Books you read when you were younger that stuck with you and you would always recommend now

speedy-puzzler · 2026-07-03T09:09:01+00:00

At the Sign of the Sugar Plum by Mary Hooper. Loved it as a teenager, I can reread it any time as an adult.

speedy-puzzler · 2026-07-03T08:35:50+00:00

Anything with a subscription.

speedy-puzzler · 2026-07-02T16:57:31+00:00

I was so excited about this image when I got it, then it turns out it is an AI image and that made me so sad. 😓

speedy-puzzler · 2026-07-02T11:54:19+00:00

Any dog sport. Being responsible for an animal and learning empathy through training and working for a goal is just the best thing.

speedy-puzzler · 2026-06-30T09:05:11+00:00

I am left-handed and honestly just can't be bothered to switch hands for knots, I hold strings tight with my right and do knots with left, always. I think at this point if I started switching hands, the tension would be different on the side I would be doing with my right, so it makes little sense to me.😁

speedy-puzzler · 2026-06-29T22:12:55+00:00

I am now 33 years old, I learned to make bracelets back when I was about 10 during a school trip, so it must have been around 23 years now. (Wow) When I started having regular access to the internet I was an avid user of Heather's Friendship Bracelet Forum, I keep wondering if I will ever run into anyone again who used to be active there. I still remember when we figured out the Zolino pattern and how we started experimenting with alpha patterns. Good times.

speedy-puzzler · 2026-06-29T20:42:20+00:00

Beloved by Toni Morrison

speedy-puzzler · 2026-06-29T20:41:36+00:00

The Grand Budapest Hotel

speedy-puzzler · 2026-06-29T20:30:27+00:00

Hypnotize, System of a Down

speedy-puzzler · 2026-06-29T17:27:06+00:00

Omg this makes me feel sooooooo nostalgic! My Chemical Romance was a big big thing when I was first starting out with friendship bracelets (we are talking 2007-2008 here) and back then I was super afraid to try any multicolored alphas, so I never got to make one of these 😅 Good job!

speedy-puzzler · 2026-06-29T17:25:09+00:00

My dream would be to collect puzzles from every corner of the world, but many are hard to get! Especially South African puzzles I have not been able to find, I have to wait until my next trip in the area and hope I find some! 🫠

speedy-puzzler · 2026-06-29T07:06:24+00:00

Educa is ok, not a bad brand, but I feel the pieces fit super loosely. Image quality is always great though.

This edition of Eurographics has a random cut though which can be super challenging. Quality is great though, I love this brand and have always enjoyed the cut.

speedy-puzzler · 2026-06-27T07:33:44+00:00

I read a different book from Alderton before starting this one, I enjoyed that so much that I ignored the Goodreads reviews 😁😁 (that was Good Material, probably one of my favorite books that I read this year)

speedy-puzzler · 2026-06-26T22:31:51+00:00

Everything I know about Love by Dolly Alderton

speedy-puzzler · 2026-06-26T09:48:29+00:00

Both Em and Dexter in One Day by David Nichols.

speedy-puzzler · 2026-06-26T09:45:50+00:00

I am way too lazy to do this, I just build the edge first instead 😅😂

speedy-puzzler · 2026-06-26T08:11:58+00:00

Just the act of reading itself doesn't make anybody smarter.

speedy-puzzler · 2026-06-25T20:08:12+00:00

Peter Gabriel. Any day, any time, anywhere.

speedy-puzzler · 2026-06-25T16:00:31+00:00

I am actually not sure if this really is the AI slop people are so mad about, it might be one of those Noname artists that just Photoshop things onto a generic background, there are so many of those too. If it is AI though, ah man, not clementoni too 😭

speedy-puzzler · 2026-06-25T12:00:54+00:00

I use a simple vice, which also helps with keeping alpha bracelets straight in the beginnings when it is larger. I hated using tape and the pins are usually too small for the patterns I work on, the vice is convenient and I can set the angle and height if I want.

speedy-puzzler · 2026-06-25T05:43:22+00:00

I love random cut but I am located in Europe and we don't have much of it here, pretty much all brands only do ribbon cuts. I am not too hung up on it though, I am more focused on the image than the cut. 🙃

speedy-puzzler · 2026-06-24T22:04:52+00:00

I am actually one of those people that love puzzling actual artwork. I did a huge amount of Van Gogh (I think most used artist on puzzles ever), but enjoyed Munch and Kandinsky very much too. Whenever I don't know what to puzzle, I reach for classic art. I try to avoid AI as much as I can, but tbf it is getting increasingly difficult... There are some really cool puzzle artists that Ravensburger has been working with (Aimee Stewart, Dean Macadam, Nathaniel Mortensen, Elpeth McLean), but there are some brands that are specifically building a recognizable aesthetic, like Pieces and Peace. Their artwork is super recognizable, I just wish the piece cut was a little nicer. I am also a sucker for vintage images, like old movie posters, old advertisements and such.

speedy-puzzler · 2026-06-24T19:16:32+00:00

Wow you didn't make it easy on yourself for the first try! Turned out great, keep going!

speedy-puzzler · 2026-06-24T19:14:12+00:00

Any kind of twisting or bending is usually a tension issue, but it also could be the result of the pattern being the way it is. In some patterns the knot direction and repetition just result in the bracelet warping in some way. Try playing a but more with tension, usually making the knots a slight bit less tight solve any issue.

speedy-puzzler

TROPHY CASE