Pencil Collage Revisited

On April 25, 2019April 25, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles11 Comments

Pencil Collage by Maureen Rupprecht – White Mountain Puzzles – 1000 pieces

I’m not sure why, but this puzzle’s been on my mind the last few days. It was finished almost 3 years ago, and was really a joy to assemble. I haven’t touched a jigsaw puzzle since Sunday morning, and I’ve been thinking about certain puzzles I’ve done and really liked – perhaps just trying to get my groove back.

This puzzle stands out for me, I was almost afraid of it and put it off for quite a while because it was supposed to be very challenging. I found it to be highly entertaining to assemble and not nearly as hard as it was supposed to be. The fit was so tight that I could pick it up and stand it on it’s bottom edge!

I still haven’t started a new puzzle yet, but looking at this one makes me want to find one with lots of words like this pencil collage. Or perhaps I’ll get a few of the educational kids puzzles done, they’ve got a bit of wording and at only 24 pieces it’s not too much of a commitment. 🙂

Show Cat

On April 24, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles1 Comment

I positively LOVE LOVE LOVE these images of cats dressed up and looking thoroughly pissed, they make me laugh – and don’t we all need a laugh these days?

They’re Ceaco puzzles, and about average quality; I enjoy them regardless because the image is fantastic.

Show Cat 1

This cat looks so ticked off! If you look at the eye on the left, it looks like an arrow – kitty is saying “you are going DOWN for dressing me up like this!”

The Wedding

On April 23, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles5 Comments

Got my hands on another old wooden puzzle, are you surprised? It’s a lovely image, but there were so many missing pieces! I went into this knowing there were only 499 pieces, but I mistakenly assumed that meant there was only one missing piece. I was wrong of course. This puzzle apparently started out with 510 pieces, not 500. Still, mom and I had a good time putting it together and that’s what counts. The Wedding 1

There is such beautiful detail in the artwork, the hands seem almost photo quality. It was a beautiful puzzle and mom and I enjoyed it even with the many missing pieces.

The Wedding 2

EBL 1920 – I wish I knew if that was in reference to the date the puzzle was cut or if it’s when the image was painted. It could be both, actually.

I’ve got one more old puzzle yet to assemble and one more in the queue, but unless I find something amazing I’m done with the vintage/antique puzzles. Not because this one had lots of missing pieces, but because either fortunately or unfortunately (I’m not sure which), the municipal building puzzle was so amazing, and such fantastic quality that I feel that everything else is a bit of a letdown. Even if it’s great quality it still isn’t as good. I was so lucky to find that puzzle; it’s a one of a kind, exceptionally well made, and mom and I enjoyed the journey of putting it together so much – it just can’t be matched or duplicated. Nothing even really comes close.

I’ve told hubby to stop sneakily buying these old puzzles on eBay. He purchased a few for me as a surprise, it’s very sweet but I’d prefer it if he didn’t do that anymore. I think I’d rather be happy we had the experience and fun of assembling a very rare and wonderful antique than be let down by the not up to snuff quality of lesser (but still lovely) puzzles.

Travel America

On April 22, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles10 Comments

No, the “smoky” look isn’t the picture, it’s the actual puzzle. It had very odd coloring in my opinion, but I’ve seen a lot of odd things in puzzles in my time. 😉

This puzzle wasn’t as entertaining as I’d hoped, but they can’t all be fantastic. The quality was fair; the pieces were thick enough and fit together extremely well. But the image reproduction was fuzzy and smoky and altogether weird. I’ve never really come across a puzzle like this from any brand. Interesting.

Travel America 1

The artwork made for quite a challenge, everything was so muted and smushed together.

Travel America 2

There were a lot of blue pieces, but luckily there were plenty of things to break up the monotony. The grid cut was offset, so you couldn’t rely on piece size to see if they lined up, which made the ocean sections a bit more challenging.

I’ve never worked a puzzle with this odd coloration before, it was….something.

A Drive in the Country

On April 21, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

A new company for me to try out always makes me happy, and luckily this one had a beautiful image, gorgeous colors, and great quality. I’ve tried many, many different companies and from my experience finding great quality isn’t the norm. I was very pleasantly surprised. 🙂

Of course I can only speak for this particular puzzle, having only assembled one puzzle from this brand. Usually I prefer to try at least 3 different puzzles before making a final judgement, so I’d love to try another from this brand, hopefully a larger piece count. I’ve found that some companies that have excellent quality 300 piece puzzles don’t have the same quality for larger piece counts. I don’t know why this is, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to me; but I have definitely found it to be true. I’m hoping to run into a larger puzzle from The Jigsaw Puzzle Factory to see what the quality is like and if it compares to the great experience I had with this one.

The pieces were nice and thick, fit together extremely well, and there were a very good variety of shapes. The quality of the image reproduction was excellent, though the finish was a little bit shiny. Overall the quality of the puzzle was impressive and I thoroughly enjoyed the assembly.

I love the tiny little details and the quality of the artwork by Carol Lawson; it was great fun to assemble. It reminded me of my youth for some reason I can’t explain, I just loved the softness and sweet quality of the teddy bears.

At only 300 pieces this went together quickly, but it made me happy and that’s the part that matters most. 💗