Hansel and Gretel Beware!

On April 16, 2022April 13, 2022 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles10 Comments

Hansel and Gretel Beware! by Dean MacAdam – Ravensburger – 1000 pieces

This gorgeous image by Dean MacAdam was even more fun than I thought it would be – and I thought it would be GREAT fun! There are two other images by this artist that Ravensburger has out right now, and I think the money in my wallet is straining to get out and buy them for me. 😇

Of course it was great quality, and every time I assemble a Ravensburger it makes me want to do even more of their puzzles. Perhaps there’s some sort of addictive additive in the puzzle dust? Or it could be that it’s just the fantastic puzzles that make me want more. You can see in the above image that the fit is excellent and the piece shapes don’t overpower the look of the completed puzzle. Excellent quality all around.

Creepy bunny here really stood out to me from the first moment I saw the artwork. Love it!

The artwork by Dean MacAdam is absolutely fantastic. It looks too dark around the sides when you’re sorting it, but as you get familiar with the puzzle you begin to see that they’re not just dark and you can tell approximately where the pieces should go. It was definitely my kind of image, and so much fun to get to know this puzzle and reassemble it.

Like the look of this one? It was so entertaining, I adored it! 💖

Vintage Atlas

On April 15, 2022April 15, 2022 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles5 Comments

Vintage Atlas – Re-marks – 1000 pieces

My apologies for the picture, it isn’t one of my best. Some days I just can’t seem to get it together and this day was one of them. Wonky picture aside, this was an excellent puzzle that was loads of fun to assemble and I highly recommend it.

Great quality, probably the best Re-marks puzzle that I’ve assembled in a very long time. The reproduction is stellar – even very small details are sharp and visible. The fit was very good and the nice variety of shapes made for an interesting assembly. Overall, this puzzle was very impressive.

There’s something about this illustration of a Hawaiian island; the people shown and all of their activities made it easy to sort and very entertaining to put together.

There’s something calming about this image – and the color scheme was quite easy to pick out too. (Also, shout out to my international puzzle pal from Finland! 😎)

This old map image of the “cittie” of London was one of the first sections I assembled. It wasn’t overly easy but looks amazing.

Vintage Atlas was a great puzzle – and if it looks like something you’d enjoy I highly recommend it. 🧩💚

The OG

On April 13, 2022April 12, 2022 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

The OG – MicroPuzzles – 150 pieces

Beautiful puzzle of the original Spilsbury “dissected map” from 1767 owned by MicroPuzzles. It was way too difficult to assemble in the usual place, there just isn’t adequate lighting in our powder room. After having it in there for a couple of weeks and struggling to get it assembled, I finally gave in and finished it in the puzzle room.

When you see the image on it’s own without all the piece shapes it looks as if it would probably be pretty easy to assemble – especially because there are only 150 pieces. It wasn’t. At least not for me. It’s almost monochromatic and without proper lighting to see what was what I found it quite difficult.

I still enjoyed it though, it wasn’t one of those difficult puzzles that makes you question whether or not it’s worth doing. And when I got nearer the end, it got more and more fun with each piece. 😉

Barbie Paris Fashion

On April 12, 2022April 9, 2022 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

Barbie Paris Fashion – Ravensburger – 500 pieces

There was something extremely satisfying about this assembly; I’m not sure I could express to you why that was – but it was great fun and I absolutely loved it. 🧡

Excellent quality; slightly loose fitting but otherwise a great puzzle. The piece shapes are quite obvious in the finished image but I really don’t care – it was the process of the assembly that mattered.

I’ve never been a huge fan of Barbie dolls, but it may interest you to know that I am named after one of Barbie’s friends. Back in 1968 she got a cool new “mod” friend named Stacey, and my father liked the name so much that he convinced my mother to give me that name when I was born. The rest, as they say, is history. 😎

This was the first section that I put together, the fabric of the clothing was easy to pick out, and it’s also the only image with blue sky.

That long neck is crazy – it may be what fashion models wish they looked like, but I’m not sure it would look good on an actual person.

The wallpaper in the background is even Parisian – Eiffel Towers everywhere!

Retro

On April 10, 2022April 10, 2022 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles5 Comments

Retro by Lois B. Sutton – White Mountain – 550 pieces

So much fun! As with most collages this one went together quickly and I enjoyed each and every section. There’s just something about these images (and collages in general) that ticks the box for me; assembling them makes me happy.

This was a pretty good quality White Mountain puzzle, with my only concern being a little bit of a loose fit. The reproduction was the best I’ve seen from this brand for a while, I was impressed.

Ah, 8 track tapes. Boy do I have plenty of memories of these! If you’re a young’un you may not know about these – they were like cassette tapes that you cannot rewind. We had an 8 track player in our vehicle when I was young, and listening to Disney movies or songs on them is a treasured childhood memory for me.

8 tracks also remind me of a toy I received for Christmas one year, a 2XL “robot”. It was basically an 8 track player dressed up like a robot that asked you trivia questions and you answered by choosing which “track” was the correct answer. It was sort of like those make your own stories books, you choose where to go with your answers. I know my explanation doesn’t make much sense, but that was the toy and I remember it fondly.

Here’s another thing you may not know about if you’re younger – the test pattern that would come on television at the end of the broadcast day. Where I lived they used to play the national anthem and then a test pattern like this (or others) would be the only thing you could find on tv. Round-the-clock programming was not a thing; and after the late night shows there was literally nothing on tv.

Hi-yo Silver – away! I cannot think about The Lone Ranger without thinking of my dad and watching this show with him on Sunday mornings. It always seemed so stupid to me that the mask over his eyes made it so that no one recognized him; his voice never changed nor did the bottom half of his face. It was a thrilling show at the time, but my memories are mostly enjoying watching tv with my dad. 💗

About the title – it’s funny to me that “retro” means different things to different people. What’s retro to me is NOT the same for another generation. The 80s may seem retro to some, but to me it’s the time when I was coming of age – not retro.

Retro is relative, you might say.