Tag: Collage

Colorful Destinations

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

Colorful Destinations by Lewis T. Johnson – Buffalo – 750 pieces

Beautiful. colorful, and quite lovely to assemble (according to my completed puzzles page from last year). Unfortunately the next several puzzle posts will most likely all say something to the effect of “I have no memory of actually assembling this puzzle”. They were all finished last year and in the queue when the puzzling stopped. Sorry.🤷‍♀️

From what little I put in my draft of this post I can tell you that this one was excellent quality – that’s always good to hear, isn’t it? Of course Buffalo puzzles are usually very good or excellent in the quality department, they were one of the brands being purchased most often last year because 1) they have a LOT of images by my favorite artist – Aimee Stewart, and 2) there have been very few issues with their puzzle quality that I have ever had to deal with. I’m glad this one was no exception.

I’m not much of a traveler, and to be honest the only country I’ve visited is Canada. We used to live in Michigan – directly West of Canada. And you didn’t need a passport back in the old days to cross the bridge and visit our neighbors to the North; sometimes we’d go over just to have dinner.

Luckily even though I’m not well-traveled there are gorgeous puzzles like this one so at least we can look at all the fabulous places there are in the world to visit.✈

I absolutely loved this section, figuring out how all those stripes went together had me in full meditation mode. Fantastic!

Another section that was fun to put together, it reminded me of the Colorforms I used to have as a kid. Anyone else remember those?

This was my favorite section, the artwork is fabulous and it really stands out. Stunning, isn’t it? Loved it!

After completing a wonderfully entertaining collage on Sunday, I may or may not have gone to the bookstore and bought myself six more big collages. My youngest son asked for a ride to the movie theater, and coincidentally it is very close to the bookstore where I sometimes shop for puzzles. That’s what happens when I’m left unattended with money in my wallet.

Perhaps the inner puzzle goddess in me was raring to get back to my board and to make up for all the time when I wasn’t shopping for puzzles. In addition to shopping in an actual brick and mortar store there are four different shipments of puzzles on their way to my house. I ordered a bunch of small puzzles that could be worked on while in bed if necessary, and lots of bigger ones too. It may be that I wanted to be sure to have lots of incentive to continue puzzling even if I’m not feeling so great after next week’s surgery, or that I just missed being at the board, or just a severe PADS flare-up. Putting together beautiful puzzles, writing about them, and sharing them with my puzzle posse really does improve my mood and help deal with all the stress of life and dealing with chronic pain.

Whatever the reason, there is NO REMORSE whatsoever. In fact, I’m working on one of my new collages right now – and having a fabulous time. Puzzles (especially collages) truly are my happy place. 🧩😍

Rare Birds

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles10 Comments

Rare Birds by Allison Strine – Buffalo – 500 pieces

After completing Unusual Animals by the same artist, I had to check around and see if there were any other images of hers to be found – thank goodness there were! This was so beautiful, great fun, and went together very quickly because I couldn’t walk away. I adored it!

This Buffalo puzzle had EXCELLENT quality. I know that some Buffalo puzzles are being made in China, but this one was made in the US. The fit was especially nice, it felt great going together.

It was so hard to choose which birds to show closeups of, they were all so interesting. I must have changed my mind at least 10 times. At least. And then I changed it again. 😎

Such interesting facts about this stork! It’s brave enough to fight a crocodile, and then it eats it! Yikes. *Making a mental note to NEVER mess with a Shoebill Stork.* Of course after reading that to cool down it poops on itself, I highly doubt I’ll be getting anywhere near it.

Loved the look of this section, and how the Kakapo’s face looks something like the kiwi it’s perched on. Plus, I wonder why they smell good – that’s so interesting to me – is it their diet or how they preen themselves? Plus they live to be more than 90 years old, that’s amazing!

The Three Wattled Bellbird, that’s another new one for me. And it has a bird call that’s called a bonk – new information for me as well. And it’s call can be heard a mile away? Holy guacamole! (guacamole made from this bird’s favorite food – wild avocado)

Colorful Collage

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles8 Comments

Colorful Collage – Colorcraft Puzzles – 1000 pieces

Colorful and beautiful, and I just I knew I would love this one. It was exceptionally easy to sort, except for the two sections with straws; but I just sorted them together as one section. It was lots of fun and just what I needed.

This brand has good quality. There was a small section where the cutting wasn’t great, but it was only a few pieces and didn’t detract from the fun of assembly. Otherwise overall it was good quality. There’s something odd about the fit though – it doesn’t feel like a good fit, but once you’ve got it put together it stays very well. I’m not sure how it can BE a good fit but not FEEL like a good fit, but there it is. Like I said, it’s odd.

I was the most nervous about this section. It was difficult, but I was really proud of myself for getting it done!

On the opposite end of the spectrum, this was the easiest section for me. Kind of boring, really – but very pretty.

All the sections were so bold and colorful, I just adored this assembly! ❤🧡💛💚💙💜

Art Nouveau Tiles

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles8 Comments

Art Nouveau Tiles by Barbara Behr – Cobble Hill – 1000 pieces

This gorgeous and challenging puzzle tested me at times, but I loved every minute of it! The artwork is so interesting, it was a perfect puzzle at just the right time.

Excellent quality, great fit, and amazing reproduction. The tiles actually seemed to have the texture and crackled look of real tiles. Stunning!

I couldn’t pick my favorites, they’re all so lovely in their own way; here’s a closeup of each quarter of the image….

I suppose I should tell you what my favorites were in each section, but they were all so beautiful it’s very difficult to choose.

Here are some more pretties, wouldn’t they look lovely somewhere in a home?

I love the turkey in this section – he’s up at the very top. And that brilliant blue in the bottom right corner is divine.

And here are more beauties, they’re all so lovely in their own way – and all so different from each other. I just cannot choose favorites.

National Geographic Magazines

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

National Geographic Magazines – Buffalo – 500 pieces

This was much more entertaining than I’d expected, what a lovely surprise! There was something about this I saw when shopping for puzzles, and honestly it confused me why I wanted it so much. Normally photographic images aren’t my pile of pieces at all, but this one spoke to me on some level and I knew it needed to be here for me to assemble. I was right!

It seems like a broken record for me to tell you what good quality Buffalo puzzles are, but it’s the truth with all the puzzles I’ve been assembling lately. The image reproduction especially on this puzzle was exceptional, and the rest of the quality was wonderful too.

This is the oldest actually dated magazine in the collage, from March of 1921. At 50 cents a copy it seems quite expensive (according to my internet search it would be about $8.00 today). There is a partial cover with a 25 cent price at the bottom, but the date is covered by another magazine and I can’t tell you which year it’s from.

National Geographic is 134 years old, with the first issue published in 1888. It began as a scholarly journal, but became a popular magazine a few years later. It didn’t begin publishing photographs until 1905, but photos are what it’s become known for.

Not only was this bright with easy pieces to pick out, I love what the article is called – Dragons of the Deep. It does look slightly like a dragon at the front, doesn’t it? 🐲

I just like the look of this one, that’s it. It reminds me of one of my favorite books series by Jean M. Auel that begins with Clan of the Cave Bear; there was an exciting mammoth hunt in the first book, and mammoths played a big role in subsequent books as well.

This puzzle was so much more enjoyable than I’d imagined it would be; it was wonderfully entertaining! If it looks like something you’d enjoy it is highly recommended. Great quality, great image – great puzzle.