Tag: Collage

Saturday Morning Cartoons

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles13 Comments

Saturday Morning Cartoons by Charlie Girard – White Mountain – 1000 pieces

I made sure to take my time with this puzzle – because frankly – I’ve been puzzling so much that I have way too many puzzles in the queue at the moment. By the time you’re reading this post it will most likely be a month or more since it was actually completed! It could have been finished two days earlier than it was, but I made myself stop working on it.

It’s also meant that I’ve been having to type up the post immediately when I finish a puzzle. Otherwise, my old lady brain doesn’t remember much when it comes up in the rotation. A month and 30 puzzles ago is too long ago for me to recall specifics about the assembly. That’s why I’m trying to slow down a bit and stop adding a new puzzle to the queue every day or every other day.

On to this specific puzzle!

My husband picked this out for me the first time I went puzzle shopping after my year-long absence. He seemed very excited about the image and thought I should buy it, he’s so sweet. Many of these cartoons we both watched as kids, and since he was so excited about finding it for me, of course we had to get it.

The quality of this one was only fair. The most important reason was a very loose fit – very odd for a White Mountain puzzle in my opinion. I’ve done many of their puzzles, and the fit is usually either quite tight or just about right. This one though was extremely loose – even picking up two connected pieces could be a problem. The image reproduction was slightly fuzzy in some places. Which is not uncommon for a WM collage in my experience, but I normally expect issues like that from this brand so it wasn’t much of a problem for me.

So many memories! Up at the top on the left is Atom Ant, and I remember the character but don’t have any memories of watching the actual show. At first I thought the name was Adam Ant, but then said to myself that I was getting him confused with the 80s rocker. Hubby and I had to look him up to be sure of the name – getting old ain’t for sissies, memories really do start to go.

Next to Mr. Ant is Quick Draw McGraw, and I actually do remember watching his show. I remember that his voice sounded very much like Yogi Bear to me, and came to learn later that both characters were voiced by the same man – no wonder they sounded alike. I enjoyed Quick Draw because he was always so polite, and for some reason that made an impression on me.

Like Atom Ant, I remember the character on the right – Magilla Gorilla – but don’t have any specific memories of the show. He was fun to assemble though, that’s why he’s here. A big orange rectangle doesn’t seem as though it would be very entertaining, but it actually was. 😉

Scooby Doo was definitely a favorite for me as a child, and I remember many episodes of the shows. My kids liked it too, and used to watch the reruns. Those meddlin’ kids and the grumpy old man that was usually the “ghost” trying to scare people – I remember them very clearly.

And the name Fractured Fairy Tales is something my brain remembers, but unfortunately I have no specifics. I know that most likely I watched the show, but it’s the name I remember – the character isn’t familiar nor is the image shown above. It was easy to pick out the pieces though, and easy to assemble too.

Quality problems aside, this was a fun puzzle to assemble, and even though it took longer than normal I had a great time. It brought back many memories – even if some of them were as fuzzy as the image reproduction.

Beauty Lips

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles3 Comments

Beauty Lips – Piatnik – 1000 pieces

Wow did I love this puzzle! I’d seen the image several years ago and really wanted it, but for some reason never purchased it. Not until Penny asked me what puzzle she should do next and this was one of the choices; I told her to do the Lips and then send it to me, but then decided I didn’t want to wait and ordered one for myself.

At the time I’m writing up this post she’s still working on this puzzle – she has a life, a full time job, and two young children – I have none of those things, so I finished first. Partly because this puzzle was just too fun to walk away from, and partly because I don’t sleep much and am up in the wee hours puzzling when most others are sleeping. Honestly though, I’m a little sad that it’s already done. 😭

*Penny has since finished this puzzle too. I don’t think she enjoyed it as much as I did, but we can’t all love the same puzzles in the same way. All the flesh colored pieces in between had her a little frustrated, but she says she did like the puzzle.*

According to my blog this is only the second Piatnik puzzle I’ve done, the first was three years ago and was a collage of vintage needle books. From these two puzzles I can say that the quality of this brand is very good. My only issue was with the shine on the pieces, it was a bit difficult to see the darker pieces under the lights, there was a lot of glare. Otherwise, the fit was excellent, the image reproduction is stellar, there were a variety of shapes – just a great jigsaw puzzle all around.

