Firefly Friends

On January 25, 2020January 25, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

This is a thrift store puzzle that was pretty awful in the quality department, but was still extremely cute, which is why I bought it in the first place. And as a bonus I got the second best glow in the dark picture I’ve ever been able to take. Intrigued about the best one? Check out Creepy Crawlies. 🐛🦟🐜

Firefly Friends – Creative Edge – 100 pieces

By itself the glow picture looks a little odd, so for me it’s better to put them side by side. It’s a pretty good one, don’t you think? The hard part is being certain you’ve got the whole image in the frame when you’re taking the picture in the dark – it’s dark, so you can’t see much of anything! Part of the very bottom edge may have been cut off, but I’m sure I got almost all of it.

You know when you finish a puzzle how you run your hands across all the pieces, making sure they’re all pushed down and just reveling in the feeling of all the pieces connected together? DO NOT do that with a glow in the dark puzzle if you are at all like me and have some tactile issues. The additive they use to make the ink glow is grainy, almost like sand. The grainy feel on top gives me the shivers, I didn’t like it at all!

Star Wars Finn

On January 16, 2020January 15, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

I wanted the first puzzle of the year to be a thrift store puzzle, for mom. 💚 I went to the thrift store on New Year’s Eve, and was lucky enough to find a few kids puzzles that looked as though they might be entertaining. It’s always nice to start out a new month with a finished puzzle on day one, and kids puzzles are perfect when I haven’t timed it right to have a larger puzzle ready to be completed.

My sons both love Star Wars, so I thought this was a good choice for the first puzzle of the year. It was missing a piece, but I honestly didn’t mind. It’s the chance you take buying second hand, and I still enjoyed putting it together.

My youngest had to tell me the name of this character; I haven’t seen any of the newer Star Wars movies, so I had no idea who this was. His name is Finn, and he was a storm trooper, and lots of other information that I didn’t really grasp or process. I got the whole, long storyline for Finn from my son, and all I asked for was the name of the character!

These Cardinal puzzles for children aren’t the greatest quality, the pieces are thin and easily bent (and perhaps easy to lose too). But they’re perfect for a thrift store find; once the kids have played with them enough they find their way to me or some other puzzle junkie who enjoys assembling puzzles of all shapes and sizes. 😉

12 Days of Christmas Puzzles Day 12 Merry Christmas!

On December 25, 2019December 25, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Yes, the comedy of errors continues, another missing piece. I find that I can’t even work up any anger about this one, it’s just been too much. Four puzzles with a piece missing, and one puzzle missing entirely and substituted with another. Sigh. And it doesn’t end there….

12 Days - 12 -1

We also have two extra pieces today in addition to the missing one. So potentially another consumer could have my missing piece, and I could have someone else’s edge pieces. It’s all just too ridiculous for words. A set of 12 puzzles that has so many problems, and that it would end up in the hands of a jigsaw puzzle blogger is just insanity.

The lack of quality control for this batch of puzzles is beyond horrid. I’ve always found that special editions made by Ceaco are much better quality than their “regular” puzzles, but this set is definitely NOT one of those. Missing pieces, missing puzzles, extra pieces – it’s all just been completely outrageous.

Back to the drawing board Ceaco, you blew it on this one. Do Better! We puzzlers deserve the best quality you can give us, and if this is your best then I am done with your brand and I will encourage others to be done with your brand as well.

I just don’t have the energy to rant and rave about this any more. Perhaps if I ever hear from Ceaco, or if there are problems returning it I might talk about this some more, but not today. It’s Christmas.

Merry Christmas to all my readers who celebrate the holiday, and to all those who don’t let me take the time today to express my thanks and appreciation to everyone who reads my silly little puzzle blog. I appreciate every view, every like, and every comment; and I want to express my gratitude to each and every reader for stopping by. I wish you all holiday blessings, and peaceful happy puzzling. 💖🧩

12 Days of Christmas Puzzles Day 11

On December 24, 2019December 24, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

12 Days - 11 — Holiday Dogs – Ceaco – 100 pieces

This image was a little more entertaining for me to assemble, compared to some of the other images in this set; it was nice to not be sighing while I put it together. 😉

In other news, this is my 200th puzzle this year! I’m glad it was an image that was enjoyable to assemble, and one that makes me smile.

I like the two dogs just sitting there with their hats and scarves; and the poor guy on the right is so dark that you can barely see his eyes. It definitely would be challenging in a larger piece count, so much fur and background night sky!

Only one more day to go! Christmas is tomorrow, which I’m excited for, but I think the most exciting thing is that there’s only one puzzle left! I’ll be glad to be finished with the set, and it’ll be nice to get back to my regular puzzles. It will certainly be good for the readers to not hear me b****ing about missing pieces and missing puzzles!

Merry Christmas Eve! I hope to hear all about the puzzles everyone got for Christmas, and if not puzzles, I hope Santa brings you gifts that make you smile. 🎅

12 Days of Christmas Puzzles Day 10

On December 23, 2019December 23, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

12 Days - 10 — Town Square Tree – Ceaco – 100 pieces

Perfect tree in the town square, sigh. Who puts presents under a tree that’s outside? No one I’ve ever known, that’s for sure. If I spent hard earned money on gifts, and spent my time wrapping them I would not put them outside in the snow! Am I overthinking this? Probably.

Out of the ten puzzles from this set that I’ve assembled so far, this was the worst quality. All of them have had a few puzzles with the pieces still connected, but this one had many more than the others and a lot more puzzle dust. Otherwise the quality was good/fair. The pieces fit together well, and it was evident if you tried to place a piece wrongly; the image reproduction is very good, with clean lines and no blurriness, and a slightly shiny finish.

This has almost been like when your parents catch you smoking and make you smoke every cigarette in the pack one after another – it’s been all Christmas puzzles for the last ten days and I am sick of them. Of course I wasn’t a big fan to begin with, but all the problems with these puzzles has me weary of holiday images and is bringing out even more Grinchiness in me.

Only two more days to go. They’ll be fine, there can’t possibly be any MORE problems, that would be beyond ridiculous. You can do it, you got this!

Happy Hanukkah to all my readers who celebrate it! ✨ I haven’t seen any Hanukkah puzzles, but I would love to find one to assemble. I’ve seen a few out there, but haven’t come across any myself.