Tag: Cobble Hill

Catching Up!

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Hopefully this will be my last “late” post! Lots of puzzles to show!

2019-09-23 16.03.00
“Eeveelutions” 2000 piece by Buffalo

My husband and I are really big Pokemon fans, especially eevee and all it’s evolutions- and when we saw Pokemon puzzles for sale at Walmart, on my husband’s birthday no less, we both scored big! He picked three for me to assemble and glue for him to decorate over his desk, and of course the first I did HAD to be the eeveelutions!

This was a blast to assemble, and looks fantastic when it’s finished! Now if only they didn’t have to shove a Pikachu into every piece of Pokemon merchandise, regardless of what the main theme is…

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“Detective Pikachu” 500 piece Buffalo

Another of the puzzle’s hubby picked for his birthday…. And the one I least looked forward to assembling! I tried to impress upon him how ‘not fun’ this one would be, what with all the solid black, without telling him no outright, but he would not be detered! Ah well, it was only 500 pieces, and I only had to sort the last 50 pieces or so by shape and try each one until they fit… @_@;;; It’s nice looking finished off though!

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“Still Life with Watermelon” 500 piece Cardinal

A quick finish on my desk puzzling space, just a little dollar store beauty. Glued and hung in the kitchen!

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“The Astronomer” 750 piece by Master Pieces

This one is far more lovely in person, because it is holographic and nearly impossible to get a good photo of! I can’t say I’m a fan of the holographic pieces from an assembly point of view, as it adds an extra layer of challenge that I don’t find enjoyable. But it does look pretty cool when it’s finished!

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A snap of some of ‘The Astronomer’s pieces, which better shows their vibrant colors!

And last but not least, a Cobble Hill thrift store find! One hundred percent complete, and now going in my collection! I adore Cobble Hill!

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‘Fishing Lures’ 500 piece by Cobble Hill

Even More Completes!

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2019-08-20 08.25.55
“Seaside Beauty” 1000 piece Ravensburger

One of three puzzles I got from a Puzzle Warehouse sale. I was completely convinced it was a photograph until I was literally sorting the pieces. I didn’t even know it was a painting as I was pulling the plastic wrap off the box. Talk about a surprise! Very fun to assemble, classic Ravensburger quality- thick cardboard, clean cut, and great finish. love it!

After that I tackled a Cobble Hill, which I think may be my favorite brand. I really dig their funky piece shapes, makes challenging images far more approachable!

Cobble Hill… just fantastic quality as always! Very excited to pick up more of them!

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“Waterfall Dragons” 1000 piece by Cobble Hill

And a few closeups- love those goofy piece shapes!

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I gave this Cardinal brand rooster puzzle a shot… but the pieces were TERRIBLE! They don’t lock at all, just slide apart at the slightest movement. I still want to do it someday, but I bundled it up for another day. Wasn’t in the mood for that frustration!

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“Dino Glow” 100 piece Ceaco

I’ll finish up this overdue update with this little 100 piece Ceaco. I’m a sucker for dinosaur puzzles, and man, the art on this is tops!

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Turns out the glow in the dark stuff on it works surprisingly well! :O

Family Trees and Thrift Store Sprees!

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2019-05-09 14.28.39

After working on this beauty for nearly a month, I couldn’t be happier with the result! This puzzle is simply stunning, and Cobble Hill is definitely a new favorite puzzle brand! The finish is wonderful, I couldn’t stop running my hand over it to admire the ppieces. Everything fit together perfectly, the printing was great…. Ahhh, I just couldn’t be happier with it. Really looking forward to the two dragon puzzles I have by Cobble Hill awaiting me on my shelf!

2019-05-05 13.04.38
“Colorful Sea Treasures” 500 piece Puzzlebug

Another quick dollar store puzzle completion, and another to be glued and hung over the fish tanks! This one’s so bright and pretty, I love it!

So I’ve been having a blast thrifting for puzzles both last weekend, and this morning, and have had absolutely splendid luck! My first run netted me 14 single puzzles, with two multi-packs of 4 and 8 puzzles respectively! Just look at that little Cobble Hill!

I’ve since started the “Austria” puzzle by Re-marks that’s pictured in the photos and I’m… less than impressed. It’s getting close to completion, so I’ll fill you all in on why when I finish it up!

