Category: Jigsaw Puzzles

Adoration of the Magi

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Adoration of the Magi by Fra Angelico and Filippo Lippi – Artifact – 208 pieces

This was the very first wooden puzzle I sent to my sister-in-law and her family, and after having assembled it – yikes. It was quite difficult! I had no idea, apparently I need to pay more attention and make sure the puzzles I gift them aren’t too challenging, I wouldn’t want them to get frustrated and give up.

This Christmas image has all the requisite holiday whimsy pieces; angels, the star, all the characters for the nativity – even the words “Gloria In Excelsis Deo” on a banner.

The pieces make up the nativity scene that you can see from the back as well. What wonderfully creative puzzle designers they have at Artifact!

There were three holes built into the puzzle to hold up the three pieces with no coloring at all (the three wise men and their transportation) – if there’s an industry term for the stand-up pieces I don’t know what it is. Other than very cool and amazing looking!

Hubby, his sister and her husband were all working on it with me so I had to take a picture. I don’t know when we all got so old looking, but we sure don’t act old – that’s for sure. 😉

Pop the Champagne

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Pop the Champagne by Aimee Stewart – Wentworth – 80 pieces

This challenging and beautiful little puzzle was SO much fun to put together! It was the last one in a day where we put together two mini wooden puzzles, one larger and more difficult wooden puzzle, and a 500 piece cardboard one. Luckily, we had just as much fun with this last one as we did the first.

I’ve done a few shaped Aimee Stewart images, and they’re always a bit challenging but lots of fun – this one was no different. The swirling shapes of the pieces and the gorgeous colors made for a great assembly.

There was only one whimsy piece with this mini puzzle, a bunch of grapes right near the center of the bottle…

We had such a great time with this that it ended up staying with my sister-in-law, she kept saying how much fun it was and I just couldn’t resist leaving it for her just like the Tea Bath puzzle we put together at their cabin on our first trip. I know it will be well loved and put together many more times. 💕

Hubby and his sister worked on it by themselves for a few minutes, and I got in there closer to the end and sis and I put in the last few pieces together. Love, love, loved it!

New York Map

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

New York Map – Cavallini & Co. – 500 pieces

This interesting puzzle belongs to my sister-in-law, she brought it upstairs to show it to me while we were visiting and I couldn’t resist it. Of course we had to put it together, look at all those words! 😁

I’ve only ever done one other puzzle by this company, and I find them to be very good quality. They use the “sharp” white backing that I’m not fond of, but otherwise they make very nice puzzles. They’re a bit pricey for me, but there’s always the thrift store and purchasing them second-hand.

All of their puzzle packages say “Vintage Puzzle” on them, which I find to be misleading; perhaps what they mean is that the images are vintage, or vintage-looking. In my mind vintage means at least 20-40 years old; these puzzles definitely are not old, they are newly manufactured. Maybe that’s just me being pedantic, but I’m allowed – it’s my blog. 😁

This tall section showing Central Park was one of the first sections we put together, that green was very easy to find in this mostly white and blue image.

You all know how much I love to assemble words – can you believe I let my sister-in-law put this whole section together by herself? Me neither! I did though, cause I’m a nice old lady. 👵

I’m not sure why this nun was taking a baby out for a stroll, but I found it interesting enough to make sure there was a close-up picture of it.

We had a great time putting this puzzle together, even though it was more difficult that it looks. Sometimes the ones that challenge you are the most fun!

1980’s Montage

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

1980’s Montage by Eduard – Wentworth – 250 pieces

This was an EXTREMELY entertaining puzzle to assemble, and we all worked on it – sister and brother-in-law, hubby, and myself all had a hand in putting this one together. It’ll be no surprise that we all loved it. Who doesn’t love the wild and colorful 80’s?

From boomboxes and video games to our favorite hair bands and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man – this was a great image to work with. At 250 pieces it was just the right amount of challenging, and we all enjoyed working together to get it assembled.

The whimsies in this one were so much fun to look through! A Polaroid camera, an outfit with big shoulder pads, a DeLorean, a cassette tape, and even a Casio watch – they were all perfect for this puzzle.

I was a little too old for Strawberry Shortcake in the 80s, but this section with the bright colors was one of my favorites to assemble.

Polly Pocket. This is another toy from the 80s that I never really got into or played with, but I took this picture because it brings to mind my mom. She was the best grama in the world (although she was named Meema by her oldest grandchild and that is what she was called forever after) and she took being a great Meema very seriously. She loved having fun toys for all the grandkids to play with, and she kept a big bucket of Polly Pocket toys for all the grandchildren to enjoy. There was something about the tiny little dolls and their houses and accessories that all the girls (and some of the boys) loved to play with, and Meema loved playing with them too. She was a big kid at heart, and she loved having these little tiny toys for her grandbabies. She was awesome. 💗

I’m so glad I took this puzzle with us on vacation, we all had a wonderful time assembling it, and it brought back so many memories of our youth. In my head the 1980’s doesn’t seem that long ago at all, but then when you do the math and realize the 80s started more than FORTY years ago – yikes! Where did all the time go?!?

Beneath the Waves

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Beneath the Waves by Lauren Altes – Mr. Bob Puzzles – 40 pieces

Please forgive the wonky pictures in this one, I have no excuse other than possibly exhaustion from all the travel. This is the first of the puzzles from our recent visit to Michigan, so get ready for a week or so of beautiful (mostly) wooden puzzles assembled by me and the new additions to my puzzle posse

Still, isn’t this a bright and beautiful little puzzle? It was so nice to sit and talk while my sister-in-law made dinner and I put this colorful mini puzzle together. (I did offer to help with the cooking, but sometimes the most helpful thing you can do is stay out of someone’s way – that was the case on this particular evening.)

It didn’t take much concentration, the colors and the whimsy pieces helped to make this one pretty simple to put together – but it was still nice to work with even as easy as it was.

It seems these were just a generic set of whimsies, they didn’t really match the artwork at all. But that’s ok with me, it was still lots of fun.

The artist, Lauren Altes, also did the artwork for the puzzle that Mr. Bob Puzzles was commissioned to do for the National Breast Cancer Foundation of Australia in 2021- Look After Your. I loved her sense of humor, the colors, the composition; it made for a fantastic assembly and for such a good cause too.

I’ll have to check the rest of my Mr. Bob Puzzles here at the house and see if there are any more by this artist, I enjoy her work very much!