Tulips

On August 16, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Interesting puzzle! It was a fun assembly though and didn’t take very long at all. This is the first Hasbro I’ve done with the EZ Grasp extra thick pieces. Impressive!

I looked over every inch of the box and could not find a title for this puzzle at all. I have named it Tulips. I’m almost positive that isn’t the name, but it’s all my coffee starved brain could come up with this morning.

It was easy to separate these pieces while sorting, no second guessing needed. Red, yellow, green, building, and sky. It was a nice assembly for me, especially after having completed a 1000 piece puzzle that took several days. This one can be finished the same day, and is a nice change from the larger piece counts.

This is an excellent puzzle for anyone who needs larger pieces, they are easy to hold and extremely thick. There was a good variety of piece shapes and they fit together quite well; the finished image is seamless and beautiful. If all the Hasbro EZ Grasp puzzles are of this quality I would definitely recommend them. They’d be great for kids moving up from 100 piece puzzles too. 🙂

Lion King

On August 15, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Jigsaw PuzzlingLeave a comment

Had to travel out of state for a family funeral, and stayed with my sister-in-law and her family; while we were there my niece and I finished this puzzle. It’s quite fitting, really – The Lion King, the circle of life – I didn’t even realize it until just now, while typing up this post. Life goes on.

We gather to celebrate new life, and we gather to celebrate and remember a life lived. We are all a piece in many puzzles, many lives, and when our puzzle is finished it is a beautiful picture of a life lived.

There may be dark areas, where our choices or actions weren’t the brightest or best, but they all combine to make the person and the life that was. Or there may be a dark valley in our puzzle; not because of choices or actions, but because of the difficulties or trials life throws our way. And how we blend that darkness back into the light makes for a stunning image of a life well lived and well loved.

Our puzzle may not be as ornate or as colorful as someone else’s, or the pieces may become frayed around the edges, but our puzzle is us and those we love and care for – therefore our puzzle is beautiful and unique and can never be duplicated.

I don’t normally wax philosophical about jigsaw puzzles, but the past week is still with me and I didn’t realize how much until I began typing today. Life, and puzzling, goes on. I will try to be a beautiful piece in the puzzles of those I love, but no matter how my piece, or my entire puzzle looks, it is a picture of me and the life I lived – dark spots and all.

The World Landmark Buildings

On August 14, 2017August 14, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

This artist makes me smile, and I love his puzzles so much – they’re always a pleasure to assemble. The artist has autism and in his eyes the world needs to be arranged in orderly groups (bugs, birds, eggs, or landmark buildings) and his artwork reflects that. I understand the need to try to make the world a little more orderly and predictable, it helps deal with the stresses of everyday life. His artwork reminds me of my boys (both have autism as well), and it makes me think of them and how difficult the world is for those with autism and how having an outlet for the stresses in their lives is so important. It is for all of us, really – but especially for those who have exceptional brains that work a little differently then ours do and have difficulty processing all of the daily stresses of dealing with their surroundings and others.

Pomegranate puzzles are wonderful quality and I would never hesitate to purchase one of their puzzles. The pieces are thick and feel smooth with an excellent finish, they fit together very well, and the image reproduction is stellar! Even their boxes feel amazing, you know before you even see the pieces that you’ve got an excellent quality puzzle in your hands.

This assembly didn’t take very long once I got past the edges on the sides. It took some concentration and trial and error before I got all the pieces placed correctly, but once I did it was smooth sailing from there. It was easy to pick out all the pieces for one building and assemble it, and then move on to an adjacent building. Once the buildings started going up it took almost no time at all and before you know it the entire puzzle was complete!

I highly recommend Pomegranate puzzles, and in particular the Gregory L. Blackstock puzzles they carry. They are a joy to assemble!

Lindbergh’s Flight

On August 13, 2017August 13, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles4 Comments

Super cool puzzle from 1967! Unfortunately, missing 5 pieces, but it was still fun to assemble. You can see the age on the image itself, but it only makes it look more authentic if you ask me.

I LOVE having words to assemble, and this puzzle was almost nothing but words. 🙂 The pieces fit together very well, but way too many of them just sat next to each other instead of connecting. Pet peeve. Hate that!

This wasn’t as difficult as it looks, and mom and I had a great time assembling it. It was all a matter of putting things together in the proper order. Photo first of course, and then the map and the masthead. After that it was headlines from largest to smallest, etc. It wasn’t terribly difficult and lots of fun!

Too bad it was missing so many pieces, but after 50 years I guess you have to expect that a piece or two might wander off. Still, a fun assembly and total worth the $2!

We’re Cruisin’

On August 12, 2017August 12, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

This puzzle is almost 30 years old! It’s showing some age spots, but it’s exceptional quality. I guess back in the late 80’s Ceaco was making some really nice, thick kid’s puzzles.

The pieces of this puzzle are so thick and dense it almost feels like wood. I’ve never seen a Ceaco puzzle like this one before, I wish they still made puzzles like this! Another thrift store find, of course – this one is from the year I got married. How in the world is 1988 that long ago? Yikes!

An adorable puzzle, and a nice easy assembly with wonderfully thick pieces that are all present and accounted for. Can’t get much better than that. My thrift store purchasing guru needs to find us some more cool puzzles please. This one was so nice!