Neon Signs

On September 5, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

Here’s another puzzle from several years ago, and I distinctly remember this one. It wasn’t that difficult in my opinion (other than the edges), and is a GORGEOUS finished image! Thankfully this picture isn’t too horrible, at least compared to some of the others I’ve been posting. 😎

White Mountain 1000 piece puzzles are larger than most, and I find that I enjoy working with the larger pieces. The finished puzzle seems almost like more of an accomplishment too, it’s an impressive size. Sometimes there can be a problem with image lift or many still connected pieces, but usually I find them to be a good quality puzzle.

The edges were super difficult and took a lot of time, but the rest of the puzzle was a joy. It’s listed on the page of “challenging” puzzles on the White Mountain website, but other than the edges I didn’t find it to be very difficult at all. I love the look of the neon against the black background, and working on each of the signs was great fun – hubby even wanted to help! The fit was beautiful, and the finished puzzle would look great framed.

Mom wanted to put this together too, so when I finished I numbered the edge pieces starting in the bottom left corner and going around – to give mom a leg up when she assembled it. She was very appreciative, and even did the same for me when she worked a puzzle with a difficult edge. Every little bit helps. 😉

This puzzle is still in production, so if you like the look of it – I say go for it! It’s not as difficult as you may think. I found it to be entertaining and relaxing; so much so that I still fondly remember the assembly of it more than 2 years later. ❤

Basketball

On September 4, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles1 Comment

This was a very fun, cool little 3D puzzle. I don’t know why I wanted this one so much, I’m not really a basketball fan. It just seemed like it would be extremely entertaining to assemble, and it was!

This was the first new 3D puzzle I’ve assembled, and the quality is excellent. The previous ones I’ve assembled have all been from the thrift store and seemed quite the worse for wear. They may have been taken apart too roughly; the pieces fit together tightly and care must used when taking them apart. The plastic pieces fit together extremely well, and even though there are only 54 pieces it took a little bit of time to assemble.

These 3D puzzles are numbered on the back, and below each number is an arrow showing which direction the next piece should go. I use the numbers to sort into groups of ten, and then turn over each group for assembly.

The basketball was a little challenging to assemble for obvious reasons, but I enjoyed myself very much. 😁🏀

Vintage Candy Shop

On September 3, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

I see a recurring theme, I didn’t post these puzzles because the pictures are so awful. On a positive note, we’re about halfway through the old puzzles so it shouldn’t be too much longer. I must have been having balance issues when I was taking these pictures; it looks like I was falling and on my way to the floor when I snapped this picture!

I think I should start including an image of what the puzzle looks like straight on for my readers, you should know what it’s supposed to look like…

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I love an Aimee Stewart image, and this one was pretty darn fun to put together even though the quality was less than optimal. There was some splitting of the chipboard, and a few pieces with image lift. The pieces were a bit thinner than I’d like, but they weren’t too bad and the fit was excellent. Ceaco puzzles seem to fit together very well no matter the quality of the board, and a good fit is something many puzzlers appreciate, myself included.

The cash register was my favorite part to assemble, the number keys and the wording on the front of the drawer were fun to put together. The drawer itself was a little more challenging, but still completely entertaining. The different candies were so bright and interesting – Aimee Stewart’s use of colors and the way she puts them together makes for added difficulty, and added pleasure. I’ve done many of her puzzles and they’re always a challenge, but always beautiful and a good time.

Fun puzzle, with fair/good quality, if you like the image and you find a copy of this one I definitely recommend it. 👍

Ice Cream Truck

On September 2, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

As summer is technically coming to an end, I figured a bit of ice cream is just what we need. Actually, according to this puzzle (and Charles Schulz) all we really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt!

This is an adorably cute image, almost too sweet. 😉 Mom and I put it together when she arrived one day to help me assemble a puzzle that I was struggling with but had already finished. I had no idea she was coming over to help me, and I completed the puzzle while she was on her way. Since the difficult one was done, we decided to put together a 300 piece puzzle and this was the one we chose.

Re-marks usually has good quality, and although this puzzle was ok there were a few very bent pieces that prevented the completed puzzle from laying flat. Other than that one area, I had no other problems with the quality of this particular puzzle. The pieces were thick and fit together well, and there were an excellent variety of shapes. The reproduction was very good, with sharp lines and colors; there was no blurriness or fading.

The image itself reminds me of the Richard Scarry books I used to read with my kids when they were young. The characters look somewhat like those he illustrated, especially their eyes. They’re very cute, and made for a fun puzzle to put together.

I love that everything is made of sweets; doughnut tires, an ice cream sandwich for a counter, mints for headlights, etc. So very cute!

So as summer is ending and we get together with friends and family, enjoy an ice cream sundae – or even better, enjoy an ice cream sundae or some chocolate and sweets with loved ones and then work on a puzzle together. I can’t think of a better way to spend a holiday weekend! 🍨

Swing Your Partner

On September 1, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

I really have gotten tons better at photographing my puzzles – these pictures from several years ago are terrible. The angle is absolutely awful! This is what the image looks like straight on…

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This one was lots of fun, and the image was great for puzzling. I’ve done several puzzles by Jane Wooster Scott and have enjoyed them all, her pictures make for entertaining puzzles. 🙂 It’s a great image; the bright colors, straight lines, and symmetry of trees, etc., made for a wonderful assembly. Her artwork reminds me of Charles Wysocki in some ways, and for me they’re both artists whose work makes for excellent puzzling.

The quality of this Ceaco puzzle was good/tolerable. Sometimes the chipboard used is quite thin, but this one wasn’t too bad. There wasn’t much splitting of the board or image lift, and the fit was excellent. The image reproduction is very nice as well; the finish is a bit shiny, but thankfully not too much. Overall, a good quality puzzle that was entertaining to put together. That’s all I’m looking for!