The Santa Express - Ravensburger (1000 pieces)

Every Boxing Day is the same....every year a Christmas jigsaw from the day before appears and as a family we gather round for some jigging time together. Once again Ravensburger did not disappoint with this beautiful jigsaw. It can often be difficult to come up with new themes for Christmas time, but The Santa Express provided all concerned with something to do. I particularly enjoyed the added detail of one of the gifts being a little Ravensburger jigsaw of a train - nice touch. We even managed to entice a new visiting member of the family to put in a few pieces before the day was done.

Time taken - family time can never be measured!

That's Life: Walk in the Park - Goliath Jigsaws (1000 pieces)

I have always enjoyed this type of jigsaw and decided to complete this one blind (without the picture). 2 reasons for this...
1. I enjoy the extra challenge of working out where pieces go
2. It is always satisfying when you have that moment when several separate parts come together.
This puzzle was a lot of fun with plenty of small details and lots of fun little characters and moments to enjoy. Bright colours, plenty of variation and an overall theme made for an enjoyable evening.

Time taken: evening

Anne Geddens (1000 pieces)

Good clean fun! The picture wasn't very inspiring, but the puzzle was good. There were subtle colour changes to keep me engrossed and the three little babies added a nice feature to an otherwise 'samey' colour scheme. The fit of the jigsaw pieces was good and overall I enjoyed the puzzle.

Time taken: afternoon and evening.

England's Villages - Mandolin Puzzles (1000 pieces)

I thought I was going to really enjoy this one because of the distinct sections and clear lines dividing them. However, for some reason I just simply didn't get along with it. I mean, the purple division lines were good fun and quickly created sections to work upon, but then many of the scene colours simply merged into one. That being said, the picture is nice and the quality of the jigsaw was good.

Time taken: approximately 1 day of 'on and off' puzzling.

Cottage River Test - King (1000 pieces)

Oh King...the trials and tribulations you create! The pieces are a classic cut, but they do not fit together with a classic fit. This leads to you putting pieces together, thinking they don't look right and taking them apart again. The puzzle itself was a standard thatched cottage with all the elements I enjoy - sky, thatch and trees/flowers. A good puzzle and a lovely challenge.

Time taken: Afternoon

Doctor's Waiting Room - WHSmith (1000 pieces)

First appearances can be most deceptive. Cartoon puzzles are normally one of my favourite kinds, but this one proved to be a tricky little monkey. There were a lot of colours, patterns and areas that were similar. That being said, there were nice little details such as the pictures hanging on the wall and the different dresses being worn by the ladies waiting.

Time taken: Afternoon

Blue and White China - Upstarts Miller's Antiques Jigsaw Puzzles (1000 pieces)

My goodness, this was a difficult one. Only working with 2 base colours (with some variation for shading) and many of the patterns on the plates being remarkably similar. That said, I really enjoyed the puzzle as I always like one that challenges and frustrates. Not one for the faint hearted though, or for people who find it difficult to leave puzzles unfinished overnight - my final night was a 2am finish!  


Time taken: completed over 1 week comprising of several evenings of varying lengths

Kitchen Cupboard - Wentworth Wooden Jigsaws (1000 pieces)

I'm pleased that this jigsaw made the blog - even if it is a second time jig. I first completed the puzzle earlier this year after Wentworth heard my radio interview with BBC2 and wanted me to have a go at one of their jigsaws. Now, if you know anything about jigsaws you will know what a luxury a Wentworth is and how excited I was to be sent one. The pieces are proper wood instead of standard cardboard and there are lots of little quirky 'whimsie' bits to add for extra interest. Anyway, I gave it to my dad after I had finished and arrived at his house last night to find a family jigsaw session underway...well...I had to join in didn't I?

Time taken: 4 hours as an individual...and as a family...well, who has time to count?
 

