Tag: Charlie Girard

Storytime In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlingLeave a comment

Storytime by Charlie Girard – White Mountain – 1000 pieces

This gorgeous collage is making me very happy indeed, it’s such a great image for puzzling! Once I got past the sorting/laying out the pieces it’s been absolutely happiness and I’m actually trying to slow myself down a bit so it isn’t over too quickly.

It’s the usual White Mountain quality; there was a LOT of puzz fuzz in the box and all over the pieces, and some of the images are a little bit blurry. Other than that though everything is good. The pieces are the usual WM shapes, plenty of variety, they fit together well, and it’s been entertaining to work on. I put up with the sometimes blurred images and the other issues they may have because their collages are fun for me and they have so many great ones in their catalog.

I’ve gotta pack myself up for a little trip I’m taking tomorrow, so there won’t be much puzzling today; but I’m hoping to finish it soon and keep right on enjoying myself with every piece.

I hope you’re having as much fun puzzling today as I am. If so, we’re all doing great!

I Love America

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

I Love America by Charlie Girard – White Mountain – 1000 pieces

This was an “okay” assembly for me, for some reason I wasn’t as entertained as one would hope. I chose this puzzle only because I was looking for a patriotic puzzle for July 4th, not because I was really wanting to put this one together. Mood definitely affects how much I enjoy a puzzle, and I was definitely in the wrong mood for this one.

The quality of this puzzle left a bit to be desired, which is a bit of a bummer because I just took advantage of a sale on their website and ordered a few puzzles. Here’s hoping they’re much better quality than this one. The fit was a little floppy and care had to be taken when moving pieces around, in addition the image reproduction seemed fuzzy in many parts and it was very difficult to distinguish between the darker pieces. A horse, a chocolate chip cookie, a group of beer bottles, and the rocks near a lighthouse – they all seemed to be the same blotchy colors and it was hard to know what went where. It wasn’t terrible quality, but it wasn’t great either. It was passable.

Love the look of a lighthouse, but I’m wondering, why is this “American”? Aren’t lighthouses used around the world? Or is it just this specific lighthouse? Can anyone tell me where this is?

NASA, muscle cars, Betty Boop, Moon Pies, Disney World and what we call football – now there’s no question that these things are American. I enjoyed the license plates spelling out American muscle cars, it was a fun section to assemble, along with the buffalo nickel.

The flag in the shape of the country was easy enough to sort and lots of fun to put together. I wish there were more things to say about this one, but my little old lady brain is failing me at the moment – I’ve got nuthin’.

Happy Fourth of July to those who celebrate, Happy 250th Birthday America, and to everyone else, Happy Saturday!

I Love Music

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

I Love Music by Charlie Girard – White Mountain – 1000 pieces

This was a bright and beautiful collage image that was lots of fun to assemble. And as an added bonus I was happy to work with the new finish that White Mountain used, I liked it very much.

This puzzle had very good quality for this brand. Sometimes it can be hit or miss, but I put up with little annoyances because they have such a great catalog of collages – and my readers know that they are my puzzle happy place. It had a variety of piece shapes, relatively thick chipboard, a very good fit, a lovely matte finish, and good image reproduction. Many of the posters seemed blurry, but I think that may be because they used the old images which weren’t the sharpest. All in all it was the nicest White Mountain puzzle I’ve done in quite a while.

Love the colors and the look of this one – and the “address” is funny to me. Max Yasgur’s farm. I was one year old in 1969, so I definitely do not remember Woodstock.

This concert was twenty years earlier, in 1949 – when my mom was just under two years old! The difference between Billie Holiday’s music and the music of the sixties was VAST.

There were so many letters and words in this image that, other than the heart, the big letters were one of the last bits to be put together. I enjoyed it much more than anticipated though, and that’s always a bonus in my book.

Does this look like a puzzle you’d enjoy? It’s definitely recommended!

I Love Music In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling4 Comments

I Love Music by Charlie Girard – White Mountain – 1000 pieces

This was finally sorted and assembly began yesterday, and it’s going quite well! It’s been a minute since I’ve done a brand new White Mountain puzzle, and honestly I’m quite impressed with the quality. Has anyone else noticed if their puzzles have improved in the quality department?

The finish is much nicer than their older puzzles in my opinion – it’s no longer shiny but matte and the hand feel is excellent; I’ve found myself rubbing my fingertips over the assembled sections absentmindedly as I’m thinking or looking for pieces. I like this new finish. 😊

The fit seems nice as well, it’s absolutely Goldilocks in this puzzle; not too tight, not too loose, just right. 👱‍♀️🐻🐻🐻

When I started sorting I thought this would NOT be as entertaining as I’d hoped, but thankfully I was wrong. Again. It’s going well and I’m finding it hard to walk away from. There’s always one piece more, I remember seeing that one, and it should go here……..

A World of Money

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles6 Comments

A World of Money by Charlie Girard – White Mountain – 550 pieces

It’s been a while since a White Mountain collage was on my board, and this one was a doozy! It’s much more difficult than it looks, but was very enjoyable. It was so interesting to see some of the world’s money, some of the bills are so beautiful.

Typical White Mountain quality, the fit was good and there are a great variety of piece shapes. This being a thrift store puzzle means it’s been pre-loved, so there were quite a few pieces with image lift on the tabs. Also, the image reproduction leaves a little bit to be desired. Some parts of the image are crisp and clear and some parts seem fuzzy and indistinct. Still, I know all about White Mountain quality going in and put up with the little problems because collages are my puzzle happy place and assembling one that may not be premium quality still makes me smile.

I’m not sure why this particular dollar bill intrigues me, but it does. It’s just boats on the sea, but it draws my eye every time I look at the image. To me it’s just quietly beautiful.

Pink elephants on parade! (Give yourself old person brownie points if you got that Dumbo reference) This bill jumps out at me too, the beautiful blues and that gorgeous pink elephant – love it!

Not being a world traveler, and only really having seen American and Canadian money in real life, that’s where I started – with the American dollars. The pieces were relatively easy to pick out, as were the ones for the golden bucket and the coins. Once those were assembled I just looked over my trays of pieces and started pulling out colors or faces that struck my fancy. It went together slowly over a few days, and even though it took a while it was still very enjoyable to assemble.

The quality wasn’t the best, but it didn’t really matter. It was a thrift store puzzle that only cost a few dollars and was complete – can’t really beat that. If I worked out on the price per hours of entertainment I got more than my money’s worth.

It may not be much to some people, but having an interesting puzzle on the board to keep my hands and mind occupied is worth SO MUCH! Jigsaw puzzles are the best hobby, and having them in my life is worth more to me than a world of money! 💜