Category: Jigsaw Puzzles

Follow Your Nose

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles10 Comments
Nose
Follow Your Nose by Lucia Heffernan – Buffalo – 300 pieces

Follow Your Nose is chock full of delightful doggie faces and it made for a truly entertaining assembly. It didn’t take long to put together, and I would love to assemble it in a larger piece count as well, it would make for a fabulous 1000 piece puzzle!

Many times I’ve said that, “It would make a great 1000 piece puzzle”, and almost every time I’ve never seen that image in a larger count. It makes me wonder why so many images are only in a certain piece count; wouldn’t it be advantageous to make each one into different piece counts to reach a larger number of consumers? Honestly, I have no idea how licensing works; when you sell artwork to a puzzle company is it only for use once, on one puzzle? Or does licensing have nothing to do with it, and it’s the puzzle companies who makes all of these decisions?

I have emailed the VP of Sales, Marketing, and Product Development at Buffalo Games to hopefully get answers to these questions, just for my own “piece” of mind. Stay tuned to see if I can get this information for all of us puzzle nerds. 🤓

Back to today’s puzzle! My daughter bought me four Buffalo 300 piece puzzles a few weeks ago, and I’ve enjoyed every single one – from Doug the Pug to this gorgeous collage. I always feel better when I have a few smaller piece count puzzles around, it lessens my anxiety. It means I’m not surrounded by only 1000 piece or larger puzzles, and that if I need to get my puzzle on there are plenty of little ones around to feed my habit without the stress of opening and sorting a larger one.

Nose 1

While all of the puppers in this puzzle were cute, these two were my favorites, and they were right next to each other. Both of my sons love Corgis, so I’m a little biased towards them – if my boys like them, then I do too 😉 And the German Shepherd (hopefully I got the breed right) is just so sweet with the adorable puppy dog eyes and that nose; he’s off the charts on the cuteness scale!

These 300 piece Buffalo puzzles were all great quality: thick pieces that fit together well, a good variety of piece shapes, and excellent image reproduction – I highly recommend every one! They made me smile, relieved some stress, gave me lots to do when I couldn’t sleep, and helped me deal with my extremely severe case of PADS.

Although, these puzzles make me want to stock up with many more, so perhaps the PADS is flaring up again. Win some, lose some 🤷‍♀️

It’s All Good

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles12 Comments
All Good
It’s All Good by Thaneeya McArdle – Ceaco – 550 pieces

Another sleepless night, another puzzle finished more quickly than it should be. I’m not complaining mind you, I relish the time at night when the house is silent and I’m left with my puzzle and my only thoughts are which piece fits here, and where does this pattern go. No one needs anything from me in the middle of the night, and I’m free to puzzle with no interruptions.

This is the second puzzle from a trio of images by Thaneeya McArdle that I’ve assembled. The first one was so enjoyable that I immediately had to return to the store and pick up the other two. It’s been a while since the first one was put together, but I distinctly remember that it was missing a piece. Guess what? Yep, you guessed it, another missing piece!

All Good 1

I’m not one who immediately assumes it’s the company’s fault, in fact I’m certain most missing pieces are the fault of the consumer. This is very odd though, it seems unlikely that I would lose a piece from each of these puzzles (although it very well may be what happened). Perhaps it’s purposeful; do you really believe “It’s All Good”, even with a missing piece? Can you remain calm and happy with an incomplete puzzle? 😉

That may be a bit too existential for Ceaco though, and most likely the missing piece stowed away on my sleeve to another room. It’s most likely hiding under a pillow, near the baseboards, or in the pantry, etc. The possibilities are endless!

Other than the small problem of an errant puzzle piece possibly hiding somewhere in my house, the quality was pretty good for a Ceaco; there were the odd pieces still connected, a slightly bent piece or two, and a LOT of puzzle dust. But overall it was good quality and the assembly was entirely captivating. The image is so bright and interesting that it totally sucked me in and had me completely engrossed. Isn’t that what a good puzzle is supposed to do?

I’d better finish the third puzzle soon, any bets on whether or not there’ll be a piece missing? I’m going to say the third time will be the charm and it will be complete – here’s hoping!

