The 50 United States of America

On April 28, 2017May 18, 2023 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Yup, another kid’s puzzle and another new company! It only took a few minutes to assemble this one, but it was so cute!

Lafayette Puzzle Factory is a new one for me and I know they do adult puzzles too – I’m looking forward to trying one. The pieces of this puzzle were on the thin side but are extremely sturdy which is excellent for a kid’s puzzle. The colors were amazingly bright and pretty without being over the top and the pieces fit together very well. I’m very impressed with the quality!

This is an excellent informational puzzle as well, it shows the 50 states and their capitals-it even shows something extra in a few states, something they’re well known for. Oranges from Florida, grapes from California, farms in Iowa, etc. I will admit though that at first I had no idea what they’re showing in Nevada and I had to really look at it to figure it out!

Great first puzzle from this company, if the adult puzzles are as well made I’ll be a happy puzzler! 🙂

I Tried…

On April 27, 2017May 18, 2023 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling2 Comments

This is the next puzzle I’ll be assembling! Look at those nice thick pieces 🙂

For six months I wrote every day about the puzzle I was working on; it became a habit. For six months I worked on the puzzle every single day, keeping track of how many pieces I was able to add and documenting my progress with pictures. I would get up in the morning (or middle of the night if I wasn’t feeling well) get a cup of coffee and head into the golf/puzzle room to look at the puzzle, start the day’s assembly, or check and see if someone from a new country had looked at my blog. People from 28 different countries have checked out my jigsaw journal, isn’t that amazing?!

When the Disney puzzle was completed there was a sense of loss almost, I no longer had the project to work on and I no longer needed to document my work. There was no longer any chit chat with myself and anyone who reads the blog about how I was feeling, how the day’s progress went, etc. I miss that.

I’ve kept up with the blog, but have only been posting a puzzle every other day because there’s no way I can keep up with a puzzle a day. I have lots of time on my hands but not that much! I have several puzzles completed and the posts already written, but I’m only posting them every other day in case work on a larger or more difficult puzzle takes a lot of time. But I miss sitting and putting down my thoughts about the puzzle I’m working on, or the new fascinating puzzle mom found at the thrift store, or how I’ve gone off my rocker again and bought a bunch of new puzzles. 😉

I tried to only post a completed puzzle every other day, but I’ve decided this morning (up at 2 am 😐 ) that there’s no reason why I can’t just sit down and blog about jigsaw puzzles on days where I haven’t completed a puzzle. There’s plenty of jigsaw jabbering going on in my head so I might as well get it out and put it here in my “journal”. I’m sure it won’t be scintillating or noteworthy to most people, but I’m alright with that. It’s more for me than anyone else really, but if there is a person or two out there who enjoys the jigsaw jawing and jargon you are more than welcome to hang out and read along!

Does that mean I’m adding a sub-hobby to my jigsaw hobby? Or is blogging about jigsaw puzzles a completely new hobby? Does the word “hobby” look weird to anyone else? I think I may need a nap today.

Let’s Golf

On April 26, 2017May 18, 2023 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

So I got a big surprise the other day, hubby apparently ordered a couple of puzzles for me to do. They’re for him when they’re done, I’m just supposed to assemble them. Two golf puzzles for his golf room! Of course I’ve taken over some real estate in that room for puzzle assembly so perhaps it’s the golf/puzzle room? Nevertheless, two puzzles arrived that day; this 500 piece Ravensburger and a 1500 piece puzzle by Mandolin. I’ve never heard of Mandolin before. Oooh, interesting!

The first of the two puzzles he got is this adorable collage image. There are even golf valentines in there, how cute is that? This is a large piece puzzle, so it’s impressively sized, and that’s also part of the reason I wanted to do this one first. There’s something about the large pieces that makes me want to work them. The large Ravensburger pieces have the best tactile feel to them, it’s heavenly!

This one didn’t take long at all, especially because hubby helped a little bit. It’s hard for him to stay away from anything golf related. 😐 It was nice to have him help me, he’s been tied up with work and other things for a while and hasn’t assembled a puzzle with me for quite some time. I enjoyed having him help with the assembly, especially since he wants to frame the puzzle for himself.

There were lots of words to assemble, which I love, and lots of golf balls to find and assemble too. The colors are very bright and cheery, but old timey and cute as well. Hubby was even pleased to find some maps or whatever you call them of holes at the “Old Course” in Scotland. There were so many interesting little things to see everywhere that made it so much fun that it went quickly and was super enjoyable!

He wants to frame both puzzles when they’re completed, so I’ll be gluing this one together today. Mom will be so pleased to have something to hunt for at the thrift stores, we need to find a frame. 🙂

Higgledy-Piggledy House

On April 24, 2017May 18, 2023 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

I started this puzzle in the evening at 9 pm, and before 4 pm the next day it was finished! This is another one of those puzzles that is just too much fun to do. 😎

Colin Thompson’s artwork is great for puzzling, there is always something interesting that you didn’t really notice at first, but right there in the room is a whole other house or a doorway that leads to who knows where. Even the most common looking scene has interesting things in it that you don’t notice right away, it’s always entertaining. And this image is almost like there are 12 smaller puzzles to assemble, what could be more fun?

I’ve enjoyed assembling some of his other cupboard puzzles by Ravensburger, and sometimes there is almost too much going on for my taste – it gets a little too crowded with things. (just my opinion, of course). But this puzzle has just the right amount of crowded space balanced out with some more plain areas . I thought it was the perfect combination!

Each room in the Higgledy-Piggledy House has different wallpaper or paint color, so you start there and before you know it the whole darn house is finished. At least that’s how it was for me. Excellent Ravensburger quality as usual, I can’t recommend this puzzle enough!

Back to…. Basics!

On April 22, 2017May 18, 2023 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

You’re probably tired of hearing me say this, but this puzzle was so fun! Pretty much most of the puzzles I do are enjoyable – because jigsaw puzzles are fun!! And as usual with a Wasgij puzzle I am not showing the entire image – no spoilers here!

It took longer than usual to finish this puzzle, most of the week was spent lying in bed and resting – but I buckled down and finally got it done. This Wasgij concept is Back to…. In these puzzles the box shows you a scene as it is today, and you have to puzzle what it would have been like back then – a time period of their choosing. For this particular image the box shows a family’s living room as it is today – people on cell phones, playing video games, on the computer, listening to an MP3 player, reading a tablet, etc. So what would this living room have looked like back in the 60’s? What kept everyone entertained before computers, cell phones and electronic games?

I love this concept, and I was excited to get going on this puzzle – of course it didn’t disappoint! (Tiny spoiler alert) My favorite thing about this puzzle was a small thing but it made me happy – they were playing a board game that looks like Parcheesi! My family and I love that game and I played it with the kids a LOT when they were younger. My daughter learned it so well that she became quite the shark and was ruthless when playing – her daddy taught her that! Anyway, it made me smile. 🙂

I enjoyed this assembly very much, in this particular image it was quite easy to pull out a section of color or pattern and put it together. One pattern leads to another and before you know it everything is connecting and coming together to form the entire image. The artwork by Neil Easton is well done with clean lines and lots of humor. And as usual the pieces are thick, fit together extremely well and have a matte finish with an almost waxy feel. Jumbo puzzles are some of the best out there – they’re right up there with Ravensburger in my opinion. I love them both!

I haven’t tried a Wasgij Mystery puzzle yet, so I think that may be the next one I try. I can’t wait to solve the mystery and puzzle what happens!