My Jigsaw Journal’s 1st Birthday!

On September 29, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling8 Comments

Check out my “birthday” present to myself!

Happy 1st Birthday to My Jigsaw Journal! 🎂 I can’t believe it’s been an entire year. And to celebrate you can see I’ve bought myself a present – a gorgeous wooden jigsaw puzzle from Artifact Puzzles, doesn’t it look like fun? I’m excited to get started assembling it, my very first wooden puzzle!

One year ago I had just received an enormous package from Germany containing the world’s largest jigsaw puzzle, and had decided to start a blog to document my progress assembling it. Wow. What a difference a year makes; here are the stats…..

398 posts (including this one)
252 puzzles assembled and 233 posted (this includes each of the 10 sections of Memorable Disney Moments, and 19 puzzles completed but not yet posted)
197,516 pieces assembled (Yes, I went back and added up the piece counts of every puzzle!)
21 puzzles and 4 games “officially” reviewed
8,092 views
1,360 visitors to the blog from over 52 countries

That’s craziness to me, I remember when I was so excited that 22 different people had looked at the blog! I started it just for friends and family to keep up with my progress on the 40,320 piece puzzle I had insanely decided to assemble. It wasn’t part of the plan to keep up with the blog once the puzzle was complete, but I found I enjoy talking about puzzles almost as much as I enjoy puzzles themselves!

This is just a tiny little blog in internet terms; I don’t have thousands of followers, but I do have fellow puzzle fans like myself who follow the blog to read and comment and I’m grateful for every one of them. Thanks so much my puzzle people! 😉

Special thanks to Puzzle Warehouse for giving me the opportunity to assemble and review puzzles for them, I’ve loved doing it. Most especially I have to thank my mom for being part of my Puzzle Posse, for being interested in and reading the blog every single day, and for helping to feed my puzzle addiction with her black belt thrift store skills. Love you!

Here’s to another year of happy puzzling! 😎

Alphabet

On September 28, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Time for another guest post. 🙂

*Black belt thrift store puzzle shopper here* (that’s my mom)

I find it nearly impossible to leave an unusual puzzle behind in the thrift store. Therefore, this puzzle came home with me, even though the package was in rough shape. This was from a company I had never done before, and for only 69 cents I more than got my money’s worth from it. A search for Hambly Studios, Inc. yielded a website for a maker of scrapbooking materials, rather than puzzles.

That said, I had a great time with the puzzle. It kept an old lady entertained and off the streets until well into the night. (Actually, till 1:00 AM, when I finally surrendered and went to bed.) Truth be told, I would have finished it if hubby had not come in and reminded me I had to get up early for church!

The fit was very loose, with just a slight jostle dislodging 4 or 5 pieces at a time. It was still a LOT OF FUN. Unfortunately it was missing 4 pieces. It would have been a keeper otherwise, in spite of the loose fit – I enjoyed it that much and would have done this puzzle again.

The packaging left a lot to be desired, as it was a clear plastic container; much like the throwaway packaging on a lot of items we buy these days. The advantage was that it was easy to see the quality of the pieces without having to open the container. Still, it was very flimsy and that may be how 4 pieces escaped.

All in all I enjoyed this puzzle very much, despite it’s quirks and missing pieces. It is still sitting on my board, as I can’t quite bring myself to throw it away just yet. Maybe tonight. When another puzzle calls my name and I need a place to work on it.

Doc McStuffins

On September 27, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

This puzzle was lots of fun! Mom and I assembled it together and we both found it very interesting. There are 3 puzzles in one box, 3 different sizes of pieces; you can assemble them one at a time, or do them all and make a panoramic puzzle.

The piece counts are 24, 48, and 63 pieces. They were a good thickness, sturdy, and fit together nicely. It’s a shame there was a piece missing because this was a very nice puzzle; Cardinal does a good job with kid’s puzzles in my opinion.

