Tag: 1000 pieces

Nevertheless, She Persisted

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles10 Comments

Nevertheless, She Persisted by Feitzky LLC – Cobble Hill – 1000 pieces

This thrift store find is a puzzle I’ve been wanting to do for a while and I finally found it. I wish I had better things to say about it, but my copy had either been VERY pre-loved and assembled many times or it was an extremely loose fit to begin with. Love the image – love it – but the fit left a bit to be desired.

Cobble Hill is a brand I consider to be towards the higher end of the quality scale: their linen paper makes for an excellent hand feel, their random cut makes for an entertaining assembly, the image reproduction has always been stellar, and the fit is usually good/very good. This puzzle may have been cut at the end of a run when the die is becoming duller making for a looser fit, I can’t be sure as this is a thrift store purchase. I still consider Cobble Hill puzzles to be very nice quality and I never hesitate to buy one if the image speaks to me.

To say I’m shocked that the puzzle is complete would be an understatement. The pieces were loose in the box, which was not taped up well at all. When I got to the checkout at the store and starting putting my puzzles on the counter I reached for the box under this one to find two puzzle pieces sitting there, they had come out of the box when I put it in my cart! The look and feel of the pieces told me they were Cobble Hill, so back into the box they went; but I was thinking about it all the way home and had convinced myself that there were going to be missing pieces in this one. When it came to putting in the last few pieces, I saw that their were four left – and four spaces – and I said, out loud, to no one, “I can’t believe it!”.

The piece shape is very prominent in this puzzle, which doesn’t at all detract from the enjoyment of the assembly for me, but does make getting a good picture difficult. I took several close up pictures of the puzzle but even close up it’s challenging to see the image behind all the lines. I wasn’t happy with any of them, even after messing with them in editing, so I’ve just taken a picture of the poster that came with the puzzle.

As a woman who supports women I love the thought behind this image. Without getting too political however, I question the inclusion of one of these women (who did NOT support females), and also the exclusion of the woman whose persistence in the face of bullies and having things “mansplained” to her before being silenced is the reason that Nevertheless, she persisted became a rallying cry for feminists. Just my own personal opinion of course – we ladies are still allowed to have our own opinions about things.

The loose fit was quite a bother to work with, but I still found myself lost in the assembly at times, completely focused on the pieces and where they went. I’m glad I finally got to assemble this puzzle and I did enjoy it, just not as much as I’d hoped. Still, Cobble Hill puzzles are good quality and I never hesitate to recommend them.

Rebels

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles12 Comments

Rebels – Re-marks – 1000 pieces

This puzzle was an absolute joy to put together, and I found myself constantly trying to make it last longer. I wanted nothing more than to sit in front of it and assemble away, but I also wanted it to not be over too soon. Of course no one around here is surprised when a collage puzzle makes me happy.

The Re-marks brand is good quality in my opinion, and although there are sometimes issues with fit or reproduction I find they don’t bother me as much when they’re attached to a fantastic collage image. I’ll put up with a lot to be able to work a fun collage. Luckily there wasn’t much to “put up with” on this puzzle, it was very good quality all around.

It was difficult deciding which areas of the puzzle I would use for a close up, and in the end I chose three different rebels that remind me of three different generations of my family.

If you’re a long time reader you know that not only am I a puzzle geek, I am also a self-professed comedy nerd. My parents are to blame, in my house we had just as many comedy records as we did music albums. A good laugh was always around when my folks were near, partly because they adored comedy and comedians. We weren’t allowed to listen to Lenny Bruce of course, as he was about as “blue” as a comic could be, but I found myself fascinated by him when I was younger. By the time I was old enough to listen to his comedy my life was taken over by teenage hormones, boys, cheerleading, etc. But my parents never shied away from anything controversial and I distinctly remember talking to them about Lenny Bruce, censorship, drug addiction and people trying to gatekeep what others read and heard and did. Lenny Bruce died before I was even born, but seeing this image reminded me of my youth as a child of comedy connoisseurs and people who taught me to fight for ALL of my rights. I had exceptional parents. 💖

Now we go forward to my own generation; as a child of the 80s and a bit of a rebel myself of course I loved Joan Jett. Loved her with The Runaways, loved her solo work, and of course Joan Jett & The Blackhearts were amazing. Put another dime in the jukebox baby!

