Category: Jigsaw Puzzles

The Circus Comes to Town

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

The Circus Comes to Town by Jan Dedman – Mr. Bob Puzzles – 40 pieces

I wish I could tell you that this one was fun, but it actually wasn’t – at least not for me. I’m not even sure why that is, but it’s the truth.

Mr. Bob Puzzles are very good quality, and normally bright, colorful images are exactly my pile of pieces; this image, unfortunately, was not. The quality was excellent, it just wasn’t the right puzzle for me at the time I suppose.

Usually the border isn’t where I start on a puzzle this small, but because there was a band of white around the edge the pieces were easy to find and put together.

I found the whimsy pieces a bit disappointing; they didn’t match the image at all. Australia is always one of the pieces in a Mr. Bob Puzzle, but the other whimsies were just generic forms that I’ve seen before from this brand – and they had nothing to do with the circus. I suppose you could say the teddy bear could be a prize one wins from a game at the circus midway, but otherwise none of them make sense, at least not to me.

Again, I love this brand of puzzle and have developed a wonderful friendship with the founder of the company; and even though this was a very good quality puzzle, I just wasn’t feeling it today.

It has much more to do with me than the puzzle itself.

Aloe You Vera Much

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

Aloe You Vera Much – MicroPuzzles – 150 pieces

To all my faithful tens of readers – Aloe You Vera Much! 💕 Isn’t this an adorable puzzle for the “holiday” today? I thought it was. (We don’t actually consider Valentine’s Day a holiday in our house, it’s expected that we treat each other with love and kindness all year long.)

It’s a cute little cartoon image full of succulents; which, by the way, was the extra little gift I got in my subscription box this month…

Absolutely the most unexpected of extras that I’ve ever received with my puzzle subscription, that’s for sure! I don’t know what went into sending these out to all of their subscribers, but it couldn’t have been overly easy. Luckily they didn’t have to worry about keeping them watered while they were in the mail. 🌵

I enjoyed putting this image together, and thought it was the perfect sentiment for today. Happy Valentine’s Day my friends!

The Pinwheel Gator

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles8 Comments

The Pinwheel Gator by Alex Beard – Liberty – 512 pieces

How cool is this puzzle? I stared at it over and over when I was window shopping on the Liberty site and ended up telling myself that if it fascinated me that much that I needed to get it for myself – so I did!

There’s something so fun about the image, and it absolutely didn’t disappoint in the assembly either. It’ll be no surprise at all when I tell you that I loved it. REALLY loved it! 💜❤💛💚💙

Liberty Puzzles is one of my favorite current wooden puzzle makers. The design of the puzzle pieces, how they fit together, the number of whimsies in each puzzle, the artists they work with – it all fits together to make extraordinary puzzles that have never disappointed me. Ever. I once had an issue with a puzzle and their customer service was beyond exceptional. I love Liberty Puzzles. 🧩

The whimsies in this one reminded me of Mardi Gras, which is why I wanted to post this puzzle today, on Fat Tuesday. I’m not a Catholic, so I don’t really do Ash Wednesday or give things up for Lent, but pretty much everyone knows about Mardi Gras and the celebrations they have in New Orleans.

Specifically these whimsies made me think of Mardi Gras and the parades in New Orleans. Aren’t they fabulous?!

If you look closely you’ll see that the whimsies of people are marching all the way around the image along the edges; they’re on all four sides. It was such a fun assembly, and I always love to see great wooden puzzles from the back – the design of the pieces and how it all works together make this proud puzzle geek extremely happy. This was such a great puzzle!

I really did have such a fun time putting this one together, it was an absolute joy. 😊

Music Mania

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Music Mania by Marc Arundale – Wentworth – 40 pieces

With so many colors and so much going on, this little 40 piece puzzle was harder than it looks! Still, it was completely absorbing and for the few minutes it took me to put together I was absolutely focused only on the puzzle – it was fantastic meditation for someone like me who finds actual meditation difficult.

I’ve still got about six more mini puzzles from Wentworth here, and because my queue is basically empty I think you’ll be seeing them very soon. I’ve got to get myself back to a place where I have enough completed puzzles that I can leisurely work on whatever puzzle feels right without worrying about what to post next.

Love these musical whimsies! Wentworth is usually great about making the whimsy pieces fit the image; it’s always entertaining for me to look through the pieces to find the whimsies and see how they relate to the picture on the puzzle.

This image looks as though it would be fun in a larger piece count, there’s so much to see and it’s difficult to actually take it all in when the image is so small. Music Mania was really enjoyable!

Garden Shed*

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

Garden Shed* – Hua Cao Shu Mu – 300 pieces

Sorry to do this to you two days in a row, but I’ve got no puzzles left in my queue, and I did these two puzzles one right after the other. Wanna guess about the quality? Did you guess that it needed a very big straw? You are correct!

  • Image reproduction – horrible and blurry.
  • Fit – loose, pieces sometimes fit where they don’t belong
  • Piece shape – only one shape – BORING
  • Chipboard – thin with a tendency to peel apart
  • Backing – sharp white backing with letters on it to assist in assembly

I did not enjoy the assembly, it was just one I wanted to get it done to get this box of puzzles out of my sight.

If you see a puzzle box with the name Hua Cao Shu Mu on it, set it down and walk away. It isn’t worth the frustration.