I liked the irregular border on these puzzles and that the different piece sizes make it an excellent puzzle to work on with someone else. If you’ve got a child who likes Doc McStuffins, I would definitely recommend this puzzle. 🙂

Vibrant Puzzle Calendar Kit Puzzles 3 & 4

On September 26, 2017September 28, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles1 Comment

Bouquet 100 pieces

Window Box 100 pieces

This is the second puzzle from this calendar kit that I’ve assembled. I really am enjoying them! I don’t normally do 2 sided puzzles, but these small ones have been pretty fun. If you didn’t see my post on the calendar kit and what is included click here see puzzles 1 and 2.

The images are all stock photos it seems, and they’re all flowers in some form or another. Pretty pictures! Even though they are only 100 pieces it’s still enjoyable for me, and it’s still interesting to watch the images come together. I used to be snobby and think that puzzles less than 1000 pieces weren’t for me, they’re too easy or not worth my time. I have, of course, come to my senses! 😉

As long as you’re having fun, who cares about anything else? Doesn’t matter if it’s a brand no one else seems to like, or you don’t finish your puzzles as fast as other people. What’s important is that you’re enjoying the hobby, right? I say if it isn’t fun for you, stop! If you’re enjoying it, go for it. It isn’t a competition, it’s a hobby. And first and foremost it’s supposed to be fun. (stepping down from my soapbox)

It’s so interesting the variety of puzzles we’ve found in the many thrift stores in our area. Vintage, newer, from gently loved to never been opened; from Aquarius to White Mountain, and puzzles from many countries! We have one from South Africa that I haven’t assembled yet, and mom just found an awesome Japanese puzzle that I’m working on at the moment. 😎

Review: Dr. Seuss I Can Do That Card Game

On September 25, 2017September 25, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Game Reviews2 Comments

This post is sponsored by Puzzle Warehouse.

810558010259 — Dr. Suess The Cat in the Hat I Can Do That! Card Game – Ravensburger

I was a little bummed out when I got I Can Do That to review, because I knew I wouldn’t be able to play it. I was injured several years ago and have had mobility issues since, but I’m still a child at heart. So even though I was looking forward to playing it, I turned it over to my 10 year old product tester instead. Thank goodness cookies keep him on the payroll! 😉

The game is simple, really. There are 24 cards and a foam fishbowl (see the picture above). You lay all the cards out face down, like when you play a memory game. The object is to turn over a red action card, a blue location card, and a yellow fish card. If one of each card is not drawn they are put back and it is the next player’s turn. Remember where the cards are so that you can turn over one of each color on your next turn. Once all 3 color cards are drawn that player has to act out the activity described by the 3 cards, e.g. crab walk to the window with the fish between your elbows. If the player completes that activity they get to keep the cards. The player with the most cards at the end of the game wins.

I made sure that Levi had the game before Hurricane Irma dropped in to visit, there’s no better time to play games then when the power’s out! Here’s his review…..

He thought this game was fun and interactive (his word not mine). He thought some of the things you have to do are funny and some are hard, such as hopping to the front door and back with the fish on your head! He said you look goofy doing some of the things, but that also makes it fun. He wasn’t sure about the age range starting at 3 years old because some of the things are very difficult to accomplish – even when you modify the game for younger children as per the instructions.

Levi thinks it would be a good family game, maybe for a holiday gathering or family dinner. Also, he says he thinks there should be more cards, because with multiple people the games goes by really quickly. Overall he liked it very much; it kept him moving and there were plenty of laughs too. It gets a thumbs up from Levi. 👍

While I wasn’t able to play it, I agree that it would be a fun game at a family gathering or game night, especially with kids and grownups playing together. I knew that Ravensburger made games and toys in addition to puzzles, but I had no idea the range of games they have available. Click to see all the Ravensburger games available at Puzzle Warehouse. (Mom loves the mandala designers – she has about 4 in her house right now!)

This was a fun review for Levi, but I’m hoping the next game I get to review is something I can play too – I hate being left out of the fun stuff! 🙂