Slow Day

On September 12, 2023September 12, 2023 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Slow Day by Charles Wysocki – Buffalo – 300 pieces

A quick little puzzle with a wonderfully quaint Wysocki image – it was a joy to put together. I always enjoy the artwork of Charles Wysocki, even more so if it isn’t the typical town scene. This one has only one building and is a more close up view than most of his artwork that I’ve seen.

The quality was excellent, with no bent pieces and an exceptional fit. Truly a wonderful puzzle to assemble.

I wish I had more to say about this one, but it was just a lovely assembly of an excellent quality puzzle. It was thoroughly enjoyable from the first piece to the very last.💚

Magical Journey

On September 10, 2023July 26, 2023 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

Magical Journey by Jan Patrick Krasney – MasterPieces – 300 pieces

My youngest son picked this puzzle out when we were at the bookstore, and he did a good job – it was much more difficult than it looks! Of course it could be that I finished up the last 100 pieces or so at 2 am, perhaps lack of sleep was the challenge, not the image. 😫🛏

I think the only reason he picked out this puzzle was the fact that it has an owl in it, and he’s been obsessed with them for quite a while now. Whatever the reason, it was more entertaining than I thought it would be for an image that I don’t think I would have chosen for myself.

The quality was excellent, and that is not something I usually say about a MasterPieces puzzle; they’re in the middle tier of puzzle companies in my opinion. But this puzzle was all around excellent: thick pieces that fit together very well, an excellent variety of piece shapes, and a crisp and clear image reproduction. It’s the second MasterPieces in a row that was such good quality, I was duly impressed!

If your eyesight is good enough you can read what’s on these postcards.

Did anyone notice the puzzle pieces when you first looked at the completed puzzle? I certainly didn’t. It didn’t register with me until I was sorting the pieces; I had to look at the box image again and see where they were.

One my favorite type of pictures to take. The fit was so good with this one that it stands up on it’s own. Truly, a wonderful all around quality puzzle that I enjoyed very much. 😍

Bluebells

On September 9, 2023July 26, 2023 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Bluebells – Wentworth (Mini Mindful) – 40 pieces

As beautiful as this image is, I have to say this Mini Mindful was a bit disappointing for me. All of the other puzzles in this line that I’ve done have had tessellating pieces, or a repeating pattern of interestingly shaped pieces – this seemed just like a regular micro puzzle from Wentworth.

There’s not a thing wrong with Wentworth’s micro puzzles, but I was hoping for more of a challenge with the Mini Mindful; one that makes you really focus because it’s more difficult than a “regular” puzzle. This is just my opinion of course, but that’s what this blog is – my opinions about the puzzles I assemble.

Cute whimsies to go along with the outdoor image. They made the puzzle even easier to assemble, the shapes around them were very easy to find. 😢

Still, it’s a lovely image and I enjoyed putting it together even if I was a little let down by the piece shapes.

Vintage Fabrics and Notions

On September 7, 2023September 7, 2023 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles7 Comments

Vintage Fabrics and Notions by Aimee Stewart – Buffalo – 1000 pieces

What a fantastic puzzle! I adored this beauty from the first piece to the last, and had to keep stopping myself from working on it because it was getting completed way too quickly. Perhaps I need a 2000 piece Aimee Stewart image to work on?

The quality of this Buffalo puzzle was excellent. The image reproduction was stunning, with bright, crisp colors, no blurriness or fuzziness; the pieces were the usual variety of Buffalo shapes and the fit was the best I’ve worked with from this brand for quite a while. When all was said and done I was highly impressed with this puzzle and it’s quality.

This was the first section that I completed, it made me feel a little nostalgic. Mom used to have so many vintage sewing notions and especially fasteners and buttons, I loved to look through them while she was repairing clothes or making something new.

This pattern also made me think of Mom. When we’d all pile in the car to go shopping at the fabric store I would try to keep myself from being bored by looking through all the patterns. Mom spent much longer in the store than my sisters and I liked, and after a while we’d start to whining about having to be there so long. But for the most part she was buying fabrics, patterns, and notions because she was making clothes; and she was making clothes because it was much cheaper than buying them. She made all my prom dresses when I was in high school, and she even made my wedding dress.

Mom was amazing at just about every craft there was, and I didn’t appreciate it when I was a child; when I became a young woman though it was a different story. She was a whiz at doing all those things, and I was a little jealous of her talents; I very much appreciated all the work she put in making things for us all and made sure I told her so. Often.

All the wild and colorful fabrics in this section were really fun to assemble. I’m not sure I would want any clothes from them, but they were entertaining in this puzzle.

I had the best time with this puzzle, and I assembled it at the right time too – our cable and internet went out the night I started this beauty, so of course I had something fabulous to occupy myself with when there was no tv to watch and the rest of the family were losing their minds.

We all should have some unplugged hobbies we can turn to when we need to, don’t you think?

This gorgeous, colorful and serene-looking image was in July’s subscription box, and my daughter picked it out for us to assemble together. It was quite difficult; the painterly style and less than optimal lighting in the bathroom made for a challenging assembly. There were quite a few times when I put pieces wrong, but luckily they did not quite fit correctly and I could see my errors.

The image isn’t one I would normally choose to puzzle, but it was more engrossing than I anticipated, and the sense of accomplishment I felt once it was complete was rather nice.

I’m very much looking forward to our next subscription box – what could be in store for us this month?