Puzzle #33 - Lang - Garden Cheers - 500 pieces

Puzzle #33 of 2023

Finished May 29, 2023

Lang - Garden Cheers - 500 pieces

Okay, this is my first ever puzzle by Lang and I am already VERY impressed!  First, there is a thick, nice poster.  Lovely!  But look!  They include a ziploc bag to rebag the puzzle in once completed!  I have a bag of ziplocs that 'lives' on my puzzle table for just this purpose - and this is the first company I have ever seen include one with their puzzle.  Nice touch!  Got my attention!  Looking forward to completing this puzzle and already thinking I want more Lang puzzles.  :)  In addition - basically no puzzle dust!

A poster AND a storage bag! 

The ziptop bag they included for storing the puzzle after putting it together.

very nice puzzle so far.  I think I have now completed the easy parts.  :D

Of course I had to pair this puzzle image with a glass of white wine.  :)  So I paired it with an Italian Cortese - 2021 Enrico Serafino Gavi.  SO good!

Finished - very nice puzzle.  One thing of note - every piece is the same shape.  however, I didn't have trouble with mis-fits.  But I do prefer having more than one puzzle piece shape.  I think Some Galison and Cavallini & Co puzzles are also like this.  I looked through Lang puzzles and wish I liked more of the images available!  This was a very pleasant puzzle to work and I am impressed with Lang puzzles as a whole.

I will also say that this was, hands down, the most difficult puzzle to disassemble that I have ever run across.  I would say these pieces definitely 'snap' together and hold well!  No doubt you could pick this puzzle up off the table and even give it a good shake!  :) 

Puzzle #33 of 2023

Finished May 29, 2023

Lang - Garden Cheers - 500 pieces

Puzzle #32 - MasterPieces - Greetings from Paris, France - 550 pieces

Puzzle #32 of 2023

Finished May 26, 2023

MasterPieces - Greetings from Paris, France - 550 pieces

Starting this one from MasterPieces - love the image!  Again, why do I love Paris puzzles so much when I really didn't enjoy visiting Paris as much as other locations in Europe?  Funny.  LOVE that huge poster!!!  Brings me back to MasterPieces!

Quite enjoyable and colorful and fun. I enjoyed putting this one together a lot. I like the size of the puzzle pieces with masterpieces - not too small but not overly big.  Just nice to hold in your hand.  I know they don't necessarily 'snap' together perfectly, but they go together well enough.  And you don't have a lot of mis-fits.  Also not too much puzzle dust.

I probably should have paired this puzzle with a French wine, but even so, it sure went nicely with this Italian Pinot Grigio!  :)  Truly a delicious pairing!  :D 

Puzzle #32 of 2023

Finished May 26, 2023

MasterPieces - Greetings from Paris, France - 550 pieces

Puzzle #31 - Gibsons - Beads and Buttons - 1000 pieces

Puzzle #31 of 2023

Finished May 21, 2023

Gibsons - Beads and Buttons - 1000 pieces

I order many of my Gibsons puzzles directly from them (in England) but you can find several Gibsons puzzles at Amazon, as well.  

I selected this one because I loved The Dressmaker's Daughter so much.  This one is much more difficult!  I didn't really look carefully at it first, but boy - all those beads and buttons indeed!  :)  

I am slowly working through it.  It is not frustrating and is quite a challenge.  I have already done any of the 'easy' parts.  :)  Will keep plugging away as I have time.  

I really do love Gibsons puzzles but am thinking my next puzzle may have more random shaped pieces.  My last few have been very similarly shaped pieces and I am ready for a change.  Image by Tony Ryan.

Definitely a more challenging puzzle with all the little bits and bobs.  But pleasant enough so far.  Just find myself working on it a bit and then being done for the day.  So it isn't sucking me in to great loads of time without stopping - like some puzzles have.  Kind of like a book.  this is a good and pleasant book - but I am able to put it down and go to sleep of a night.  :D

This turned out to be an engaging puzzle.  Not one that could be worked on in areas... rather you pick up a piece, look at it, and figure out where it goes.  The pieces felt more loose to me than I remember other Gibsons puzzles feeling.  But it wasn't bad.  I think I want a different kind of puzzle next - but this was a pleasant one.  Definitely love all the dresses.  And Gibsons remains one of my favorite brands. 

Puzzle #31 of 2023

Finished May 21, 2023

Gibsons - Beads and Buttons - 1000 pieces

Puzzle #30 - Galison - Cuba by Michael Storrings - 1000 pieces

Puzzle #30 of 2023

Finished May 12, 2023

Galison - Cuba by Michael Storrings - 1000 pieces

I started this puzzle last night.  Colorful and fun looking.  I did sort by color (at least somewhat) while looking for border pieces.  It was too easy not to.  :)  Image by Michael Storrings.

love the poster!

This was a fun puzzle but more difficult than I imagined it would be.  That is not a bad thing.  :)  Hoping I have time this week to work on this.  Very enjoyable overall.  Thinner pieces - but that is okay.  I am also realizing that one reason it is so difficult is because all the pieces are the same exact shape.  

This was definitely more challenging than I expected.  Not hard necessarily but more complex.  I could pick up a piece and figure out where it went, but I couldn't just get a flow going in one area like I do in many other puzzles.  The pieces are okay but definitely prone to bending and splitting...  not very thick and can get caught together.  But again, a fun and enjoyable puzzle. The colors were SO fun to work with.

Puzzle #30 of 2023

Finished May 12, 2023

Galison - Cuba by Michael Storrings - 1000 pieces

Puzzle #29 - MasterPieces - Roadsides of the Great Southwest Summer Fresh - 550 pieces

Puzzle #29 of 2023
Finished May 3, 2023

MasterPieces - Roadsides of the Southwest - Summer Fresh - 550 pieces

Started this new Masterpieces 550 puzzle.  I feel like MasterPieces and Buffalo puzzles are similar in many ways - at least I often group them together in my mind.  They both have those wonderful HUGE posters and they are fairly similar in cost.  MasterPieces puzzle pieces are usually a tiny bit larger (I feel like?) for the same size puzzle.  Buffalo pieces are higher quality overall, I think.  I feel like there are more mis-fits with Buffalo puzzles than with Masterpieces, though.  Both have interesting images that draw me in.  I really love the Masterpieces Travel Diary series a lot.  Buffalo has Charles Wysocki images and I do love so many of those.  I pull out one of these brands when I am wanting something somewhat easy and engaging that won't require as much time on task.  That usually means they're 550 pieces.  Although I enjoy their 750 - there just aren't as many of those.  I do 1000 pieces from these two companies as well, but so often choose White Mountain and Ravensburger and Cobble Hill and Gibsons for 1000 pieces.  This is going to be a pleasant puzzle - very colorful.  Image by Steven Morath.

Finished it up - it was a very pleasant diversion.  All that food was fun to do - fruits and veggies.  Very colorful puzzle.  MasterPieces is mid level quality and so you just can't compare the piece quality to Gibsons or Ravensburger or White Mountain etc.  But They are not usually bad quality.  Just thinner pieces and a little bit bendy sometimes.  But I really enjoy so many of Masterpieces images.  This one included.

Puzzle #29 of 2023
Finished May 3, 2023

MasterPieces - Roadsides of the Southwest - Summer Fresh - 550 pieces