really enjoyed the artwork on both of them; it just seems so cheerful and upbeat!
Let’s Eat by Charlotte Martin
Cat Icons by Nia Gould
They are pretty close in cuteness, but Cat Icons edged out Let’s Eat as my favorite by just a bit. I found it easier to get into a flow while piecing that one together, whereas the other one required a bit more pick and place with a lot of looking at the image on the box.
Let’s Eat had a number of false fits on both the border and the interior of the puzzle, but I only encountered that issue on the border for Cat Icons. As much as I liked both of these, I don’t think I will be keeping them because the pieces had a waxy finish that was quite unpleasant to the touch. I know most people probably don’t mind it, but I am very sensitive to textures, so it bothered me.
