Heroes & Heroines In Progress

On December 30, 2019December 30, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling4 Comments

Heroes IP — Heroes & Heroines by Aimee Stewart – 1000 pieces

This is technically two days worth of work but most of the day yesterday was spent away from home, and therefore away from my puzzle board. I did slip away to the board last night (insomnia, yay) and worked on it for a little while; it’s a bit of a challenge, and I find I’m enjoying the slow coming together of the image.

The pieces and I are getting to know each other, and every time I go through my trays looking for something specific we get more and more acquainted. Once I start seeing them over and over, and seeing the assembled bits and what might attach to them I get more familiar with the pieces and the overall image. What looked like a bunch of pieces that were very much alike are now becoming old friends, and when I get ready to assemble that curtain or a specific book I know which pieces I’m looking for and what tiny little blob of color on a certain piece will fit perfectly.

Sometimes I like a quick fix, a little puzzle with few pieces that goes together quickly, especially after working a larger or difficult puzzle. But sometimes I truly enjoy the challenge of a puzzle that takes a bit more brain power and goes together more slowly. This is one of those puzzles.

Aimee Stewart’s images are my happy place, and I’ve assembled many of them. The colors she uses and the way she blends them together makes for not only a beautiful image, but for puzzles that are pleasing to look at and even more pleasing to build. This one is going together more slowly than usual for a 1000 piece puzzle, but I’m enjoying the placement of every piece. 😍

Keepsake Memories

On December 27, 2019December 27, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

What? Another Christmas puzzle? I know, but I had three of them already assembled and waiting in my queue before I purchased the Terrible, Rotten, No Good, Very Bad Advent Calendar. So you’ll just have to put up with this and two more holiday puzzles before they are all done for the year.

Although the image is fun and interesting, the fit of this puzzle was not at all to my liking. It has the super tight fit that some Springbok puzzles have, where you have to use some upper body strength to press the pieces into place. It also makes for a puzzle that doesn’t always lay completely flat, because it’s so tight that it curls up in places. I know that some people prefer this very tight fit, but it’s just not for me.

Gnarly fit aside, the assembly was still engrossing and relaxing. Each of the fabrics/textures in the background were easy to pick out and assemble, and at the end it was just a matter of filling in each ornament. Calming, absorbing, entertaining, and all together lovely.

Keepsake 1

This was my favorite of the sections; Santa after work with his honeydew list of chores. I was able to read some of them, and he certainly has his work cut out for him! Fix the landing beacon, tune the glockenspiel, insulate the attic, and several other things that I wasn’t able to read. That ought to keep him busy and out of Mrs. Claus’ hair for a little while. 🔨🎅

How adorable are these two? Mom has chocolate dipped strawberries for feet, and dad has a licorice scarf and a peanut butter cup hat! Too cute!

Even though the fit was too tight for me, this puzzle still made me happy and provided me with several hours of alone time early in the mornings – peaceful quiet and puzzling. Lovely.

This puzzle is part of a batch of puzzles I’ve brought over from mom’s house. She loved this type of puzzle, especially with the Hallmark ornaments, and grama loved them too. Collages are my favorite type of puzzle, and these Springbok collages with the fabric backgrounds are so fun to assemble – that makes three generations of women who loved to puzzle, and loved this type of puzzle as well – and I assembled it this year in loving memory of the two women whom I deeply loved and learned my love of puzzling from. 💖

The 20th Party Parade

On November 26, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

20th Parade — The 20th Party Parade by James Alexander – Jumbo (Wasgij) – 1000 pieces

I love being able to show an entire Wasgij puzzle without having to worry about spoiling anything. Normally I have to make sure I’m photographing the correct person from the finished puzzle, and I have to crop it so I don’t show anything extra. This time I didn’t have any worries at all, this is the box image bonus puzzle and there are no spoilers here. It was a very busy image, but it made for a fun puzzle.

This was definitely not an easy assembly, the image is so detailed and all the boxes everywhere gave me quite a challenge. Most of the boxes in the foreground were pretty easy, but the ones in the background were much more difficult. There were so many in the store that all the smaller boxes looked alike. I saved them for last, but they were still a bit of a challenge. Overall though, I enjoyed it very much.

20th Parade 1

The intricacy of this illustration is amazing, it’s only about 15 pieces out of 1000 but it’s so incredibly detailed. I’ve actually assembled the Wasgij Mystery Puzzle #13, and this is exactly what the box looks like. I’m sure computers helped out quite a bit, but still, this entire image must have been a LOT of work!

I haven’t put together the actual Wasgij yet, this one is from the perspective of the priest, I wonder what everyone is looking at. I guess I’ll find out soon enough. 🙂

Upstairs, Downstairs

On November 16, 2019November 15, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

I enjoyed this puzzle so much more than I anticipated – it’s always great when that happens. Looking at the box of pieces, they all seemed to be shades of brown for the most part, and I didn’t think it would be as entertaining to assemble as it actually was. Once I picked out some wallpaper from one room, it lead to another wallpaper, and seeing which rooms went where; and before I knew it out of the chaos came the whole house and all it’s fabulous rooms. It really was wonderfully engrossing. 🙂

Only one room was colorful, the kid’s playroom at the top of the house…

Upstairs 1

It doesn’t look very big, but perhaps to a child it would be perfect. I wonder what’s up with the big chicken on the floor?

If you ask me, the more interesting rooms are downstairs. More people, more camaraderie – more goings on. Yes, I know, they’re “the help”, but to me they’re much more fascinating. The rooms upstairs may be pretty, but they’re boring. People standing around in attractive rooms doing very little… Upstairs 4 Yawn. Don’t get me wrong, it was pretty, and one of the wallpapers that was easy to pick out; but nothing’s really happening in there – it’s just a pretty room. I’m much more interested in what’s happening downstairs. (All only my opinions of course 🙂 )

The quality was lovely, the assembly was completely absorbing, and all in all I had a fabulous time with this puzzle. If it’s in your to do pile, I definitely recommend it.

The Safari Park

On November 8, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles5 Comments

I had a great time with this puzzle, and found that it was very difficult to stay away from. Even when I needed to take a break and rest, all I wanted to do was get back to the board and continue the assembly. That’s not always a good thing for me physically, I love to puzzle so much that when one is this engrossing I tend to push myself farther than I should because I want to get back in the puzzle room and get back to assembling. (I always pay for it later, not a good thing. But I keep doing it, because I just can’t help myself. 🤷‍♀️)

Safari Park 2

The picture on the box tells me the types of animals I might be assembling, the color of the car and the clothes the characters are wearing. It also tells me what the premise is – What If the animals were more enterprising than we realized? That what the puzzle image will be. The box also shows one character as they will be in the finished puzzle, and this is always the character I photograph. I try to make sure that I don’t spoil these mystery puzzles for anyone who might have them in their to do pile. It’s such a bummer when they get spoiled for me, I never want to do that to anyone else. You’ll notice that the character I photographed is heavily cropped, if more was shown it would spoil some of the premise.

Normally I don’t show anything other that the one character from these puzzles, but there was something really funny that I just had to show you…

Safari Park 1

I’ve got no eye deer if you find this as funny as I do; it cracked me up!

What If? and Wasgij? puzzles make me very happy. There’s a mystery to solve and I have some hints to what the finished image will be but have to figure it out myself. There’s a real sense of satisfaction and accomplishment when it’s finished. And it’s nice to bring order to the chaos using only the colors and shapes of the pieces.

If you haven’t tried these puzzles I absolutely recommend both series. They both are excellent quality brands and the images are entertaining and great for puzzling. I have so many of them still to do, and I’m looking forward to every single one of them. 💗