The House Party

On February 25, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles4 Comments

I’m having such a good time with these puzzles I got from the marketplace, I’m so happy we went out of our way to get them! This one was complete even though it isn’t in this picture; I found the missing piece after I had already put it away – of course. I’ve always loved Geoff Tristam’s comic style and humor, add that to the wonderful Ravensburger quality and you’ve got a great puzzle that was a joy to assemble.

The House Party 1

This joke makes me smile, it reminds me of my dad saying he couldn’t wait till the “horse’s ovaries” were served. When I was young it made no sense because I had no idea how the words were spelled, I thought dad was just trying to gross us out again. 😉

The House Party 2

Another ridiculous joke that makes me smile. American pies are way different than British ones – obviously. We normally have pies for dessert, their pies are usually the main course, made from meats, vegetables, etc. But when they say “game pie” in this puzzle they obviously didn’t mean venison – it was backgammon!

There’s something about the smaller piece count Ravensburger puzzles, they seem to be even better quality than the larger piece counts – even though they’re made from the same stuff. Perhaps it’s that the pieces are bigger and there is more area to feel the quality of the chipboard and the finish. They’re just fantastic puzzles in my book, and I’m always happy to find a Ravensburger to assemble.

Brown’s General Store

On February 22, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles8 Comments

You never can really tell until you actually assemble the puzzle – this was way more fun than it looked to me at first! I LOVED IT

The amount of fantastic detail is amazing, and there were so many words I was in heaven! Of course, I should have known, Aimee Stewart puzzles are so entertaining to assemble; I’ve never been disappointed by any of them, and have sometimes been surprised at just how much I enjoyed putting them together. 💗

Grandpa’s Cabin

On February 10, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles5 Comments

I’ve had this puzzle at my house for a few months, and just wasn’t in the right mood for it when mom first found it. I finally decided to dive in, and had a great time. The artwork by William S. Kreutz made for a challenging and beautiful puzzle and I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. Love it when that happens!

MasterPieces random cut usually keeps things interesting, but this one was quite devious! Many times I was convinced a piece was missing, and it turned out to be 2 oddly shaped pieces in a configuration I hadn’t even considered. It certainly kept me on my toes right until the very end. This isn’t one of those puzzles where the nearer you get to the end, the faster the pieces fly into place; and I really enjoyed the challenge of it. Maybe our work on the Mystery Box Puzzle is giving me a greater appreciation for fun of conquering a complicated puzzle. 😎

I love the image, especially the characters. Grandma’s face is so sweet looking! Although if it were my family my daughter would be the one who went fishing and my sons would have stayed inside at the cabin to play video games or watch a movie. 😉

There’s something about this puzzle that makes me very happy, but I’m not sure how to articulate it. I had a wonderful time with the assembly, and just looking at the pictures brings a smile to my face.

Songbirds

On January 17, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Alas, this is the last of the mini shaped puzzles that I had left, and now they’re all done. They’re beautiful and so entertaining for me to assemble, I’m a little sad that there aren’t any more. 😥

The colored backing makes them easy to sort, each mini puzzle has a different color so you can separate them easily. Or if you’re looking for a little more of a challenge you can ignore the backs and assemble them with no pre-sorting. I absolutely adore these little puzzles! You get that wonderful sense of accomplishment with each figure completed, and it revs me up to get going on the next one.

Puzzling is all about enjoyment and relaxation for me, and assembling these puzzles gives me so much pleasure. I love them❣

**Lafayette Puzzle Factory, I hope these were excellent sellers for you and that you might want to make more of this series. I’ll be waiting outside your virtual doorstep for a new release and will scoop up every one you have to offer!

Sunrise Colorful Country Quilt

On December 16, 2018December 15, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

This title makes me wonder why it isn’t “quilts” – plural. Perhaps because I used to be a secretary and I’m always wanting to make things grammatically correct. 🙂 Title aside, it was a very pretty, highly entertaining puzzle.

The quality was very good; thick pieces with a good variety of shapes that fit together well. The nature of the artwork with brushstrokes and the texture on the canvas made the assembly a little more challenging. I enjoy these premium quality Milton Bradley puzzles with the blue chipboard – they’re very pleasant to work with.

The artist, Cheryl Bartley, makes some colorful and interesting images that make for great puzzles. This is the second puzzle of her artwork that I’ve put together and I loved both of them. There’s something about folk art images that I find charming, they make such lovely puzzles!

I love the dog that’s treed the cat on the left, although it almost looks like a wolf to me; and this was my favorite of the quilts, although I’m not sure I have the vocabulary to explain why.

This puzzle was Goldilocks for me – not too easy and not too difficult – it was just right!