Month: August 2023

Childcare!

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles8 Comments

Childcare! by Bill Houston – Jumbo (Wasgij Mystery) – 1000 pieces

As per my usual routine I don’t show the entire finished image for these puzzles that don’t have the solution on the box top (Wasgij, What If?, Puzzle Twist, etc.); so you’re only seeing the character shown on the box as one of the hints.

With this Wasgij, there is an image on the box showing the two adults taking care of the children in what looks to be a sort of playroom. The hints tell you that “Children can be so unpredictable and sometimes they can drive you mad! The two childcare assistants are doing their best to look after all these children, but what’s the worst that could happen?” That’s the scene you have to puzzle. You can see from the box image what clothes everyone is wearing, what the carpeting and walls looks like, etc. Starting with a shirt color, or any part of the image that stands out – you can get going on piecing together the finished image.

I’m always intrigued by what the finished artwork will look like and how greatly it does or doesn’t differ from the box image. They’re fun and entertaining, and always so colorful and interesting. (If you couldn’t tell already, I love these puzzles!)

After putting together the border and finding extra pieces I was worried that perhaps this puzzle might also be missing some pieces, but thankfully it was complete. In total there were four extra pieces; three in the border and one interior – all from the same section…

I always feel bad when this happens, because I know there’s someone out there missing four pieces of their puzzle. Missing pieces are such a disappointment with new puzzles, and although I had nothing to do with it I feel guilty because their pieces ended up with me. 🤷‍♀️

I thoroughly enjoyed this assembly, as usual, so I don’t know why it’s been so long since I’ve put together a Wasgij puzzle. According to my blog it’s been almost four years since I’ve done one! November of 2019 was the last Wasgij assembled – how is that possible?

There’s still a stack of Wasgij puzzles at least four feet high in my bedroom closet, the fact that they’re not in the puzzle room is probably why it’s been so long. Out of sight, out of mind perhaps?

Whatever the reason, I need to get to whittling down that pile of puzzles – they’re too much fun to be sitting un-assembled in my closet!

Animal Tales In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling2 Comments

Animal Tales – Re-marks – 1000 pieces

Once I finally got myself going on this one, it seems to be coming together quickly. The bright colors and interesting images on each of the covers makes it relatively easy and very entertaining to assemble.

I’ve been in a mood the past few days and haven’t done as much puzzling as I normally would, but I’m trying to get myself out of that head space. Hopefully it won’t take too long and I’ll be back to my normal self soon.

If today goes as well as yesterday this puzzle should be finished before I go to bed tonight; if not, it will definitely be done by tomorrow.

Phenomenal Women

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles5 Comments

Phenomenal Women – African American Expressions – 500 pieces

This was an entertaining, good quality puzzle that was a little more challenging can I gave it credit for, but enjoyable all the same. African American Expressions is a company whose puzzles I haven’t seen before, but it was well-made and a great image to put together.

All around I would give this puzzle a “very good” in the quality department; the chipboard is thinner than that of a premium puzzle but very sturdy, the fit is very good, there are a very good variety of piece shapes, and the image reproduction is good. I was pleasantly surprised, usually a company that makes things other than puzzles doesn’t do so well in the jigsaw puzzle department, but this seems to be an exception.

It looks as though they only make 500 piece puzzles, and obviously they feature only African American artwork – they’ve got quite a few beautiful images that I would love to assemble.

Now I know that if I run across one of their puzzles that they have good quality and I won’t hesitate to buy them again.

Literary Dogs

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles10 Comments

Literary Dogs by Kathryn Freeman – Artifact – 302 pieces

This very long puzzle was so entertaining to assemble that I kept forgetting to do other things; things like taking a drink, getting up and moving around, talking to my family, etc. With such an interesting border and so many adorable dogs I just kept getting sucked into the assembly – don’t you love it when that happens? I do!

Such a wonderful quality puzzle from Artifact, it was a joy to put together. Lately I’ve been putting together more puzzles with unique borders, and I have to tell you that they are so much fun. 😍 It’s hard to see when you take a picture of the entire puzzle, so I’ve taken some closeup shots for you.

Not only are there whimsies in the body of the puzzle itself, but there are animals frolicking all across the top as well. I love that you can tell the breed of several of the dogs just by their shapes.

The books include quite a few animal-related stories: Lassie, Old Yeller, Moby Dick, White Fang, etc. There are the classics as well; The Hobbit, Of Mice and Men, Anna Karenina and more. Books and dogs – this puzzle was right up my alley!

Love the heart on the side of the big black and white dog (I’m unsure of the breed), and the tableau of animals romping along the top of the puzzle are so cute!

You can see that many of the whimsy pieces were attached to the top border, and some were by themselves. I can’t overstate how much I enjoyed this – it made for a wonderfully absorbing and entertaining afternoon of meditative puzzling.

Nothing’s In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling, Miscellaneous4 Comments

I finished the 300 piece puzzle on my board yesterday, and also finished up the puzzle in the bathroom – so unfortunately I’ve got no puzzles going at the moment to tell you about. Normally I would have made sure to at the very least start sorting another puzzle to post about (every third day is an “in progress” post), but it’s been a rough week and I just didn’t get around to it.

We got home from our trip on Sunday evening, and I immediately had to go to the doctor. Because of a problem with my good leg I’ve been put on bedrest for the next week and am temporarily taking a medication that makes me extremely dizzy and lightheaded (and I still have to take my pain meds with it). So even if I wasn’t ordered to stay off my feet, I would absolutely need to – because me walking around feeling dizzy is a recipe for disaster. I’m a klutz. A big one.

Anyway, yesterday was spent in bed almost all day long and I never got around to starting a new puzzle. I’ve chosen what’ll be next both on my puzzle board and in the bathroom, they just haven’t even been taken out of their packages yet. And there are still eight puzzles to write posts for that were assembled on our trip or since we’ve been home; there’s plenty of puzzle stuff to keep me busy, that’s for sure.

Regardless, I will definitely get a puzzle going today. Hubby has to be away during the day this weekend, and I’ll be able to sneak off to the puzzle room if I’m feeling well enough. And if I’m not – there are plenty of trays here and if need be I can start sorting and/or working on the next puzzle in bed! 🧩🛌