The Wasgij Express!

On April 30, 2017May 18, 2023 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

So I finished my first Wasgij Mystery – huge surprise coming up ………………. loved it!!! As is normal for me I refuse to spoil the fun for anyone so I’m only showing a small bit of the puzzle so you’ll have to figure it out for yourself.

Recently I received an email from the site where I purchase most of my European made puzzles telling me that for the 20th anniversary of Wasgij Jumbo was re-releasing the first Wasgij Original, Mystery and Destiny titles. This is what actually spurred me on to make my first puzzle purchase since the World’s Largest Jigsaw Puzzle. (Yup, I did that. 😎 40,320 pieces!) Since I’m relatively new to Jumbo puzzles, I’m almost 20 years behind and definitely didn’t have the first of anything. That meant time to get an order together! This is the first of the Retro puzzles I’ve assembled. I know, you’re all super surprised that I like it, right?

The answer to the question “What will happen to our secret agents next?” isn’t an easy answer – and the solution to their problem is complicated! I’m proud to say I figured it out pretty quickly, and was eager to puzzle and actually see the result. So much fun. I keep saying that over and over with every puzzle, don’t I? It was fun! Perhaps I need a thesaurus?

Graham Thompson’s artwork – amazing as usual. Lots of detail, lots of humor, wonderfully colorful and bright. Jumbo’s quality – amazing as usual. Excellent fit, thickness, image reproduction, piece shape, etc. So to sum up – this puzzle was awesome!

It’s a good thing I have a LOT of Wasgij puzzles to assemble because I absolutely adore them. Not just the quality (but that is a huge plus in my book), but the concept and artwork as well. I love not having the picture to work from and having to figure out how the picture on the box is relevant to the finished puzzle. I wish I had more of them to be honest, but I’ll have to make due with the stack in my closet that is taller than me. I think it’s about 6 feet high. 😮 I’m a little addicted.

Who does this?

On April 29, 2017May 18, 2023 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Double Trouble – Unknown manufacturer – 100 pieces (actually there’s only 93!)

Why go to the trouble of donating a puzzle to a thrift store when there are so many missing pieces? While I honestly appreciate everyone who donates to thrift stores (it’s our main source of cool puzzles!) I don’t understand why they would donate a puzzle missing 7% of it’s pieces. When mom and I are done with a puzzle that we don’t want to keep we take it back to the thrift store – unless it’s missing pieces. We know how frustrating it is to work on a puzzle only to find out at the end that all the pieces aren’t there and we don’t want to knowingly do that to anyone else. I know that’s the risk we take buying a jigsaw puzzle used, a piece or two could have escaped while it was being re-boxed, things happen. Those don’t bother me as much as the ones that are obviously missing a LOT of pieces. If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better to just put it in the recycling? This is why I’ve started assembling the smaller puzzles that we get for my “grandson”, I don’t want to give him a puzzle that can’t be completed. Alright, I’m climbing down off my high horse. 😉

Pretty good day of puzzling today, I’m working on the 1500 piece golf puzzle for hubby. It’s coming along quite well and I’m enjoying it immensely. From what I’ve been able to find online I don’t think this brand of puzzle is still being manufactured; the one I’m assembling is from 1993. There are Mandolin puzzles on Amazon and eBay, but I’m not finding a website or a place to purchase them from the manufacturer. Interesting.

Also, mom and I finished a 500 piece Springbok puzzle today that we started yesterday, and it was very cute! I haven’t written the post about that one yet, but it’ll be up on the blog eventually. It’s so nice to have time with mom where we can just sit and talk and do puzzles together, we always have such a good time. Even when the puzzle isn’t the best the fact that we’re working on it together is what matters. Puzzle buddies rock! 🙂

The 50 United States of America

On April 28, 2017May 18, 2023 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Yup, another kid’s puzzle and another new company! It only took a few minutes to assemble this one, but it was so cute!

Lafayette Puzzle Factory is a new one for me and I know they do adult puzzles too – I’m looking forward to trying one. The pieces of this puzzle were on the thin side but are extremely sturdy which is excellent for a kid’s puzzle. The colors were amazingly bright and pretty without being over the top and the pieces fit together very well. I’m very impressed with the quality!

