Childhood Favorites

On July 27, 2020July 26, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles13 Comments

Brace yourselves everyone, you’re in for a shock – I LOVED THIS PUZZLE! I know, it’s unbelievable, isn’t it? Who’d have thought that this collage (my favorite type of image) of book covers (I love books and reading) in puzzle form (my absolute favorite hobby) would be such great fun? I know, it bowled me over too! 😉

I was quite a prolific reader as a kid, in addition to being quite a tomboy. Playing outside and getting dirty was so much fun for me, and I was always climbing the big tree in the backyard with a book in my pocket. I’d get to the good branch and sit there, out of sight of my sisters and my mom, and spend as much time as I could reading. I love to re-read books too, and I couldn’t tell you how many times I’d re-read my favorites books – sometimes as soon as I finished a great book I’d flip right back to the beginning and start over again!

So put my love of books together with my love of puzzles, and add that it’s a collage – that’s puzzle bliss for me!

The fit of this Re-marks puzzle was a bit loose, and the piece shapes are quite prominent. The loose fit can be a bit of a pain to work with, but it wasn’t so loose as to be much of a problem. Otherwise the puzzle was good quality; the offset grid cut made for a more interesting assembly and the chipboard is a good thickness. Overall, other than the fit, the puzzle quality was very good.

Childhood Favorites 1

Charlotte’s Web was one of my favorite books as a child, not only because of the story, but also because I loved the illustrations. They were done by the same man who did the illustrations of the Little House series of books. Speaking of Little House on the Prairie, why aren’t any of those books shown here? I ADORED them as a child, and still do – I just re-read them all a couple of months ago!

Childhood Favorites 2

Most girls in the US have a memory of this book. I know I sure do. Ain’t it great being a lady and dealing with menstruation?

Childhood Favorites 3

My sister told me about this book when I was younger, and it sticks with me to this day. What a fabulous story, told by a talented author! Just looking at this book cover makes me want to get myself a copy of this book and re-read it; it’s been a few decades since I last read this one.

I wonder to myself sometimes if you guys get tired of me doing so many collages, I’m not ashamed to tell you that I worry about stupid stuff like that. I’m an accomplished worrier. I try to keep telling myself to just post the puzzles I do and not fret about doing puzzles to make others happy or to give them more variety – but I’m not always successful in convincing myself.

Happy puzzling everyone! I hope you’re still finding and assembling some fantastic puzzles!

Avocado Doug

On July 26, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

I absolutely loved this image and thankfully the assembly was as much fun as this silly and adorable image. The quality was great, with an excellent fit – I never hesitate to buy Buffalo puzzles, thank goodness they have so many great puzzles to choose from.

Honestly, I have to admit that when I bought this puzzle I though the costume was a pea pod. It was only when I looked this puzzle up to see if I could find a title (because there was no title on the box other than Doug the Pug) did I find that the title was Avocado Doug. I was pretty embarrassed that I didn’t see it! In my own defense though, I don’t like avocados so it’s no surprise that it wasn’t the first thing that popped into my head.

The couch is quite a large portion of the image, and it made the puzzle a bit difficult. There were so many pieces that were a pale cream color! Luckily, being the puzzle goddess that I am (sometimes) it didn’t take too long to get it done. 👸

Avocado Doug 1

My favorite thing to do when the fit is tighter than normal is to stand the puzzle up on it’s end and take a picture. I don’t know why I like to do that, I just do. It makes me really, really happy – and we all need a little happy these days, don’t we?

Disney Friends In Progress

On July 24, 2020July 24, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

I’m slowly working my way back up to larger puzzles; I just completed a 100 piece from Vermont Christmas Company and now the piece count is doubled for this 200 pc. adorable Disney image. The background of the diner makes it fun and a little more challenging, in my humble opinion, and although it’s a Ceaco I’m hoping to enjoy it anyway.

Hopefully you’re all working on fun puzzles at the moment. Happy puzzling everyone! 🧩😍

Review: Willard & Margaret*

On July 23, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews, Thrift Store Puzzles8 Comments

This is another puzzle that I have named (with a little help), because there is no title on the box anywhere. After some discussion with my puzzle pal Penny we have decided to name this one after the characters in a silly Ray Stevens song “It’s Me Again Margaret”. Willard & Margaret. I just love the sound of their names; and the names absolutely do NOT seem like the right ones for these pups, which makes the title even more funny to me. 😁

Re-marks has a large catalog of puzzles to choose from, and I find that because many of the images are ones I enjoy assembling I am willing to overlook some quality issues that come up from time to time. I have had the odd problem here and there, but overall I find their puzzles to be good/very good quality. The pieces are a good thickness with a very good variety of shapes that fit together well (although sometimes loosely). The image reproduction is very good as well, with beautiful colors and sharp lines.

The quality of these smaller 100 piece puzzles from Re-marks is very good, and reminds me of a White Mountain puzzle in both the quality of the chipboard used and the shapes of the pieces. They fit together well and I’ve seen no image lift on any of the pieces even though this is a second-hand puzzle. They’re fun to assemble too, and the images makes me smile – they’re both silly and entertaining to put together. 🙂

It is always my intention to be objective, although I freely admit that I am not perfect. I do try to remind the readers that all reviews are basically subjective; it is my impression and opinions about the puzzle I am assembling, nothing more. Take every review with a grain of salt – ultimately you have to decide for yourself which aspects of a puzzle’s quality are most important to you. I’m just trying to provide my perspective in the hopes that it might help you decide which puzzles you do or do not wish to try.

Happy puzzling! 🧩

Details:

Title: Willard & Margaret*
Artist: Unknown
Brand: Re-marks
Piece count: 100 pieces
Size: Approx. 10 x 10 in. (25 x 25 cm)
Purchased: Used, puzzle swap

Quality:

Board: Very good
Cutting: Very good
Image: Very good
Box: Good
Fit: Good, somewhat loose
Puzzle Dust: Small amount
Piece cut: Grid cut
Piece shapes: Very good variety
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating: Very good, recommended

Fuyune

On July 22, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

The artwork of Haruyo Morita is so beautiful, and I love Asian art – so when I was looking through my micro puzzles to find one to put together, this one popped out and screamed “Assemble Me!”. 😍

A few years ago, near Christmas, Wentworth had a big sale on micro puzzles; I blacked out and in my fugue state I may have ordered every single one they had on sale. Perhaps. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

That’s the reason this beautiful work of art seems to have whimsy pieces that make no sense whatsoever in regards to the image. It was a Christmas sale, and so the whimsies are Christmas themed.

Fuyune whimsies

The penguin is my favorite, but I also like the detail in Santa’s beard. This puzzle (and one other) are all I’m doing for Christmas in July this year. My regular readers know that Christmas puzzles aren’t my favorite, and although I usually try to do some of that theme in July I just don’t have it in me this year. (You’d think I would though, my Christmas tree is still up! LOL)

I always enjoy putting together a micro puzzle from Wentworth; they’re so well made and sometimes they’re a little more difficult than they look. This one was no exception, it’s such a beautiful image and I enjoyed the few minutes it took me to assemble. Even just a few minutes of jigsaw puzzling makes my heart happy and calms my racing brain. 💖🧩