Star Wars Finn

On January 16, 2020January 15, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

I wanted the first puzzle of the year to be a thrift store puzzle, for mom. 💚 I went to the thrift store on New Year’s Eve, and was lucky enough to find a few kids puzzles that looked as though they might be entertaining. It’s always nice to start out a new month with a finished puzzle on day one, and kids puzzles are perfect when I haven’t timed it right to have a larger puzzle ready to be completed.

My sons both love Star Wars, so I thought this was a good choice for the first puzzle of the year. It was missing a piece, but I honestly didn’t mind. It’s the chance you take buying second hand, and I still enjoyed putting it together.

My youngest had to tell me the name of this character; I haven’t seen any of the newer Star Wars movies, so I had no idea who this was. His name is Finn, and he was a storm trooper, and lots of other information that I didn’t really grasp or process. I got the whole, long storyline for Finn from my son, and all I asked for was the name of the character!

These Cardinal puzzles for children aren’t the greatest quality, the pieces are thin and easily bent (and perhaps easy to lose too). But they’re perfect for a thrift store find; once the kids have played with them enough they find their way to me or some other puzzle junkie who enjoys assembling puzzles of all shapes and sizes. 😉

Heroes & Heroines

On January 14, 2020January 13, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

This was my last puzzle of 2019, I’m glad I made it a good one – it’s an Aimee Stewart. I don’t have a lot to say about it other than it was a beautiful image and an excellent quality Ravensburger with exceptional fit and great hand feel.

It wasn’t an easy assembly, but that’s part of what made it fun – the challenge is both engrossing and entertaining.

These were my favorite couples to assemble, Marguerite and Armand (from the 19th century novel La Dame aux Camelias by Alexandre Dumas), and Christine and Erik (from Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux). I haven’t read either of them, but they were fun to put together.

After reading the insert, I must admit that I didn’t know who some of the heroes & heroines were; I haven’t read many love stories and not a lot of the usual literary works either. And yes, that means I haven’t read Wuthering Heights, The Great Gatsby and many other works of literature that most people have read. Oh well, I have no inclination to read them now either – I’d rather spend my time with my family or a jigsaw puzzle to be honest.

Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood

On January 13, 2020January 13, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles3 Comments

Mr Rogers — Mister Rogers Neighborhood – Aquarius – 500 pieces

The top half of this puzzle was much easier than the bottom; I knew it might be a little challenging, but I had no idea how much. Fortunately I did enjoy it as much as I’d hoped, and the background colors were my favorite part – obviously. 🙂

It’s fun when you receive puzzles as gifts, they may not always be what you might have chosen yourself, but most of the time they end up being more fun than you thought. I almost always give them a try; someone cared enough to pick out a puzzle just for me, it would be thoughtless of me to dismiss it just because I didn’t pick it out myself.

Most of the difficulty in this puzzle lies with the picture they’ve used; in the background Mister Rogers is in sharp focus, while in the foreground The Neighborhood of Make Believe is out of focus and quite blurry.

You can see the difference when the pictures are side by side, it’s quite striking actually. Still, I don’t believe the fault lies with the reproduction, it’s the picture itself.

This image brought back memories, I recall watching the show when I was young, mostly the opening scene where he would come in singing and changing his sweater and shoes. I also recall the Neighborhood of Make Believe with King Friday who bellowed and didn’t always think first before speaking, and Daniel Tiger who was very shy and sweet. (Daniel was my favorite 🐯)

I’ve watched the documentary about Fred Rogers, and I’m looking forward to the movie starring Tom Hanks. Mister Rogers was a kind, loving man who cared deeply about children and spent his life educating, uplifting, and championing them. I don’t know if many outside the US are aware of him or his show, but I certainly watched and loved it as a child. 💗

Review: Circles Strokes

On January 11, 2020January 11, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews8 Comments

I do so love blocks of color. 💖 This puzzle was a lovely respite from holiday images (it was finished on December 22), and even though it was a bit difficult I enjoyed the unique image and the gold foil accents. It’s such different and interesting artwork, and you know how much I love things that aren’t the norm.

As I do many times, after purchasing this puzzle I opened the box to look at the pieces; then, as I do, put it away because it looked like it would be pretty difficult. Several times the box came out when it was time to choose the next puzzle, and it went back in the pile every time. Luckily, this time I jumped at the chance to do a puzzle without snow or Santa, and started sorting before giving myself a chance to question how challenging it would be.

This is a special Gold edition Milton Bradley puzzle, and I found the quality to be quite good. Nice, thick chipboard with a good fit, wonderful colors, and beautiful gold foil accents. I wish pictures could capture the gold foil, it’s really quite beautiful.

Some of the colors were easy to pick out, and once I started getting things assembled the pieces became more familiar and it was easier to notice the subtle differences in color. It’s like most images, the more you do the more you become familiar with it; the more familiar the pieces become, the easier it is to see what you’re looking for. It provided a good challenge though, and kept me intensely focused only on what piece was next and which color goes where.

If you’re looking for something out of the ordinary and this image is one that strikes your fancy, I can definitely recommend this puzzle. I found it to be very good quality, with an image that made for a challenging and engrossing assembly. 👍

Details:

Title: Circles Strokes
Artist: Kirsten Hinte
Brand: Milton Bradley
Piece count: 750 pieces
Size: Approx. 27 x 20 in. (69 x 51 cm)
Purchased: New

Quality:

Board: Very good
Cutting: Very good
Image: Excellent, gold foil
Box: Average
Fit: Very good
Puzzle Dust: Small amount
Piece cut: Grid cut
Piece shapes: Very good variety
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating: Very good, recommended

True Love

On January 10, 2020January 9, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles8 Comments

This puzzle is just too, too adorable. It’s a little bit odd though, did you notice the owl in the window? It took me a while to see it at first, in fact the only reason I noticed it was that I was trying to figure out where an eye went! And if this tableau is about the True Love our pets give us, tell me, who has a deer as a pet? That’s just a little weird. Cute, but weird.

True Love 1

French bulldogs are my absolute favorite breed, how adorable is this little one? I just want to cuddle with him/her for hours and hours!

True Love 2

There’s something about that sad face underneath the shower cap, I can’t really explain it – it just makes me laugh.

I’m off to have a painful wisdom tooth removed this morning, so I’ll probably be loopy and in bed all day, with no puzzling going on at all. Please put a few puzzle pieces together for me today, I won’t be able to. 🧩