This is an excellent informational puzzle as well, it shows the 50 states and their capitals-it even shows something extra in a few states, something they’re well known for. Oranges from Florida, grapes from California, farms in Iowa, etc. I will admit though that at first I had no idea what they’re showing in Nevada and I had to really look at it to figure it out!

Great first puzzle from this company, if the adult puzzles are as well made I’ll be a happy puzzler! 🙂

I Tried…

On April 27, 2017May 18, 2023 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling2 Comments

This is the next puzzle I’ll be assembling! Look at those nice thick pieces 🙂

For six months I wrote every day about the puzzle I was working on; it became a habit. For six months I worked on the puzzle every single day, keeping track of how many pieces I was able to add and documenting my progress with pictures. I would get up in the morning (or middle of the night if I wasn’t feeling well) get a cup of coffee and head into the golf/puzzle room to look at the puzzle, start the day’s assembly, or check and see if someone from a new country had looked at my blog. People from 28 different countries have checked out my jigsaw journal, isn’t that amazing?!

When the Disney puzzle was completed there was a sense of loss almost, I no longer had the project to work on and I no longer needed to document my work. There was no longer any chit chat with myself and anyone who reads the blog about how I was feeling, how the day’s progress went, etc. I miss that.

I’ve kept up with the blog, but have only been posting a puzzle every other day because there’s no way I can keep up with a puzzle a day. I have lots of time on my hands but not that much! I have several puzzles completed and the posts already written, but I’m only posting them every other day in case work on a larger or more difficult puzzle takes a lot of time. But I miss sitting and putting down my thoughts about the puzzle I’m working on, or the new fascinating puzzle mom found at the thrift store, or how I’ve gone off my rocker again and bought a bunch of new puzzles. 😉

I tried to only post a completed puzzle every other day, but I’ve decided this morning (up at 2 am 😐 ) that there’s no reason why I can’t just sit down and blog about jigsaw puzzles on days where I haven’t completed a puzzle. There’s plenty of jigsaw jabbering going on in my head so I might as well get it out and put it here in my “journal”. I’m sure it won’t be scintillating or noteworthy to most people, but I’m alright with that. It’s more for me than anyone else really, but if there is a person or two out there who enjoys the jigsaw jawing and jargon you are more than welcome to hang out and read along!

Does that mean I’m adding a sub-hobby to my jigsaw hobby? Or is blogging about jigsaw puzzles a completely new hobby? Does the word “hobby” look weird to anyone else? I think I may need a nap today.

Let’s Golf

On April 26, 2017May 18, 2023 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

So I got a big surprise the other day, hubby apparently ordered a couple of puzzles for me to do. They’re for him when they’re done, I’m just supposed to assemble them. Two golf puzzles for his golf room! Of course I’ve taken over some real estate in that room for puzzle assembly so perhaps it’s the golf/puzzle room? Nevertheless, two puzzles arrived that day; this 500 piece Ravensburger and a 1500 piece puzzle by Mandolin. I’ve never heard of Mandolin before. Oooh, interesting!

The first of the two puzzles he got is this adorable collage image. There are even golf valentines in there, how cute is that? This is a large piece puzzle, so it’s impressively sized, and that’s also part of the reason I wanted to do this one first. There’s something about the large pieces that makes me want to work them. The large Ravensburger pieces have the best tactile feel to them, it’s heavenly!

This one didn’t take long at all, especially because hubby helped a little bit. It’s hard for him to stay away from anything golf related. 😐 It was nice to have him help me, he’s been tied up with work and other things for a while and hasn’t assembled a puzzle with me for quite some time. I enjoyed having him help with the assembly, especially since he wants to frame the puzzle for himself.

There were lots of words to assemble, which I love, and lots of golf balls to find and assemble too. The colors are very bright and cheery, but old timey and cute as well. Hubby was even pleased to find some maps or whatever you call them of holes at the “Old Course” in Scotland. There were so many interesting little things to see everywhere that made it so much fun that it went quickly and was super enjoyable!

He wants to frame both puzzles when they’re completed, so I’ll be gluing this one together today. Mom will be so pleased to have something to hunt for at the thrift stores, we need to find a frame. 🙂