Sunset Over a Busy Day

On May 24, 2018May 24, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles8 Comments

This puzzle was a pleasure to assemble, the gorgeous colors and exceptional fit made for a great time. Doesn’t this look like a great spot for a getaway?

The picture above doesn’t do this puzzle justice, the image is absolutely beautiful and the colors are stunning. I would have liked to have the artist’s name somewhere on the box; I searched every inch of it and nowhere is credit given to the artist. If I were an artist that licensed my work to be made into a puzzle I would definitely want credit for it! Thank goodness for the internet, with the name of the painting it was easy to find the name of the artist and I can at least give him credit here.

Most of the Milton Bradley puzzles I’ve assembled so far have been very good quality. Their pieces are a good thickness, they have a very good variety of piece shapes and the fit is excellent. The image reproduction is excellent as well and in general I’ve been thoroughly impressed with their puzzles.

I’m not always in the right frame of mind for an image like this one, but Sunset Over a Busy Day was just what I needed. The sky was easy to start with, and the dock and cabin offered enough of a challenge to keep it from being too easy. I find that my moods directly affect the type of puzzles I choose to assemble. I haven’t completely figured it out yet, which moods prefer which puzzles – all I know is some days I won’t even consider a certain puzzle and a few days later that same puzzle is exactly what I’m looking for.

Perhaps that means that it’s pretty important for me to have a very good variety of puzzles to choose from. So mom keep up that thrift store shopping, my ever-changing moods require a wide variety of interesting puzzles to choose from. ☺

Norman Rockwell Update

On May 23, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling2 Comments

Yesterday’s post got so many comments about this puzzle in particular that I thought I would update it this morning – I made some excellent headway on it. 😎

This is hands down the absolute worst quality puzzle that I’ve ever worked on, but I am stubbornly determined to assemble the image itself at the very least. I will most likely not finish the top and bottom edges or fill in the blue, it will be too frustrating. Hubby wants to work on those, so I will absolutely leave that to him – he’s just as stubborn as I am. If the top and bottom sections don’t get done though, I don’t really care.

The only full image of the puzzle on the box is about 1 x 1.5 inches – way too small to give any assistance. Whoever designed this box obviously doesn’t assemble jigsaw puzzles, how in the world is such a tiny image supposed to help you? I had my laptop sitting next to the board yesterday and brought up the image on the screen – that was a huge help!

I’ll try and do a little more work on it today, but it’s obviously going to take several more days to put the whole thing together. Whenever it gets done is fine with me – I’m in no hurry at all.

Puzzles in Progress

On May 22, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling17 Comments

First Trip to the Beauty Shop by Norman Rockwell

I’ve got two puzzles in progress at the moment, I can’t seem to get my brain to settle on just one. This first one mom found unopened at the thrift store for 39 cents. The box is extremely small for a 500 piece puzzle which means the pieces are quite small as well. Once we opened the box, we saw that the quality was less than optimal – very thin pieces with an unbelievably loose fit. Ugh. I started assembling it at least 2 times before and put it away because I wasn’t in the right mood to deal with the poor quality.

I’m not sure why I’m in the mood for it now, but at the moment I really want to see this puzzle assembled; partly because nowhere on the box is a picture of the entire puzzle image – frustrating! And if I’ve got 2 puzzles going I can take a break from the horrible quality of this one and work on one that isn’t as annoying

The image on this puzzle is much brighter and easier to work with, and even though it’s a Ceaco puzzle the quality is many times better than the Norman Rockwell puzzle (which is made by Kappa Books Publisher). The fit is much nicer and the pieces aren’t nearly as thin.

So I’ve got 2 puzzles going, but for some reason neither of them is my newest wooden puzzle that was my anniversary present. I’m not sure when my weird old lady brain will be in the right mood for that one. I think it’s partly because I’m missing working on puzzles with mom; I haven’t been able to have any puzzle/visit days with her for the last 3 weeks. Every puzzle is much more fun when mom and I work together, and a new wooden puzzle is something we both love to assemble.

We won’t be able to have our visit day this week either, so perhaps I’m just too bummed about that to start on the new Liberty puzzle. We’ll have to wait and see I suppose.

Daisy Field Farm

On May 21, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

Here’s the last of the 3 “bathroom puzzles” – hubby enjoyed this one the best. Assembling the fence was his favorite part. He loves structure and linear images so the fence was what he wanted to work on the most. I even left the last 10 pieces of this puzzle for him to put in – what a sweet wife he has! 😉

This puzzle was as much fun to assemble as the other two, and I was sad for us when it was finished. I didn’t see any more at the store the last time I was there except for Starry Night, and I don’t think I’m brave enough for that.

I have to go out twice tomorrow for appointments, so if I’m feeling ok I just might make a stop at the same store and see what else there is for me. These aren’t premium quality, but they’ve got me and my husband working together on puzzles again, that’s what makes me happiest about them.

Review: Cupcakes I

On May 20, 2018May 20, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews2 Comments

This post is sponsored by Puzzle Warehouse.

Cupcakes I – Lafayette Puzzle Factory – 500 pieces

Cupcakes I is one of a series of mini shaped puzzles that I found to be great fun. As soon as mom and each finished one of the cupcakes I knew I was in trouble – I want every single set of puzzles in this series!

My picture isn’t the best, I can usually do a better job, but the picture I took seems quite dark. I wanted to show the beautiful colors and shapes in greater detail….

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This would be a great way to start out with shaped puzzles if you’re intimidated or not sure about them. These are color coded on the back so that you can sort them easily, or if you’re looking for more of a challenge you can just ignore the colored backs and put them together without any assistance. I had the best time putting these together and can’t wait to try out all the other puzzles in the series. There are more cupcakes, fish, puppies, high heeled shoes, birds, butterflies, and teacups.

Lafayette Puzzle Factory has an extremely varied catalog and beautiful images to choose from. Their pieces are a good thickness and fit together well; and the image reproduction is bright and colorful. This is only the second adult puzzle by LPF that I’ve assembled, and I find their image reproduction to be stellar – absolutely gorgeous! The finish is slightly shiny and can cause glare under artificial lights although I didn’t find it too annoying. For me the image is a major factor in puzzle quality, and if the colors are bright and fun to work with I find it easier to overlook other minor quality issues. Click the link above to see the puzzles they have in stock now at Puzzle Warehouse.

I highly recommend these shaped mini puzzles, they are so much fun to assemble!

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