Dad’s Shed

On September 3, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

I really enjoy Ravensburger’s large piece puzzles; the pieces feel thick and amazing and it seems like the puzzle goes so much faster with the larger pieces. This was another thrift store find, of course. 🙂

It’s a nice picture; but it’s very brown, and not a picture I would normally choose. Although it’s only 500 pieces it took me a little bit longer than normal – there was a LOT of browns. Still, it wasn’t too bad an assembly. I prefer more colors to work with, but that’s just me. Even though the image itself isn’t my cup of tea, the quality of the puzzle made all the difference.

Puzzling is a very tactile experience for me; I find myself rubbing my fingers over the pieces when I’m thinking and I always run my hands over the puzzle during and after the assembly. Working with a premium puzzle makes most images, even ones I wouldn’t normally do, more enjoyable for me. So when we’ve got a puzzle with excellent quality, but not my preferred kind of artwork I usually go for it. Most of the time I end up enjoying it in spite of myself. 🙂

Alice in Wonderland

On August 24, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

New company for me, Potter Style. I love the artwork but the pieces – yikes. 😐

This puzzle comes in a “book box”, very nice packaging with the full image on the inside of the lid (not easy to set up and use for reference). If the chipboard were a bit thicker it would be a very nice puzzle. As it is, the pieces are about the thinnest I’ve seen and they did not fit together well.

I’m not sure where we got this one, I think it was most likely purchased new. Mom LOVES interesting packages! I’d be interested to find another one in the thrift store perhaps to compare the quality – maybe I got a bad one that made it through quality control? You never know.

The artwork is very interesting though, and the finished puzzle is quite striking. Might be nice to glue and frame for a Lewis Carroll or Alice in Wonderland fan.

Lion King

On August 15, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Jigsaw PuzzlingLeave a comment

Had to travel out of state for a family funeral, and stayed with my sister-in-law and her family; while we were there my niece and I finished this puzzle. It’s quite fitting, really – The Lion King, the circle of life – I didn’t even realize it until just now, while typing up this post. Life goes on.

We gather to celebrate new life, and we gather to celebrate and remember a life lived. We are all a piece in many puzzles, many lives, and when our puzzle is finished it is a beautiful picture of a life lived.

There may be dark areas, where our choices or actions weren’t the brightest or best, but they all combine to make the person and the life that was. Or there may be a dark valley in our puzzle; not because of choices or actions, but because of the difficulties or trials life throws our way. And how we blend that darkness back into the light makes for a stunning image of a life well lived and well loved.

Our puzzle may not be as ornate or as colorful as someone else’s, or the pieces may become frayed around the edges, but our puzzle is us and those we love and care for – therefore our puzzle is beautiful and unique and can never be duplicated.

I don’t normally wax philosophical about jigsaw puzzles, but the past week is still with me and I didn’t realize how much until I began typing today. Life, and puzzling, goes on. I will try to be a beautiful piece in the puzzles of those I love, but no matter how my piece, or my entire puzzle looks, it is a picture of me and the life I lived – dark spots and all.

The World Landmark Buildings

On August 14, 2017August 14, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

This artist makes me smile, and I love his puzzles so much – they’re always a pleasure to assemble. The artist has autism and in his eyes the world needs to be arranged in orderly groups (bugs, birds, eggs, or landmark buildings) and his artwork reflects that. I understand the need to try to make the world a little more orderly and predictable, it helps deal with the stresses of everyday life. His artwork reminds me of my boys (both have autism as well), and it makes me think of them and how difficult the world is for those with autism and how having an outlet for the stresses in their lives is so important. It is for all of us, really – but especially for those who have exceptional brains that work a little differently then ours do and have difficulty processing all of the daily stresses of dealing with their surroundings and others.

Pomegranate puzzles are wonderful quality and I would never hesitate to purchase one of their puzzles. The pieces are thick and feel smooth with an excellent finish, they fit together very well, and the image reproduction is stellar! Even their boxes feel amazing, you know before you even see the pieces that you’ve got an excellent quality puzzle in your hands.

This assembly didn’t take very long once I got past the edges on the sides. It took some concentration and trial and error before I got all the pieces placed correctly, but once I did it was smooth sailing from there. It was easy to pick out all the pieces for one building and assemble it, and then move on to an adjacent building. Once the buildings started going up it took almost no time at all and before you know it the entire puzzle was complete!

I highly recommend Pomegranate puzzles, and in particular the Gregory L. Blackstock puzzles they carry. They are a joy to assemble!

Lindbergh’s Flight

On August 13, 2017August 13, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles4 Comments

Super cool puzzle from 1967! Unfortunately, missing 5 pieces, but it was still fun to assemble. You can see the age on the image itself, but it only makes it look more authentic if you ask me.

I LOVE having words to assemble, and this puzzle was almost nothing but words. 🙂 The pieces fit together very well, but way too many of them just sat next to each other instead of connecting. Pet peeve. Hate that!

This wasn’t as difficult as it looks, and mom and I had a great time assembling it. It was all a matter of putting things together in the proper order. Photo first of course, and then the map and the masthead. After that it was headlines from largest to smallest, etc. It wasn’t terribly difficult and lots of fun!

Too bad it was missing so many pieces, but after 50 years I guess you have to expect that a piece or two might wander off. Still, a fun assembly and total worth the $2!