I was so excited with my finds from last weekend, that I took advantage of today’s wonderfully cold weather (It was around 35 degrees this morning, in MAY, whaaaat?) to go again, hitting a different assortment of shops. I love living in city, that’s sort of consumed several other nearby towns and areas, because there are loads of thrift shops all over!

I couldn’t believe my luck today though, a ton of the beautiful vintage landscape photo puzzles I’ve discovered I like so well, that gorgeous vintage food puzzle, and THREE Springboks! Omg!

Hopefully all these wondrous beauties will keep me occupied through much of the hot summer months, when it will be so miserable outside I won’t want to go anywhere for thrifting fun…

Puzzling Updates!

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2019-04-14 22.15.55

I’ve been hard at work on this beautiful Cobble Hill puzzle- it’s my first time working this brand, and I’m very, very pleased with the quality! Nice board, lovely clear and crisp printing, and the cut is perfect and clean. Very little dust too!

It’s a toughie though! All the ‘easy’ parts (which was really only the owls) are done, and now all that’s left is the slow work of assembling all the foliage. It’s been fun, but slow and challenging. I’ve worked on it a lot in the mornings, with a cup of iced coffee, and my two cats meandering around me and the table.

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“Loire Valley Castle, France” 300 piece Puzzlebug
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“Colorful Catamarans” 300 piece Puzzlebug
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“Brightly Colored Tropical Fish” 500 Piece Puzzlebug

Of course, that’s not all I’ve been doing! We had to cancel our cable plan this last week, so I’d spent some time puzzling a few PuzzleBugs in the livingroom, and watching through the last of my DVR’ed shows before they disappeared. Such fun! The fish will be glued and hung above my aquariums.

2019-04-28 22.14.13
 “Tobacco Barn, San Luis Obispo, CA” 500 piece MB Croxley, 1997

I also finished up my current ‘desk puzzle’, a very nice vintage Croxley. I like the image, and had a lot of fun assembling it, but this was the first one I was actually disappointed in the quality. The pieces fit VERY loosely, and the whole thing had an unpleasant shimmy and shake because of it. Almost as if the cutting blade was much wide than it should have been maybe? It’s the only one of the four Croxley’s I’ve done so far that has had be craftsmanship though, so hopefully it will only be an occasional one-off problem! It was bought second had too, so who knows how many times it’s been assembled in the last 20+ years! That could have something to do with it.

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Hopefully this week I’ll make some more progress on this bad boy though! I can’t wait to see it done! I think I may frame this one!

Swarm of Puzzlebugs!

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2019-04-08 18.21.20

If you’ve seen my blog before, you probably know I love dollar store puzzles! They’re quick and fun, and usually have great little images on them you can’t find elsewhere. Sure, the quality of the pieces isn’t stellar, but they are more than workable for the price! And I can get a ton of them for the same price as a single puzzle of the fancier brands. It can be a win win if you want a little bitty puzzle snack!

And I’ve been snacking up a storm…

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‘Colorful Garden Boot Planters’ 500 piece by Puzzlebug
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‘Colorful Boats, Nepal’ 500 piece by Puzzlebug
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‘Traditional Boats in the Mediterranean Fishing Village of  Marsaxlokk, Malta’ 500 piece by Puzzlebug
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‘Colorful Beach Huts, Bahamas’ 500 piece by Puzzlebug
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‘Glade Creek Grist Mill, Babcock State Park, West Virginia’ 500 piece by Puzzlebug

These were all a blast to do, and quite quick too- a pleasant thing when you just wanna get something done! I’ve been spending my mornings relaxing with iced coffee and a puzzle. They’re such cute pops of color!

I think maybe I’ll work on a larger puzzle now though, and try a new brand out! I recently took advantage of Puzzle Warehouse’s sale on Cobble Hill, buy two and get one free!

I’ve been after these two dragon puzzles for months and months now, and those owls… well, I kind of fell in love with them! In fact, I intend to do them next! Hopefully I’ll have good things to report about Cobble Hill. I’ve heard nothing but good things from others, so I’b quite excited to finally have the opportunity to assemble one myself! I’ve peeked inside the box already, and was impressed by the look of the pieces, and the fact it seems to include a poster of the image to work with as well, which is always welcome!

Thanks for puzzling with me today!