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!

A Christmas Story Leg Lamp

On August 9, 2017August 10, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

During one of my sleepless nights I was of course looking at puzzles online – you’re shocked aren’t you? Of course you are, I’m so level-headed I would never go on a late-night puzzle shopping extravaganza! 😇 I saw on Puzzle Warehouse that this puzzle was discontinued, they have a few left but I didn’t want to miss out so …. surprise! I ordered it!

I had so much fun assembling this puzzle, I smiled all day. We love A Christmas Story at our house, and especially love watching it on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day when the marathon is on tv. Pretty much the whole family says the dialog along with the movie and we all laugh and have a great time; it’s one of only a few movies that everyone in the family enjoys. Of course I had to get a leg lamp puzzle!

The assembly was quick and fun and I highly recommend this puzzle. The white border helped identify edge pieces so it was easy to start there and work inwards; that’s not always easy to do with a shaped puzzle. Not a lot of sorting necessary either – it was just a pleasure to assemble.

USAopoly has some great pop culture puzzles; and their quality isn’t bad either. There are a nice variety of piece shapes, the pieces are on the thin side but they are sturdy and fit together very well. The image reproduction is good, with a shiny finish, and they have some very fun images to choose from.

It’s pretty tall, 3 feet high (91cm) so make sure you’ve got a big enough work space. After I let mom assemble it I’m going to glue it and turn it into a Christmas decoration. Wouldn’t it be great to drive down the street during the holidays and see leg lamps or leg lamp puzzles in people’s windows? It’s putting a smile on my face right now. 😁

I know, I’m weird – but weird is awesome, and I embrace it!

If you would like to make an awesome window piece for your holiday decorations this year (or just think this would be a fun puzzle) you can find it at Puzzle Warehouse by clicking here. (I don’t get anything if you click or buy from them, they’re just my favorite puzzle store) They even have another leg lamp puzzle from a different company that’s double-sided, it has scenes from the movie on the back of it, 600 pieces. Too much fun – and it’s a major award! 😉

Battle Creek Balloons

On August 5, 2017August 5, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Very fun puzzle mom and I worked together, got it finished in one afternoon. 🙂 We did most of it together and she finished it after I went home. New puzzle company too!

The quality was good – the pieces were on the thinner side but sturdy, the image reproduction was good and they fit together well. There were a nice variety of piece shapes too. All in all, not too bad!

It was a quick assembly with two people working on it, and it was easy to each take pieces for a specific section and assemble them. It’s always fun working on a puzzle with mom, even if the puzzle isn’t as fun as we’d hoped we can still talk, laugh, joke and have a good time. 🙂

I’ve been avoiding balloon puzzles for a while, and now I’ve done 2 of them in just a couple of weeks. Apparently I have no clue what will be enjoyable for me or not. Actually, it seems I like about 99% of the puzzles I do; cause I’m just a puzzle gal at heart who loves to put pieces together to make pretty pictures. 💖