I never listened to musicians just because everyone else thought they were great. I was an odd child who liked what I liked and didn’t apologize for it; in addition to the music of the 80s I also LOVED Elvis Presley, Allan Sherman, girl groups of the 50s and 60s, Ray Stevens, etc. – in general I appreciated all kinds of music and didn’t just pretend I liked what was popular. If it made me happy that is what counted most. My friends thought I was weird, but I think weird is a good thing; and my true friends loved me, weird and all. Who wants to be like everyone else? Boring! I loved that Joan Jett didn’t try to conform to what everyone else thought femininity should look like, she was just herself and that made all the difference to me. She was my Pippi Longstocking, along with Cyndi Lauper, they were women who were just themselves no matter what the world thought and that made them ladies I looked up to.

This one reminds me of my daughter, who absolutely adores RuPaul and RuPaul’s Drag Race. We’ve spent many an hour watching it together; I don’t love it as much as she does, but spending time with her is much more important to me than getting to watch what I want on tv. When I was putting this puzzle together I texted my daughter a picture of the partially completed RuPaul section and she immediately replied wanting to know what this was from and what I was working on. She was very interested in my puzzle that day. 😎

My gorgeous daughter was also raised by parents who taught her to fight for herself and for others. She is an outspoken, honest, kindhearted, generous, amazing woman who also likes what she likes and doesn’t try to fit in just to make others more comfortable. I’m immensely proud to have raised a rebel like her, and as RuPaul has taught us to say, she’s my “Best Judy”; she’s my ride-or-die, my closest confidante, and my beloved sweet Baby Princess. 💕👑

I’ve picked out one more section to show you, I wonder, do you see the same thing I do or am I putting my attitude onto this…?

When I look at this book cover I see a man who thinks he’s all that and a bag of chips. Look at that smug face! Is it just me? Perhaps it is. I’ll be seeing him again soon though, because both this image and another one from this puzzle (Harriet Tubman) are part of another collage yet to be assembled that I have here. It’s another collection of book covers, Biographies. I won’t mind seeing Harriet again, but Oscar here has a face that I consider extremely slappable. Like, EXTREMELY slappable.

Wow, I really do have an attitude today! Maybe it’s my menopause rearing it’s ugly man-hating head, there’s no way to be sure. Doesn’t matter though, I embrace the hormone-riddled insanity. 🤪

Orphaned Puzzles!

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments
Transit Graphics – Galison – 1000 pieces

After I finished reading through the entire blog recently, I decided to also read through all the completed puzzle pages for each year – just to see my shortened comments about each of the puzzles – it was very interesting for me. While I was there I found three orphaned puzzles that were shown on a completed page for a certain year but for whatever reason they never made it to a blog post of their own. Oh dear! They won’t each get their own post, but I’ve decided to show them here all together.

The first puzzle, shown above, was completed in August of 2016. As you can tell by the awful picture this was a puzzle that was assembled before this blog even started. My mother and I used to text each other pictures of our finished puzzles, and this was a quick picture just to send over text to show her it was complete; and I’ve rounded it off so you don’t see as much of my bed. Even though it’s been almost 10 years, I still remember this one if you can believe it. It was quite easy for me, and according to my little blurb it was started one day after my husband had left for work and was finished before he got home that night. Not bad for a 1000 pieces!

Krispy Kreme – Gibsons – 500 pieces

This puzzle was completed in December of 2017. The blog was well established by then, so I’m not certain why a full post was never done. Thankfully it’s a much better picture than the previous puzzle; by this time my puzzle boards had been made for me by my sweet hubby and I had figured out how to take a picture that doesn’t look like I was in the process of falling down when the photo was shot.

Unlike the Transit Graphics puzzle, I have no memory of this one. At all. According to the completed puzzles page this one made me hungry, but I was a bit disappointed in the quality. Apparently I had higher hopes for this brand but it didn’t measure up. Thankfully it was still entertaining, and that’s what it’s all about (and I do love a Krispy Kreme donut 🍩).

Victorian Letters – Springbok – 500 pieces

Victorian Letters was also completed in December of 2017. It must have been a crazy month for me to somehow forget to give these puzzles each a post of their own. Oh well, it’s being rectified now – better late than never, right?

