Category: Jigsaw Puzzling

YEAH In Progress

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling6 Comments

Yeah IP

YEAH is finally back in progress. I started it at the beginning of the week, but trying to assemble all the edges first through the fog of some serious pain medications was just too much for this poor old lady’s aging brain.

Luckily, though I’m still peering through the fog, it finally came to me this morning to try to assemble each letter separately and stop trying to make this puzzle conform to how I usually do things. Normally the edge is where most puzzles begin, but this puzzle is a rebel and doesn’t wish to fit into any boxes of how a puzzle is supposed to be. Stop trying to change her! Just let her be herself!

*Now that I think about it, this medication may be just a bit TOO strong. 🥴

Ok, back to the puzzle. Once the decision was made to assemble it letter by letter the progress is going along much more quickly. THIS (or the other spelling) was a 400 piece puzzle, YEAH is 500 pieces; so it may take me a little longer. But who knows? One letter at a time seems to be speeding up the process, so perhaps it’ll be done sooner than you think.

Enjoy your Friday everyone, and happy puzzling! 🧩

5th Avenue In Progress

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling7 Comments
5th Avenue IP
Browsing & Butterflies on 5th Avenue

I’m assembling a 2000 piece puzzle with an extremely detailed and entertaining image by Charles Fazzino for review, and I think the progress is coming along quite well. Not bad for two day’s work even if I do say so myself. 😉

The quality is much better than expected. Get ready regular readers – this is a Sure-Lox puzzle! I have put together a couple of their 300 piece puzzles recently and have remarked on the better quality; it seems as though they’ve tried to improve their all around quality with thicker chipboard and a much nicer fit. I have to say I am duly impressed.

All the pieces are ballerinas, which is my silly name for a piece with two male and two female connectors. (Two/two = tutu = ballerina) I don’t know when mom and I came up with that name, but that’s been what we’ve called this piece shape for years. I digress. Anyway, all the pieces are the same, which may be a pain in the behind for the sky portion but I obviously haven’t gotten that far yet.

I’m working on the considerably busy lower two-thirds of the puzzle, and the single piece shape hasn’t presented much of a problem. There are three types of pieces, what I’m calling long, skinny, and fat. So when I have a building or patterned area I separate the pieces into their piles of long, skinny, and fat and start working from there. It isn’t much of a bother, and while I prefer a puzzle with multiple piece shapes I’ve found many puzzle brands are using only one shape these days. It doesn’t disqualify it from being entertaining for me.

It is, in fact, wonderfully entertaining so far, and I’m loving the very detailed image. This is the first puzzle by this artist that I’ve assembled, and I think I may be looking for more of his work. 😎🎨

Day After Thanksgiving Blues

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling2 Comments

Usually the day after Thanksgiving is very hard on me. I always try too much to be useful getting the meal cooked and on the table and end up paying for it the next day. This year was no exception – but with the added pressure and sadness of cooking the meal for the first time without mom. My daughter and I wanted to get everything right this year, especially for my dad (and in a way for mom too). We did a pretty darn good job I think, and I’m unbelievably proud of my beautiful daughter for doing most of the heavy lifting and making us a wonderful holiday dinner. You were amazing sweetie! 💖

As usual I did way too much and am paying for it afterwards, but with the added problem of a new pain medication that is, no joke, kicking my ass. I spent the day after Thanksgiving in bed, but this time with all the lights off and the door closed as there was no energy to puzzle, not even laying down.

Last year after the holiday I wrote a post about how I puzzle in bed, showing off my trays and how I can work in bed even when I don’t feel well enough to sit at the puzzle table. There was none of that this year unfortunately, and there are so many puzzles I need to get to assembling!

I’ve got a 2000 piece Charles Fazzino image that I am assembling for a review, and I am still sorting it after many days. It looks like so much fun to put together, but I need to get myself out of this room and sitting in front of my puzzle board.

IMG_0419

There are many, many buildings and look at all those butterflies in the air; it’s going to be a very interesting and entertaining assembly I think, if it ever gets past the sorting stage. Hopefully today’s the day I can start actually working on it. Fingers crossed! 🤞

Happy Thanksgiving/Thursday!

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling4 Comments

Hearts of Gold

To all my readers in the US, Happy Thanksgiving! I hope your holiday is stress-free and that you have a great day spending time with friends and family and eating yourselves silly. I’m truly thankful for all of my family and friends, and hope that I’ve shown my thanks and love all year and haven’t just waited until today to be grateful for you.

To all my readers in other parts of the world, Happy Thursday! Even if you’re not celebrating this American holiday, I’m extremely thankful for everyone who reads and/or comments on this blog and I wanted to take this opportunity to let you know. I appreciate your comments, suggestions, and the fact that you take time out of your day to read my silly little puzzle posts.

Jigsaw puzzles and the puzzle friends I’ve met here have helped me immeasurably through this difficult year, and I don’t know where I’d be without you all. Your readership and friendship (even if it is just online) has been a blessing to me and I’m so grateful for all of you!

“This” In Progress

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling2 Comments

SHIT IP

Obviously I’ve gotten the letters mixed up, it’s supposed to say THIS. How did that happen? Oh dear! 😇

This is a 400 piece puzzle, but each letter is it’s own puzzle. I have to say that assembling the edges was much more difficult than I’d assumed. It took me WAY more time than I thought it would, although to be fair I also started a new (very strong) pain medication that morning. All my brain cells may not have shown up for work – or they might have come to work drunk!

All of the letters have the same colors on the inside, so the difficulty continues. Hopefully my poor drunken brain cells will be up to the challenge!