Sewing Collage

On September 24, 2019September 24, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles7 Comments

This puzzle was an interesting test for me, I assembled it much differently than I usually do. I found it enjoyable and pretty entertaining! It’s a very nice quality puzzle, and the repetition of the image made it a bit of a challenge. I had a very good time with this one. 🙂

With all the different elements repeated several times, I picked certain things (like pincushions, the red buttons, or the spools of thread) and assembled them all. Then I used the box image to see where each one fit into the frame.

Sewing Collage 1

I found that I really enjoyed assembling the puzzle this way. And once I got a few parts assembled and set in the frame, it was easier to see where things belonged and work off of them. It’s not always going to be applicable to every puzzle image, but it was a nice change for me.

Maybe we should all shake things up every now and again and try things a different way – we might find that we like it very much!

I’m enjoying these Big Ben puzzles, the quality is quite good and they have plenty of interesting and challenging images to choose from. They’re nice when I need a quick puzzle fix, and I like having them around. When I finish a larger puzzle and want something that will be entertaining and won’t take forever to complete I’ve got a Big Ben puzzle that’ll do the trick very nicely.

The Periodic Table of the Elements

On September 23, 2019September 23, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles5 Comments

I wish I had the right words to express how much I absolutely adored assembling this puzzle – it was so entertaining! It’s an older Eurographics puzzle, so it’s a random cut and it was absolutely the best puzzle I’ve assembled in a while!

Most of the newer Eurographics puzzles I’ve come across are not only grid cut, they only have the one piece shape. Ugh. Boring, boring, boring! This randomly cut puzzle was tricky in some places, but for the most part it was pretty easy – but not boring in the least. Can you tell I loved it?

I never took chemistry, so honestly this is the very first time I had a good look at the Periodic Table, and some of the element’s names were a surprise to me; Americum, Californium, Einsteinium, Europium, Neptunium…

Periodic Table 1

I was very interested in reading the names of all the elements, and it made me curious as to how or why things were named what they were. There was also a table at the bottom showing all the elements, the year they were discovered, and who discovered them. I found it so interesting!

Periodic Table 2

This puzzle was full of things I didn’t know. I’d never heard of Dimitri Mendeleev and had no idea he was the “inventor” of the periodic table. There’s an element named after him too – Mendelevium. I’m sure this isn’t new to many people, but it is to me; I found this entire puzzle not only entertaining, but fascinating as well.

This was one of the puzzles I found in the trunk of mom’s car, and it makes me think of her – she would have loved putting this one together. She knew the kind of puzzles I enjoy, and I’m certain she got this from the thrift store with me in mind. I wish she were here so that I could show her the finished image, tell her thank you, and tell her how much I miss puzzling with her. 💖

Almost There…

On September 22, 2019September 22, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling2 Comments

I’m down to two trays of pieces left on the 2000 piece puzzle, and I’m hoping to finish it today. Only a few hundred pieces to go. 🙂 It’s been so long since I’ve done such a large puzzle, I’m pretty proud of myself! Once it’s done I’d better get a move on and do some smaller puzzles to build my queue back up, I’ve only got four completed puzzles in there.

My youngest son came in the puzzle room yesterday and asked which puzzle I would do next after I finish the current one. He then proceeded to grab boxes one after the other and suggest that I do them next. “Nope”, “Not in the mood for that one”, “Too many pieces”, “I need a smaller one”, etc. He finally picked up one of my Wentworth micro puzzles and showed it to me, and I said “Good choice, I haven’t done that one yet.”

He almost never wants to help me with my puzzles, but it was sweet of him to try and help me pick out the next one. And it made him very happy when I decided to do one of the puzzles he’d suggested. Sometimes when I’m absorbed in a puzzle I don’t always take the time for simple things like letting him help me decide on the next puzzle to assemble; I’m trying to do better. 💝

Review: Flower Cart

On September 21, 2019September 21, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews6 Comments

I was very surprised by the quality of this puzzle – thick pieces and a great fit, very nice image reproduction as well. I’ve never had a Sure-Lox puzzle with such nice quality. Of course, as far as I’m concerned I’d only work these 300 piecers from them.

You’ll be shocked to hear that I bought this new, I paid retail! I was desperate to find some interesting 300 piece puzzles, saw these new looking Sure-Lox boxes and decided to give this one a try. If I get a bee in my bonnet to buy more puzzles, I may go back to Tuesday Morning and get another of these 300 piece puzzles and see if the quality is similar.

Even though I don’t always love flowers in a puzzle, I very much enjoyed this one. It was also the first image from this artist that I’ve assembled; and even though it looks as though it would be quite difficult with the art style, I found it to be just the right amount of challenging and not at all frustrating. The colors were beautiful!

This brand has always been on my naughty list, but this 300 piece puzzle was much better quality than I’ve ever had from Sure-Lox. I would definitely recommend this puzzle, but specifically only this puzzle and not the brand in general.

Details:

Title: Flower Cart
Artist: Patrice Procopio
Brand: Sure-Lox
Piece count: 300 pieces
Size: Approx. 26 x 18 in. (65 x 46 cm)
Purchased: New

Quality:

Board: Very good
Cutting: Good
Image: Very good
Box: Average
Fit: Very good
Puzzle Dust: Small amount
Piece cut: Grid cut
Piece shapes: Good variety
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating: Very good, recommended

Apple Annie’s Carnival Time

On September 20, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Panoramic puzzles make me very happy these days, and I’ve got two more in the to do pile that I’m looking forward to. It’s great being able to reach the top of the puzzle so easily, and they fit my puzzle board very well. This was a lovely image with very good quality, and I had a great time with the assembly.

I noticed that Art Poulin is exacting with words and buildings but draws people and animals a little fuzzy and indistinct…

Apple Annie's 1

You can see the derrick, wagon, and sign are sharp and clear and the sheep next to it is quite blotchy, for lack of a better word. All the animals and people were indistinct and fuzzy and all the buildings and signs were not. I never noticed it in his artwork before. I wonder why, I’ve done quite a few of his puzzles. Perhaps I just wasn’t paying close enough attention.

Apple Annie's 2

Buffalo puzzles for sale. Hmmm. This is a MasterPieces puzzle. Very odd. It made me laugh though, I wonder if the artwork was originally done for Buffalo and then later sold to MasterPieces.

Apple Annie's 3

Also, what in the world is this? This is a panoramic puzzle that is 3 feet long, those are the measurements for a “standard” size puzzle, somebody wasn’t doing their job. I guess they think we don’t pay much attention to things – but they are wrong.

All the weirdness aside, this was a good quality puzzle that I very much enjoyed. The Americana theme is very prevalent in jigsaw puzzles and sometimes I get bored with it, but this one wasn’t boring to me at all, perhaps because of the panoramic aspect. I was completely entertained and that’s what it’s all about. 🙂