C. S. Lewis

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments
CS Lewis
C. S. Lewis – Re-marks – 1000 pieces

This puzzle was great fun! I had such a good time that I could barely walk away from it, every piece put in lead me to another and so on; it went together much more quickly than most 1000 piece puzzles do for me because I was having such a good time. Collages are the best!

Sometimes I’m torn between keeping at it because I’m having so much fun, and slowing down to make it last longer. Usually I choose to keep at it; because – why put a damper on my puzzle fun? But sometimes I choose to walk away for a bit or just slow down putting in the pieces to really savor the assembly. This was one of those that I chose to keep on puzzling, it was extremely enjoyable.

The quality was a bit disappointing though; the fit was loose and spongy, and the piece shapes are very obvious in the finished image. Most likely my particular copy of this puzzle was produced at the end of the run when the die was duller. It happens with every puzzle brand, and it doesn’t mean the brand has poor quality. The assembly was delightful, but the overall the fit made it slightly less satisfying.

My first thought when I saw the puzzle was that I had no idea C. S. Lewis was so prolific, but a closer look showed that there are many books shown multiple times with different covers. Both The Screwtape Letters, and The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe are shown with five different covers!

CS Lewis 1

This was my favorite of The Screwtape Letters covers. I’m not sure why; usually I go for lots of color, but there’s something about this one, maybe it’s the pointillism – it’s quite striking. And believe it or not this was one of the easier covers to assemble. It just looks so cool. 😎

I had a great time assembling this puzzle even though I was somewhat frustrated with the quality. I’m recommending it as it was so entertaining, but am cautioning about the quality – specifically the fit. For me, the fact that putting it together was so absorbing outweighs the annoyance of the loose fit; but ultimately it’s something you’ll have to decide for yourself.

 

*I’m fully aware that my thoughts about this puzzle are all over the place; and I have no excuse other than to say that they are factual. Collages make me truly happy when I assemble them, and unless the quality is completely horrid I will enjoy myself. But I also feel a responsibility to let my readers know if there are quality problems, even small ones. If there is a problem with the fit, the cut, the chipboard, or anything else I need to let you know. So even though I thoroughly enjoyed myself, I still have to let you about any issues I found. (This paragraph made sense in my head, I hope it translated well enough to be somewhat understandable. 😉 )

Yeah

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles12 Comments
Yeah
Yeah – Knock Knock – 500 pieces

Please forgive the angle of this picture, I tried to go back and fix it but the stupid photo program wouldn’t let me change anything after I’d renamed it. Stupid technology. 🤐

This was much more challenging than the previous four letter puzzle that I assembled. The shading at the back made for odd shapes, and my brain took quite a long time to wrap itself around the concept. But I loved that about it; when you know the solution is right in front of you and all you have to do is SEE it. You just have to let your brain catch up and figure it out. And then, when you finally do get it, the exhilaration is fantastic! (My PADS posse understands, don’t you?)

A friend says I should have left the other puzzle assembled and then taken a picture of “S**t Yeah!”. Why didn’t I think of that? I was moving the letters around to spell other words, and was thinking that I’m only one letter short of being able to spell my name; if I had gotten the other naughty word or even the word Crap I’d have the C so I could spell out my name in pretty letters. Ah well, I missed my chance.

This puzzle was very good quality, just like the first one. I’m quite impressed with them, especially because the company doesn’t only do puzzles. In fact, these four letter words are the only puzzles they carry. To get such good quality is a surprise, a very pleasant one. Check them out at Knock Knock.

I’ve enjoyed assembling these words/letters, and I think any of the others would be very entertaining. If you’re looking for a silly, challenging, enjoyable puzzle, I would absolutely recommend these four letter words.

S**t Yeah! 😉

2019 Puzzle Recap

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

It’s the annual review of my puzzling exploits, and 2019 was quite a year. A total of 203 puzzles were assembled that add up to 91,051 pieces! I set myself goals last year, but I couldn’t have known what the year would bring, and that for more than two and a half months I wouldn’t be doing any puzzles at all.

