Thank You Easter Bunny!

On April 12, 2020April 12, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling10 Comments

Temperature IP — What’s the Temperature? by Lois B. Sutton – White Mountain – 1000 pieces

I didn’t get a basket full of Easter eggs and candy, but look what the Easter Bunny DID bring me – an empty puzzle board so I can get back to the thing that lifts my spirits and keeps me a little more sane. Thank you Easter Bunny! 🐰

Now that’s more like it! This is what my puzzle board is supposed to look like; it’s usually a bit more chaotic with trays and pieces everywhere, but when there’s a puzzle on the board then I am definitely much happier! (Just ask my family, I’ve been a bit grouchy without my puzzles)

Now that I’m back to it, I will hopefully be a little easier to be quarantined with. I have PADS, and my mental health and level of happiness is directly tied to my puzzles; it’s a very good thing that I have my puzzle room back, with an empty (of sewing materials) puzzle board full of possibilities.

Whatever you celebrate – I hope you’re observing your respective holidays at home, to keep yourselves and others safe. Happy Easter, Passover, Ramadan, or whatever holiday you observe. If you don’t observe any holidays this month, Happy Sunday!

Stay home, stay safe, happy puzzling! 🧩

Welcome Home

On March 30, 2020March 30, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

These adorable puppies were too cute to leave alone, so this puzzle went together in one day. It was a welcome distraction from a stressful situation; and as usual, I stopped thinking about what was troubling me and focused solely on pieces, shapes, and colors.

Re-marks has so many interesting collage puzzles, they’re right up there with White Mountain in my opinion. My last trip to Barnes and Noble netted me about six more of their collages, and I’m trying to ration them out to be certain they last me for a while. 🙂

Welcome Home 1

This is why I’m a dog person, they give us such loyalty and unconditional love. Look at that sweet face waiting to welcome home his human.

Welcome Home 2

I thought I heard my human coming down the street, is she almost here?! I’m so excited!

Welcome Home 3

The look on the face of the corgi is priceless, they look so happy! In summary, all the sweet faces of dogs and interesting doorways made for a happy, colorful, completely absorbing puzzle.

That’s exactly what I’m looking for these days, how about you?

Classic Games

On March 22, 2020March 22, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

Classic Game was a lot of fun to assemble, and therefore it went together pretty quickly. When I’m having a good time I find it hard to stop. We addicts are like that sometimes. 😉

Collages like this are easier for me to assemble quickly because sorting into sections is easy, and I am able to take my containers and trays into bed and work on them there when sitting up is difficult. White Mountain has so many beautiful, interesting, colorful, and educational collages that I can always find one (or twelve) that I would like to assemble.

Classic Games 1

This made me laugh, Samuel Clemens is a scary/creepy looking dude (in my opinion), and Authors doesn’t sound like a game many children would want to play. I wonder how popular this was.

Classic Games 2

I remember having this game as a child, but I’m trying to remember how to play it – because I don’t recall it being educational. Maybe it was one of those games that was so much fun to play that you don’t notice you’re learning anything. I can’t say for sure, because all I can remember is that we had this game, there is no memory of anything else. (Gee, I hope it wasn’t a memory game!)

Classic Games 3

Mom taught me how to play Chinese Checkers when I was young, and she told me how her mother taught her how to play when she was young. There are such good memories of playing this with her and trying to figure out how she was so much better at it than I was; it was probably because grownups are a little better at strategy than young children are. We had fun being together and talking while we played Chinese Checkers, and this game will always be special to me. 💗

As usual I loved this puzzle – a bright, colorful collage of games – what’s not to like? It was a very good quality puzzle that I found to be a joy both to look at and to put together. If you’re a fan of games, collages, or White Mountain puzzles in general I would absolutely recommend giving this one a try.

Common Quilt Blocks

On March 19, 2020March 19, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles10 Comments

I ADORED this puzzle – it was so much fun! Cobble Hill quality is excellent, and I enjoyed the random cut of the pieces and the beautiful colors. The fabrics were so interesting too, a lot of them would make ugly clothes but they do make lovely quilt blocks. 😉

Cobble Hill has such a great catalog of puzzle images, after assembling this one the PADS is flaring up and I want to get a whole bunch more of their puzzles. I love the feel of the pieces and the way they fit together – just a great quality puzzle all around. Someone needs to take my credit cards for a day or two, I’m feeling the need for some new puzzles!

Quilt Blocks 1

Great name to go with a great fabric pattern. I loved that all the quilt block patterns have names, and I found that it helped quite a bit with the assembly.

And of course I loved these two patterns because they had the word puzzle in their names! Old Maid’s Puzzle and Dutchman’s Puzzle, obviously they are my favorites. 😁

And now I have this burning desire to find and assemble every single quilt block puzzle there is – and I know there are quite a few. I enjoyed this one so much that it leaves me wanting more. Quilts and quilt blocks make for highly entertaining puzzles, at least they do for me. Perhaps it’s the neat, orderly rows and the fact that they’re put in some kind of order; it may be soothing for my OCD.

Whatever the reason, I’d love to get my hands on some more quilt block puzzles. I highly recommend you give this one a try, it was too much fun! 💝

Vintage Tin Toys

On March 14, 2020March 13, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles8 Comments

My beautiful daughter bought me this puzzle for no reason other than she saw it at the store and thought I would love it. She was right – and sweeter than sugar!

It was a pretty challenging assembly, but I absolutely adored it. Such bright colors and interesting toys, not to mention an excellent quality puzzle. The fit was a bit loose, but otherwise the pieces were thick with varied shapes, and the image reproduction was beautiful! I haven’t done many 1000 piece Milton Bradley puzzles, but I was happily surprised at the quality of this one. If we find more amazing images like this one, I hope to be doing more of them very soon!

Wow, they certainly didn’t mind unconventional toys back in the day, huh? A bartender toy for a child? This actually made me laugh out loud! I wonder what the mechanism made the little tin bartender do? A toy that pours and serves little drinks? Wow. Just, wow.

Vintage Tin Toys 2

This is silly, a tin chicken – but I suppose who am I to judge right? I didn’t even realize this was in the puzzle because the stupid people who designed the puzzle box decided to put a banner over this portion of it. When I realized what the pieces were and set them aside, I couldn’t wait to see what it looked like all put together. A silly chicken!

Vintage Tin Toys 3

Ventriloquist dummies must have been all the rage, I love how fun and silly these toys are! Perhaps a young boy or girl wouldn’t care what it said on the side of it, they would most likely be happy with any toy car. Still, this one gave me a chuckle.

Sometimes it amazes me that a box full of hundreds of pieces of cut up cardboard or wood pictures could bring me so much joy – but they absolutely do. But it isn’t only joy – serenity, smiles, laughs, concentration, fixation, obsession, happiness, sadness, exhilaration, peace, victory, pride, and too many more to name. Puzzles are a gift to ourselves and our minds, and I, for one, intend to keep on giving. 🧩💖