I prefer photographs to drawings/paintings and usually choose lovely scenic settings. Once I start one I struggle to leave it and it's one of the best ways of listening to music. Mitch
The G-kids love them, especially the eldest, and it's frightening to watch the speed at which he completes them. He's already cracking 160 to 200 piece ones and he's not 5 til Septober. I'm constantly on the lookout for new ones for them (along with Lego sets). I haven't done one myself in years. Hmmmm, I might pick one up and see how it goes.
Since I've worked at an Elementary School (K-5) for the last 10 years where I've purchased multitudes of puzzles from the Dollar Tree, I am a whiz at any puzzle from 26 to 48 pieces and if the pieces are super big the better. Anything over 100 pieces and when they are iddy biddy, I simply lose my mind.
I've been wanting to use the phrase "iddy biddy" for a while and I finally got my chance!
Who knows when I'll ever get back to physical school and get to spend time doing a countless array of Super Hero and Disney Princess puzzles again with the kids? And yes, kids still lose puzzle pieces all the time and most of them are incomplete. My little plastic sandwich bags for the pieces seem to always get lost or thrown away as well.
Personal techniques for putting puzzles together? I always do the straight edges or frames first and I sort out similar colors of pieces in small groupings and put areas with those colors together and then join them into the bigger picture. Puzzles can be fun and relaxing and it's fun to complete them and feel a nice accomplishment. Kids at school and myself also sometimes enjoy puzzle races and it's cool to compete and see who can do their puzzle faster.
I had a puzzle made from this Film Composer Artwork (link below) through one of those companies that can make a puzzle from any image. Never put it together, but the company did a pretty nice job with it. I think it cost me no more than $30.00 dollars or less. I did it for fun to see how it would come out. They put it in a nice box with the image on the box cover.
My friend likes doing them and she did a Game of Thrones map that was tough because it was monochromatic. I just saw European made ones in a comic shop last week that were of places in Yorkshire and Devon and such, so i might buy her one of those, as she's a bit of an Anglophile.
I’ve been working on one for about 3 months and have most of the border done. Can you say slow?
My daughter on the other hand is a whiz at them. She had started doing them prior to the pandemic to help her with insomnia. She finished the 1000 piece puzzles we got her for Christmas so had none to do when we were house bound. The prices on Amazon were outrageous and supplies way down. I was finally able to snag a 1500 Disney puzzle for her that represents all the movies in stained glass. It’s really quite nice.
She’s also started doing these metal puzzles. She is finishing up a set of 3 small dragons, each a different . These are very nice too but too complicated for my patience.
I’ve been working on one for about 3 months and have most of the border done. Can you say slow?...
Suggestions ... never start with the border, simply put these pieces aside and use them when suitable. Look at what the main feature of the picture is and concentrate on that.
Oh, and try never to leave the puzzle having spent time without fitting a piece ... always leave just after fitting one. You're more likely want to return to it! Mitch
This thread has compelled me to buy one and give it a whirl. Haven't done one since I was a...lot younger. I imagine it will be very therapeutic during these crazy times. What should I start with? 300? 500? 1000? Hmmmmm...
This thread has compelled me to buy one and give it a whirl. Haven't done one since I was a...lot younger. I imagine it will be very therapeutic during these crazy times. What should I start with? 300? 500? 1000? Hmmmmm...
I'm having a bit of a problem with the four-piece one for my baby niece. It's just a farm animal on a bit of grass, but I always end up with a straight bit right in the middle (that needs hammering in) and a big roundish bit sticking out the top. She looks at me as if I were unintelligent.
Kev, have you tried the 4-piecers? Just so as not to start too deep.
My husband likes to do these puzzles and usually gets puzzles with a 1,000 pieces. He has done several during lock down.
Recently, he was given a BIG challenge which was a Ravensburger Krypt puzzle with 654 pieces and NO picture and only one color. Here is a picture of it at amazon.
My husband likes to do these puzzles and usually gets puzzles with a 1,000 pieces. He has done several during lock down.
Recently, he was given a BIG challenge which was a Ravensburger Krypt puzzle with 654 pieces and NO picture and only one color. Here is a picture of it at amazon.
I've always enjoyed doing jigsaw puzzles. I find 1000 pieces to be the most satisfying. I've done some at 3000 but they can be daunting and take a long time to complete. I concentrate on puzzles containing random shaped pieces which are more interesting and challenging, especially those from Cobble Hill and Eurographics. Unfortunately Eurographics in the US/Canada stopped making random shaped puzzles a couple of years ago but their European branch based in the Czech Republic still makes them, with the logo "Smart Cut Technology" on the box. I only enjoy doing jigsaws copied from paintings - I dislike doing photographs which for me have too "clean" a look. At the moment I'm working on Eurographics' Botticelli's Birth of Venus.
