Office Space

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

Office Space – Cardinal – 500 pieces

This puzzle was unbelievably frustrating, to say the least! But I loved the movie and really wanted to get another thrift store puzzle done and out of here to help clear off my shelves. So even though I knew it would be tough, off we went!

Cardinal puzzles are on the lower end of the scale as far as quality goes, in my opinion. I’ve actually done some of their puzzles that have been really good, but most are just fair. There is a good variety of piece shapes, but the image reproduction can sometimes be fuzzy making it more difficult to build your image, and the fit is many times loose and floppy, making it a nightmare to move pieces around. This one was unfortunately on the low end of the scale, with an extremely loose fit and indistinct and blurry image.

Nevertheless I jumped right in, knowing it would be a rough assembly. I’m not sure if I wanted to challenge myself or if I just really wanted to do it and be done with it. Whichever reason spurred me on, I’m glad I did it – and my youngest once again helped me with it. Not only did he help, he came in to assist at the most difficult part – when all that was left were white pieces that I had to sort by shape in order to fill it in!

After completing everything with color there were approximately 140-150 pieces that were pure white and I sorted them by shape in order to finish without tearing out my very gray hair. Because the fit was so loose and floppy, it made finding the right pieces even more difficult. At times there could be many pieces that all seemed to fit in one spot. Unbelievably frustrating.

So I found an image online of a completed puzzle and used that to at least let me know what shape I was looking for. You may consider that “cheating”, but there actually is no such thing as cheating when jigsaw puzzling – unless you’re in a competition. Slogging through 150 pieces of solid white with a fit you can’t be sure of wasn’t my idea of a good time, so I used the image of the finished puzzle to find what piece shape I should be looking for and completed the puzzle that way. My son helped during this last stage, and together we got it done in pretty good time.

This is only the second time I’ve used this technique. The first time I used it was when one of the sections of the giant Disney puzzle fell when I was trying to get a good picture; 4,032 pieces fell everywhere and weeks of work went down the drain. Even thinking about it now makes me anxious and upset! Anyway, there were a couple of pictures taken before it fell, so I used them to help me re-assemble the section quickly. It wasn’t cheating then, and it isn’t cheating now, not in my mind at least.

So even though the white pieces weren’t much fun at all the puzzle wasn’t too terrible, and I’m happy that it’s done and on it’s way out of my house and back to the thrift store. 😁

Fresh Blooms

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Fresh Blooms – Re-marks – 1000 pieces

This adorable puzzle was a very nice assembly, even though I was in a mood when working on it. It survived my menopausal madness, and went together pretty quickly despite sitting untouched for almost an entire day.

Typical Re-marks quality, which was quite good. The finish on this one was quite shiny though, and caused a little havoc on the darker sections. I don’t have much natural light in my puzzle room and working under artificial lights makes it difficult when the finish causes glare. It makes it difficult getting a good picture as well, especially if I finish in the evening or very early mornings; with no light other than artificial ones keeping the camera at an angle to prevent glare on the images makes for a more challenging editing process with each picture. I know, I’m complaining a bit. But if you’re looking for all positivity all the time, you’re in the wrong place.

These were my favorite little tableaus in the image. That little puppy peeking over the table at the cookies, while working on that section in the evening I had to stop and make myself some hot chocolate because that steaming mug had me dreaming of warm cocoa! The party section in the middle was colorful and fun, and the stark simplicity of the last section was absolutely beautiful.

My typical choice for collage images are usually quite different from this one, but I enjoyed it just the same. Every little section gave me a sense of accomplishment as they were finished, and the whole puzzle looks amazing.

Happy Here In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlingLeave a comment

Happy Here by Jessica Hische – Buffalo (Premium) – 300 pieces

So after completing the first section of my new giant puzzle I picked this beautiful image by Jessica Hische to be my palate cleanser – a smaller piece count that can be completed much more quickly than a larger image that takes lots of time and brain power. The image is it for me, it looks both simple and challenging, and the colors are lovely together even though normally brighter colors make me happiest.

I’m somewhat surprised by the quality of this Buffalo puzzle, it’s from their premium line. I gotta say, give me a regular old Buffalo puzzle any day. This is the second or third “premium” puzzle of theirs that I’ve worked with, and underwhelmed is the most prominent feeling regarding the quality of these pieces and how they’re fitting together. This puzzle almost seems as though the chipboard is slightly warped in some places, and the fit isn’t the usual Buffalo click you get with one of their regular puzzles. Buffalo, if you’re looking for some feedback, here it is…If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Still I’m looking forward to finishing this puzzle, though it may take several days as a new virus has just taken up residence in this old body. I’m feeling like crap on a cracker, but it’ll get finished eventually. No matter how long it takes, I’m just happy to be here; back at my beloved puzzle board, back on the blog, celebrating Halloween this month (and actually looking forward to the Christmas puzzles I have lined up 😮), celebrating my 58th birthday soon – just happy to be here.

Happy puzzling today my friends. 💗

Hanna-Barbera Collage

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Hanna-Barbera Collage – MasterPieces – 500 pieces

This puzzle was lots of fun, and the pieces felt almost luxurious! What’s not to love about a great collage image like this on an excellent quality puzzle?

I’ve been doing a lot of MasterPieces puzzles lately, and have enjoyed every single one. Their catalog of images has great variety to it, and their quality is even better than I remembered. They have a random cut which makes for interestingly shaped pieces, and the fit is exceptional. The image reproduction is crisp and clear, and the matte finish makes it easier to work with under artificial lights. Overall they’ve got great puzzle images on wonderfully made puzzles and I’m a fan!

As a child of the 70’s and 80’s, of course I watched all four of these tv shows – my favorite of these four was Scooby-Doo, but I liked them all. These shows are from way back when many tv shows actually had theme songs and again Scooby-Doo wins this battle, it was the best theme song of all these shows, with the Flintstones coming in a close second. I’ve been singing these songs in my head for quite a while now, and I’m having a great time reminiscing.🎶🎶

It’s getting less impressive, isn’t it? All these puzzles standing up, ho hum – so boring. Doesn’t matter to me, taking these pictures still makes me happy!

Olde Buck’s County

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles7 Comments

Olde Buck’s County by Charles Wysocki – Buffalo – 300 pieces

Does this gorgeous Wysocki image put you in the Halloweeny holiday mood? It wasn’t very evocative of the holiday itself, but the artwork definitely puts me in the mood for more fun fall-themed puzzles. I hope they’re all as fun as this one was.

I chose this fall image for my first puzzle post of October because of all the pumpkins everywhere, pumpkins always makes me think of the autumn season. Where I grew up in the north October means apple cider, hay rides, pumpkin patches, and wonderful cooler weather. (As I’m writing this – in August, in Florida – what I wouldn’t give for some of that cool weather!)

This little tableau made me smile. The root beer man is delivering and he’s pumping it into the cellar – I wonder how many kegs of “beer” they have down there!

Millie’s Never-Weary Bake Shop, wouldn’t you love to pop in there and stock up on some wonderful homemade cakes and pies and breads? I would!

It was a little iffy whether or not this puzzle was going to stand up, but the fit was good enough for the Stacey Stance.😎 Such an entertaining puzzle, I’m sure the local senior center would love this one. It feels like the perfect image for that, doesn’t it?