Pavo Bengala

On January 26, 2018January 26, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

IMG_E4148 — Pavo Bengala by Catalina Estrada – Wentworth Wooden Puzzles – 250 pieces

Look at this gorgeous puzzle; it is absolutely, unbelievably magnificent! How can you look at this image and not want to assemble it? Mom and I fell in love with the image the moment we saw it and we had to purchase it – in fact we tried to also get it in a micro puzzle, but they were out of stock. 😦

This puzzle is only 250 pieces, but by no means was it easy in any way. It’s a mirrored image, so that increases the difficulty; and it’s full of detail and color which makes it beautiful, but challenging. I loved working this puzzle, and it was so wonderful to assemble. The whimsies are so special as well – peacocks, flowers, birdhouses, etc., so pretty!

I think a 250 piece Wentworth puzzle is just about the perfect size. It’s a challenge, but not too much so; and it is small enough that you don’t feel overwhelmed by that challenge. And even better, the 250 piece puzzles that we purchased were absolutely the best size for working on my small bedside table when I was stuck in bed for a week. Perfection! We have a 500 piece and 750 piece from Wentworth that we have yet to do, but I’m not quite feeling up to working on those yet. Hopefully soon!

I tried to look up what Pavo Bengala means, and I think it basically means peacock. Pavo means “turkey” in several languages, and bengala means “sparkler” or “flare” – so perhaps pavo bengala means peacock – a turkey with sparklers on it’s butt. I love it! 🎆 🦃🎆

I started to feel bad when writing this up that I’ve been doing so many posts about wooden puzzles lately. I know that most puzzlers only do cardboard puzzles, and it occurred to me that they might not want to keep reading posts about puzzles they’re not going to ever buy or assemble. But then I had to tell myself that this probably was only a problem in my own head.

I love reading about puzzles, pretty much any puzzles. I don’t have Facebook, but I read all the posts from the Facebook group my mother is a part of because I just love jigsaw puzzles and everything about them. Even if a puzzle isn’t one I particularly like the look of, I still enjoy reading about it; even if it doesn’t look like fun to assemble, I still want to hear about it. So although there have been a lot of wooden puzzles in a row and there are still more to come, I hope you enjoy reading about them almost as much as I enjoyed assembling them.

Yosemite Fall

On January 25, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

Another hospital puzzle, but at least the whimsies in this one made sense. It’s a beautiful image that was a bit more challenging than Fuyune, but luckily my daughter helped me with this one too. I love working puzzles with her. ❤

I liked the whimsy pieces in this puzzle, they went along perfectly with the picture; a squirrel, a butterfly, a rabbit, a bird, and a tree. The assembly took a little more time than what seems to be the average for these micro puzzles, but I had plenty of time for concentrating and puzzle assembly.

This image isn’t one I would normally buy, but because there were only 40 pieces there was absolutely no hesitation when purchasing it. In fact, of all the micro puzzles available at the time there was only one that I didn’t buy – an image of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip; I’m not much of an anglophile, and it didn’t interest me at all. There are several puzzles that I did buy that I would never purchase new in a large piece count. There’s something about such a small amount of pieces that it gives me confidence; I can absolutely do that one, it’s only 40 pieces! 🙂

Fuyune

On January 24, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

I should have pushed the pieces together to take a better picture. Still, even with the less than perfect picture this puzzle is beautiful with a stunning image by Haruyo Morita – so pretty!

My daughter helped me assemble this puzzle, it seemed to be a popular pastime when visiting me. I’m a little cranky and not fun to be around when I don’t feel well so perhaps it was easier to deal with me when I was working on a puzzle? 👼

I can’t figure out why the whimsies in this puzzle are holiday themed, it doesn’t seem to lend itself to the image. It was still a fun assembly, but the incongruency of the whimsy pieces took me out of picture a bit. All in all it was a beautiful puzzle that was fun to put together, I’m really glad I have so many small puzzles that can be done almost anywhere; they’re the best!

Life’s a Beach

On January 23, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

IMG_E4145 — Life’s a Beach – Red Farm Studio – 100 pieces

This was not an easy 100 piece puzzle – excellent timing, difficult is good when you’ve got lots of time to kill. New company that I’ve never heard of before, and it was in an interesting box as well with a handle and a flip up top. Very cool. 🙂

Mom went to the thrift store specifically to find smaller puzzles that would work for me on the small bedside table and she found a couple of really good ones. We always love trying out new companies, and there are so many out there!

I assembled this puzzle with mom’s help while she was visiting and we had to focus a little more than normal. The wood grain both made it difficult and also helped in the assembly. It’s really a pretty puzzle, and would look good framed even though it’s small. I’m not someone who frames many puzzles, sometimes I purchase them specifically for framing but normally they get taken apart. Some get sent to mom’s for her to assemble, some are donated to the school my daughter works for, and the others are donated to the local senior center.

The quality of this puzzle was good. They were a good thickness, perhaps only slightly thinner than normal and they fit together very well. The image reproduction was very nice, and the interesting box was an added bonus. A quick search online didn’t come up with many Red Farm Studio puzzles, perhaps they’re not still being produced – I’m not sure, and I’m not sure how to find out either. (My caffeine intake has been limited, so my poor gray cells are struggling to keep up!)

It’s always fun to try new brands and find puzzles with interesting images. Luckily, living in what seems like the thrift store capital of the world makes it relatively easy to find puzzles of all shapes and sizes. We still haven’t started the brand new, unopened 6000 piece Schmidt puzzle she found – for $1.99!

Review: We Are All in this Together

On January 22, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

We Are All in this Together by Sandy Miller – Springbok (Thingies) – 60 pieces

I really loved this little puzzle, it was challenging enough to not be boring, small enough to fit the small bedside table I’ve been working with, and very nice quality.

Mom brought me a few puzzles that I can do here in the hospital so I won’t be bored out of my mind staring at the tv, this one was so interesting we assembled it right away, together. I know, a person doesn’t need assistance with a puzzle this small, but we like doing puzzles together and she came to help keep me entertained. It worked!

I’ve never heard of these Springbok Thingies, what a neat concept! Small, round puzzles in small, round boxes that you can take and assemble anywhere. From what I could find online the Thingies were produced in the late 60’s, all with the designs of Sandy Miller, and were quite popular for several years. The one we purchased has a copyright date of 2013, so it seems they have been reissued, I would love to find more of these! They’re rather like the micro puzzles from Wentworth – excellent quality, small piece count puzzles that you can take with you and assemble almost anywhere.

I love that although they are only 60 pieces and they aren’t childish images, they’re actually a bit more challenging and take a little bit of focus. Mom and I had a great time assembling this one. The finish on the pieces didn’t feel the same as larger piece count Springbok puzzles we’ve assembled, it was almost soft and feels really nice in your hand.

I’m hoping mom finds many more of these, we enjoyed this one very much! 🙂

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