The Village Shop - Gibsons (1000 pieces)

Another great jigsaw from Gibsons. I had intended to use it as a timed puzzle to see whether I could get close to the 2 hour mark, but it quickly became apparent that it was much trickier than the box suggested. After the large expanses of door and floor colour the shelves of produce, packets and boxes provided plenty of difficult detail which kept me busy for quite a while.

Time taken: 3.5 hours

 

 

Cat Conundrum - Past Times (1000 pieces)

What fun! An interesting border which wasn't as easy as it first looked and lots of other cute features to provide interest. I always enjoy sky and this small patch made for a good focus after I had sorted the outer edges. The house and cat were like so many others I've done but this didn't detract from the overall enjoyment. The best bit for me was the border as it was filled with words and letters that took some sorting! Well done Past Times.

Time Taken: 3.5 hours

De Elfstedentocht – Jumbo (1000 pieces)

I always enjoy a good cartoon puzzle and this one was great fun. Despite the fact that the snow and ice provided for limited colour changes there was enough to keep it interesting and the people were adorned in a range of colours. There was a focal point of a single fence which allowed the puzzle to be split into 2 sections and a background and foreground allowed for perspective in the people.

Time taken: Evening

High Colour Collection – Clementoni (1000 pieces)

I don’t get given a lot of Clementoni and for those not in the know the cut of the pieces is slightly different to your average puzzle in regards to the number of ‘regular’ versus ‘non regular’ cuts. However, I thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle. It certainly lived up to its billing and was bright and full of interest. The brick work made for some interesting challenge and was nicely spaced around the puzzle so it did not become overwhelming.

Time taken: Afternoon

Britain from the Air – Gibson (1000 pieces)

Tricky! Good, but tricky. Any scene that is looking down naturally puts things into a different perspective and things are smaller. The mixture of trees and houses, most looking the same, made for a challenging puzzle and without the box I think it would have taken much, much longer. One little perk was coming across little brightly coloured cars which broke up the otherwise slightly monotonous colours.

Time taken: Afternoon and evening

An Introduction

Hi, my name is Emma and I love Jigsaw Puzzles!

 

Now, if that makes you laugh, or if you aren’t interested in jigsaws then this may not be the blog for you. However if your interest has been piqued, read on.

A little background:

I have been doing jigsaws for as long as I can remember. I have fond memories of jigsaws being done at my paternal grandparents house, and in more recent years have enjoyed completing a Boxing Day jigsaw with my dad. I joined the Official UK Puzzle Club in 2006 and have completed puzzles from pretty much every puzzle genre. As far as skill goes, it would appear that I am a reasonable puzzler...I have not found a jigsaw I could not complete and in the last 3 years came 1st, 2nd and 2nd again at the British Championships (my current record for completing a 1000 piece being 2 hours - only 3 minutes behind the winning time). Presently I am used by a local group to check their second hand puzzles before they are sold at fundraising events.

Why I like doing jigsaws:

I like the challenge, I like the feel of slotting pieces together, I like finding that final pesky piece you have been searching for, I like sections beginning to take shape and form, I like not thinking about anything but the puzzle before me and I like the peace and quiet you can afford yourself when you need it.

3 things I like:

·         Bright, bold and busy designs

·         Losing yourself in a puzzle

·         Completing a puzzle with friends and chatting about your day

3 things I don’t like:

·         Dull, dark and dreary jigsaws

·         People who put pieces in uninvited thinking they are ‘helping’

·         People who ridicule puzzlers, thinking you have to be a child or old to enjoy this hobby

The purpose of this blog:

Well to start with, when you type Jigsaw Puzzle Blog into an internet search engine the results are somewhat limited. There are blogs from some companies and a couple of personal blogs, but nothing that really caught my eye. I can’t promise my blog will be the most interesting around, but it will be full of my thoughts and opinions on the puzzles I complete. I will aim to share with the reader the puzzles I have done, whether they were any good and what I’m looking forward to next.