Month: November 2021

Dinosaurs

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Dinosaurs – Puzzlebilities (Hinkler)- 500 pieces

Educational puzzles make me so happy, and the assembly is almost always fun. (Spoiler – this one – lots of fun) Learning new things or getting a refresher on things I already knew is entertaining for me; thank goodness there are so many great puzzles out there to learn from.

Puzzlebilities is a new brand for me, and happily the quality was pretty good. There were a few slightly bent pieces, but a teeny bit of muscle power put them right in no time at all. The chipboard was thick and the fit was nice as well. Overall, I’d say the quality was good/very good. They have quite a few educational puzzles to choose from, including two shaped puzzles of the Earth and the Moon – those two look a little too challenging for me. Click the link above to look through their catalog; their mineralogy and human body puzzles are the ones that jumped out at me. They look like fun! The company (Hinkler) is an independent publisher based in Melbourne, Australia, but I found this puzzle at my local Barnes & Noble.

I don’t ever recall seeing this big ol’ swordfish looking dinosaur before – wow! The Shonisaurus was forty-nine feet long; it sure would be something to see that thing swimming towards you, wouldn’t it?

Ok, how many of you knew there was a dinosaur called the Arizonasaurus? How about the Prestosuchus? Without shame I am admitting that I’d never heard of them before. Gee, wonder where the Arizonasaurus was first found – I’ll take a wild guess and say…….Arizona? These two stood out to me for another reason as well, both of their heads look extremely similar to a T-Rex’s. At least they do to me.

This puzzle has already found a new home with my honorary grandson, and he was extremely excited! I haven’t seen him very much this past couple of years and he has apparently developed a love of all things dinosaur. I’m so glad I decided to get this one on my first trip puzzle shopping after my break; it has found a new home and will be greatly loved.

This image is more difficult than I thought it would be, but there was plenty of fun assembling it anyways. Learning new things – especially from a puzzle – really does make me happy. I was so excited to show hubby the new dinosaurs I’d never heard of, and he patiently listened and pretended to be interested. What a good husband. 💜

*Speaking of the hubby, Happy 246th Birthday to the United States Marine Corps! To all those who serve and have served in The Corps, like my husband and his brothers…..thank you. Semper Fidelis!*

Wool Shop USA

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

Wool Shop USA by Steve Crisp – Milton Bradley – 300 pieces

This is such a lovely image from Steve Crisp, and doesn’t it look like an awesome shop to visit too? I would definitely enjoy spending a little time in there.

I have been actively avoiding any puzzles with dogs in them, and I honestly didn’t even see the little pupper in this puzzle until I was putting it together. It’s fascinating how I seem to take in the image as a whole and don’t notice things; sometimes glaringly obvious things, until I’m putting it together. I’ve done puzzles with names that let you know you’re putting together a puzzle with cats, but I don’t notice the title – or the cats – until I start assembling. It’s normal for me to miss certain small details until the actual joining of pieces, but many times I miss stuff that is right out in the open.

This was a good quality puzzle from Milton Bradley, with a nice variety of shapes that fit together very well. The image reproduction is gorgeous, as you can see from all the pictures here – even in the close ups there is much detail with crisp lines and no fuzziness in the backgrounds.

I just love the look of this cash register, it’s so much more interesting looking than the little computers you see at stores everywhere these days. I think it would be more fun to use a cash register like this than to just touch a screen – just my opinion of course. Old timey things seem like they’re better made and more aesthetically pleasing to me.

As someone who’s been around crafts all her life, I can say this is an excellent representation of an old sewing machine. This is what they looked like, and they were both beautiful to look at and extremely well made. And there were two old sewing machines in this image, they reminded me of when I was young. My mother had a very old sewing machine in a cabinet that looked like a regular old table, but when you flipped the top over, pulled the machine up, and opened up what looked like a table leaf – you had a sewing machine, with a flat surface for your fabric, and you could pull a chair right up to the table and put your legs underneath. It was VERY cool, and I wish we still had it in the family. 🧵

There’s something about these old timey panels with well dressed women, they’re so perfect for the image. The rest of the image is crisp and clear and both of these panels on the front of the counter are more fuzzy and indistinct, and it gives the whole scene a look of authenticity.

African Afternoon

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

African Afternoon by Gerold Como – Ravensburger – 100 pieces

I do so love when a thrift store puzzle is not only from a company with really great quality, but it is also complete. And if it’s a kids puzzle – even better. I can “check” it to be sure all the pieces are present, and then send it on to a child or school where it’ll be used and loved like puzzles are supposed to be.

This isn’t a scene I would choose to puzzle in a larger piece count, it just isn’t my pile of pieces (or cup of tea as it were). But with only 100 pieces the muted colors and subject matter weren’t a problem to deal with. As an added bonus, once it’s been assembled and if it’s all there my “grandson” gets to have it. He’s gonna love this one.😀

This little guy with his parents is just too adorable for words. I love that brush cut he’s got going on!

I can relate to this cat, the African plains are just too hot. It’s better to spend the day lounging around in a tree. And, if some unsuspecting prey wanders underneath and makes themselves available to jump down onto – even better. 🐆

SpongeBob Squarepants

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

SpongeBob Squarepants by Romero Britto – Cardinal – 300 pieces

The bright, bright colors in this image made me mistakenly think this puzzle would be easy – it wasn’t. Part of it could be because I put the box away and didn’t use it for help at all. I saw the colors and patterns and thought this would be a breeze, so the box was stowed beneath the puzzle table. Once the assembly started it became clear that once again…..I was very wrong.

But, I had already decided that I would assemble this using only the pieces with no help from the box image; so the box with it’s helpful picture stayed put right where it was. Stubborn – that’s me. There is no explanation for it, I’m weird. Came to grips with it looong ago.

I usually take a few close up pictures so that you can see details; but there’s really no need for any close up pics, everything is right there for you to see. It’s a great image; the artwork of Britto makes fabulous puzzles.

Even though it was a little more demanding on the aging brain cells it was still a lovely assembly. More concentration was required, so I went to that puzzle place in your brain where only colors and shapes matter. Peaceful meditation in the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle – with the added bonus of not having to maneuver myself into the lotus position. 🧘‍♀️

Rainy Day

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles7 Comments

Rainy Day – Re-marks – 1000 pieces

This was my first 1000 piece puzzle since I got my some of my mojo back, and the worst part was opening the box and seeing that very big pile of pieces – it was a bit overwhelming. But because this is a collage, it wasn’t as difficult as it could have been. Thankfully it was a joy to assemble and helped get me back in the swing of things. 🧩💗

Re-marks is about middle-tier quality (in my opinion), and they’ve got a great catalog of collages to choose from. In that sense, they’re about where I place White Mountain puzzles on my list; there are sometimes quality issues, but it’s easier to deal with when I’m in love with the image – which is how I usually feel about collages.

Re-marks puzzles can sometimes have a LOT of puzzle dust and hanging chads on the pieces, and occasionally the fit is loose or wonky. Only once has there been an issue with the image reproduction, otherwise the images are usually very nice. Overall though, they’re good puzzles and I love their catalog.

These are 3 of my favorites, the pattern on the background in the left was easy to pick out, and the whole image is very calm and pretty. LOVE was the most difficult of the three – at least for me. And the musical notes and rain in the background were so fun to assemble!

I almost wish this has been made into a 2000 piece puzzle, each block was so entertaining that it would have been great for them to be even bigger.