Rosso Angelo

On June 18, 2018June 18, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

IMG_E4704 — Rosso Angelo by Ross Fiorentino – Artifact Puzzles – 228 pieces

This puzzle was really fun to assemble, and not nearly as difficult as I thought it might be. I was worried that the darker places would be tedious and very hard to complete, but thankfully I was wrong. It was a wonderful assembly all around. 🙂

Artifact Puzzles are having a sale at the moment, while supplies last, and I just couldn’t resist 50% off! I bought this and another puzzle because I knew if it were “while supplies last” that the puzzles would eventually be out of stock and gone. And at these great sale prices how on earth could I resist? They’re still having that sale, if you are so inclined there are still quite a few beautiful puzzles to choose from. (If I had unlimited funds I would get every single one of them!)

Once I started working on this puzzle, it was difficult to stop. I started with the mandolin (or whatever the instrument is), and from there went up the angel’s arm and into the wings. One section led to another and it went very quickly. For some reason the angel’s nose is located in the center of the circular end of a mandolin shaped whimsy piece. It looks odd, and my eye jumps to that section every time I look at the picture. To me, it almost looks like a clown nose.

The whimsies for this puzzle are all “angelic” There are several cherubs and mandolins, along with a harp, a violin, and one piece shaped like Italy. This image is from the Italian Renaissance after all, so the piece shaped like Italy is a perfect fit.

I’m currently working on the other puzzle I bought from this sale, it’s a secondary one I’ve been working on for well over a week now. I only put in a piece or two here and there, it isn’t the primary puzzle that I’m working on. It’s going to take a while, it’s much more difficult than I bargained for and will take plenty of patience. I don’t mind though, to me time spent puzzling is never wasted – it’s always worthwhile. Especially with a wooden puzzle! 😉

Among Friends

On June 16, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles4 Comments

This is such a cute puzzle, I didn’t expect it to be as much of a challenge as it was. At 200 pieces it was the perfect puzzle at the perfect time.

Ravensburger puzzles are such great quality, they’re always a joy to assemble. Even opening the box and seeing the pieces makes me happy. I’ve heard that their quality has been declining, but I haven’t actually seen any of that so far. This puzzle was a thrift store purchase and it was the usual excellent Ravensburger quality with wonderfully thick pieces, a gorgeous image, and exceptional fit.

I’ve done several puzzles with artwork by Howard Robinson, and they’ve all been “cute”. His images are usually adorable animals that seem to have a personality, and they always make me smile – this puzzle is an excellent example of that. Charming animals aren’t always the images I’m looking for, and sometimes they can be quite difficult to assemble, but they do make me happy.

Sometimes cute and easy is exactly what I need. These days the “easy” is pretty important; I’ve pretty much been in bed all day every day since the beginning of April. I haven’t been able to do many 1000 piece puzzles, or even many 500 pieces. Puzzles that are 300 pieces or less are mostly what I’ve been doing; I’ve been surprised at how much I’m enjoying them. Puzzles are great fun for me and excellent for helping me deal with stress, anxiety, and chronic pain – it doesn’t matter how many pieces there are or how big it is. Puzzles make me happy regardless of the piece count. ☺

Sometimes I worry that I’m doing too many small puzzles or too many wooden puzzles and that these aren’t always what people want to see on my blog. I have to remind myself that this blog is about the puzzles that I do, and whatever puzzles I assemble are the ones that I write about. I don’t do puzzles for other people’s enjoyment, I do them for me. You can’t please everyone, and you shouldn’t try. I struggle to remember that sometimes.

So when a cutesy puzzle comes along, if I want to put it together, I do. If I have a good time putting it together that’s what’s important. If you enjoy reading about it – even better! If it’s not really your cup of tea (or pile of pieces), that’s ok. Maybe tomorrow’s puzzle will be perfect for you. 😎

Review: Heart of the Garden

On April 29, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews2 Comments

This post is sponsored by Puzzle Warehouse.

Heart of the Garden by Nancy Wernersbach – Sunsout – 200 pieces

Heart of the Garden is a beautiful shaped puzzle that was just the right amount of challenging – I enjoyed the assembly very much.