The rainbow lips on the left were so fun to assemble, that bright yellow really stood out. The deep blue with the diamond was the first one that caught my attention, it’s just such a great little picture and the pieces were easy to find as well. I’m not sure what to call the lips on the right, funky rainbow perhaps? The pieces weren’t as easy to find as the first two, but it is such a great image – and that black background made it a little less challenging.

If this puzzle is on anyone’s wish list, I highly recommend you get it for yourself. It was such great fun, and it’s a very good quality puzzle as well. Thanks Penny for giving me the push I needed to get myself this wonderful puzzle! 🧩💗

Just Add Water

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Just Add Water by Charlie Girard – White Mountain – 1000 pieces

I was pretty disappointed in the quality of this puzzle, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t also satisfying to assemble. There was fuzzy image reproduction, the fit was too tight, so much puzzle dust and lots of hanging chads. The thing is….I knew that was a possibility when this puzzle was purchased.

White Mountain puzzles, for me, aren’t a premium quality puzzle. There have been issues with fit, image reproduction, and delamination. BUT – as far as My Jigsaw Journal is concerned – they have one of the best catalogs of collages around. Collages make me extremely happy, so I put up with the less than outstanding quality. It’s just how it is. For me. You may not think it’s worth it, and that’s fine too.

When the bag was opened, I thought at first that there wasn’t much puzzle dust, but I was wrong. Much of it was still attached (barely) to the pieces, moving them around to sort brought about the dust storm. There were long thin pieces of backing, small bits, and plenty of it stayed on the pieces creating what I call hanging chads. Disappointing.

Within a few moments of starting to assemble the edge the tightness of the fit showed up – 10 pieces put together and the straight edge was curling up because of it. I expected the fuzzy image, so that wasn’t a surprise. Even with all these problems, because it was a collage with an image that was pleasing I still enjoyed myself and finished this puzzle pretty quickly.

So, who’s ready to reminisce/talk about drink mixes?

Ok, never heard of this one. And for the record…..EW! You probably can’t read it because the wording in the image is fuzzy, but it says “fortified corn starch beverage mix”. I’m gagging a little bit. Ick.

Any root beer drinkers out there? I don’t care for it myself, but if I did, one has to wonder how it would taste being made from a mix. It’s a “soft drink” right? It would be like getting a package of powder and adding water to make Pepsi or Coke with no carbonation. I acknowledge that as far as fussy eaters go, I’m one of the best – but this sounds horrible to me. Thoughts from anyone who enjoys root beer?

This one brings back memories. We mostly had kool-aid or flavor-aid on those occasions when we were allowed to drink sweet stuff; but when there was a really good sale (and mom could add a coupon) every once in a while – we got to have Country Time lemonade. My sisters and I loved it, probably because it was rare that we were allowed to have it. And what is it about pink lemonade that makes it so much cooler than regular lemonade? Whatever it is, we loved this. Though if I had it now, it would probably seem awful and way too sweet.

Very tight fit = puzzle standing up picture. It makes me happy. No apologies, excuses, or explanations. 😎

Vintage Poster

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles7 Comments

Vintage Poster – Ravensburger – 1000 pieces

This Disney collage made me so happy; when it was released in 2018 I remember seeing it and telling myself that I would absolutely be assembling it. It took 3 years, but it finally happened! And thankfully it was just as entertaining as anticipated. 💗

The quality of this puzzle, however, wasn’t the usual Ravensburger fabulousness. It started with the sorting, the amount of puzzle dust was unusual, there was a LOT; the pieces had to go into a colander to sift it all out. That usually means it will be a bit loose fitting, and it was. Most likely it was produced near the end of the run when the die that cuts the shapes is getting dull. But other than those two issues, it was a lovely puzzle. The more matte finish was very nice to work with, and the image is stunning. Each poster has a different style to it, and made for a fantastic collage.

Get ready for a little reminiscing, there are many wonderful memories attached to these movies for me. I picked out a couple of favorites – none from the Memorable Disney Moments puzzle – to spend a little time talking about.

