Challenging New Puzzles

Well I am sharing our finished Ceaco puzzles from this set of 8 and some thoughts on each one!

🧩300 pieces

The rounded puzzle had a learning curve. For some reason just looking at it completed, reminded me of the lyrics from the iconic musical, The Sound of Music.

🎵Follow every rainbow Till you find your dream 🎵

This one was pretty easy to do!

🧩500 pieces

So many itty bitty details on each cupcake! I was struggling on this one especially the purple - my fav colour. Still fun to work on together and turned out great.

Another challenging one especially the blues!

This one took several days to complete.Some of the different patterns and coloured pieces helped to navigate where each balloon would be placed. Definitely another challenging one but turned out lovely.

A stunning pose. So many little details and to figure out the right pieces to match the pattern and colours, especially around the head.

🧩750 pieces

We finished this 750 piece puzzle. It was extremely difficult and to our surprise, these particular pieces were definitely poor quality compared to the other puzzles. Beautiful scene but quite a disappointment. 

🧩1000-pieces!

Sorting puzzle pieces into containers has become really helpful. Although this one had SO many colour combos that I needed to get more. Also, as you can see, it took up our entire dining room table. lol

Finished!

Our first time working on a 1000 piece puzzle. This was unbelievably difficult at times. Hours could go by and there would be rejoice with "I found A piece!" Glasses on, glasses off... trying different ways to see if a piece fit together or not. Then also wondering sometimes, "is there an actual piece missing?" We get into the groove and then boom, a standstill.

This puzzle really taught us such levels of patience, which is always a great virtue to have in life.

Very happy with our accomplishment.

One Piece At A Time: Puzzles

 

The first jigsaw puzzle was created by a British map engraver named John Spilsbury, all the way in 1760's. He created them for educational purposes and called them "Dissected Maps."

By 1909, dissected maps became more widely known as a jigsaw puzzle.  When the Great Depression hit America in 1929, puzzles exploded in popularity. 

Now here we are in 2022, with such technological advances where you can utilize your computer, phone, or even virtual reality to solve puzzles or go old-school and sit down with one for hours of enjoyment.  Honestly, the latter is more my cup of tea to spend quality time with my hubby and get away from screens or to work on bits solo at our leisure.

With the vast amount of puzzles available, you can find wildlife and scenery to abstract art, nostalgic landmarks, and the list goes on. You can even create personalized puzzles using your own photos. 

They can be easily found in local stores and thrift shops, higher-end boutiques and of course, online. Depending on your preference size and image of choice, you can begin with 250 pieces or if you feel you have the patience, 1000 pieces or more. 

My puzzle journey began with Bill bringing home the sloth puzzle (shown above) for me. He thought it would be a fun activity for us to do together while working on my health challenges.  I'm not a very coordinated person, so it took a lot of effort and patience. The movement of my fingers picking up a puzzle piece and being able to focus felt soothing. I did feel a lot of anxiety at first, but slowly that washed away the more I kept at it. There was so much detail in the fur, so although only 250 puzzle pieces, it took many days to piece together, but it was a great accomplishment and raised my spirits. 

There are so many benefits of puzzles. It can improve cognition and visual-spatial reasoning, aids in memory, builds connection (especially if you are doing it with others), helps with problem-solving, and a big one, it can help to reduce stress hormones and increase mood (thanks dopamine!).

There's no time limit or pressure, it's just fun.  When it becomes stressful, then it's time to take a break and return a few hours later, or even give a day or two of rest. 

After we finished this puzzle together, I loved it so much that I wanted to showcase it. We thought it would make a lovely art piece when you walk into our kitchen. 

While it's been a rather puzzling year (sorry, yes a deliberate pun here) especially after being hit hard by covid and dealing with my own physical and mental recovery, there is a real joy to sit down at the kitchen or dining room table, throw on some instrumental music like jazz or classical, and build piece by piece whatever beautiful creation is chosen.

I'm always looking to add to our collection, so let me know any of your favourites by sending me an email or leaving a comment below. 

These puzzles were purchased from:

💜Josie Lewis

💜Thomas Kinkade

💜Eurographics

💜Giftcraft

👉Fun fact: You can purchase Dowdle's, What A Wonderful World - the world's largest puzzle (as of 2022) - It has a whopping 60,000 pieces and is 8 feet tall and 29 feet long.  

As a novice puzzler, I don't anticipate this purchase any time soon!