The Conversation

On March 24, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles4 Comments

Here’s another puzzle I would not normally choose; it came in the lot of puzzles purchased from the marketplace. The artwork is phenomenal, it reminds me of Norman Rockwell with it’s precise and photo-like detail, but it makes for quite a challenging assembly – which is why this image wouldn’t be my first choice to puzzle.

It’s always a little bit of a wonder to me how the puzzle looks when it’s complete. When you’re assembling it the pieces seem muted and fuzzy with an image like this, but when finished it looks so crisp and clear you can’t believe you had a problem putting any of it together. At least I can say with this one I knew going in that it would be difficult, no surprise this time! 😉

The fit was slightly loose, but otherwise the puzzle was good quality; and even though it was challenging I enjoyed myself.

Crafty

On March 4, 2019March 4, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles4 Comments

This was an extremely entertaining thrift store find! There were 2 missing pieces, but it didn’t detract much from the assembly. With all the bright colors and interesting patterns it kept me happy for a couple of days. 🙂

The quality was good, with an excellent fit. The pieces are a little thinner than your premium brands, but not nearly as thin and flexible as the cheapest ones. I never hesitate buying Re-marks puzzles, in my opinion they’re a good middle-of-the-road quality puzzle and they have some beautiful images to work. Everyone has their own preferences though, and the only real way to know is to try them yourself.

I loved assembling the basket of yarn, and made myself wait for that part until almost the very end.

Crafty 1

Many times I try to hold off on what I think will be the most entertaining section until the end of the puzzle. I don’t want to get the best part done too early and then peter out with filling in the rest. I needn’t have worried with this one though, I had a great time with the whole thing!

Play that Beat

On February 23, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

This puzzle was a mistake; I purchased a movie poster puzzle for my oldest son for Christmas and this was sent in error. After the hoopla of trying to get the correct puzzle sent to me I just gave up and assembled this one. (I won’t be purchasing from Amazon for a while, what a nightmare!) The puzzle itself was great fun though, and the collage aspect made it easy for me to work on in little chunks while in bed.

When I received this puzzle it reminded me that I posted at the end of last year asking what album covers would make good puzzles, and then happened to be sent this puzzle by mistake. Pretty weird, right? The Journey puzzle I suggested didn’t make it into this collage, but there are a bunch of great albums by great artists in here. 😎

There is something here for just about every musical taste; Willie Nelson, Miles Davis, U2, Madonna, Bob Marley, The Beach Boys, KISS, Bob Dylan, The Beastie Boys, The Beatles, Queen, and many more. Wanna guess my favorite?

Play that Beat 1

Being a child of the 70’s and 80’s, this was THE album of my teen years. Michael Jackson. Sigh. So talented, such a waste.

Rumours was an excellent album, and although I’m not a Deadhead, I really like this cover!

Fantastically fun puzzle, that had me reminiscing about music and enjoying putting everything together. 🎵

The Cake Off (What If #12)

On February 5, 2019February 5, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

Just what I was looking for in a puzzle, though it took longer because I’ve been sick. I wanted something a little easier to assemble and this was perfect. They aren’t easy, because you don’t know what the final image will be, but the cartoony aspect makes it simpler than, say, a landscape.

It’s sort of a take of on The Great British Baking Show, there is talk of soggy bottoms on cakes, etc. Although I’m pretty sure what happened in this image would never happen on the actual show! The contestant’s names were hilarious; Ben Offie, Sue Flaye, Victoria Spunge, etc. The box shows a one of the contestant’s dreams collapsing, but “What If” she responded by rising to the occasion? That’s what you have to puzzle, and it’s quite an image. 😉

As is my custom, I don’t show the whole image so as not to spoil anyone else’s fun. I find it’s more entertaining to figure it out all by myself and want you to have the same fun too. I only take a picture of the part of the solution that’s shown on the front of the box, so I’m really not spoiling anything at all. This was an excellent quality Ravensburger puzzle, with wonderful artwork by Geoff Tristam. I’m looking forward to finishing up the other 6 What If puzzles I have here. It’s been so long I’d forgotten how much enjoy putting them together. The next one is What If #13, The Safari Park; looks like another good one!

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It might be a week or so before I get to this one, as I’m still working on my 2000 piece collage; but the Safari Park looks like fun, doesn’t it?

Review: Pennant Race

On February 1, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews6 Comments

penannt race — Pennant Race by David Spindel – TDC Puzzles – 1000 pieces

This was quite the interesting puzzle, it’s a TDC Puzzle series called “The Edge”. The box says it’s a jigsaw puzzle with only edge pieces. Every single piece has a straight (or nearly straight) edge, so starting in the normal way isn’t really an option.

Surprisingly I didn’t find it all that difficult to assemble. The bright colors and many different designs made for an entertaining, but not too challenging puzzle. The pieces were a good thickness and fit together really well; I found the quality to be quite good. I was surprised by the fact that the when complete the entire puzzle could be lifted without any of the pieces coming apart. Usually when there are pieces with straight edges that just butt up against each other if you lift or try to move the puzzle it will fall apart. This was designed so that everything connects beautifully – I was impressed!

There were so many words in this puzzle, I had the best time with it! Baseball isn’t really my thing, but collages, bright colors, and having lots of words is definitely right up my alley, or should I say “right up my baseline”?

Only two little buttons for my Detroit Tigers? SHAME! We may not have won the World Series as many times as some other teams, but come on! We couldn’t even have one little pennant shown? 😕 (I don’t really care that much, it’s baseball LOL) The image reproduction was very crisp and clear – some of the pennants had rosters on them, and you can read every name.

If you come across one of these “The Edge” puzzles, consider giving it a try. I enjoyed it very much, and honestly didn’t find it that much more difficult than the average jigsaw – and it was great fun. Batter up! ⚾

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