It won’t surprise you to hear that I don’t remember this puzzle assembly either. It’s a very pretty image though, and it makes me wish I had typed up a full post. Apparently this was one of Springbok’s very tight fitting puzzles, and at the end my thumb was hurting from smashing together pieces that fit together much too snugly.

I enjoyed reading through all the pages to see all the puzzles completed and how I described them – it was a very entertaining exercise. I’ve read through the blog before, but never through all the completed puzzles pages. I enjoyed myself more than I though I would. 😎

*ps* It also made my OCD a little crazy, so I went back through and edited all the pages so that they should all have the right size images and there is a now a running total of puzzles completed, pieces assembled, and brands worked with for each month. It needed to be done so the part of my brain that craves order would calm the $@!% down!

Get Your Stitch Together

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles11 Comments

Unlike almost every other post I’ve done here at My Jigsaw Journal the picture of the completed puzzle will have to be a little farther down instead of at the top. There’s a LOT of cuss words in this puzzle, and I wanted to be sure to give anyone who wishes the option to decide whether or not to see the image.

This puzzle was a gift from my bestest puzzle buddy Penny, who was so excited that I finally got back to the puzzle board that she ordered a couple of naughty image puzzles to be delivered to my front door. You have no idea how hard I laughed when I saw the images that she choose for me – she knows me so well!

What The Puzzles is a new-to-me puzzle brand, and it was new to Penny as well. Luckily this brand seems to have very good quality. The pieces are a little thin but very sturdy, there are a good variety of piece shapes, the image reproduction was beautiful, and the fit is exceptional. I was impressed! It also comes with a large poster that you can use to help with the assembly; even the poster was impressive as the paper used was thick with a beautiful reproduction of the image. The one drawback for me is that it has that “sharp” white backing that I’m not overly fond of, but it wasn’t too bad to work with. I haven’t found too many puzzles “made in China” that were of such good quality, so this was a pleasant surprise. I try not to make quick judgements until I have at least assembled two or three puzzles by any brand, but so far this brand has done very well. I’ll let you know how I feel after I’ve put together the second puzzle Penny choose for me.

*Also, the legal-ish stuff included on the box was too funny! This puzzle is…zero carb, gluten free, dairy free, tobacco free, not tested on animals, gateway to knitting, and may cause extreme frustration. 😎

Ok, that’s enough yammering for now; if you’re interested in seeing my VERY naughty puzzle then all you have to do is scroll down…

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Get Your Stitch Together – What The Puzzles – 1000 pieces

There’s something about these very naughty sayings cross-stitched and embroidered into little samplers that I find absolutely hilarious. I’m not ashamed to tell you that I can have quite the potty mouth when I get upset, although I have never ever told anyone to deep throat a cactus.

Yet. 😈

I love this little section – just for us puzzle junkies!

The fit was so good that I got to take my favorite kind of picture – this 1000 piece puzzle stood up with no problems at all! I can usually only get this type of picture with smaller piece counts, it’s very rare that a 1000 piece puzzle is able to stand up. Impressive.

Overall I was very happy the quality of this puzzle, and even though it wasn’t an easy assembly I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Thanks again Penny, I loved this $%^&* !@#$ of a *+>@&% puzzle! 😇

Vintage Fairy Tales

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles11 Comments

Vintage Fairy Tales by Lois B. Sutton – White Mountain – 1000 pieces

Long time readers of the blog may be surprised to hear this, but I didn’t enjoy this collage as much as I’d hoped to. The fit was NOT good, and the loose, floppy manner in which the pieces fit together was a pain to deal with. A bit of a bummer, as this was one of the new purchases that I was very excited to assemble. Sigh.

White Mountain puzzles have never been a premium quality brand in my opinion, but I always know that going in when I purchase them and deal with their issues because of my adoration and love for collage images. White Mountain and Re-marks both have excellent catalogs of collages, and when necessary I deal with less than premium quality because those kind of puzzle images make me extremely happy.

Perhaps I just wasn’t in the mood to deal with it this time, cause it kinda p*ssed me off. (Part of it could have been that I received two gifted puzzles yesterday from Penny my puzzle posse pal and as soon as they arrived I REALLY wanted to get started on one of them. Who knows?)

Honestly, this puzzle annoyed me because I was so looking forward to it and it let me down in the quality department. I didn’t even want to take any close up pictures this time or talk about any of the books.

Annoyed. Disappointed. A little sad too.