The Sewing Shed In Progress

On September 16, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling4 Comments

In Progress 2

I barely got a start on this yesterday evening before the family was wanting food. How rude! They’re always making demands on my time for silly things like sustenance, it’s quite an annoyance. 😉

This puzzle was new in the wrapper and one of the puzzles I brought over from mom’s house; my daughter and I finally started going through her things this weekend. There are still so many puzzles I have to go through, but I only brought home two brand new Ravensburgers that were sitting right on top of all the boxes. I remember when this one was delivered to her house, she was so excited! She was always doing crafts, sewing, crocheting, knitting, etc. She absolutely adored this image and was looking forward to putting it together.

They moved before she was able to get started on this one, and it ended up packed in a box which is where I found it. So now I’m putting it together in her place. And although it makes me sad that she didn’t get to assemble it for herself, I do smile when I remember that just buying this puzzle brought her joy. Hopefully I have as much fun assembling it as she did buying it. 🙂

It’s fitting that I’m working on one of her puzzles now, today would have been my parent’s 54th wedding anniversary; I’ll be thinking of her even more than usual today. Love you mom. 💖

Review: Colored Powder

On September 15, 2019September 15, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews3 Comments

This image is GORGEOUS! It wasn’t as difficult as I’d feared it would be, and I absolutely loved putting it together. 💖

The Big Ben puzzles that I’ve been finding at my local Tuesday Morning store have been very good quality and a joy to work with. I love the slanted grid cut, and the dry feel of the pieces. The fit is quite good as well, and overall the entire puzzle was wonderful.

I started with the light blue, which wasn’t too hard. But the rest of the puzzle was a bit of a challenge mostly because my husband took the extension cord off of the big light directly above my puzzle table. It took a few days for me to find a replacement and before I did, seeing the colors of whichever puzzle I was working on was a little difficult – and this one especially!

Seeing the difference between the reds, oranges, and pinks was made even more problematic because of the lack of good lighting. The hurricane shutters are still on all of our windows (hubby is out of town for work), so I couldn’t even get any help from the window near my table.

All problems aside, this image is so beautiful that I loved watching it come together as each piece was added. It’s a little challenging, but definitely worth it!

Details:

Title: Colored Powder
Artist: Big Ben Puzzles
Brand: Milton Bradley (Big Ben)
Piece count: 500 pieces
Size: Approx. 18 x 24 in. (46 x 61 cm)
Purchased: New

Quality:

Board: Very good
Cutting: Very good
Image: Excellent
Box: Average
Fit: Very good
Puzzle Dust: Moderate amount
Piece cut: Grid cut (slanted)
Piece shapes: Very good variety
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating: Very good, recommended

Pirates

On September 14, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

This is the first puzzle from this box with a missing piece. I was pretty surprised; everything seemed to be well taken care of, and each puzzle is in it’s own small bag. It’s a little disappointing, but there are still a good amount of interesting puzzles in the box that are complete, and I’ve been enjoying putting them together.

Each puzzle has an educational side, where things are named or explained – those are my favorites. The cute pictures are fine too, but I’ve had a great time learning things I didn’t know before, or re-learning things I’ve forgotten.

The explanations of the parts of a pirate ship reminded me of threats I’ve heard on tv shows or movies. “Hang him from the yardarm”, and being “keelhauled”. You can see where the keel is at the bottom of the ship; I think being dragged under the ship attached to the keel is a particularly horrible form of punishment that I would absolutely want to avoid! And being hung by the yardarm was a method of execution that was quite unpleasant as well – not for me, thanks!

Pirates 1

This cute image of cartoony pirates doesn’t really go with my previous paragraph, does it? These are kids puzzles after all. Unfortunately this one won’t be sent with the others to the school where my daughter works, in true pirate fashion it’s lost a leg – and I have no wooden ones to replace it! 😉

Pet Portraits

On September 13, 2019September 13, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles7 Comments

My daughter found me a bunch of clearance puzzles at Barnes and Noble, and she was very insistent that I get this one. Of course, it has a Boston Terrier in it! She loves my Buddy, and we all love Boston Terriers, they are not only adorable dogs, but they’re so wonderfully sweet – especially our Buddy.

Of course it was our favorite portrait in the puzzle…

Pet Portraits 1

That frozen look, especially when we’re playing with our little guy, is what we lovingly call “crazy eyes”. Bostons love to play, and when we’re getting ready to throw a toy he freezes and looks at us with the crazy eyes, it’s because he’s just so excited!

Pet Portraits 2

I love the demure look on the bird’s face – how cute is that? It’s like she knows she’s cute and is posing for a picture. Adorable! I’m not a fan of birds as pets, only because I very much enjoy peace and quiet, and I find that birds are always making noise – no thank you. I’d much rather assemble a puzzle with birds. 😉

The puzzle itself was good quality, but I’ve had quite a few puzzles with just the one piece shape lately and they’re a bit boring. I enjoy figuring out which piece shape I’m looking for, and I find it’s also very helpful when you have a large area of one color. I’m choosing what to puzzle next right now, and if I open the box and see only one piece shape I close it right back up and keep looking for a more interesting one with a variety of shapes.

Panorama in Progress

On September 12, 2019September 12, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling4 Comments

In Progress

I’m almost done with the 1000 piece panoramic puzzle I’m working on; all that’s left is the trees and grass. I’ve separated the pieces by shape, and it shouldn’t be too long now.

I’m excited to complete this one, and I’ve been having a great time with all the panoramic puzzles I’ve been assembling lately. It’s nice being able to comfortably reach the top of the puzzle, and in general I just enjoy them even though I’m not sure exactly why.

All the images I’ve found have been completely entertaining and engrossing – I think I may be addicted to panoramic puzzles at the moment. 😉