Author: Stacey at myjigsawjournal

Vintage Matchboxes In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling7 Comments

Vintage Matchboxes by Karen Romanko – Colorcraft Puzzles – 1000 pieces

This puzzle was started a few days ago, but it seems to be going quite slowly. The picture above is only one corner of the puzzle, but I’m afraid a picture of the whole thing wouldn’t look like much as it’s only going together one matchbox at a time and everything is spread out all over.

At this particular moment I’m working on all the boxes with either blue or green in them – slow work indeed!

In addition, there’s something about the finish on this puzzle that likes to stick to my arms; so I’ve taken to covering the bottom of the puzzle with fabric when I’m not working there so that I can work on the rest of the puzzle (or the blog) without upending the whole thing when I take my arms away from the table.

Still, I’m enjoying this one even though it’s only going together bit by tiny bit. That’s what matters. 😊

I Love Music

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

I Love Music by Charlie Girard – White Mountain – 1000 pieces

This was a bright and beautiful collage image that was lots of fun to assemble. And as an added bonus I was happy to work with the new finish that White Mountain used, I liked it very much.

This puzzle had very good quality for this brand. Sometimes it can be hit or miss, but I put up with little annoyances because they have such a great catalog of collages – and my readers know that they are my puzzle happy place. It had a variety of piece shapes, relatively thick chipboard, a very good fit, a lovely matte finish, and good image reproduction. Many of the posters seemed blurry, but I think that may be because they used the old images which weren’t the sharpest. All in all it was the nicest White Mountain puzzle I’ve done in quite a while.

Love the colors and the look of this one – and the “address” is funny to me. Max Yasgur’s farm. I was one year old in 1969, so I definitely do not remember Woodstock.

This concert was twenty years earlier, in 1949 – when my mom was just under two years old! The difference between Billie Holiday’s music and the music of the sixties was VAST.

There were so many letters and words in this image that, other than the heart, the big letters were one of the last bits to be put together. I enjoyed it much more than anticipated though, and that’s always a bonus in my book.

Does this look like a puzzle you’d enjoy? It’s definitely recommended!

Mojo

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles8 Comments

Mojo by Kristian Adams – Artifact – 118 pieces

This is such a cute image and was lots of fun to put together. As an added bonus, the wonderfully interesting piece shapes made it much more challenging than your average 100 piece puzzle.

Artifact Puzzles are so entertaining, and I love that they have so many different piece shapes to choose from. When you’re shopping you can see sample pieces of the puzzle you’re looking at so you can decide if it is going to be puzzle you’d be interested in assembling. Their quality is excellent, their prices are very good for wooden puzzles (in my opinion), and additionally they have free shipping within the United States.

Cute little whimsies too! Even though it was quite small, this puzzle was so much fun to put together. I’m looking forward to assembling it again on a rainy day when no other puzzle seems to be the right one. 💖

Kiddie Puzzles In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling10 Comments

Unnamed Puzzles – Oriental Trading – 12 pieces each

I haven’t started actually assembling any of these puzzles yet; I’ve decided to color them all first. My daughter went out to dinner and somehow got them to give her the puzzles they have for kids to play with at the restaurant. Love her!

Got myself a small box of eight crayons, but I should have known they wouldn’t do the job. I tried coloring in the image with the elephant on the left, but the waxy crayons just aren’t the right tool for the job.

The next time hubby went to the store I asked for a small box of markers, and he decided to get me colored pencils as well. So after the zebra is colored in I’ll try the pencils and see how those look, though I have a feeling the markers will definitely be the best.

If you’re wondering, I actually DO know that zebras aren’t pink and orange, but so what? I think it looks pretty cool and I’m enjoying myself. 🖍😎🖍

Cardinal Glass

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Cardinal Glass by Cynthie Fisher – Big Ben (Luxe) – 500 pieces

This puzzle had an extremely loose fit which made this frustrating and difficult to work with. I liked the image, but all that green was a b*tch to deal with as well as the crappy fit.

Big Ben puzzles have been hit and miss in the quality department for me; sometimes I’m amazed at the good quality and sometimes I want to stomp on the pieces while screaming and throwing a tantrum like a two year old. Hit or miss.

For me, puzzle brands whose quality isn’t something you can be sure of are brands that I no longer buy new. I refuse to pay retail for a puzzle with quality that may contribute to my regression to an angry toddler. Big Ben is one of those brands I usually only get second hand at the thrift store.

If the price is only a few dollars it doesn’t frustrate me as much because I know going in that the pieces may not be all there or it may not be the best quality. That’s my twisted logic anyway.