Ghost Friends

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

Ghost Friends by Kathryn Selbert – Crocodile Creek – 100 pieces

You heard about this puzzle a month ago when I talked about Puzzle Chess and how I bought this puzzle expressly for the purpose of playing it with Penny when we finally met and got to puzzle together for the first time. It’s an adorable image by a new artist for me, and a new puzzle brand as well. It was a really enjoyable image to puzzle, and once Penny and I had finished our game of chess and just ended up puzzling together a great time was had by all. 🧩💚

I’d never heard of this brand before, Crocodile Creek. I was impressed with the quality of the puzzle, the pieces were thick and had a good hand feel, there were a great variety of shapes and they fit together well. The image reproduction was bright and clear and colorful with a slightly shiny finish that wasn’t too bad to work with. Overall I was impressed with this little one coffee puzzle!

The great fit made it possible to stand this little puzzle up, it’s the Stacey Stance – woooo hoooo! I don’t know why it makes me so happy to do this, it just does and I don’t apologize for it.

This puzzle was also a glow-in-the-dark image, so we put it outside while we had lunch and brought it in to see if the glow image was as fun as we’d hoped. Alas, it was a little disappointing in the GITD category, but it wasn’t too terrible. I have to keep reminding myself that they can’t all be as fabulous as the Secrets of the Deep puzzle that I assembled earlier this year. Still I got a pretty good picture of this one, it actually turned out better in the picture than it seemed in person.

It’s so adorably spoooooky! Penny and I enjoyed putting these Ghost Friends together, I’m so glad we got to try out puzzle chess, and we put this cutie together – together!

Storytime

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles8 Comments

Storytime by Charlie Girard – White Mountain – 1000 pieces

Loved it. Well of course I did, it’s a collage! And to assemble so many of the books that I read as a child or that I read to my own children, it was just a sweet little walk down memory lane as I was puzzling.

I had this exact book, with this exact cover when I was little. I loved Pippi and wanted to be just like her; a kick-ass girl who didn’t care what others thought, didn’t much like authority, was fiercely independent, not mention very strong – and we both had freckles so of course I thought I was gonna be exactly like her. 😂

My kids were very much into the Madeline books at one point. We watched the animated tv show together, read the books together, and of course we made special trips to the library to get more Madeline books together!

Curious George was another book series I loved as a child, all the trouble he got himself into made for some interesting little books. My children were never too taken with this series, but I remember them fondly from my own childhood.

Overall I really enjoyed this puzzle, but unless there was a problem with the quality I knew it would be great fun to assemble. The colors and different types of artwork made for an interesting build that was definitely never boring. It brought back memories of my childhood as well as the time when my kids were small. I’m so glad we’re all readers in this family!

Fruits and Veggies In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling2 Comments

Fruits and Veggies by Helen Dardik – Buffalo – 300 pieces

Such an interesting collage of fruits and vegetables couldn’t possibly be left on the shelf when I was the one doing the shopping, I mean look how colorful and fun it is! There’s just something about an image that is out of the norm that makes me happy, no matter what it is. As long as it’s not bunnies, landscapes, fine art, kitties, or a Coca-Cola Santa I will definitely check it out and most of the time I’m likely to buy it.

That is the the case with this puzzle, when I went shopping (specifically looking for smaller piece counts) this gorgeous thing was hiding out at the back of the shelf, and I’m so glad I was persistent and stubborn enough to look through every puzzle to find it.

Even though not much of it is complete I can already tell you that the quality is fabulous and it is most definitely going to be standing on it’s edge when finished; the fit is exceptional!

Beats for Bubba*

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Beats for Bubba* – Re-marks – 100 pieces

Come on! Look at that adorable face! How could you not want to put together this mini puzzle to see that sweet face looking up at you? I obviously couldn’t pass it by. Puppy pictures please the puzzle princess. 👑

I’m not really a princess, but the alliteration made me smile.

The quality was just good on this puzzle. The fit was a bit loose, the backing was that sharp, white stuff I don’t care for, and the finish was shiny and had me turning my head and holding the pieces at angles before I just gave in and turned off the lights altogether. Other than those things the puzzle was ok. The pieces were a good size, there were a good variety of shapes, and the image reproduction for very good. Three pros and three cons, you decide which ones are important to you.

It was one of the easier small puzzles I’ve done in a while. The colors around the edges made for easy assembly, then there were only a small number of pieces that were just fur and face to contend with. Overall it was a fun build though, and it’s such a cute puzzle I can’t say too much bad about it.

Sweet face, cute image, fun puzzle!

Haunted Mansion

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Haunted Mansion by David Maclean – Vermont Christmas Co. – 550 pieces

Are you starting to feel the Halloween holiday spirit? Or spirits? I am! This puzzle was finished waaaay back in August, but it’s finally time to show it off. Isn’t it a good one? It was a great quality puzzle, and a nice image for puzzling, but was more difficult than it looks.

I’m not sure how I feel about the image honestly, with so much of it obviously digital manipulation it just doesn’t float my boat as much as I’d hoped. That’s ok though, we can’t fall in love with every single puzzle can we? And thank goodness we all have different ideas of what’s good, or at least what’s good for us – otherwise this world would be a very boring place indeed and it would be overrun by sameness and no surprises. B.O.R.I.N.G.

It’s been almost 5 years exactly since I’ve worked a VCC puzzle, and I forgot how much I admire their quality and their catalog. Great variety of piece shapes made of thick chipboard, a great fit, excellent image reproduction, and a slightly shiny finish that doesn’t bother me too much. I’m sure there will be more Vermont Christmas Co. puzzles on my board before you know it.

While appropriately spooky, the graves and ghosts were harder to put together than you might think. The purple ghosts weren’t much of a problem as their color stuck out, but the rest of them gave me a run for my money!

This is my favorite part of the whole puzzle, I just love how the witch looks against the moon, how the moon looks against the sky, how the sky looks behind the trees…….great image that was entertaining to puzzle – and about as difficult as you think it would be.

Couldn’t help myself. It’s a great puzzle, with a fit so good that it’s proud enough to stand up and tell you itself!