What Are You Working On?

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling8 Comments

Ok, so I know I said I wouldn’t be posting every day, but I had to talk about what I did yesterday after replying to everyone’s comments and feeling the puzzle love. 💞

I spent several hours lying in bed re-reading through my blog, because not only did I spend the last 14 months not puzzling at all, I barely looked at my blog. Honestly I felt a bit disconnected from it. So once I decided to post and then started replying to comments I felt the need to get back in touch with “my old puzzle self” and so went back to the beginnings of this blog and started reading.

5 years ago last month was when I started My Jigsaw Journal, and the largest puzzle I have ever assembled – Memorable Disney Moments, a 40,320 piece behemoth of a puzzle! I’m a bit awed at myself that I even started it, let alone completed the thing. What a colossal task! What was I thinking? And also, yay me! That was freakin’ awesome! 😎

I barely got very far, only up to November of 2016, but I’m amazed when I go back at how many puzzles I’ve completed. There’s so many I’d forgotten about! There’s even one with the title “The Hardest Puzzle I’ve Ever Done”. 🤣 At the time it actually was, but it certainly wouldn’t be called that now. Actually, I’ve glued that one to frame and still have it. It was a b*tch of a puzzle that took a really long time for the piece count, but having way more puzzles under my belt now, it’s probably only in the top 20 hardest puzzles I’ve completed – and it ain’t even close to the top.

Also, I was TERRIBLE at getting good pictures of my completed puzzles in the beginning. As in……truly, unbelievably awful. Wow. Just wow. I’m a little embarrassed, but mostly just amused at myself for being so crappy at it. Luckily I don’t really take myself that seriously, so it isn’t too depressing. And…there’s absolutely no way for me to change it. Most of the smaller piece count puzzles we (my puzzle posse and I) assembled I no longer own, so there’s no way to take a better picture. There are one or two that I glued to keep and hang that I could possibly take good pictures of and repost about them, otherwise, they’re all gone. And, to be fair to myself, those first couple of months I was just using the pictures that I took on my phone to text to my mom to show her when I’d completed a puzzle. I hadn’t started the blog when most of those pictures were taken, and some of them were ridiculously awful – but they were just to show the puzzle over a text. Still, they were truly hideous and it makes me laugh.

It was very entertaining to go through and read my old posts and see the puzzles I was doing. I’ve only gotten through November of that year, but I’m thoroughly enjoying myself. I could re-post about an old puzzle or two if I still have them or they were particularly fun or interesting. Just so that I could have something to talk about while I’m trying to get myself back into the groove, who knows. I’ll have to think about it.

Anyway…….enough about me. What are you guys working on? I haven’t shopped online, gone to the thrift stores, or shopped in a store for puzzles in 14 months. What cool new puzzles are out there now? Which ones are you working on? Have you taken a break from puzzling too, or slowed down how much you’re working on them? What’s happening with all my fellow P.A.D.S. sufferers? Do tell. I’ve truly missed talking to you all!

Hi All, I’ve Missed You!

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling, Miscellaneous38 Comments

Hey everyone! Thought I’d drop in to tell you all that I’m still alive. 🙂 You’ve probably forgotten all about me, but I’m still here!

Things are still crazy around here, and I have barely done any puzzling at all in more than a year, but I haven’t given up completely, just took a much needed mental health break for a bit. I’m not embarrassed or ashamed to tell you that I suffer from severe depression and anxiety, and it has been overwhelming; especially with the worldwide panorama…panatella…panamiga…panini…pandemic…plague – whatever you want to call it. To be honest, the last couple of years have been extremely difficult for me and I needed to take time for myself to process everything.

I’m still struggling, but doing my best – and that’s really all I can do.

Hubby is well and whole and fortunately/unfortunately working from home more often than not. I’m incredibly grateful that he has that opportunity and is able to stay safer at home – but also a little miffed that our house is so small that the only place he has to work is on top of my puzzle board. I started working on a puzzle a few months ago (one of those 500 piece puzzles that is really 10-12 smaller puzzles that you assemble individually), but wandered away from it and haven’t been able to go back. I’m trying to work out a way to get back to puzzling, because to be honest I’ve basically been in bed for the last year and I need to try to get myself out of this hole I’ve dug myself into.

My boys are both healthy and well, and I’m extremely grateful for that – more than I can possibly say. My daughter had a terrible car crash earlier this year and seriously broke/injured her leg. I roused myself out of bed and cared for her at her home for a couple of months until she was able to be up and around on her own. She had multiple surgeries and is still healing and dealing with the trauma and injury. But she is alive and otherwise healthy and we are grateful beyond measure.

I’m still on multiple pain meds 24/7, which I need to function, and they are part of the reason the depression became overwhelming. Once my heart condition made itself known I was no longer able to take my medications for depression – when choosing between happiness and a heartbeat I chose the latter. 😉 But then I lost my mother, Covid happened, my husband was hospitalized, and it was just too much for me to bear. I always tried to keep this blog lighthearted and fun, and it seemed that I was no longer able to do that. I had to take care of myself first and foremost, and that’s why I took a break from puzzling and blogging.

But I’m trying to get myself back now. I won’t be posting daily again for a while probably, but I won’t be gone for months at a time either. I have to figure out this new format that WordPress has for posting (I DO NOT LIKE IT AT ALL!), so my posts will probably look different until I figure it all out. Plus I still have to figure out how puzzling is going to work with hubby hogging my space! Please have patience with me if you can.

You’ve all become friends that past several years since I started this blog, and I truly missed talking to you all every day through my posts and the comments. I hope I haven’t been gone too long and that some of you are still hanging around. Please let me know how you are, I’d love to hear from you! 💗

*I’m adding a link to a previous post I wrote about mental health. I just re-read it, and I think I did a pretty good job talking about how we need to be more open and talk about our struggles. No Puzzling In Progress

A Break…Hopefully a Short One

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Miscellaneous23 Comments

I won’t be posting for a bit. Somewhat similar to what happened last year, someone I love is in the hospital, and my focus is required both there (where I cannot be) and here at home taking care of my family.

My husband is the one in the hospital right now, but unlike last year I cannot be with him or even visit. My hope and prayer is that he will be home very soon. Until he is home and we know that all is well, I will be taking a break.

Here’s hoping it’s a short one.

Street Food…In Progress

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling3 Comments

Street Food IP
Street Food by Shanghee Shin – Re-marks – 300 pieces

I not only finished yesterday’s puzzle, another one got started too. That, ladies and gentlemen, is progress! (For me)

Re-marks may not be a “premium” brand, but I appreciate their catalog of fun and interesting collages; and to be honest I can overlook a bunch of puzzle dust or a slightly spongy fit if it means having images that are fun and exciting to assemble. 🙂

Hubby is off fishing this morning (thank goodness for hobbies that get him out of my hair for several hours at a time), and so hopefully this puzzle shouldn’t take long at all. I won’t be hearing “Honey where is my…” and “Babe, do you remember where I put…” or “Could you come at look at…..”

Here’s to a productive weekend of puzzling and relaxation!

Storytime Kittens

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Storytime Kittens
Storytime Kittens by Amy Rosenberg – Cobble Hill – 350 pieces

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. 😎