Tag: 1000 pieces

Vintage Summer Books

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Vintage Summer Books by Aimee Stewart – Buffalo – 1000 pieces

We all know how much I adore the artwork of Aimee Stewart, so normally starting one of her puzzles I know that I’ll really enjoy the assembly. This one had me a little wary, I thought perhaps all the flowers and greenery would be quite challenging – I was completely wrong, it was a FANTASTIC assembly, with just the right degree of difficulty. 💚🌼

I adore the look of this section and it was one of the first ones that I put together. There’s something about vintage advertisements, they make me happy.

Just look at all the beautiful colors in this one little section, absolutely stunning! The flowers weren’t nearly as difficult as I thought they’d be, in fact I enjoyed putting them all together.

The piece in the center with the couple kissing was the last piece to be placed in this book. I looked at the piece, was trying to find colors to match it with and then suddenly realized it was a couple. All the titles of the books were complete and in place, so I knew then that this must be the last piece of “In Love’s Garden”; none of the other book titles seemed as though a man and a woman kissing should be on the cover. 💏

This puzzle was much more entertaining and enjoyable than I thought it would be, and I went into it knowing it would be fun! Don’t you love it when a puzzle is even better than you thought?

…Mad In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling2 Comments

Most Everyone is Mad by Dean MacAdam – Ravensburger – 1000 pieces

I’ve haven’t gotten too much completed on this puzzle so far; some nasty virus has taken up residence and for the past couple of days I’ve been in bed trying to rest and feel better. Thank goodness today I’m finally feeling up to sitting at the puzzle table again and have accomplished a bit this morning.

Most of the principle characters are done or almost done, except of course for the Cheshire Cat who’s smack in the middle of the image. He’s next, and that nasty smile of his should make it pretty easy.

This is my third puzzle with artwork by Dean MacAdam, and his images are so full of fun and interesting characters that they make for excellent puzzling. There are a couple newer fairytale images I have yet to purchase (Goldilocks and Red Riding Hood), and he’s got another one called The Dog Walker that looks too adorable for words. 🤎🐕🐩🐕‍🦺🤎

Uh oh, I feel the PADS kicking in…where’s my wallet?!

Clue

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles3 Comments

Clue – Spin Master – 1000 pieces

I enjoyed this assembly, but was underwhelmed with the quality of the puzzle itself. The image is a wonderful collage of cards and pieces from the game and made for a fun afternoon of puzzling; but I was hoping with all the hype surrounding these board game puzzles that they’d be great quality. Perhaps managing my expectations would have been a good idea before I started.

In general, the quality was fair/good; I was hoping for better. The chipboard was quite thin, but relatively sturdy although there were still plenty of bent tabs. The image reproduction was very good, but with a shiny finish that made for a somewhat difficult time underneath the artificial lights in my puzzle room. There were a very good variety of piece shapes and the fit was somewhat loose.

I liked that it looked as though this were a picture of an actual board game, with the crease in the middle where it gets folded to fit into the box.

LOVE the doily in the corner and the pistol too. It was a fun image to put together, and not as difficult as I thought it would be; it was finished the same day I started.

If nothing else this puzzle had me watching the movie Clue again, it’s a family favorite and most of us can toss out quite a few quotes when the moment is right. Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Aileen Brennan and the entire lineup is just about as perfect a cast as you can get in my opinion. Hubby, my youngest son and I watched it together the night before I started the assembly and we all had a great time.

The images of the characters in the game just didn’t seem right to me; Miss Scarlet is supposed to look like Lesley Ann Warren, and Mr. Green should look like Michael McKean. I know the game came first, but the characters to me will always be the actors from the movie. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration if I told you I’ve seen it at least twenty times. (When I said the movie is a family favorite I wasn’t kidding 😊) It’s probably been at least 25 years or more since I’ve played the actual game, but I’ve seen the movie much more often – so those are the characters I think of when you say their names.

Childcare!

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles8 Comments

Childcare! by Bill Houston – Jumbo (Wasgij Mystery) – 1000 pieces

As per my usual routine I don’t show the entire finished image for these puzzles that don’t have the solution on the box top (Wasgij, What If?, Puzzle Twist, etc.); so you’re only seeing the character shown on the box as one of the hints.

With this Wasgij, there is an image on the box showing the two adults taking care of the children in what looks to be a sort of playroom. The hints tell you that “Children can be so unpredictable and sometimes they can drive you mad! The two childcare assistants are doing their best to look after all these children, but what’s the worst that could happen?” That’s the scene you have to puzzle. You can see from the box image what clothes everyone is wearing, what the carpeting and walls looks like, etc. Starting with a shirt color, or any part of the image that stands out – you can get going on piecing together the finished image.

I’m always intrigued by what the finished artwork will look like and how greatly it does or doesn’t differ from the box image. They’re fun and entertaining, and always so colorful and interesting. (If you couldn’t tell already, I love these puzzles!)

After putting together the border and finding extra pieces I was worried that perhaps this puzzle might also be missing some pieces, but thankfully it was complete. In total there were four extra pieces; three in the border and one interior – all from the same section…

I always feel bad when this happens, because I know there’s someone out there missing four pieces of their puzzle. Missing pieces are such a disappointment with new puzzles, and although I had nothing to do with it I feel guilty because their pieces ended up with me. 🤷‍♀️

I thoroughly enjoyed this assembly, as usual, so I don’t know why it’s been so long since I’ve put together a Wasgij puzzle. According to my blog it’s been almost four years since I’ve done one! November of 2019 was the last Wasgij assembled – how is that possible?

There’s still a stack of Wasgij puzzles at least four feet high in my bedroom closet, the fact that they’re not in the puzzle room is probably why it’s been so long. Out of sight, out of mind perhaps?

Whatever the reason, I need to get to whittling down that pile of puzzles – they’re too much fun to be sitting un-assembled in my closet!

Animal Tales In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling2 Comments

Animal Tales – Re-marks – 1000 pieces

Once I finally got myself going on this one, it seems to be coming together quickly. The bright colors and interesting images on each of the covers makes it relatively easy and very entertaining to assemble.

I’ve been in a mood the past few days and haven’t done as much puzzling as I normally would, but I’m trying to get myself out of that head space. Hopefully it won’t take too long and I’ll be back to my normal self soon.

If today goes as well as yesterday this puzzle should be finished before I go to bed tonight; if not, it will definitely be done by tomorrow.