Category: Jigsaw Puzzles

Parisian Charm

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles5 Comments

Parisian Charm by David Maclean – Wentworth – 40 pieces

I took the picture at the wrong angle on a truly bad day, I’m sorry for the shine. By the time I checked the image it was already taken apart and put away and I just wasn’t feeling up to putting it together again even though it was only 40 pieces.

This is what it’s supposed to look like….

Normally this isn’t really my kind of image, but at only 40 pieces pretty much any artwork is worth a shot in my book. It’s pretty, don’t get me wrong, it just doesn’t really excite. Just my personal opinion; we can’t all like the same things.

Very Parisian whimsies too!

Happy Vibes

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

Happy Vibes by Aimee Stewart – Buffalo – 1000 pieces

How many more ways can I find to tell you how much I love Aimee Stewart’s artwork? I fear it’s getting redundant. Apologies. This puzzle was beautiful, entertaining, and great quality (except for quite a few bent pieces). The use of color, the composition – everything was just right. It’ll come as no surprise that I loved it – it was a challenge at times, but it wouldn’t be fun otherwise. 💖

Buffalo puzzles come in small square boxes that just hold all the pieces with not a lot of room left over. In this case, it seems as though the pieces didn’t break apart as easily as they normally do and were bent by the box top being put on in the factory. It isn’t that much of a big deal, I’ve dealt with much worse; I did think it was worth mentioning though.

Love the vintage look of this postcard, and the feathers were really fun to assemble too.

The look of this pen reminds me of a great puzzle mom and I assembled together about 5 years ago – called Fountain Pens. Gorgeous puzzle. That was the first thing that popped into my head when I saw this pen, and it had me going back through the blog to find the old puzzle post. Who doesn’t love the look of a beautiful old fountain pen?

So many butterflies!

All in all it was a great puzzle with such a beautiful image that I never wanted to stop working on it, even when I absolutely needed to stop working and take a break. So many happy vibes to assemble, no time for breaks!

Tiny Toy Tops

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Tiny Toy Tops by Alyssa Hemsath Mooney – Milton Bradley – 300 pieces

This puzzle was SO much more difficult than it looks; I definitely misjudged the challenge level. From the box image it looked so bright and happy, but the pieces themselves seemed so dark and painterly. It took me quite a bit longer than a 300 piece puzzle usually does.

That isn’t to say it wasn’t enjoyable, because it was. Figuring things out, deciphering the colors and shapes and eventually putting everything back together again gave me such a sense of accomplishment – I did it!

It’s been a while since I’ve done a Milton Bradley puzzle. This one was good quality; with somewhat thin pieces and a good fit. They aren’t a go-to brand, but they’re not too bad either.

If you’re looking for a 300 piece puzzle that’s a little more challenging than most, give this one a try. It definitely gave me a run for my money. 💵🏃‍♀️

David Bowie in Outer Space

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles20 Comments

David Bowie in Outer Space (Where’s Bowie?) by Kev Gahan – Smith Street Gift – 500 pieces

This is another puzzle that was gifted to me and I cannot remember who gave it to me. My sincerest apologies. My brain is mush. 🤕 It was more fun than I thought it would be – normally a crowded image isn’t my pile of pieces but this one was quite enjoyable.

Smith Street Gift is a company based in Australia, and I was moderately impressed with the quality. The chipboard used was quite good, and it had very nice image reproduction. There was, unfortunately, no variety in piece shapes, and many pieces fit where they did not belong. Along the top where there is just dark sky I was unable to finish the border before I started on the interior of the puzzle because pieces seemed to fit in many places.

I’m afraid I’m not much of a Bowie fan, so I’m certain most of the “jokes” or images in this puzzle went way over my head. Still it was fun to assemble and that’s really what matters most.

It must be difficult to tell if you’re being looked at when the thing has ten eyes! It’s most certainly looking at them with at least one of them. 👁

Waldo, Wallie, and Walter perhaps? That red and white striped shirt stood out to me; of course I think that’s the point. 😉

If this is the cuisine in outer space….I’m good here. A protein pill on a bun doesn’t do much for me. Major Tom can keep all those “burgers” for himself. And maybe some for ground control.

Unusual Animals

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles14 Comments

Unusual Animals by Allison Strine – Buffalo – 500 pieces

This was absolutely my kind of puzzle image – bright colors, collage, interesting artwork, informative, great quality – it had it all!

Do you ever have a puzzle that you know you’re going to love? Before you even put two pieces together you know it’s gonna be great? This was one of those puzzles! It was as fun and beautiful as I knew it would be – isn’t it fantastic when that happens? 💖

Excellent quality, as per usual for Buffalo. Lately I’ve mostly been purchasing Ravensburger and Buffalo puzzles; I’m too cranky these days to deal with crappy quality. I know when I buy a Buffalo puzzle that they care about whether or not their puzzles are entertaining and well made, and it is most definitely appreciated.

The color of both the background and the spider jumped out at me while sorting, and this was the first section I assembled. I wouldn’t want a Black Widow spider anywhere near me in the real world, but don’t mind at all it showing up next to all the other unusual animals. 🕸

I love all the information provided for each animal. Who has heard of an axolotl before? If you check out some images online you’ll see that they have the cutest faces (but they’re not brightly colored at all). Very unusual indeed.

This one I’ve definitely heard of before – there’s a whole family story about this bird – and we talk about the Blue-Footed Booby when we think something going on is ridiculous, or a waste of time.

When I was young (probably around 10 or so) my father was watching a documentary on tv about this bird, and he made me and my sisters come downstairs and watch it with him. We absolutely did not want to. Mom and dad had a “discussion” about forcing us to watch it; dad said it was educational so we should “learn something” and mom said it was stupid to make us watch it if we didn’t want to.

I don’t really remember any actual information about this bird, just the situation of being made to watch a documentary we weren’t interested in – and of course the bird’s ridiculous sounding name. It’s funny what memories stick with you, isn’t it?

The artwork by Allison Strine was excellent for puzzling, and both interesting and educational. If there are more of her puzzles out there anything like this one – I want them.

If you see this puzzle out in the wild, and you’re so inclined, I highly recommend adopting it and bringing it home. I don’t regret it, and in fact loved every single piece. 💝