Category: Jigsaw Puzzles

80s Shows

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

80s Shows – MasterPieces – 1000 pieces

Sadly this wasn’t as entertaining as I’d hoped. There was nothing wrong with the puzzle, it was mostly my state of mind and partly the image. Even though I love the look of the puzzle as a whole it wasn’t as much fun as I thought it would be. As I said yesterday photographic images aren’t usually my pile of pieces, but I was hoping the small images in collage form would be easier to work with.

The cartoon sections (Smurfs, He-Man, Thunder Cats) were among the first I assembled and I found them the most engaging even though they were NOT shows that I watched in the 80s.

It was relatively good quality, and an excellent fit; there were weird differences in piece sizes though – some were very big, some very small – but overall the quality was good.

I’ve never watched a single episode of MacGyver. I show you this section to point out that in between some of the pictures of tv shows were snippets of 80s video games. Donkey Kong is shown here, with a little bit of Pac Man in the lower right corner. Totally awesome dude!

Murphy Brown was one of my favorite shows in this collage; I found it to be very smart, but still funny. I love the smart shows, the ones where you have to pay attention and the language and issues aren’t dumbed down. I really enjoyed this show in the 80s, but it was one of the last sections I assembled – it was difficult finding all the pieces.

Not just shows, commercials too. Back in the 80s you couldn’t get away from the commercials, and if there was a great one everyone heard about it. The star of this Wendy’s commercial became CRAZY famous because of it, and I can still remember her name 40 years later. Clara Peller. I can still hear her voice too…….WHERE’S THE BEEF?!

I wish I had more enthusiastic things to say about this puzzle, but it was kind of a letdown. The image had me very excited for the assembly, but it just wasn’t as fun as I’d hoped. Most of that was my problem though; I just wasn’t in the right headspace for this one.

Funnily enough, I did the 60s shows puzzle a week or so later and had a fabulous time with it even though I didn’t know many of the shows. I think I just chose the wrong puzzle at the wrong time.

It happens.

Butterflies

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Butterflies by Anne Geddes – TCG – 300 pieces

The image is what drew me to this one, who could resist adorable sleeping babies? It was lots of fun, and didn’t take long at all.

TCG isn’t a brand I normally purchase; but the fact that it was only 300 pieces, an image that I liked, and was on sale were probably the deciding factors. The quality was fair; chipboard was nice and thick, and the image reproduction was excellent (other than the shiny finish). The fit wasn’t great, however, and it doesn’t lay flat.

Although this puzzle had a great image it reinforced why this isn’t a brand that I normally buy. Fit is paramount, and when a puzzle has a bad fit and doesn’t lay flat there aren’t many factors that can make up for it – at least for me, that is.

Look at that face! Sleeping babies are just too adorable for words, I think that’s why I couldn’t resist this puzzle.

Krystol’s Palace

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Krystol’s Palace by Ciro Marchetti – Buffalo – 750 pieces

This puzzle was unbelievably beautiful, and challenging enough to be fun and completely engaging. What’s not to love about Ciro Marchetti’s color palettes and stunning scenes?

Great Buffalo quality – pieces are slightly bigger for a 750 piece puzzle than a 1000 piece, and for me they’re the perfect size. The fit was excellent and the image reproduction was stellar. I’ve been on a bit of a Buffalo puzzles binge lately, and most of my purchases have been either Ravensburger or Buffalo; I know the quality will be good with both brands and they have a lot of images that are definitely my pile of pieces.

There’s something about the detail on this balloon, my eye is drawn to it every time I look at the image. Gorgeous!

There’s not much to say, other than the peacock’s color works wonderfully with the entire image. I’ve seen peacocks in several puzzles with Ciro Marchetti’s artwork, and they always seem to blend with the scene perfectly.

The colors are just lovely, everything fits just right. The purples/pinks, and oranges/reds of the sky, the brighter colors of the cupolas on the palace towers: it’s just a fantastic puzzle image that was completely engrossing to put together.

💖LOVE LOVE LOVED IT!💖

Dinosaur Alphabet

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles4 Comments

Dinosaur Alphabet by Karen Rossi – Ravensburger – 60 pieces

This artwork isn’t my favorite color scheme, it’s slightly washed out and dull – but it was a fun little kids puzzle that went together quickly. As an added bonus I learned the names of a few dinosaurs that I’d never heard of before. I just love learning new things! 😁

It had a loose fit, but has also been a very well-loved puzzle that seems to have been assembled many times. The previous owners seem to have been quite organized too. There was an X written inside the box, and an X on every piece; if piece(s) got loose you would know which puzzle they belong to and which box to put them in – great idea for kids puzzles if you ask me.

The last three letters were dinosaurs I’d never heard of before. I’ve done my share of dinosaur puzzles and I don’t recall ever seeing these names. Very cool!

Many of the words that the letters represented were put into the image in the middle to pull it all together. Overall just a great puzzle for kids; the image, the information, and the quality.

The Quiltmaker Lady

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

The Quiltmaker Lady by Charles Wysocki – Buffalo – 1000 pieces

A little more challenging than I bargained for, but still very entertaining. You know I can’t resist a puzzle with quilts! This was great fun, and a bit difficult at times – but I loved it.

This image was the most “painterly” Charles Wysocki I’ve ever done, I’m used to his puzzle images being crisp and symmetrical. This had elements of symmetry, but the entire image was fuzzier and more brush stroke-y than I’ve ever seen in his work. I’m no expert by any means, and my only exposure to his work has been in puzzle form; but I’ve done MANY a puzzle with his artwork and this is the first time it seems different in this way.

Again, great quality from Buffalo – excellent fit, nice variety of piece shapes, beautiful reproduction – overall just a wonderful puzzle to assemble.

This was my favorite of the three quilts to assemble. I didn’t use the poster image at all, just let the pieces take me where they went. I absolutely adored this section. 💛

You can see from the closeup of grama and the pups how fuzzy and indistinct some of the elements are. It was odd for a Wysocki, from my point of view anyway.

Whether it was fuzzy or crisp, it was still so entertaining to assemble – one of my favorite Wysocki images that I’ve ever done. Trick or Treat Hotel is still my favorite of all time, but I think The Quiltmaker Lady is running a close second. If this one interests you it is highly recommended, two spools of thread WAY UP! 👍🧵👍🧵