Robin Hood was a family favorite for us, it came out when I was 5 years old. We had a Robin Hood 8-track that we listened to in the car on road trips; it was basically the plot of the movie, without the slow parts – with all the same actors. My father was an umpire when I was young, and we spent every weekend traveling to tournaments for him to officiate. I tell you this to let you know that we were ALWAYS in the car, and we had 8-tracks of many Disney movies to keep us company. We especially loved the ones with really great music. Some of our favorites were The Jungle Book, Winnie the Pooh and The Blustery Day/The Honey Tree, Robin Hood, The Aristocats, etc. Most weekends in the 70s and 80s you could find us in our vehicle, driving somewhere several hours or more from home, happily belting out Disney songs at the top of our lungs. 🎶

My mother ADORED Roger Miller, and he voiced Allan-a-Dale in Robin Hood – the Rooster folk singer who narrated the movie. So, obviously we had to listen to this one over and over. The whole family loved Robin Hood, and although there aren’t that many songs in the movie, my sisters and I can all sing each one by heart…we could probably quote the entire movie. Phil Harris as Little John was my favorite – that man was crazy talented! There are so many wonderful memories associated with this movie for me.

**For any young people who may be reading this, 8-track tapes were like big, fat cassettes that you couldn’t rewind. Cassettes were small reel-to-reel devices that had recorded sound or music.**

Ah, The Aristocats. This one isn’t as well known, but for me it’s an absolute treasure. Another great movie with wonderful music (and Phil Harris) that takes me back to my childhood. Eva Gabor’s accent enthralled me as a child, and somehow her voice and the animation together made her seem so refined and fabulous. The little girl kitten, Marie, was so very sassy and she was my favorite character; she had one of my favorite lines in the movie, “Ladies do not start fights – but they can finish them!” The jazzy music was so fun to sing along to, especially the nonsensical lyrics. I LOVED IT!

This movie in particular makes me think of the theater in the next largest town to where we lived. They had matinees of kids movies for 75 cents or some ridiculously low price; mom used to take us there all the time. She’d make popcorn – to fill half a large brown paper bag – and off we’d go. We saw so many movies there, and The Aristocats sticks out in my mind. Maybe because I loved the movie so much, and mom was so great about taking us there to see so many wonderful movies. Many times we went and saw the same movie over and over again, and we saw The Aristocats more than once at that theater.

You never know as a parent when what you do for your kids will make a treasured memory. Mom probably just wanted a chance to sit down for a couple of hours and enjoy a good movie with the kids. What happened was she was making memories for us that decades later I still think about and cherish. A song from any one of those movies brings these memories back and makes me smile, and makes me grateful that I had a mom who loved spending time with her children. 💖

There are great memories associated with pretty much every movie in this puzzle, and a post about each and every section would be very, very long indeed. I just chose two of my favorites to share with you – excluding the movies from the big puzzle, because I’ve already talked about them quite a bit.

Rainy Day

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles7 Comments

Rainy Day – Re-marks – 1000 pieces

This was my first 1000 piece puzzle since I got my some of my mojo back, and the worst part was opening the box and seeing that very big pile of pieces – it was a bit overwhelming. But because this is a collage, it wasn’t as difficult as it could have been. Thankfully it was a joy to assemble and helped get me back in the swing of things. 🧩💗

Re-marks is about middle-tier quality (in my opinion), and they’ve got a great catalog of collages to choose from. In that sense, they’re about where I place White Mountain puzzles on my list; there are sometimes quality issues, but it’s easier to deal with when I’m in love with the image – which is how I usually feel about collages.

Re-marks puzzles can sometimes have a LOT of puzzle dust and hanging chads on the pieces, and occasionally the fit is loose or wonky. Only once has there been an issue with the image reproduction, otherwise the images are usually very nice. Overall though, they’re good puzzles and I love their catalog.

These are 3 of my favorites, the pattern on the background in the left was easy to pick out, and the whole image is very calm and pretty. LOVE was the most difficult of the three – at least for me. And the musical notes and rain in the background were so fun to assemble!

I almost wish this has been made into a 2000 piece puzzle, each block was so entertaining that it would have been great for them to be even bigger.