Interior

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Interior by William Ireland – Liberty Puzzles – 527 pieces

This puzzle was so much fun! Usually painterly images like this aren’t my pile of pieces, and perhaps with a cardboard puzzle this wouldn’t have been as entertaining, but put that artwork on top of a Liberty Puzzle and I am all over it!

It’s my first time with artwork by William Ireland, and there’s something about his art that draws me in. There must be something about it, because normally I would never choose something like this for puzzling. I’m not sure if it’s his use of color or perhaps the symmetry – something made me stop when I saw this, and kept me thinking about it long enough to decide to order it.

The whimsies were gorgeous, of course they were. They always are, and as usual I didn’t find all of them when the pieces were laid out on trays.

There were several multipiece whimsies, the grandfather clock and birdcage for example, that I was able to find and assemble, but also several of them I wasn’t able to get them all on my first look through all the pieces. Opening up a Liberty Puzzle for the first time and finding all the wonderful shapes and whimsies is almost a magical experience for me. Mom and I used to spend so much time on that first look-through, it’s special; we never took it for granted and I try not to get jaded and remember how much fun there is in just looking at the pieces and seeing what the designers came up with.

There’s so much to see from the back, and thankfully I got an excellent image of it. Even now, just as I am writing this up I found something that I hadn’t noticed before – what looks like a fishbowl has smoke coming out of it leading up to the beautiful fish shape. How did I miss that before?

This really was an enjoyable assembly, and I consciously tried to make it last as long as I could. I forgot though that my son has gotten more and more interested in puzzling, and goes into the puzzle room when I’m not there to work on them. When I got up this morning the puzzle was almost entirely finished, even though last night there was almost a whole tray of pieces left to put in. Oh dear. He’s getting better at it and doing much more than he used to – it makes me so happy!

The Junk Journaler’s Desk In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlingLeave a comment

The Junk Journaler’s Desk by Aimee Stewart – Buffalo – 1000 pieces

There’s just something about an Aimee Stewart image that makes me unbelievably happy. It isn’t just the colors, it’s how they work together, and how so many seemingly disparate things come together to form such a cohesive and pleasing image. Not only is it pleasing to the eye, they’re almost always extremely fun to assemble.

When I was working on this yesterday I was thinking to myself how you couldn’t really tell what’s what on most of the pieces; and then after going through them only once to pull out some pieces I began to recognize colors and textures and have more of an idea where they might go and which pieces would fit together with them. Every time I went through them I got more and more familiar with them and where they belonged.

It’s one of those images where you could use the poster or box image, but I also find it entertaining to just let the pieces take me where they may and eventually it all fits together.

I’m having such a good time that I overdid the puzzling yesterday and am already feeling it this morning. Here’s hoping my pain meds and a few cups of coffee get me back to the board and this gorgeous puzzle quickly!

Greetings From the Upside Down

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles4 Comments

Greetings From the Upside Down – Buffalo – 300 pieces

Loving both jigsaw puzzles and the series Stranger Things means that buying this puzzle was a no brainer when I found it at the thrift store on my last visit. The colors, the weirdness, it being basically only words – how could I not love this one?

Buffalo puzzles have such good quality, I never hesitate to get any puzzle if it’s one of theirs. Even secondhand this one was still in excellent condition even though it seems to have been assembled many times. Still an excellent fit, no splitting of the chipboard, etc. There was one small spot on the edge of one piece where it seemed slightly bent upwards, but it looks to me as if it may have happened when it was disassembled, perhaps a little too roughly.

Most of this was built at night, after everyone in the house was asleep. Sometimes it feels as though there is never any actual quiet around here unless I’m the only one awake. There’s always someone walking, talking, asking, breathing, eating – in general just making lots of noise so that I can’t fully relax and enjoy my puzzling. Perhaps that just the moody menopausal momma that I turn into sometimes, but today (and last night while putting this puzzle together) that’s exactly how I feel.

Taking pictures of puzzles this way started out as a joke between mom and myself; it’s a silly way to show how well a puzzle fits together. My mom and I could be our silliest, weirdest selves with each other and we loved making each other laugh. Pictures like this were one way to make her smile, so whenever possible I sent her standing up puzzle pictures over text. She loved them. Now every time I’m able, I take these pictures.

To make both of us smile. 😇😁

Rice Krispies

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

Rice Krispies – Rose Art – 50 pieces

This was a very quick 50 piece puzzle that my son wanted me to do, so I did. 😎

I found this one at Ollie’s (discount store in the US) for a very reasonable price, and I just can’t resist a small puzzle! The pieces of this were quite large though, it was surprising how large the completed puzzle was – 7 x 9 in. (18 x 23 cm). For only 50 pieces! I could assemble two 150 piece MicroPuzzles and lay them on top of this one and still have space left over and lots of image peeking through. Wowza!

Love the reproduction on this one, it’s very crisp. And in the end it made me hungry for/want to make Rice Krispies treats, which I plan on doing this morning before it gets too late in the day for me to function. Mmmmm, love Rice Krispies treats. 😍

BTW, have you ever noticed that Snap, Crackle, and Pop have red, blond, and brown hair respectively? I can honestly say I’ve never paid attention to it before now; I don’t know why or if it matters, but I did notice.

Anna’s Ice Cream Parlor In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling2 Comments

Anna’s Ice Cream Parlor by Eduard – MasterPieces – 750 pieces

I’m absolutely loving this one, especially the colors – they’re bright and fun and make for excellent puzzle building. It’s going together a little haphazardly, but I don’t care, I’m having a great time.

Hope you’re working on something just as fun today – happy puzzling my friends!