The Wizard of Oz

On October 14, 2021October 14, 2021 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

The Wizard of Oz by W.W. Denslow – Pomegranate – 300 pieces

Pomegranate puzzles have always been, for me, excellent quality. You can even feel the quality when you pick up one of their boxes – it feels luxurious and sturdy. I love their puzzles, and they have a catalog of images that aren’t just the usual kitty cat pictures, Christmas images, landscapes, and cottages. They’ve got some unique and fun to assemble images and I love their puzzles!

I wish I could tell you about this assembly, but I honestly don’t remember assembling any of these puzzles from last August. Steel yourselves for the next few puzzles, because they will pretty much be me saying the same thing – I don’t remember. I can tell you about the quality of the brands, and what the quality looks like from the pictures, but that’s about it. My apologies.

This is not what Dorothy looks like to a troglodyte like myself who has only seen the movie and has never read the books. I’m looking for a teenager in a gingham dress. This girl looks about 6 or 7 years old! How old is Dorothy in the books? Is there someone out there more well read than me who could let us know?

And Glinda the good witch here is supposed to be much younger looking and in a pink, sparkly dress! What is happening?!

Goodie’s

On October 13, 2021October 12, 2021 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles5 Comments

Goodie’s by Janet Kruskamp – Ravensburger – 500 pieces

So, I know that I’ve completed this puzzle. I mean, here’s the proof right here, several pictures that were found on my personal cellphone. But, honestly, my addled, menopausal old lady brain swimming in several different kinds of painkillers has absolutely NO recollection of even assembling it. Seriously. I couldn’t tell you a thing about it.

I do know that it’s a Ravensburger, and from the picture I can see that the fit looks good and it seems to be the usual, excellent quality that their puzzles normally are. The colors are more pastel than I would normally care for, but I’m sure I had a good time putting it together. Janet Kruskamp is an artist whose work I admire; one of her images is one of those sentimental puzzles that reminds me of my mom every time I see it. Interested in checking it out? Click here. She’s a very talented artist. 👩‍🎨

Love the kiddos having a shake, and the schoolbook and lunchbox on the floor. So detailed!

Look at these prices! 15 cents for a sundae or a soda float, and 10 cents for a malted! I feel so old! Does anywhere even make “malts” these days? I’m feeling quite old, as if I should be yelling at the kids to get off my lawn. 👵

I wish my memory was better, because I truly cannot recall this assembly. If I didn’t have 5 years or so worth of puzzles here to be assembled already I might entertain the thought of doing it again – but I highly doubt I will. This post is already written, and there are many, many other jigsaw puzzles here calling out my name.

Dory and Nemo

On October 12, 2021October 11, 2021 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles4 Comments

Dory and Nemo by Disney/Pixar – 24 pieces

To be honest, this was done so long ago that I no longer have the puzzle here at the house, and I cannot remember which brand it was. But I can tell you that I delivered it to my darling “grandson” and he is enjoying it quite a bit according to his mom. Excellent news!

I can also tell you that it was relatively good quality, other than some slight warping on the pieces that you can see in the picture below…

But for me, spending 59 cents on this puzzle at the thrift store, I still got my money’s worth and then some. A sturdy kid’s puzzle for less than a dollar, and I was able to give it to my honorary grandson for him to enjoy assembling many more times. A bargain at twice the price!

I had the most awful day yesterday (which I will tell you all about later on), and was looking through my phone at old pictures (you’ll understand later). There were several pictures of finished puzzles and I decided to transfer them all to the new computer. Shocker of all shockers – I’ve got six completed puzzles that I never wrote about – pictures and all!

As I was trying to take my mind off of other things this evening (it’s after 11 pm currently), I started putting together drafts of all the puzzles that were completed forever ago so that I’d have a little bit of leeway in getting myself back to the puzzle table while still being able to post more often. There will be discussions in the Jigsaw Journal household today regarding use of the puzzle table and how I can both be able to work on puzzles and allow my husband to continue to bring home the bacon – from home. As it were.

Sorry, it made sense in my head. 🤷‍♀️

Storytime Kittens

On August 14, 2020August 14, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

A puzzle full of kittens? I know, right?! Even though this isn’t my typical genre of puzzle image, it was still pretty darned enjoyable and I would recommend it – especially to multi-generational families who enjoy puzzling together.

Every time I assemble a Cobble Hill puzzle I am reminded of what a great quality product they put out. The linen finish on their puzzles gives not only a great hand feel, but cuts down on glare and make for such a pleasant puzzling experience. The pieces are thick, they fit together well, and the image reproduction is lovely. Why am I not assembling more of their puzzles? I have no answer to that right now – because I should be, they make me happy.

This is a “family puzzle”, which means that there are three different sizes of pieces. And this brand does it the way that seems most practical to me; large on one side, medium in the middle, and smallest on the other side. I have assembled family puzzles where the largest pieces are the outer edge and the pieces get smaller towards the middle – that makes no sense to me. The point of a family puzzle is that everyone can work together, but if the entire outside of the puzzle has to be put together before the smaller pieces fit anywhere, you cannot work together; you have to wait for one section to be finished before you can actually begin. Nonsensical in my book.

Even though I almost always work on family puzzles by myself, I like that Cobble Hill family puzzles are made so that everyone can work together.

Storytime Kittens 1

This side of the puzzle has the large pieces, and takes up the most space. I love the bright colors and fun image, it made for an entertaining assembly.

Storytime Kittens 2

You can see in this image how the pieces fade from larger to smaller, and it’s pretty seamless and well done. And even though we all know kitties aren’t my preferred animal for puzzle images this was some really beautiful artwork by Amy Rosenberg.

By the way, I’ve had sort of an epiphany about why I enjoy family puzzles so much; and it truly just occurred to me this morning as I was getting ready to type up this post. It’s the sorting! It’s the ease of sorting differently sized pieces that almost buoys my spirits. Sorting is the worst part of puzzles for me, even though my mild OCD requires that I sort; but having it made so much easier and faster because of the different sizes of the pieces makes all the difference. 😎

Best Friends

On August 13, 2020August 13, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

Stacey loves herself some puppy puzzles, and here’s another one. Look at those adorable faces – completely irresistible!

The scarves on this one were the most difficult part for me, it wasn’t always easy to tell which way things went and what went where. But overall this puzzle wasn’t too terribly challenging, and in the end you get this sweet image of two best friends. Aw!