What’s In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling10 Comments

I’m working on a wooden puzzle called Fairytale Cottage, and these are some of the whimsies – aren’t they adorable? My puzzle mojo is taking a beating so far this month, so I’m trying to get myself motivated with this beautiful wooden puzzle.

I find myself laying in bed with no inclination to get up and do anything at all. Depression sucks big time. I’ll weave my way through it, I always do, but while you’re in it it doesn’t seem as if it will ever be better; you know in your head that it will not always be this way, but you don’t feel like it will.

Hopefully this funk won’t last long, and I’ll be back at it with vigor very soon.

The Writer’s Dogs

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

The Writer’s Dogs – Buffalo – 750 pieces

Such a great image – it was wonderful to assemble! Of course you know I couldn’t resist the dogs, but the rest of the image was perfect for a great puzzle as well. The typewriter wasn’t as easy as you might think, and the flowers were their very own special challenge. All in all it was a charming puzzle that was challenging but entertaining.

Great Buffalo quality, of course. There were a few bent pieces but otherwise no problems at all. Excellent fit, great reproduction, good cutting, and the usual Buffalo piece shapes.

I love the detail on this painting in the background – clear as a bell!

I mean, how can you resist that face? I’m certain there are plenty of people out there who don’t care for animals, or dogs in particular – but I couldn’t resist that face. The dogs were the most difficult part of the image to assemble, fur can be quite a challenge. But saving them until the end meant I was more motivated to finish and so I kept at it.

Loved this puzzle!

Owl Collage

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles10 Comments

Owl Collage by Kathrin Stockebrand – Schmidt – 500 pieces

SO MUCH FUN! That truly sums up how I feel about this image and the puzzle itself, it was honestly so entertaining to assemble that I cannot find the words to express it properly. SO. MUCH. FUN.

Such amazing quality, I wish I had more Schmidt puzzles here to assemble, unfortunately their catalog doesn’t have as many puzzles that float my boat as I’d hope. The fit is sublime, the finish feels amazing, the pieces are thick and there are a great variety of shapes, the reproduction is excellent – they’re such premium, wonderful puzzles and my wish would be that more of their images were more to my taste.

The sameness of the background made it so that the puzzle wasn’t too easy; the many eyes did the same, but also helped because they were all so different. The assorted colors and patterns made it interesting, challenging, and easy all at the same time – absolutely fabulous puzzle. If this were available in 1000 pieces I’m certain I would adore assembling it again. It might even be more fun than the first time!

It was just a lovely puzzle image, and I truly adored assembling it. There are very few puzzles (for me) with both superb quality AND imagery.

This was one of those few.

What’s In Progress?

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling8 Comments

Unfortunately I don’t have anything in progress at the moment; our AC is on the fritz and we’ve spent the last two days trying to deal with it.

I still haven’t finished sorting my next puzzle, which has been sitting on the board, partially sorted, for two and a half days now. So what is everyone else working on? What’s in progress at your house?

Lady Bug Land

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles8 Comments

Lady Bug Land by Michael Searle – Ravensburger – 300 pieces

Beautiful and colorful, this one was a goldilocks assembly – not too hard, not too easy, just right. I couldn’t pass this bright beauty up when I went to the thrift store, it was too gorgeous to leave it sitting there on the shelf.

Great Ravensburger quality even though it’s been assembled many times. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten one of their puzzles from the thrift store that wasn’t in good shape; they hold up well in my opinion. Especially the smaller piece counts and images made for kids, they’ve always been great quality.

Obviously there was a missing piece, but it’s been a while since I’ve had a thrift store puzzle with a piece that’s gone AWOL. It’s a risk we take when buying second-hand, but it doesn’t bother me much at all.

As a friend told me, “Our job is to put all the pieces together until there are none left; even with missing pieces you can still complete your task and put them all together.”

Mission accomplished! 😎