Boats and Sunset!

January 16, 2019 PuzzledPickleLeave a comment

2019-01-15 10.23.15

“Boats and Sunset” 500 piece Cardinal Games, unknown artist. Such a fun one! Don’t mind Miss Gidget! She’s just grumpy because she got shooed off my desk twice while I was working on this!

2019-01-14 19.21.04 2019-01-14 21.49.59

It makes me sad how the ‘dollar store puzzles’ are seemingly universally reviled! Someone in some of the puzzle groups on Facebook posted a picture of some of their puzzles, asking which they should do next (and even requesting no hate on their dollar store puzzles), and what pops up like, two comments down? How horrible the person thinks these puzzles are, followed by agreeing replies. How rude! D:

2019-01-15 10.28.03 — I’ve had a lot of ‘quality’ puzzle brands that don’t hold together nearly this well!

Well, excuse me, but these Cardinal puzzles aren’t that bad. Yes, the pieces are small, and the cardboard is thinner than most. But the cut is crisp and the pieces fit tight, the printing is fantastic, and there’s hardly any puzzle dust. Of course they’re not Ravensburger quality- but they’re also only a dollar! The quality is great for the cost!

Not all dollar store puzzles deserve this universal hatred, darnit!

Anyway, a combination of their post and needing to let my art program run a very time consuming backup inspired me to put this one together finally! Shame about that duplicate piece, someone will probably be missing that… After getting partway through, I had to take another snap of the remaining pieces in the box- the colors were so pretty!

2019-01-14 21.51.27

Florabundance!

January 3, 2019 PuzzledPickleLeave a comment

First puzzle of 2019 complete! Although, I did start it last year, so maybe that’s cheating… 🤔

“Florabundance” by Linda Ravenscroft, a 1000 piece by MB Puzzles and Cardinal Games. Another nice quality puzzle, as I expected after the last ‘Premium Blue Board’ puzzle I did by this brand. Low dust, nice fitting pieces, smooth finish that’s not too glossy, and a good thickness board. Lovely.

This one was a bit tougher than I expected, but an absolute joy to put together. Such a sassy little pixie! A nice contrast too the wintery weather we’re having as well!

Next up is “Peter Pan”, 1000 pieces by MasterPieces–it came in a funky book shaped box, so I’ve du ped it into my last puzzles box for sorting. I’m excited to get this one put together–I’ll be hanging it over my husband’s night stand, and the “Jack and the Beanstalk” I completed last year will be going over mine! I’m only hoping that Peter is the same size as Jack… This one sure seems smaller to me. I’ll have to oull them out and compare!

Also, look at all these ‘not edge pieces’! D: And there were so many more in the box I had to painstakingly rule out. @_@;

A Second Howdy!

December 28, 2018 PuzzledPickleLeave a comment

Hello, hello! I’m Puzzled Pickle, and this is my jigsaw puzzle blog! Well, my second blog… I’ve decided to give WordPress a try, as I haven’t been able to find many other puzzlers on Blogger. Maybe I’ll have better luck here! I’ve imported my posts (for some reason it only grabbed the latest 3, very odd), and will be continuing here!

2018-12-14 12.45.26 2018-12-27 12.48.59

My current project: MB Puzzles and Cardinal Games ‘Florabundance’ by Linda Ravenscroft, 1000 pieces. It’s proving to be a bit more challenging than I’d anticipated, but very, very fun. I adore the quality of this brand, the ‘premium quality blue board’ is certainly nothing to sneeze at!

We were a bit puzzled to get a mysterious shipping notice in our email a few days ago, and I was very excited to find it was from Master Pieces! Way back in October, I’d put in for a replacement for this puzzle:

2018-10-16 15.16.14

All the pieces were badly cut, some completely inseparable from their neighbors. Doable, yes, but as I purchased it new, I expect decent quality! They had me cut off the box flap containing the puzzle’s details and mail it in with a description of the problem. And I waited… and waited… Finally two weeks ago I emailed them again, asking if they’d yet received my letter. Turns out they had, back in November, but my replacement was a delayed due to heavy holiday orders.

My package arrived, and I sliced it open to reveal-

2018-12-27 22.49.39 — Well, that’s not the same…

I’m both a tad annoyed and also very excited? The other puzzle is completely workable, so now I have two puzzles for the price of one, but I’m also glad I didn’t have my heart set on receiving the exact same puzzle I’d requested a new copy of… It’s just odd they didn’t send the same one, or at least a note explaining! Oh well, this new one will be fun to work regardless; I quite like the art!

2018-12-26 13.03.04

And here’s a snap of my modest Christmas gifts to myself. Our holidays were rather glum, as no one feels particularly like celebrating in the wake of my grandmother’s passing. We had a simple get together for snacks and chatting, rather than the big holiday meal we usually have. It was nice, even if there was an undertone of sadness.

My husband and I got a bit of money as gifts, and while the majority of it is destined for bills, he let me spend a bit beforehand! I snagged these two puzzles and a cute lil’ ratata plush from Gamestop. I’ve been eyeing the Power Ranger puzzle for months, and Magic The Gathering puzzle and plush were on clearance, buy one and get one free! Hard to pass that up!

Wishing everyone a Happy Holidays and a splendid New Year! I’ll leave you with a quick snap of my cats ‘assisting’ me in gluing a puzzle!

2018-12-19 00.50.35