Decision!

On May 6, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlingLeave a comment

I’ve just decided today that I’m going to get the giant Disney puzzle assembled soon so I can take plenty of pictures of me with my accomplishment. I have been waiting to make a final decision about what is going to happen with the puzzle, but I’m tired of waiting and the options I’ve been going back and forth about haven’t worked out as of yet. It’s been just over a month since the final section was completed and like a toddler having a tantrum, I don’t want to wait any longer! 😈

It doesn’t matter where it ends up, I want to see the entire thing assembled. Even though I have a sense of it I don’t think it’s something you can really tell until you see it in person. I’ll have to schedule a day to use a room in my parent’s church – none of us have homes big enough to even assemble this bad boy! Once I get it scheduled it’ll be good to go. I’m anxious to get pictures of the entire thing – what an accomplishment!

I hate having my picture taken, and I do not like people putting pictures of me online anywhere either – but I am making an exception in this case. I will definitely be posting pictures of the puzzle on the blog. 😎 Although we may have to get a tall ladder, how in the world are we going to get a good picture of a puzzle that’s almost 23 feet long? Oh well, I’m sure we’ll come up with something. Hubby is great with figuring out the logistics!

So if you watched and kept up while I assembled the puzzle and have been waiting for a conclusion, it shouldn’t be too much longer. I’ll hopefully be assembling it soon and will have the pictures to prove it! 🙂

Fountain Pens

On May 5, 2017May 18, 2023 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles5 Comments

This puzzle was more difficult than it looked, and we sure were proud of ourselves when it was finished! It’s a beautiful puzzle, and the pieces were quite large for a 1000 piece puzzle, it makes an impressive statement when it’s assembled.

Mom loves fountain pens, so this puzzle was her Christmas present last year. We finally got around to assembling it and it took us much longer than we anticipated. We’ve also learned that while we appreciate a semi-random cut puzzle, we prefer a grid or ribbon cut. We’re used to judging the shape of the piece we’re looking for by the shape of the piece it attaches to – not a wise move when the cut is offset! Your brain has to work differently when the cut is random or offset and you can’t prejudge the size or shape of the piece you need. It’s good to give your brain a workout by changing things up every once in a while, but when you pair that challenge with a challenging puzzle image – WOW!

I did enjoy the quality of this puzzle as well – the pieces were pleasantly thick and fit together well, there are a variety of piece shapes and the image reproduction was beautiful! This was the first 1000 piece by Vermont Christmas Company that mom and I have assembled and we enjoyed the challenge. The assembly was fun, difficult at times, but overall a very nice puzzle.

Vermont Christmas Company has more than just Christmas puzzles, there’s a lot to choose from – including this challenging but gorgeous puzzle!

At The Vets

On May 4, 2017May 18, 2023 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

I’ve been in a What If and Wasgij mood lately, I keep switching from one to the other. I like the added challenge of not having a picture to work from and I suppose I’ve been wanting to use my brain to prove it’s still there and functioning. 🙂

So for this puzzle, the picture shows what Brett the vet hopes the surgery (they say surgery in Europe instead of office) would look like if he stops making house calls and everyone has to come to the surgery instead. The puzzle is what actually happens when everyone has to come to the surgery/office. It doesn’t turn out to be as calm as Brett had hoped!

This puzzle was really fun for me as I didn’t even use the box for clues. Usually you can tell what certain characters are wearing and where they might be in the image and use those clues to assist in the assembly. I put the box away completely and just started working the puzzle and I must say it was a great time! I didn’t know who was wearing what or where anything was supposed to be so it was all just assembling and paying attention.

I can’t really put into words how much I enjoy taking a few pieces of a certain color and looking how they may fit together and putting them where they’re supposed to be. It’s a sense of pride almost, but also it’s just a good time for me. Again, this is clumsily worded and it doesn’t convey how much I adore doing jigsaw puzzles, but it’s the best I can do for today. Apparently my brain is helping with puzzles today, but not vocabulary. 😉

Turn Off My Brain

On May 3, 2017May 18, 2023 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling5 Comments

Things are crazy at times, stress seems to be coming at me from every side these days and what I need to be able to do sometimes is turn off my brain. I need to stop the wheels from turning and NOT think about the bills needing to be paid, or another doctor’s visit, or hubby’s work problems, or family issues, or any of the myriad of things that can cause me anxiety or sleepless nights.

One way for me to do that is by working on a puzzle. It doesn’t have to be a difficult one, it can be a simple puzzle that takes barely any time at all. But the act of sitting down and using my brain to figure out where the colors and shapes fit together shuts out most stresses and anxiousness if only for a few minutes at a time. It’s an escape, even if only a short one, from the everyday stress-inducing annoyances of life.

Having 5 or 10 minutes to sit down and work on a puzzle is essential for me. When I’m working on a puzzle I get so engrossed in what I’m doing that there’s no extra space in my head for the outside pressures. All of these pieces will end up fitting together somehow and making a beautiful picture and what is required of me is just some time, fine motor skills, and a little brain power.

Even if I’m not feeling well and lying in bed most of the day I can still grab a tray full of pieces and put a small bit of the big puzzle together. It clears my head, it helps me relax, and it makes me happy. Even rearranging the pieces on the trays or condensing from 2 trays to 1 is calming for me in a slightly OCD way, and helps me to get out of my head and turn off my brain.

In short, puzzles are slightly like xanax for me, keeping me calm when the world is upsetting, and giving me a small respite from the pressures of life. As long as I have a little me time – preferably with a puzzle – things should be ok. And if they’re not ok, at least I assembled a pretty picture to look at. 🙂

Golf

On May 2, 2017May 18, 2023 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles1 Comment

According to the box the name of this puzzle is The Mandolin Puzzle of Golf, but that’s just strange to me and doesn’t seem right. It’s like saying The Ravensburger Puzzle of Memorable Disney Moments, weird! For the purposes of this blog I’m just calling it Golf.

I don’t believe Mandolin puzzles are still being manufactured as I was unable to find a website or place to purchase from the manufacturer. There are still puzzles being sold on Amazon and eBay, which is where hubby ordered this puzzle – still sealed. The copyright on this puzzle is from 1993.

The quality of this puzzle was hit or miss. The thickness of the pieces was quite good and they fit together very well. The pieces, however, were not all cut all the way through and there were a lot of pieces that were still connected with paper hanging off of them. Also, the image reproduction was crisp and clear in some places and very fuzzy in others. As with a lot of puzzles, even if the quality is lacking some, the puzzle image itself can make the assembly enjoyable.

Despite the quality issues though, I enjoyed assembling this puzzle very much; I love me a collage! You can’t tell from the picture, but there are a lot of words to assemble which I adore – the names of each person shown, golf courses, dates, and products are all there. The inset circles were fun as well, and it was easy while I was sorting the puzzle to pull out pieces with words and parts of the circles. The grass was a bit of a challenge, but in the end there weren’t that many pieces out of 1500 that were only grass.

The whole assembly was fun and I think hubby did a surprisingly awesome job picking out the 2 golf puzzles he did. They are both going to look excellent framed and hanging in the golf room! 🙂