Oops, I did it again!

On June 20, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling12 Comments

Five new puzzles are on their way to my house, including the image above. I don’t need them, but I want them – and I don’t feel bad about it at all. 😁

I got an unexpected check recently, and after a disappointing trip to Tuesday Morning that netted me zero puzzles I had this extra money burning a hole in my pocket. What to do?

At first I planned on doing nothing; I have plenty of puzzles both here and at mom’s house and I don’t actually NEED more. Later on in the evening though, I was in bed and just looking around at puzzles online and ended up on the Wentworth site. They’re having a summer sale – many discontinued puzzles are 25% off – and I also have a code for 10% off any regularly priced puzzles. How unfair to tempt me like that!

I spent a bit of time thinking about it; I don’t really need them – just because they’re on sale doesn’t mean I have to buy them. After a while though, I remembered a few things. 1) Puzzles make me happy and help me feel better, 2) I can afford it right now, and 3) Life is short, if getting some new puzzles makes you happy why wouldn’t you? I shouldn’t feel bad for doing something that’s just for me, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks or says.

Before I knew it five puzzles had jumped into my cart. I didn’t want them to feel unloved, so I adopted all five of them. I’m a giver – these lonely puzzles need a place to go, and selflessly I will be sharing my home with them. Ain’t I a sweetie?? 😉

Review: Rooster Express

On June 19, 2018February 5, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews, Thrift Store Puzzles4 Comments

Rooster Express by Charles Wysocki – Milton Bradley – 300 pieces

I love a Wysocki image that isn’t the norm, ones that maybe only have one house instead of many; or ones that feature something different, like this rooster. This puzzle is the perfect example of that.

Most puzzles by Charles Wysocki we’ve done are produced by Buffalo Games, every once in a while I come across one from another manufacturer. This beauty is made by Milton Bradley. The quality is very good; with thick pieces, excellent image reproduction, and a beautiful fit. It was a joy to assemble!

I assembled it a little differently than usual, I started from the top and put together the sky, buildings, and fields. Then I went to the bottom and assembled the road, wagon, and rooster. After that all that was left was the grass, which didn’t take much time at all. It was over too quickly! It was more fun than I thought it would be, those are my favorite types of puzzles. 🙂

Details:

Title: Rooster Express
Artist: Charles Wysocki
Brand: Milton Bradley
Piece count: 300 pieces
Size: Approx. 18 x 24 in. (46 x 61 cm)
Purchased: Used, thrift store

Quality:

Board: Excellent
Cutting: Very good
Image: Excellent
Box: Average
Fit: Very good
Puzzle Dust: Small amount
Piece cut: Grid cut
Piece shapes: Good variety
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating: Very good, recommended

Rosso Angelo

On June 18, 2018June 18, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

IMG_E4704 — Rosso Angelo by Ross Fiorentino – Artifact Puzzles – 228 pieces

This puzzle was really fun to assemble, and not nearly as difficult as I thought it might be. I was worried that the darker places would be tedious and very hard to complete, but thankfully I was wrong. It was a wonderful assembly all around. 🙂

Artifact Puzzles are having a sale at the moment, while supplies last, and I just couldn’t resist 50% off! I bought this and another puzzle because I knew if it were “while supplies last” that the puzzles would eventually be out of stock and gone. And at these great sale prices how on earth could I resist? They’re still having that sale, if you are so inclined there are still quite a few beautiful puzzles to choose from. (If I had unlimited funds I would get every single one of them!)

Once I started working on this puzzle, it was difficult to stop. I started with the mandolin (or whatever the instrument is), and from there went up the angel’s arm and into the wings. One section led to another and it went very quickly. For some reason the angel’s nose is located in the center of the circular end of a mandolin shaped whimsy piece. It looks odd, and my eye jumps to that section every time I look at the picture. To me, it almost looks like a clown nose.

The whimsies for this puzzle are all “angelic” There are several cherubs and mandolins, along with a harp, a violin, and one piece shaped like Italy. This image is from the Italian Renaissance after all, so the piece shaped like Italy is a perfect fit.

I’m currently working on the other puzzle I bought from this sale, it’s a secondary one I’ve been working on for well over a week now. I only put in a piece or two here and there, it isn’t the primary puzzle that I’m working on. It’s going to take a while, it’s much more difficult than I bargained for and will take plenty of patience. I don’t mind though, to me time spent puzzling is never wasted – it’s always worthwhile. Especially with a wooden puzzle! 😉

What to do next?

On June 17, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling6 Comments

Most of the time when I finish a puzzle I know exactly what puzzle I’m doing next. Every once in a while I have no idea what to do once a puzzle is finished, and every one I look at just isn’t the right fit. This is one of those times.

I open the boxes and look at pieces, and most of them just don’t seem to be what I’m looking for. I have no idea why my brain does this to me, but with about 100 puzzles here at my house you’d think it would be easy to find one that I want to do; but that isn’t always the case.

I’ve got one 300 piece here, but I’m not thrilled with the image at the moment and although it’ll probably speak to me in the next few days – today it just doesn’t do it for me. There are a few 500 and 550 pieces too, but none of them seem to be the one either. There are a BUNCH of 1000 piece puzzles to choose from, but they’re not even under consideration right now.

Is it only image that decides what puzzle you do next? Is it piece count? Brand? Whatever it is, I have yet to decide what puzzle gets my attention today.

Among Friends

On June 16, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles4 Comments

This is such a cute puzzle, I didn’t expect it to be as much of a challenge as it was. At 200 pieces it was the perfect puzzle at the perfect time.

Ravensburger puzzles are such great quality, they’re always a joy to assemble. Even opening the box and seeing the pieces makes me happy. I’ve heard that their quality has been declining, but I haven’t actually seen any of that so far. This puzzle was a thrift store purchase and it was the usual excellent Ravensburger quality with wonderfully thick pieces, a gorgeous image, and exceptional fit.

I’ve done several puzzles with artwork by Howard Robinson, and they’ve all been “cute”. His images are usually adorable animals that seem to have a personality, and they always make me smile – this puzzle is an excellent example of that. Charming animals aren’t always the images I’m looking for, and sometimes they can be quite difficult to assemble, but they do make me happy.

Sometimes cute and easy is exactly what I need. These days the “easy” is pretty important; I’ve pretty much been in bed all day every day since the beginning of April. I haven’t been able to do many 1000 piece puzzles, or even many 500 pieces. Puzzles that are 300 pieces or less are mostly what I’ve been doing; I’ve been surprised at how much I’m enjoying them. Puzzles are great fun for me and excellent for helping me deal with stress, anxiety, and chronic pain – it doesn’t matter how many pieces there are or how big it is. Puzzles make me happy regardless of the piece count. ☺

Sometimes I worry that I’m doing too many small puzzles or too many wooden puzzles and that these aren’t always what people want to see on my blog. I have to remind myself that this blog is about the puzzles that I do, and whatever puzzles I assemble are the ones that I write about. I don’t do puzzles for other people’s enjoyment, I do them for me. You can’t please everyone, and you shouldn’t try. I struggle to remember that sometimes.

So when a cutesy puzzle comes along, if I want to put it together, I do. If I have a good time putting it together that’s what’s important. If you enjoy reading about it – even better! If it’s not really your cup of tea (or pile of pieces), that’s ok. Maybe tomorrow’s puzzle will be perfect for you. 😎