12 Days of Christmas - Puzzling

This is the last puzzle related post for this year...

I recently got this puzzle from a local fellow puzzler and I'm so glad I did. I had never seen one of the 'DoodleTown' puzzles by Cobble Hill before so wasn't sure just how much I would like it.

I loved it! It was fun discovering all the little details and quirky elements in the illustration and before breaking it up, I was sure to go down the list to find each of the items on the 12 Days list, chuckling all the way.

My favourites were the 'calling birds'. Here one is chilling on the gazebo roof...

And of course Rudolph is leading the way...

While this goose-a-laying is causing some trouble for the inhabitants of this house!

The quality is what one would expect from Cobble Hill - sturdy and well cut within a good strong box to keep it safe for many years.

This one will be a yearly puzzle for sure! 12 Days of Christmas  by artist Dave Whamond.

More Christmas Puzzling -

The next puzzle on my Christmas wish list was this one -  'Christmas Barn'. Another Bits & Pieces  one and by the same artist, Larry Jones, as the Happy Holiday Snowman.

The Christmas Barn was a quickie to do, but most enjoyable. So many little items to discover in the background and I enjoy the bright colours and all the details throughout the picture.

Making a start -

Coming along nicely now -

And a few details - playful cats getting up to mischief - of course!

Nice variety of quirkily shaped pieces

Another shaped 750 piece puzzle winner! I look forward to doing it again next year.

Christmas Puzzling

I'm was pretty low on Christmas puzzles so when Bits & Pieces offered some specials, I got a few. Wish I could have gotten all the ones on the wish list, but at least I did get the Happy Holiday Snowman, which has topped the list since last year.

Interesting with lots of details, and lots of red,which is a bit more difficult to do if one doesn't sort pieces before hand.

It only just fitted onto the foam core board, which makes it a nice large shaped puzzle at only 750 pieces.

Getting started :

And a few little details -nice to discover little eye candy such as this cat!

The snowman's hat looks like a snowglobe.

Some of the delightfully quirky edge pieces!

Great puzzle to do, not difficult, the picture is great, quality of the pieces great. Some pieces were lightly attached,but separated easily and there was no puzzle dust. My only observation is that the bottom part of the box is very thin and the corners very lightly closed. I would not want to store this one without bagging the pieces first!

Highly recommended.

Winter Puzzling - 'Next Stop'

I traded this beauty locally for another 'well-loved-but-time-to-move-on' puzzle. 'Next Stop' by artist Douglas Laird, and beautifully crafted by Cobble Hill Puzzles. At the time of posting this, I had trouble finding it online, but I have seen them around!

I could not be happier with my trade. This one is a keeper for sure. I did it straight after the trade during the summer and then hauled it out again last week to kick off my winter themed puzzling.

I enjoyed it as much the second time. It is quick to do - at 500 pieces- but so beautiful. And those yummy quirky shaped pieces are a delight!

I darkened the image below a bit to show the delicious linen textured finish of the board.

And a little festive close-up of the interior of the train station.

Nice big pieces..

This one stayed on a board a few days longer so I could feast my eyes on the picture a bit more! The label on the box does not hide much of the image...one might consider framing the enclosed poster...

See you next year 'Next Stop'!

Blankets, Blankets, Blankets!

What a joy to make some baby goodies again...and so much pink too. Ahhhh that felt good.

After being dropped by a local chain store, that cancelled my order giving no reason at all, on the day it was supposed to arrive no less!... I finally had a box of delicious yarns delivered and set to crocheting straight away. (Yarn Canada coming to the rescue)

However...while waiting for said box to arrive, I decided to use some remnants from another project to knit this 'pixie baby nest' from a book I found in my local library ('35 knitted baby blankets' by laura strut)

The buttons can be undone to allow for easy access into the bag, with only the very bottom third sewn up to form a pouch.

I think the little triangle hood will come in very handy and I like that there is no seam to bother a little head as it rests on it. The tassel is a cute touch too, decorative, but will not get in the way.

And the whole lot folds up nicely to slip into a bag or stroller for a little back-up warmth.

Then on to the pink stuff!

I liked the look of this waffle stich blanket by The Crochet Crowd (free pattern HERE) and I used Bernat Pipsqueak for mine (Cotton Candy) Love how this turned out! It is super soft and although a little heavier than expected, totally delicious! Mama wanted a square blanket so that is what she got!

Mama also asked for a pale/soft pink square one and for that I found this Fast Free, Easy pattern by Amy Solovay.
It really was fast and easy and drapes beautifully. I used Bernat Baby Softee yarn in 'Pink'

And here they all are together, in better light! (it can be very grey around here this time of the year!)
I took myself off for a little visit to deliver them personally! What a joy!

Winter Time Cards

Did I ever have fun making these! All the stamps I used are digitals from the Lili of the Valley Shop

For the snowman trio I used patterned papers from my stash, an assortment of dies, ribbon and stamps from various sources. I pulled out whatever would work with the images. All the colouring is done with coloured pencils.

For the next 3 cards I used the same approach, pulling out whatever I thought would work with the images. The back grounds were made using the embossing folder technique where one uses wax paper in the embossing folder and then iron card stock over the wax paper. This leaves you with a beautiful resist pattern to ink blend over. I used dye inks for blending.

I also added bits of cheesecloth on these and a few hand stitches to the one with the stocking. The colours used are right up my street and the entire process was most enjoyable. The images are so precious...

You'll find :-

The single snowman is HERE

The Rabbits in the Stocking is HERE

The Girl and Robin you can find HERE


Get them from :-  Lili of the Valley Shop

Winter Trio - Sure-lox Puzzle

I enjoy doing puzzles with snowy scenes. I think that oldie from my childhood set my love for them. You can read more about it one HERE.

Several years ago I picked up this one by Sure-Lox called Winter Trio from a local store. This was my second time doing it and I enjoyed it very much. It is not the easiest to do, especially when not pre-sorting the pieces, but one never gets the feeling of going nowhere. I like to puzzle that way : challenging, but achieving.

Lovely painting here of this magnificent buck...

The pieces fit together well, although I did find that several would fit, and many more would nearly fit, into incorrect places. I did have to double check many and found several incorrectly placed.

However, I was more alarmed by the box, which is made of very flimsy, thin card, and the tape that just peeled right off and would not stick down anymore. I did re-tape it, but it is a good thing I store my puzzles in zip locked bags as a rule.

This one is a keeper and is going straight back to join the others in the cupboard to be enjoyed again in the future.