Month: January 2024

Land and Sea*

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Land and Sea* – Robert Frederick – 100 pieces

I was all set to be disappointed in this puzzle, but happily it surprised me with much better quality than the first Robert Frederick puzzle I completed, Woman with a Parasol, Facing Right.

Unlike that first puzzle, this didn’t have the bent pieces or the overly shiny finish. That means the cut, chipboard, variety in shape, fit, and finish were all very good. What a pleasant surprise!

Sadly, in my mind that doesn’t speak well of the company. If it can have very good quality but there is no consistency it wouldn’t be a brand I would be confident in purchasing retail. When there’s no guarantee it’ll be at least good quality it goes on my list of brands to only buy second hand. It’s annoying for me, knowing the potential for a good or great quality puzzle is there, but the standards aren’t always met. Although this particular puzzle was quite good, I find myself disappointed in the brand.

Thinking back to my shopping trip with my daughter, I cannot recall why in the world this puzzle was chosen. It is definitely not my pile of pieces, as far as the artwork goes. Why did I pick this one? Not a clue. It’s the mind/memory that goes first. Sigh. Old age ain’t for sissies. 👵

Still, at only 100 pieces it didn’t take too long, and it was a nice palate cleanser in between larger piece count puzzles.

*There was no title for this image, nor artist credited; I named it Land and Sea as I wasn’t feeling overly creative or inspired today.

Travel In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling6 Comments

Travel – Cavallini & Co. – 1000 pieces

Thought I’d be done with this one yesterday, as the two spaces shown here are all that’s left to go; but I was feeling like crap on a cracker so I didn’t even sit at the puzzle table all day.

Oh well, I’m feeling a little better today and back at the table this morning, so it shouldn’t be too long before this one is done.

Are you working on something fun? Do tell!

Soda Fountain

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles4 Comments

Soda Fountain – Buffalo – 1000 pieces

What a fantastic thrift store find this was! Truly excellent quality with a great image that was very entertaining to assemble – couldn’t ask for more. ❤❤

This was the best fitting Buffalo puzzle I’ve put together in a while, and I have a theory as to why that is. Interested? No matter, I’m going to tell you anyway…

This puzzle is 14 years old, manufactured in 2010; and the box is different – bigger, to be exact it is taller than currently manufactured Buffalo puzzles. There is enough room for all the pieces with a little bit of extra space at the top. The extra space is key, because if a couple of pieces don’t come apart as they’re being put into the box there is enough room that they won’t be smashed against the sides or the top and bent. Puzzles made more recently have a shorter box that JUST fits all the pieces; if the puzzle fits too well they’ll be smashed against the box and bent all out of shape. The fit is looser these days to be sure they’ll come apart and fit in the smaller box. It doesn’t always work though, and I’ve had a few Buffalo puzzles lately with quite a few bent pieces because there was less room in the box.

*This is where my brain goes when I’m puzzling sometimes, off on tangents like this. 🤷‍♀️*

This is what the picture in my mind is of a typical boy from the 50’s; striped shirt, baseball hat, baseball glove. It’s probably from old tv shows and movies that I’ve seen and not based on actual kids, since I didn’t show up on the scene till the late 60’s. Once I was of an age to notice things like what people were wearing it was the 70’s. *shudder* Thankfully I was the third of three children so mom and dad don’t have many pictures of me, they were too busy taking care of their three girls to take a bunch of pictures of us wearing those HIDEOUS clothes. 😉

A 1000 piece Buffalo puzzle is quite large, and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to take this picture, but I had to try – the fit was just too good. It worked! Happy dance 💃💃💃

Of course I still prefer Pepsi, but this Coca-Cola puzzle was so much fun!

Wonderland

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

Wonderland by Bill Bell – Wentworth – 140 pieces

This artwork is so crammed full of characters and things to see that even at only 140 pieces it was a bit of a challenge! Alice in Wonderland seems to be quite a common theme for puzzles, I’ve probably done eight or nine Wonderland themed puzzles, they make for good fun if you ask me.

I’m not sure what possessed me to get this puzzle, it really isn’t an image I would normally go for – there’s just too much going on. Perhaps it was the colors, or the piece count, I’m not certain. Whatever it was, I’m glad I didn’t just go with the usual style of artwork that usually finds it’s way into my cart because even with the added difficulty it really was very enjoyable.

It wasn’t until I was almost finished with the assembly that I realized the caterpillar was even in the image! He sure does look exhausted, doesn’t he?

The Queen of Hearts certainly looks like a mean one, doesn’t she? When I was looking at the pieces I was sure those teeth were going to be on the Cheshire Cat. Wrong!

Such great whimsies; I didn’t read the books, so I’m not sure if there was an owl in the story, but they still are great whimsies for this image.

Even though it was difficult it was still lots of fun to put this little one together, and so much to see!

Almost In Progress

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling4 Comments

I’ve sorted my next puzzle, and started laying out the border pieces to put them together, but that’s as far as it went, unfortunately.

I lifted something I shouldn’t have lifted last week and completed messed up my back, and it’s really been difficult to deal with. Yesterday I started laying out the edge pieces and couldn’t even get them all on the board before I had to get up and lay myself down in bed.

Old age and stupidity aren’t a good mix; and I promise I won’t be so stupid as to be lifting much of anything anymore, I’ll find someone younger and stronger to do it for me.