Flower Delivery and a Beachy Retreat

Thomas Kinkade 500 Pieces

It's been a rough week. Last Wednesday, December 5th, my grandmother passed away. It had been a long time coming unfortunately. The night she passed, I and a few other family members had gathered at my grandfather's house, and I had brought along a pack of four 500 piece Thomas Kinkade puzzles to pass the time. I had just finished sorting out the edges of this lovely beachy scene, and was starting to assemble them when she left us.

I'd packed the puzzle back away, but went ahead and decided to finish it. I'd been so looking forward to doing this one ever since I bought the pack months ago, and I know my grandmother wouldn't have wanted me put off of it. I also had packed it up in one of my grandfather's tupperware dishes, and he'll probably want that back as well!

It's been a difficult week since then, filled with grief. I've spent a good deal of my time working on this 1000 piece MB Puzzle/ Cardinal Games 'Flower Delivery' to keep myself occupied. My grandmother would have adored all the flowers in it, she just loved flowers. Not as big a fan of dogs.... Too slobbery for her!

There may also have been wine involved...

The flowers were the easy part, simple to pick out of the box of assorted ambiguous greens and blues! They went together in a pinch!

Even with all the trouble the greens were giving me, I was still having a blast, a little ray of fun to distract me from the sad.

My cats are also a great distraction. Here's Taco, siting in the chair across from me, taking a bath! Little goofball!

And finished! All around, I was really impressed with the quality of this one. The Cardinal Games puzzles I got from the Dollar Tree are about what one would expect for only a dollar, very thin cardboard, if otherwise good. But these, made in conjunction with MB using the 'Premium Quality Blue Board' are spectacular!

The cardboard is a good thickness, and very, very rigid with very little bend, so none of the pieces I encountered were bent or damaged in any way. The cutting was crisp and precise, and the printing and finish on the front was lovely. It also came with an extra resealable bag to keep the pieces in when finished, if that's your thing, and a little fold out 'box easel', which you can fit the box lid into and will hold it up for you to look at while you work. I didn't use it but I'll definitely keep it around for the future in case I ever need something like it. What a clever idea! I'm really happy to have purchased several more puzzles by this company.

All around, it's been a long, difficult week. I'm so glad I have such a nice, calming hobby to help get me through it!

I made some decent progress on my Christmas puzzle before hitting a wall- a big wall made of TONS of brown pieces! For how bright and colorful this image is, there is a deceptive amount of BROWN in there! I’ll get through it, but it’s definitely not as much fun as I’d hoped it would be!

“The Three Graces” however, is a splendid amount of fun! In fact-

I managed to finish it! Everything that was missing from the first pic was done over the course of the five hours I spent looking after my grandmother today. Definitely one of my favs!

Couldn’t resist doing this cute little 300 piece I got from Dollar Tree. “Sunset in Texas” I believe it’s called, by Cardinal. For only a dollar, the quality was pretty darn good. Besides a bit of cardboard separation, it was very nice.

Just finished this up! 1000 piece Big Ben, no name that I can find on the box. I keep betta fish, so I’ll be framing this and hanging it over my boys tanks. Very exciting when two hobbies collide! Overall the Big Ben seemed passable in quality. All the pieces were very crisply cut; if they just used a cardstock twice as thick they’d be top notch.

Also getting this one glued finally, gotta make room so I can glue the betta fish! :D

Now it’s time to start this gorgeous Thomas Kinkade Christmas puzzle from Ceaco!

In the midst of gluing my last two puzzles. Bit of a time consuming process, needing to wait between coats to dry!

Always feel a bit nervous when doing it, but they always look fine when finished, so I don’t know why. Lol! Just have to keep telling myself this will not be the one time the glue doesn’t dry clear!

I’ve decided on my next puzzle!

Gonna get in the fall spirit even more so with this enormous Springbok! This is “Harvest Colors”, 1500 piece, originally from 2013. I know it’s also available in a 1000 piece too.

Very excited to start it! Love the smell of a brand new Springbok, lol! And the pieces always feel so nice and weighty.  If that isn’t a box of joy, I dunno what is.

Can't wait!

Just finished! 1000 piece Ceaco ‘The Pumpkin Festival’, one of their Thomas Kinkade puzzles. I was a bit worried it’d be tough, but it wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought it’d be. You can really see the grain of the canvas on the image, so all the pieces can only go one of two ways! That, and the included poster made this one really manageable!

It’s always a nice surprise to find a poster inside your puzzle box! I live it when they include them, they’re super helpful!

Decent progress has been made! I was a bit worried about the difficulty of this one, lots of similar colors! But there’s a very visible grain to the canvas, so it’s a bit easier than I anticipated!

Plus, some goodies came today!

When your husband’s like “Hey, I’m making an Amazon order, do you want those puzzles that are in the cart?”. Yes, yes I do! I enjoyed doing “Call of the Sea” so much, I had to invest in some more of her puzzles! I know have 4 others, and a fifth on the way! Super excited to get to them soon!