Category: Jigsaw Puzzling

Helpful Garden Paws In Progress

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling4 Comments
Helpful IP
Helpful Garden Paws by Jenny Newland – 550 pieces

After I finished Art City yesterday my brain and my body were both exhausted. I spent the rest of the day in bed taking many naps, and was worried that I’d have no in progress update to share with you all today. 😥

Unfortunately an upsetting thing happened in the evening, and even though I was still exhausted (I’m certain adding antibiotics to my pain regimen is part of the problem) I couldn’t turn my brain off enough to allow me to sleep.

As usual, when I can’t sleep it’s off to the puzzle room, and I was able to sort the entire thing and actually got quite a bit of it assembled too. Every cloud has a silver lining, yadda yadda yadda.

There were plenty of small sections that were easy to separate during the sorting, but other than the white kitten I didn’t try to sort any of the animals. There are many, many pieces of fur left on the trays, but I hope as I’m putting this one together that the different animals will become a little more familiar and it won’t be too much of a chore to get them assembled.

This puzzle was a Christmas gift, and I was going to apologize for how long it took me to get to assembling it – but it’s only been just over two weeks! How in the world does it feel like Christmas was forever ago? My life is whizzing past me at breakneck speeds; perhaps that’s just what happens when you’re over the hill, you’re on the down slope and speeds pick up. Yikes.

To that end, there are eight more puzzles I received as gifts, and to the two lovely ladies who gave them to me, it might be a while until they’re all assembled. The two Christmas themed puzzles may have to wait until December, but the remaining six will find their way onto my table in due course. I promise that I love them all and will absolutely be assembling them, but it may take a while.

My life complicates things all the time, and it gets in the way of my puzzling. Rude. 🤨

Art City In Progress

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling5 Comments

Art City IP

After sitting on my board unsorted for two days, I finally got going on Art City, a 1001 piece wooden puzzle from Mr. Bob Puzzles in Australia.

The colors are beautiful, and most of the pieces have a straight or almost straight edge, so the assembly isn’t as easy as it looks. This is a large puzzle, approximately 19 x 31 inches, so the start I have here isn’t very much of the image at all, there’s a lot more to go!

This puzzle has a lot of great whimsies, and they are all roaring 20’s, jazz, and art deco inspired. I love them all, and there are several words mixed in with the whimsies that are lots of fun; my favorite of course is my name…

Art City IP 1

If only I had thought to ask for “My Jigsaw Journal” spelled out in pieces, that would be amazing! Maybe on the next puzzle…. 😁

To be honest, the first day I poured the pieces onto the board the sheer number of pieces and the large pile it made completely overwhelmed me. I put the whimsies on trays, but stopped there and did nothing on it the rest of the day, and didn’t even go in the puzzle room the day after that. I wish I could say my anxiety was under control, but it isn’t, and even though puzzling helps me deal with anxiety and reduce stress, it’s only once I’m actually working on the puzzle that this holds true. Before I start the actual assembly there are many, many pieces to turn over and lay out, and that’s where the anxiety comes in. I’m doing my best, and I have medication, but I still get stressed when I see a huge box or pile of pieces. Anxiety sucks.

Happy New Year!

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling12 Comments

accuracy afternoon alarm clock analogue

To all my family, friends, puzzle pals and members of the PADS Posse I wish you a healthy, safe, joyous and prosperous year filled with laughter, love, and hopefully some fantastic puzzles!

Most importantly, may you have plenty of opportunities to spend time with those you love and care for. 💖

Happy 2020!

Heroes & Heroines In Progress

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling4 Comments
Heroes IP
Heroes & Heroines by Aimee Stewart – 1000 pieces

This is technically two days worth of work but most of the day yesterday was spent away from home, and therefore away from my puzzle board. I did slip away to the board last night (insomnia, yay) and worked on it for a little while; it’s a bit of a challenge, and I find I’m enjoying the slow coming together of the image.

The pieces and I are getting to know each other, and every time I go through my trays looking for something specific we get more and more acquainted. Once I start seeing them over and over, and seeing the assembled bits and what might attach to them I get more familiar with the pieces and the overall image. What looked like a bunch of pieces that were very much alike are now becoming old friends, and when I get ready to assemble that curtain or a specific book I know which pieces I’m looking for and what tiny little blob of color on a certain piece will fit perfectly.

Sometimes I like a quick fix, a little puzzle with few pieces that goes together quickly, especially after working a larger or difficult puzzle. But sometimes I truly enjoy the challenge of a puzzle that takes a bit more brain power and goes together more slowly. This is one of those puzzles.

Aimee Stewart’s images are my happy place, and I’ve assembled many of them. The colors she uses and the way she blends them together makes for not only a beautiful image, but for puzzles that are pleasing to look at and even more pleasing to build. This one is going together more slowly than usual for a 1000 piece puzzle, but I’m enjoying the placement of every piece. 😍

New Puzzles!

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling6 Comments
Christmas Gifts
My Christmas Puzzles!

Just thought I’d do a little bragging, I got a bunch of puzzles this year for Christmas! My beautiful daughter went a little overboard, but I understand the reason and love her even more for it. 💝

She wanted to make sure I had enough smaller piece count puzzles to choose from; I have MANY, MANY 1000 piece puzzles or larger here at the house. When we go puzzle shopping together I’m usually looking for puzzles under 1000 pieces to fill in the gaps, so she stocked me up for a month or so. 😉

There are three puzzles at 550 pieces, three that are 500 pieces, and two 300 pieces – what a great selection! I’m certainly glad the Jan van Haasteren puzzle is only 550 pieces, it’s so busy and it’s been years since I assembled one of his images. The Aimee Stewart Skate Night puzzle is GORGEOUS and it just might be saved until last, and there are three adorable dog puzzles that are so sweet!

She did a beautiful job selecting puzzles, and I can’t wait to get going on them. I’m starting today with Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, the image makes me very happy and I think it’s going to be a great assembly. All those colors in the background should be a lot of fun. 😎

Gifts
More Christmas Gifts!

I also got these beauties from my dear friend Penny at Puzzlemomma.com. The cottages are for when I can’t sit at my puzzle table and am resting in bed, the Elf puzzle is because we were just talking about funny movies (and it’s adorable), and the 2000 piece Pixar puzzle is because she’s always cheering me on to overcome my anxiety and do some larger puzzles again (and because it’s a collage and she knows how much I love them).

She did an excellent job of selecting puzzles as well, and I’ve got a great new pile of puzzles in my stash to choose from. I’m almost looking forward to having to be in bed so I can get to assembling those cottages! 😉

Both my puzzle benefactors this year picked out some wonderful puzzles for me and as I’m putting them together I will be reminded of the thoughtfulness and kindness of these two fantastic women. Every piece of every puzzle is thoroughly appreciated, and I’m looking forward to each assembly and to sharing these puzzles with my readers.

My PADS is flaring up today and I find that my mood this morning is a puzzle induced euphoria – so many sensational new puzzles to choose from! 😍