Author: Stacey at myjigsawjournal

Retro

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles5 Comments

Retro by Lois B. Sutton – White Mountain – 550 pieces

So much fun! As with most collages this one went together quickly and I enjoyed each and every section. There’s just something about these images (and collages in general) that ticks the box for me; assembling them makes me happy.

This was a pretty good quality White Mountain puzzle, with my only concern being a little bit of a loose fit. The reproduction was the best I’ve seen from this brand for a while, I was impressed.

Ah, 8 track tapes. Boy do I have plenty of memories of these! If you’re a young’un you may not know about these – they were like cassette tapes that you cannot rewind. We had an 8 track player in our vehicle when I was young, and listening to Disney movies or songs on them is a treasured childhood memory for me.

8 tracks also remind me of a toy I received for Christmas one year, a 2XL “robot”. It was basically an 8 track player dressed up like a robot that asked you trivia questions and you answered by choosing which “track” was the correct answer. It was sort of like those make your own stories books, you choose where to go with your answers. I know my explanation doesn’t make much sense, but that was the toy and I remember it fondly.

Here’s another thing you may not know about if you’re younger – the test pattern that would come on television at the end of the broadcast day. Where I lived they used to play the national anthem and then a test pattern like this (or others) would be the only thing you could find on tv. Round-the-clock programming was not a thing; and after the late night shows there was literally nothing on tv.

Hi-yo Silver – away! I cannot think about The Lone Ranger without thinking of my dad and watching this show with him on Sunday mornings. It always seemed so stupid to me that the mask over his eyes made it so that no one recognized him; his voice never changed nor did the bottom half of his face. It was a thrilling show at the time, but my memories are mostly enjoying watching tv with my dad. 💗

About the title – it’s funny to me that “retro” means different things to different people. What’s retro to me is NOT the same for another generation. The 80s may seem retro to some, but to me it’s the time when I was coming of age – not retro.

Retro is relative, you might say.

Parisian Charm

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles5 Comments

Parisian Charm by David Maclean – Wentworth – 40 pieces

I took the picture at the wrong angle on a truly bad day, I’m sorry for the shine. By the time I checked the image it was already taken apart and put away and I just wasn’t feeling up to putting it together again even though it was only 40 pieces.

This is what it’s supposed to look like….

Normally this isn’t really my kind of image, but at only 40 pieces pretty much any artwork is worth a shot in my book. It’s pretty, don’t get me wrong, it just doesn’t really excite. Just my personal opinion; we can’t all like the same things.

Very Parisian whimsies too!

Authors In Progress

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling9 Comments

Authors – Re-marks – 1000 pieces

The current Re-marks puzzle I’m working on is very good quality and much more entertaining than the last few puzzles I’ve done – what a relief! I was starting to think that perhaps I should give puzzles a rest for a while.

I haven’t done well in choosing which ones to assemble this month and out of the five puzzles I’ve done so far only one of them was truly enjoyable. I need to stop picking puzzles based on what I think I need for the blog and start choosing ones I actually want to do in the moment (which seems to be easier said than done for me).

Of course it really isn’t the puzzles, it’s me and the state of my mind and body. I’m feeling awful and having to take all my pain meds all day, which makes me feel groggy and stupid – not the best for sitting at the puzzle table. And of course there’s the anxiety and depression, it doesn’t help matters at all. Having mental health issues along with physical health problems just plain ol’ sucks.

I’ll just keep plugging away, even though my puzzling has slowed down quite a bit. What’s the old expression? Fake it till you make it.

Happy Vibes

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

Happy Vibes by Aimee Stewart – Buffalo – 1000 pieces

How many more ways can I find to tell you how much I love Aimee Stewart’s artwork? I fear it’s getting redundant. Apologies. This puzzle was beautiful, entertaining, and great quality (except for quite a few bent pieces). The use of color, the composition – everything was just right. It’ll come as no surprise that I loved it – it was a challenge at times, but it wouldn’t be fun otherwise. 💖

Buffalo puzzles come in small square boxes that just hold all the pieces with not a lot of room left over. In this case, it seems as though the pieces didn’t break apart as easily as they normally do and were bent by the box top being put on in the factory. It isn’t that much of a big deal, I’ve dealt with much worse; I did think it was worth mentioning though.

Love the vintage look of this postcard, and the feathers were really fun to assemble too.

The look of this pen reminds me of a great puzzle mom and I assembled together about 5 years ago – called Fountain Pens. Gorgeous puzzle. That was the first thing that popped into my head when I saw this pen, and it had me going back through the blog to find the old puzzle post. Who doesn’t love the look of a beautiful old fountain pen?

So many butterflies!

All in all it was a great puzzle with such a beautiful image that I never wanted to stop working on it, even when I absolutely needed to stop working and take a break. So many happy vibes to assemble, no time for breaks!

Tiny Toy Tops

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Tiny Toy Tops by Alyssa Hemsath Mooney – Milton Bradley – 300 pieces

This puzzle was SO much more difficult than it looks; I definitely misjudged the challenge level. From the box image it looked so bright and happy, but the pieces themselves seemed so dark and painterly. It took me quite a bit longer than a 300 piece puzzle usually does.

That isn’t to say it wasn’t enjoyable, because it was. Figuring things out, deciphering the colors and shapes and eventually putting everything back together again gave me such a sense of accomplishment – I did it!

It’s been a while since I’ve done a Milton Bradley puzzle. This one was good quality; with somewhat thin pieces and a good fit. They aren’t a go-to brand, but they’re not too bad either.

If you’re looking for a 300 piece puzzle that’s a little more challenging than most, give this one a try. It definitely gave me a run for my money. 💵🏃‍♀️