Sea Anemones

On December 31, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

This is another new wooden puzzle company that I found and gave a go. They’re beautifully thick pieces with a stunning image reproduction. I was worried that the dark background would make the puzzle more challenging, but it wasn’t nearly as difficult as I’d thought.

Such a great puzzle image! Ernst Haeckel’s book Kunstformen der Natur (Art Forms in Nature) has provided puzzlers the world over with stunning illustrations that make for entertaining and beautiful puzzles. Every time I see a puzzle image by Haeckel there’s great temptation – they’re so detailed and realistic and look like they’d be so fun to put together – and they are!

So many whimsies! All sorts of sea creatures – turtles, seahorses, lobsters, starfish, dolphins, etc. – plus a few things from the land like palm trees and a lighthouse. The blue “N” is the logo for NookPuzzles. Computer technology and lasers are awesome! Can you imagine trying to cut out these shapes with an actual jig saw?

Sea Anemones whimsies

I love the 2 fish swimming together here (the whimsies on the left), is it possibly Nemo and his dad? And the purple anemone was my favorite, the color is so lovely but the picture really doesn’t do it justice at all.

I was extremely surprised by and grateful for the free gift sent with the puzzle – a beautiful wooden Christmas tree ornament! 🎄

Sea Anemones gift

Free gift aside, I’m still not sure how I feel about this brand after only working one puzzle; am I the only who has certain feelings about something with no explanation whatsoever? I’m on the fence about this brand at this point, but I can’t even tell myself why! The fit was the tightest I’ve found in a wooden puzzle (very nice!), the image is beautiful, the piece shapes are interesting and intricate, but there was something about it that I can’t really put my finger on. Sigh.

Seriously people, my brain is slowly being poached in the sweat from my hot flashes.

It’s Christmas Time

On December 30, 2018December 30, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! This puzzle is a great Christmas holiday treat with a cup of hot cocoa and a cookie. Fun, fun, fun puzzle with unique pieces that added an interesting twist to our afternoon entertainment. Not too difficult, pieces fit nicely together. Awesome quality pieces, colors vivid, and so smooth to the touch!

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Ok, I know I said no more holiday puzzles this year, but today’s post was composed by a guest writer – my favorite sister-in-law, Lena. 💗

This is the puzzle I sent her family for Christmas; they completed it yesterday and she sent me the picture and told me she was sending a “blog post” about it. I think she may have been joking at first, but I told her to write it up and I’d post it here today. Don’t judge my writing too harshly compared to hers – she has a background in communications, and I’m just a wife and mother who loves puzzles. 😉

Ocean Life

On December 27, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

This was one of those thrift store puzzles that almost breaks my heart. We love finding fantastic quality kids puzzles, assembling them, and then donating them. When we find one of such excellent quality that’s missing a piece it’s so much more of a disappointment than regular missing pieces to me.

This Mudpuppy puzzle was one of the best quality kids puzzles I’ve seen in quite some time. Extremely thick pieces, beautiful colors, excellent fit – and it even had a little extra something – a search and find aspect. All the pictures around the edges are also shown in the main image and they’re not all easy to find.

What a bummer that it’s missing a piece! It makes me sad, as a lover of puzzles, that they aren’t taken care of. (But I do remember childhood too, vaguely, so I also understand.) But for some strange reason these missing pieces makes me wish that I could go back to my childhood and take MUCH better care of all of my toys and things. If I had, not only would they be worth some big time cash right now, I’d still have some of the things I loved to play with as a child. How awfully sweet and uncharacteristically sentimental of me, right? I know!

Vintage Greetings

On December 25, 2018December 24, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Vintage Greetings whimsies

Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays to all my readers, friends, and family – and some of you are all three of those things! I hope your day is filled with peace, joy, and lots of love. 💝

Vintage Greetings 1

I’ve been wanting a puzzle that spelled something out for a while now, and I finally got one! 😁

This was a beautiful but difficult puzzle – much more of a challenge than I thought it would be. It’s so lovely though, worth every bit of time and money spent.

Merry Christmas! 🎄🎅🎁

Partridge in a Pear Tree

On December 24, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Such a beautiful puzzle, and so much more challenging than it looks! Gorgeous colors, fantastic whimsies – so enjoyable!

This puzzle had all the “12 Days” represented in the whimsy pieces. I tried to put them in order starting at the beginning, but funnily enough it was easier to start with day 12 at the bottom and sing my way back to a partridge in a pear tree. 🎶

Partridge whimsies

With six of the days represented by birds of some sort, I had to go over it in my head a few times to be certain each one is in the right spot. I’m pretty sure I got it right, though surely someone will let me know if it isn’t.

Partridge 1

As usual, a partridge in a partridge. 🙂 I absolutely adored these puzzles and had so much fun assembling them. They’re so lovely and entertaining to work with, they might become a yearly tradition.

I’m having the worst time being motivated to puzzle these past few days; perhaps it’s the big build up to Christmas and all the things that have to be done, perhaps not. All I know is the puzzle on my board at the moment has barely been touched in the last 3 or 4 days and it’s going to be put back into the box today. There’s been almost no progress at all since the first day I started working on it, so it’ll have to wait for another time.

Not one person has asked me what I wanted for Christmas this year, so I’m taking that to mean either they’re tired of me saying “I don’t want or need anything” or they’re all certain of what to get for me. Hmmm, wonder what that could be? So, in order to be sure that there is ample space to work on any gifts with that may arrive with “some assembly required”, the current puzzle is taking a nap for a few weeks at least. If there aren’t any dissected pictures under the tree, no worries, there are plenty here now!