Sleeping Beauty

On May 29, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

This puzzle is just beautiful, and other than the faces the entire image reminded me of the movie I remember as a child, and the movie I remember watching with my children. I love the look of the image as a whole, and the puzzle itself was wonderful quality and a joy to assemble.

Excellent Ravensburger quality, I think this one has to be the best quality from this brand that I’ve assembled in a while. These Disney puzzles are “collectors editions”, and more expensive than the average Ravensburger puzzle. Normally I don’t purchase these, because it annoys me a little bit that they cost more money, but this was a “pandemic purchase” that I made simply because it was available. Beautiful, matte finish, wonderful fit, excellent image reproduction – the usual premium quality I expect from this brand. It’s truly lovely to work with, and has a great hand feel.

The rest of this post is me complaining about something, but don’t take it to mean that I didn’t enjoy this puzzle. I absolutely enjoyed this puzzle, it was a great image with fantastic quality and I enjoyed working with it very, very much.

Sleeping Beauty 1

These are the creatures of the forest I remember from the movies when I was little, this is what they look like in my brain, if that makes sense.

Sleeping Beauty 2

As a crotchety old lady, I feel it’s my place to complain about the way they do things now and the way they used to be done. This is NOT the face of Aurora that I remember, why is it changed? Why is Charming’s face different? Things don’t always need to be updated. It seems like a slap in the face to the artists who made this movie – painstakingly, cell by cell. It’s annoying. I’m annoyed.

Do all Disney princesses have to be updated so that they’re stunningly beautiful with plump, kissable lips and the figure of a small undernourished boy? Has anyone told the muckey-mucks at Disney that women eat food? That we’re all shapes and sizes, some of us cut out hair short, and plenty of us don’t need a man to make our lives complete? Just wondering. I’m cranky. This stuff makes me cranky.

What’s a Fancy Girl to Do?

On May 27, 2020May 27, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles6 Comments

I love me some Fancy Nancy, and what girl can resist some glitter? Not me! Even though this is a thrift store puzzle that I knew had been WELL LOVED, it was still entertaining for me to assemble it.

As you can see there are many tabs where the image is lifting, but it didn’t stop me from enjoying the puzzle. And despite the delamination of the image I found the fit to be excellent. Even with this thrift store puzzle obviously having been assembled many times it still had a great fit. So much so that I was able to do one of my favorite things – stand it up…

Fancy Nancy 1

Even though it shows even more plainly the poor condition of this puzzle, this picture makes me happy. Fancy Nancy makes me happy. She’s a girl who doesn’t care what anyone thinks of her, she just wants to be who she is – she is me!

Stacey & David

On May 26, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles12 Comments

So here it is, my wedding picture puzzle that was my anniversary gift this year. It was fantastic, and Mr. Bob Puzzles did such a wonderful job – I absolutely adored it! It will be beautiful in my living room once hubby gets the frames built for both this one and Stacey & Ruth. I’ve added links to all the previous posts about these puzzles so you can go back if you’d like and check out how we got here.

My husband had both this and the puzzle of my mother and me commissioned because he’s one of the sweetest, kindest, most thoughtful men I know. He knew that Mother’s Day would be difficult for me this year due to the loss of my mother, and he wanted to soften the blow. If you’re new to the blog you can read about how he got it all done here. It was such a lovely and unexpected gift. 💝

Remember my post from when I was assembling this? Can you see Batman where my hem and the train are coming down the step? I can’t see this picture now without seeing it. It makes me smile, and it will always make me smile.

I was wondering when I was sorting the pieces and saw all the whimsies why there were so many birds…

Stacey & David 1

I love the two couples and the intertwined rings – and of course our beloved Buddy. But I wasn’t sure why there were so many birds. Did hubby tell him to add those? Well, once I was nearly finished I saw it….

Stacey & David 2

How amazing is that? Mr. Bob and his team did such a beautiful job with the design of this puzzle and the whimsies. I’m actually considering displaying this one with the birds and our names removed, isn’t that an amazing image? It looks so striking and charming. Thank you to everyone at Mr. Bob puzzles, and most especially Mr. Bob himself – you all did an astounding job on this puzzle – I love it! 💖🧩💖

I adored my gorgeous one of a kind puzzle from start to finish; and many thanks again to Mr. Bob himself for suggesting that these images NOT be 1000 piece puzzles. All that carpeting, paneling, and white would have been so difficult with a higher piece count!

Hubby did a great job working with the team at Mr. Bob Puzzles, getting high resolution images of our wedding pictures, and having these beautiful puzzles made. I think I’ll keep him.

I’ve put in over 30 years work getting him whipped into shape; it would be a waste to lose all that effort. 😉

Archie Covers

On May 24, 2020May 24, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles10 Comments

This puzzle was so much fun! The puzzle I put together just before this one was very muted with lots of shades of brown, and the bright colors and larger pieces made this assembly so much more entertaining.

Great Cobble Hill quality; thick, larger pieces that fit together very well with a nice variety of shapes. Excellent image reproduction!

Archie Covers 1

Of course this is my favorite panel, girls rule! I will say, however, that the teeny waist on the woman in yellow is unrealistically small. Real women who don’t wear corsets and have all their ribs do not look like that and should never be expected to look like that. I know it’s just a comic book, but still…

Archie Covers 2

I think this must be how every generation feels about the next generation’s music. Of course you always think that the music of your youth is superior, I know I do. My parents were a bit different though; they did think their music was better, but they also just loved music in general and appreciated my generation’s music as well. Mom loved Boy George! She thought his voice was beautiful and loved when his songs would come on the radio. Dad was a drummer when he was young, and he loved a good beat – no matter what the lyrics said. 🥁

Isn’t it funny how an image can trigger all sorts of different memories?

Let’s Play Football

On May 23, 2020May 22, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles8 Comments

This is another thrift store puzzle that mom bought (I still probably have a year or more of thrift store puzzles that she bought to get through). Even though Karmin quality isn’t great I did this one because she bought it – and I love dogs and dog puzzles!

As soon as I opened the box and felt the pieces I knew it wouldn’t be the best quality or assembly. The fit wasn’t great and the pieces were pretty thin, but it was a fantastically adorable image and at least all the pieces were there. And I just cannot resist doggy faces, they’re the best!

Let's Play Football 1

Happily playing tug-of-war with a scarf, so cute! I started with the scarf because they were the easiest pieces to pick out, other than the sky most of the pieces were different shades of brown. The scarf leads to two adorable, happy puppy faces – irresistable!

Let's Play Football 2

The smiling face of this dog, and the scarf makes me think of Lady from Lady and the Tramp. It looks a little like the same breed, even though I don’t think it is; it’s really the smiling face.

Let's Play Football 3

You know I can’t resist a sad puppy face either. It just makes me want to give belly rubs and pets and scratches everywhere to make this little guy/girl happy!

Even with less than premium quality, this puzzle was entertaining for me; they don’t all have to be perfect for me to enjoy them. The quality wasn’t the best, but I had a good time anyway; watching the faces come together, figuring out the best way to assemble the sky, finding those pieces of the football that I didn’t pick out the first time, etc. I needed quiet, meditative distraction and this puzzle provided it.

Perfect puppy profiles provided puzzle play, plus peaceful pondering. 🧩💗