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. 💗

Traditional Mexican Skulls

On November 1, 2019October 31, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

This beautiful puzzle was a Christmas gift last year from one of my beautiful sons. Although my oldest gave this to me, my youngest was adamant that I not assemble it until closer to the Day of the Dead. Being the awesome mom that I am, I waited months and months to assemble it; it was difficult to wait though, I absolutely love decorated skulls and the Day of the Dead (which is why they picked this one out for me, for sure).

I was a bit disappointed by the lack of variety in piece shapes – most Eurographics I’ve ever done have been a random cut. It didn’t have to be a random cut though, a grid cut with variety in the shapes would have been just as welcome. The quality was otherwise very good though, and I’m thankful for my gift no matter what. (Shout out to my fantastic sons and my amazing daughter who helped them shop for Christmas presents. I love you guys so much! 💗)

I truly love this holiday – especially this year. It’s a two day Mexican holiday for remembering and praying for friends and family members who have died. I’m not of Mexican heritage, but I’ve always loved the meaning of the holiday and especially the traditional decorative skulls. This year though, with the loss of mom so new, and the fact that my birthday is the same week and I’m struggling with celebrating without her – the Day of the Dead very much seems like the perfect holiday for me.

I miss you mom, and today I’m remembering you with all my love and praying that you’re at peace and maybe even enjoying a fun little heavenly puzzle with grama. We always spent the day after Halloween together, going from store to store buying all our favorite candy at bargain prices and having a ball. It won’t be the same without you, and I’ll be thinking of you all day. 👼

Paris

On October 24, 2019October 24, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

I didn’t realize when I was assembling it that this artwork was by Ciro Marchetti – no wonder I loved the image so much, now it makes perfect sense! There are two other images in this series, New York and London. Hopefully these aren’t exclusive to Ceaco, I’d love to find them by another brand with better quality.

I was very disappointed by the quality of this puzzle. The pieces weren’t completely cut through, some so much so that I couldn’t separate them without damaging them. There was an abundance of puzzle dust that got everywhere, the fit was terrible and loose, and the pieces were thin and very easily bent. It’s been my experience that Ceaco puzzles of 750 pieces or less are better quality than their puzzles of 1000 pieces or more. I certainly won’t be assembling any more of their puzzles over 750 pieces if I can help it.

Paris 1

The fireworks and the word Paris were so much fun to assemble, I didn’t find them overly challenging. Many puzzlers say that assembling fireworks is frustrating and difficult, though I didn’t find that to be the case with this puzzle. I absolutely loved it!

Paris 2

This statue/light post was the most challenging part of the puzzle in my opinion. It was the last bit to be assembled, but I love the look of it – it’s very Parisian.

Paris is a beautiful image, but unfortunately the puzzle it was attached to was of poor quality. I can’t recommend this puzzle, but if you find the image made by another brand it is highly recommended. Even with the awful quality I found the actual assembly of the artwork to be extremely entertaining.

Vintage Games

On October 15, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

I’ve had an odd relationship with this puzzle, it’s been in my home for well over 2 years I think and I’ve started to assemble it several times and ended up putting it away. I’m not sure why this time was a go, but I’m glad I finally got to it – it was very entertaining!

The worst part for me is the very beginning when you see all the pieces you have to sort through. Since my method is to lay the pieces out on trays, I try to decide on several areas to pull pieces for while I’m sorting and traying. I pull the pieces for quite a few different sections for a couple of reasons; 1) to reduce the number of pieces I have to lay out, and 2) to be able to start assembling something right away. Once I have the edge assembled it makes me happy to be able to grab a container of sorted pieces and start to work.

In the case of this puzzle the sections I pulled out were the 4 game boards in the corners, the pieces with words on them, the chinese checkerboard, and the dominoes. The game boards were the MOST fun to put together, the colors are bright and the patterns are interesting. There were many words strewn all around the inside of the puzzle image, and many were hard to complete because they weren’t always easy to find.

Vintage Games 1

I was intrigued by the playing cards with the cats. They all had different phrases on them; The Future, The Past, Love Matters, The Present – what game was this? Does anyone have a clue? Almost all of the vintage games were slightly self explanatory, board games, cards, word games, bingo, etc. The cards with the cats confused me though, were they some kind of kitty cat tarot cards? 🤨

Vintage Games 2

Scrabble tiles, they make me smile. I love playing Scrabble, though no one will play with me around here. I’m pretty good at it and it gets frustrating, apparently, for my family to constantly lose to me. I understand the feeling though, I won’t play strategy games with my husband because he consistently kicks my a** at them. We each have our strengths I suppose. 😉

I’m glad I finally took the plunge and assembled this puzzle. It was fun, the right amount of challenging, and had beautiful colors. I enjoyed it very much, and it is definitely recommended. The quality was excellent, although the fit was a little looser than normal for a Ravensburger; though the image was so compelling and fun that I didn’t mind too much about the fit.

Celebrity Chief Chef!

On October 10, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles1 Comment

I haven’t done a Wasgij for a while, and I forgot how much fun they are. As usual I am not showing the full image, no spoilers allowed! I only show the person (or thing) shown on the box as a hint. I don’t think the hints are overly helpful though, at least they aren’t for me.

Jumbo puzzles are excellent quality, although I do realize that sometimes there can be a problem with pieces fitting where they don’t belong. It usually isn’t a problem with the Wasgij puzzles though, the images are usually full of bright colors and busyness. There are so many Wasgij puzzles here to do, but sometimes I forget about the giant stack of them in my closet.

For the most part the Wasgij images aren’t hard to figure out, you normally know what the people are wearing and can start with that. Also, as you’re sorting you can find blocks of color or something with which to begin. It’s just a matter of figuring out what the perspective is, or what you’re supposed to be deciphering. They’re always entertaining!