Month: March 2022

Keepsakes

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles7 Comments

Keepsakes by Judy Koenig – Ceaco – 550 pieces

Eh. Not my favorite type of image, but I had hopes it would be entertaining. It was alright, that’s really all the endorsement I can give it.

The quality of the chipboard was good/fair, and for the most part so was the cutting. The variety of different piece shapes and the fit were good as well. There was a lot of image lift, but this puzzle is over 25 years old and it has been assembled more than a few times from the look of it. Overall, the quality was good/fair.

This was my favorite section – more cartoony and less painterly.

Many of the piece shapes were just a little bit off of what “regular” ones look like. In several places the hole where a prong would go was made up of the joining of two pieces; it made for a more interesting assembly.

I had higher hopes for this image, there was something about it made me want the puzzle even though it’s a Ceaco. My thought process was that because it was a thrift store purchase I wasn’t really giving the brand any of my money, and the picture looked as though it would be entertaining to assemble. It wasn’t as fun as I’d hoped, but I still got my money’s worth – it was only a couple of dollars and I worked on it for a couple of days.

Where else can you get that many hours of entertainment for such little investment?

What’s In Progress?

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling16 Comments

The Quiltmaker Lady by Charles Wysocki – Buffalo – 1000 pieces

For me, this is what’s happening on my board. It’s been nearly two years since I’ve assembled a Charles Wysocki image – June of 2020 was the last time I worked on one! It’s going well, and I’m enjoying myself; you know I can’t resist an image with quilts. 🧵💜

So what is everyone else working on? Any awesome puzzles you’d like to share? I’m always in the mood to see beautiful, interesting, or just entertaining looking puzzles. Got a link to the puzzle image I can check out?

I’m feeling the need for some retail therapy and I’m looking for some suggestions. (Don’t worry about enabling my PADS, I’ll be buying puzzles with or without your help – just looking for some potentially great puzzles I might have missed!)

Shopping for puzzles doesn’t solve any real world problems for me, but it takes my mind off things for a while – and if I’ve done it right in the end there are new puzzles on the way to my house! 🧩🏡

Songbirds

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles9 Comments

Songbirds by Neiko Ng – Mudpuppy – 500 pieces

This is a cute image, but it really wasn’t as entertaining for me as I’d hoped. There’s nothing wrong with it, really, perhaps my mood wasn’t right. It just seemed like it would be more fun than it actually was. Just my own personal opinion.

The quality was good. In typical Mudpuppy fashion there is only one piece shape – what I call ballerinas – two prong/two hole pieces. Boring. The reproduction is good, but the finish is very shiny; and the backing is that “sharp” white backing that I do not care for. Overall it’s a good quality puzzle, it just wasn’t my pile of pieces.

Skate Night (1000)

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles8 Comments

Skate Night by Aimee Stewart – Buffalo – 1000 pieces

Happily, this puzzle was even more fun than the 300 pieces of this image that I completed a couple of years ago. I’m so glad it was finally released in a larger piece count!

Excellent quality all around, Buffalo puzzles have a great fit, nice variety of shapes, excellent reproduction, and a great cut. I haven’t been disappointed by any of their puzzles lately that I can recall. Sometimes there’s a bit of puzzle dust – but that’s par for the course and unless it’s excessive it doesn’t really bother me at all.

I didn’t really notice this the first time around, this is a ticket for the roller derby!

The words and image here for the “super skater” were the most challenging pieces for me to find. I’d go through once and be certain I’d found them all. Then I’d assemble the pieces and see that I was missing SO MANY. It’s always interesting to me when you are absolutely sure that you know exactly what you’re looking for, and when you end up with the right piece it isn’t nearly what you thought.

Becoming familiar with the pieces, and the way your perception of them changes as you work on a puzzle is part of the enjoyment for me. You start off looking through them, and unless it’s a simple image it takes time to get to know them – and get to know the whole of the image you’re working on. What seems like a bunch of random splotches of color or figures seems difficult at first. Then you realize what belongs with what, and you start to see the differences in each color or each piece of a larger image; for me it’s remarkably rewarding and satisfying.

Aimee Stewart’s digital artwork almost always makes me smile, her use of color is absolutely beautiful and her puzzles are such great fun for me to assemble. She’s number one on my list of puzzle artists and I’m always happy to have an Aimee Stewart puzzle to put together.

Exhibit A

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles8 Comments

Exhibit A – MicroPuzzles – 150 pieces

This is a companion puzzle to Yeti for 2022 that I posted on New Year’s Day. Apparently it’s Exhibit A in making the case that the Yeti does exist.

The image made for a goldilocks assembly; not too easy, not too difficult – it was just right. The quality was very good, as is usual for this brand. The fit can sometimes feel loose when you’re assembling it, but once you’ve got it together it stays together. You can pick up the finished puzzle, stand it on it’s end, even carry it around and it isn’t coming apart unless you take it apart.

Like the puzzle for New Year’s, this one also had an image on the back….

I always enjoy a double sided image. A close look at the back of this puzzle will show you that there is not one piece that is just all red; there is a bit of snowflake or the dots in between on every single piece. If you wanted to, you could assemble the back on it’s own as well. ❄