Shaped puzzles are quite fun in my opinion; I enjoy the added difficulty of not having straight edges, but it’s still a jigsaw puzzle and I know how to do those! I can’t seem to break myself from trying to find and assemble the edges first even though it’s not the quickest way to work a shaped puzzle. It doesn’t really matter though, as long as I’m having fun I’m doing it right. Have you tried a shaped puzzle? There are so many interesting shapes and images to choose from. You can start small with less than 100 pieces, or go big with 1000 – it’s all up to you. Click to check out all the shaped puzzles currently available at Puzzle Warehouse.

Sunsout puzzles are very good quality, and they have the largest catalog of shaped puzzles that I’ve found. The pieces are a good thickness with a nice variety of shapes, and they fit together very well. Sometimes the fit of their puzzles is very tight but I found the fit of this puzzle to be just about perfect. I found a piece or two that was slightly bent, but these things happen with shipping and storage; it took no effort to put them right and the image looks perfect to me. Click the link above to see all of their puzzles in stock now at Puzzle Warehouse, both shaped and straight-edged.

The beautiful colors in this image are what drew me in, it’s really quite striking and made for an interesting and entertaining assembly. As usual I tried to start with the edges, because I’m stubborn as a mule and that’s how I have to do things. It’s more difficult with a shaped puzzle – not only because the edges are shaped, but because the actual shape can be moved and manipulated and you never get it just right until the interior pieces are put in. It keeps my brain cells working and keeps me completely absorbed in the assembly till the last piece – puzzle meditation. It’s a gorgeous image and the assembly was great, I definitely recommend this puzzle!

Details:

Title: Heart of the Garden
Artist: Nancy Wernersbach
Brand: Sunsout
Piece count: 200 pieces
Size: Approx. 11 x 18 in. (28 x 46 cm)
Purchased: N/A, sent for review

Quality:

Board: Good
Cutting: Good
Image: Very good
Box: Average, quite large for a 200 piece puzzle
Fit: Very good
Puzzle Dust: Moderate amount
Piece cut: Random cut
Piece shapes: Very good variety
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating: Very good, recommended

I received this product at no cost in order to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book Two

On March 15, 2018March 15, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

This is the second of these puzzles I’ve done, and they’re quite difficult! The line drawings and lack of color add to the challenge – you really have to pay attention to every piece.

Like the first one I assembled, the quality was very good but the finished puzzle doesn’t lie flat. This could be because we live in Florida and there’s a lot of humidity, if you don’t store a puzzle properly it could warp with all the moisture in the air. It could be that it’s been a well loved puzzle that’s been assembled many times. It’s hard to make judgments on quality when you’ve purchased second-hand; you have to rely on your prior knowledge of the brand as well as taking into account the amount of use the puzzle could have had.

This image is not one I would purchase new, monochromatic images aren’t ones that interest me. Still, it was an entertaining assembly and luckily it was only 200 pieces. With stick figures, line drawings, and no colors it takes plenty of concentration to get all the pieces placed properly.

It’s always interesting to assemble an image that isn’t your style, but most of the time I end up really having fun. That’s one of the great things about thrift stores, the price makes it difficult to pass up the puzzles and gives me to opportunity to work puzzles that I wouldn’t normally assemble. Give an unusual image a try, you just might like it!

Ancient Egypt

On February 12, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

IMG_E4208_LI — Ancient Egypt – Sassi Science – 200 pieces

This giant of a puzzle almost took up our entire board! Another new company for us to try – Sassi Science Puzzles. They make wonderful quality educational puzzles about a variety of subjects. I’m always interested in educational puzzles, I find them fascinating (and there are usually lots of words to assemble 🙂 )

This puzzle was great fun, lots of colorful clothing and hieroglyphics to assemble at the bottom; the pyramid and Sphinx were a little challenging but very entertaining. The pieces were very thick and fit together well, definitely excellent quality. And the puzzle pieces were quite large and made an impressively sized finished product. In addition, there was a 32 page book inside with all sorts of interesting information on ancient Egypt.

This was a great thrift store find, and we were happy that all pieces were present and accounted for. It has been donated to the school my daughter works for and I hope they’re enjoying it as much as mom and I did. (We’re both gray-haired old ladies who are extremely young at heart and enjoy putting together puzzles for any age)

If you find any Sassi Science puzzles that you like I would definitely recommend them. They’re wonderful quality, and I love a puzzle that can teach you something too!