So, no more puzzling goals for me, other than to do the puzzles that excite me and make me happy, and to spend my puzzle time enjoying myself.

Municipal Bldg. NY – Pastime Puzzles? – 1600 pieces
5 pounds of vintage wooden puzzle pieces!

My greatest puzzling accomplishment of 2019 was the Mystery Puzzle Box that I assembled with mom; a box of loose vintage puzzle pieces that I bought on eBay. We had no idea what the image was, or even whether or not it was just one puzzle or many smaller ones. It turned out to be a 1600 piece one of a kind hand-cut Pastime Puzzle of the Municipal Building in New York, and we then found out it that was potentially over 100 years old! Mom and I spent many weeks putting it together; marveling over the fantastic shapes and the unbelievable fit, and in general loving the puzzle and loving spending lots of time together. I am unbelievably grateful that we had that extra time together working on this puzzle, and I cherish every moment we spent assembling it. 💝

Pretending to be Normal
Pretending to be Normal by Suzy Toronto – White Mountain – 1000 pieces

2019 will always be the year I lost mom, and as I write this recap of my thoughts are mostly of her and all the puzzles we worked on together. Pretending to be Normal is the last puzzle she ever did, and the last puzzle we assembled together. It will always be special to me, and once it is reassembled it will be glued and framed to hang on the wall in my puzzle room. I loved it even before I knew it would be our last, and I love it even more now. ❤

Save The Whales by Robert Williams – Mr. Bob Puzzles – 515 pieces
Best Friends by Dean Russo – Starz Puzzles – 158 pieces
Show Cat – Ceaco – 300 pieces
Petrified Wood Mosaic – Fitting Reminder (American Greetings) – 500 pieces
The Messenger by Kevin Sloan – Artifact – 313 pieces
Air Vent Kitty – Avanti – 150 pieces
Farmer’s Market by Tracy Flickinger – Ceaco – 300 pieces
Harry Potter Book 1 by Mary GrandPre – NY Puzzle Co. – 100 pieces

These are some of the amazing, wonderful, fun, and silly puzzles completed this year. Save The Whales is a gorgeous 500+ piece puzzle from Australia that I was so happy to be able to review, the image is stunning! Best Friends is the most expensive puzzle of the year for it’s small piece count – another review that I was privileged to do – and I loved the fantastic quality and unique star shaped pieces. Show Cat is a silly little 300 piece Ceaco puzzle that made mom and I laugh hysterically when we saw it at the thrift store, I just had to get it. Petrified  Wood Mosaic is another thrift store find of moms, I loved the uniqueness of the image and the challenge of the assembly. When I see it I think of mom, and I’ve glued and hung it as artwork; it’s just beautiful! The Messenger is a gorgeous wooden puzzle sent by my fellow puzzle blogger Penny. Mom and I loved the assembly, and it was our last wooden puzzle together. Air Vent Kitty is a very small 150 piece puzzle that mom and I assembled sitting on my bed, and it makes me think of her and how much she loved those tiny little pieces. Farmer’s Market is part of a series of three puzzle images that I adore, and I had the best time assembling the two that we found – great fun! Harry Potter Book 1 (and the other 6 too) were a gift from my beautiful daughter; 100 piece puzzles of the Harry Potter book covers, and I assembled and loved every single one!

I’m so grateful to have this blog as an outlet for my obsession for and love of jigsaw puzzles, and even more so as a reminder of all the puzzles I’ve assembled both by myself and with mom. Everyone who stops by is welcome and appreciated, and all the puzzle friends I’ve met are a bright spot in my life. Thank you to all my readers and members of the PADS Posse for another great year! I’m sending out wishes for a wonderful new year full of puzzles and happiness.

My Jigsaw Journal’s Stats for 2019

  • 115 countries viewed My Jigsaw Journal
  • 11,786 visitors to the blog
  • 54,732 total views
  • 304 posts
  • 203 puzzles completed
  • 91,051 pieces assembled
  • 50 brands worked
  • 1 PADS diagnosis 😉

There are plenty of other stats I could give, but to be honest I just don’t feel like spending my time compiling them. I have puzzles to assemble!