Drunk as a Skunk

On June 23, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles1 Comment

More party animals! I really love this artwork by Mike Jupp, the looks on the animal’s faces are perfect!

To be honest, I didn’t realize at first that there is a drunk animal for each season! Drunk as a Skunk is in spring, P****d as a Newt is in summer, and the two I have yet to do are winter (Blind as a Bat) and fall (High as a Kite). I don’t know how I missed it at first, but I definitely did.

This one was a bit more difficult than P****d as a Newt; the darkness of the trees and background and the abundance of leaves made for a more challenging assembly. Still fun, still great quality, just a little more concentration required. That’s a good thing in my book, if it’s too easy it’s just boring. Better to give your brain a bit of a workout, make sure it’s staying healthy. 🙂

It was easy to pick out the pieces of the skunk, the mushrooms around the tree stump, the ice bucket and the grass in the foreground. From there it took a little more brainpower, but I was up for the challenge! It came together well without being too tedious and I had an excellent time assembling it.

I enjoy working the smaller puzzles just as much as the larger ones. 1000 piece puzzles are the average adult puzzle and the piece count with the most puzzles to choose from; but the 500 and 300 piece puzzles are just as much fun for me. I find myself ordering more of the smaller piece counts these days then I used to, and working more of the smaller ones mom finds at the thrift stores. I still do more 1000 piece puzzles than any other piece count, but I’m not as snobby about piece count as I used to be. If it looks fun, I’m all for it!

It’s not about anything but entertainment and fun, if it’s a good time to work a large piece 300 piece puzzle I’m going to do it. If I have a good time putting together a 100 piece children’s puzzle, so what? I’m puzzling because I love it and because it’s fun – those are the only reasons that are important. 😎

Route 66

On June 11, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Here’s another one mom did the majority of, but she insisted that I take a picture of it for the blog anyway.

Mom and I had just finished a 1000 piece puzzle, and were looking for the next puzzle to start. We were both in the same kind of mood apparently because we looked at many different puzzles and we were both feeling the same way about all of them; it was sort of a blah thing where nothing looked like it would be fun that day. Mom had to take a phone call and so I continued the search and ended up on this one. I started sorting the edge pieces and putting everything on trays while she was on the phone and when she was done and came over to the puzzle table she was a bit wary and asked “What puzzle is that?” When I showed her the box she smiled and said “Nice choice!” We were definitely in the same weird mood. 😎

Buffalo puzzles are always good quality and it’s nice after working a loose fitting puzzle to work one that fits together well like Buffalo does. And it was also nice to work on a collage, I enjoy them very much! Somehow a collage puzzle, even if it’s a large piece count doesn’t feel overwhelming. You can work on just a small portion at a time and eventually connect them all together and then it seems like quite the accomplishment! When I’m in the “blah” mood where no puzzle seems to be the right one, the answer is usually a collage.

There’s something about Route 66 that lends itself well to a collage puzzle, this is actually the second one I’ve done – the previous one was a Ravensburger. The old postcards and maps give it a nostalgic feel and it’s interesting to see all the roadside attractions that used to make Route 66 a place to “get your kicks”. 🙂

Think Spring

On June 7, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

It’s funny about random cut puzzles, I did this one immediately after the Springbok Monday’s Child puzzle. The Springbok puzzle was so difficult because it was all basically cream colored and random cut. It was so hard to figure out what piece I was looking for. But this puzzle was no problem at all even though it’s random cut too. This one had different colors and textures to help out and it didn’t seem difficult to me at all. I guess it’s all about the picture. 🙂

This was one of the better Bits and Pieces puzzles I’ve done in a while. The fit was very nice and the pieces clicked together instead of just sitting next to each other like in some puzzles. I hate that! There were one or two pieces that just sat next to each other until you found and adjacent piece that connected them, but for the most part they were all connected.

I think the simplicity of this image is part of what made it relaxing for me. Sometimes with an intricate or busy puzzle there’s too much to see and look for, but this one was just a simple image and I found it relaxing and fun to assemble. It’s not an image I would look at in a catalog or on a website and necessarily want to purchase, but it was an excellent assembly anyway. I think a lot of the time when you’re holding the box in your hand your perception is different than when you’re looking at a website or catalog. This is why mom and I need to take a trip to St. Louis to Puzzle Warehouse. 😎 Although I may need to save up more money before we go, it could end up being extremely pricey!

Thank goodness for thrift stores, mom finds the coolest stuff there and buys things I might not necessarily buy, but they end up being the most fun to assemble. Thrift store puzzles rock! (Mom rocks too!)

P****d as a Newt

On June 6, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

Alljigsawpuzzles.com is where I purchase most of my European made puzzles, you can click that link to check them out. Their prices are excellent, the shipping is VERY fast and shipping is free when you order $75 worth of puzzles. (Getting free shipping usually isn’t something I have to worry about 😉 )

Lately I’ve been trying to order at least one puzzle from a company I haven’t tried before every time I place an order. I’ve been looking at these Party Animals by Mike Jupp and wanting to try them but I didn’t have any idea what the quality would be like. I’ve never seen a puzzle store/distributor that also sells their own puzzles. Interesting! This Party Animals collection finally tipped the scales for me and I jumped in with both feet and just ordered them all – there was a special. Normally I would only order one from a new company so I can check out the quality before I lay down any more cash. But these puzzles were too adorable and funny (and on sale if you bought all 4) so I went for it. I make no apologies. 😎

I was very impressed with the quality! The image reproduction is gorgeous – bright and sharp with a matte finish that feels good in your hands. The pieces are about the same thickness as Heye puzzles, and sturdy too, with a nice variety of piece shapes. They fit together well and the piece shapes aren’t glaringly obvious in the finished puzzle. I’m glad I bought them all and can’t wait to do the other three Party Animals. They have Drunk as a Skunk, Blind as a Bat, and High as a Kite. Drunken animals everywhere!

I enjoyed this puzzle very much and I would definitely recommend it. Mike Jupp’s artwork is crisp and funny and detailed, and just a great puzzle image. Butterflies, lily pads and liquor bottles everywhere break up the water and greenery and the assembly was never tedious. Loved it! 🙂

Monday’s Child

On May 28, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Springbok octagonal puzzle from 1973! Cool, right? Precious Moments characters for each day of the week with the nursery rhyme Monday’s Child. It’s very cute, but also very pale and made for a moderately difficult assembly!

This puzzle was pretty difficult with the paleness of everything as well as a random cut. In addition, I believe the puzzle must have been stored for many years; there was discoloration on many of the pieces which helped in making the assembly a bit more challenging.

The image was adorably cute, and was for the most part a fun assembly. I will say that after all the words and kids finding the right piece became quite a task! Everything is so pale, there are small flowers here and there but otherwise the pieces were white/cream colored. With a random cut it’s difficult to know what shape piece you’re looking for if you don’t have color or pattern to guide you. With everything mostly white I didn’t know if I was looking for a large piece, or 2 smaller pieces. And when I thought I was looking for a small piece it would turn out to be the end of a great big piece! Random cut isn’t bad when there is something to guide you, but when the pieces are all the same color – it blows!

The Springbok quality wasn’t bad. Good piece thickness and they fit together well. I can’t speak to the image reproduction because of the discoloration and age of the puzzle. My only issue with this puzzle is that the piece shape is extremely obvious in the finished puzzle and you can’t see the artwork very well at all. Otherwise I didn’t have any problems with it.

I don’t usually take more than one picture, but I wanted to show a closeup of one of the kids, they’re so cute!