The Fire Station

On February 27, 2020February 27, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

It’s been years since I’ve assembled a puzzle with an image by Jan van Haasteren, and I remember why – I don’t really like such crowded, busy images. But this one being a gift, and only 550 pieces made it a little easier for me to handle. Still, it was no walk in the park!

Fire Station 1

There are several things that you’re supposed to be able to find in every JVH image, but I confess that I was only able to find the shark fin and the hands. Even though I scoured the image from top to bottom and side to side I wasn’t able to find the self-portrait of the artist, or Sinterklaas (Santa) – they were nowhere to be found! Ah well, it does make you pay attention to the artwork and gives you an appreciation for the hours and hours of work that must have gone into it. They’re unbelievably detailed!

Fire Station 2

My youngest son came in the room as I was finishing the puzzle, and pointed to this section, he said “I don’t think you could do that in real life, you would hurt your back!” I completely agree. It’s one of those things that when you’re younger looks like it would be fun, but now, at my age, it looks like it would be terrifying!

Fire Station 3

These two men in the firetruck have the right idea if you ask me, there’s no way I’d want to be a firefighter! They’re fantastic, brave people and I have all the respect in the world for them, it just isn’t a job that I could do. I can’t image the heat they have to deal with in fighting fires, it would be way too intense for me! I’d be happy to be able to drive them around though, as long as I could stay in the truck once we got there. 😉

This was a fun assembly, and I was pretty proud to get it finished – it was quite difficult!

Vintage Tin Toys In Progress

On February 26, 2020February 26, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

Vintage Tin Toys IP — Vintage Tin Toys by Lewis T. Johnson – Milton Bradley – 1000 pieces

I didn’t actually start assembling this puzzle until yesterday, it was been sitting on my board waiting to be sorted for more than a day. Finally got my lazy butt in gear and started working on it!

It’s much more difficult than I thought it would be, but I find that I’m not at all frustrated with it. Finding the right shape or the right color is still relaxing and peaceful, even if the rate of assembly is a little slower than normal. My daughter chose an awesome puzzle for me, she’s the sweetest❣

My one frustration with this puzzle is that the image on the front of the box is, of course, covered in one area by a banner with information that could have been put elsewhere. There is an image of the artwork on the back of the box with no obstructions, but it’s smaller than the image on the front! So annoying! Seriously, do they think that’s something we puzzlers are looking for?

My eyesight is declining as I get older, and a smaller image isn’t what I’m looking for. If you can’t give me an unobstructed view of the artwork on the front of the box, give me a poster to work from. I realize that it may cost you a few more cents in production, but trust me, you’ll make the consumers very happy and more inclined to purchase your product. Duh! Is this really something you need to be told?!

Sorry for the rant guys, guess I just needed to get that off my chest.

Happy puzzling today! 😎🧩

Proud Lion

On February 25, 2020February 25, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

This puzzle is gorgeous! I’ve been impressed by the quality of these Milton Bradley puzzles, they’re very nice to work with and I love the unique images they have. I always like to have two or three (or more) smaller piece count puzzles around, sometimes it’s just nice to put together a smaller puzzle.

I started by separating the pieces into two halves, the painted side and the funky side; and I also pulled out the middle pieces – they’re easy to spot and a good place to start.

Proud Lion 1

The edges and middle done – I was even able to pick out the pieces that surround the center. (Sorry about that dark spot in the lower right corner, I spilled a drop of puzzle glue on the fabric that covers my board. I usually try to move the puzzles away from it while I’m photographing them, but it slipped my mind with this puzzle. 😉

Proud Lion 2

I started with the more difficult side, and even though I had to use my tired old lady brain cells a little more than usual I enjoyed putting it together. The second side went together more quickly, but still required a bit of brain power. Not all 300 piece puzzles are easy, they can be just as challenging as larger piece counts; I find them completely entertaining and a nice break in between assembling bigger puzzles.

I truly enjoyed the artwork and would love to find more puzzles by this artist – this image was absolutely a joy to put together and makes for a beautiful puzzle. 🦁

Bedtime Stories

On February 24, 2020February 24, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Bedtime Stories was so much fun, the bright and colorful covers made for a truly entertaining assembly. There were a few books I’d never heard of, although to be fair it’s been a long, long, time since my children were young enough to read books like these.

It was a great quality puzzle too, which makes an entertaining image even more fun to put together. The pieces were a good thickness with an excellent fit, and the image reproduction was bright and colorful. The only drawback was a little bit of a shiny finish which sometimes made the darker pieces hard to see with the glare.

Bedtime 1

The Tom Sawyer cover was a little challenging to put together, but I adore the look of it; I’ve never seen that cover before. The Alice in Wonderful cover was lovely, and I think this puzzle would be fantastic in a larger piece count – 1500 or 2000 pieces would be extremely entertaining!

Bedtime 2

These are books I remember from my childhood, though I admit that James and the Giant Peach wasn’t on my radar until I had kids of my own. I LOVED Pippi Longstocking books when I was young – she was bold and brash and didn’t care what anyone thought, and I wanted to be just like her. In many ways I think I’ve succeeded; bold is a word that’s been used more than a few times to describe me, and I honestly don’t give a bleep what anyone thinks of me – just like Pippi! 🙂

The Jungle Book was my absolute favorite movie, though I didn’t read the book until I was a bit older. Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel was a book I hadn’t thought about in years and years, but I remember it very fondly. I loved it as a child, and just looking at the cover makes me smile. Anyone else remember Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel named Mary Anne and the problem they dug themselves into?

I have such good memories of books and time spent reading from when I was a child; I was a voracious reader with an imagination that was capable of many, many flights of fancy. I’ve raised three children who also love to read, and that makes me unbelievably happy and proud. 📚

Wysocki In Progress

On February 23, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles8 Comments

Mansfield IP — Mansfield Air Spectacular by Charles Wysocki – Buffalo – 1000 pieces

After not touching any puzzles pieces for two days the withdrawal symptoms were too much to take, so I sorted and began this one yesterday. As you can see all that’s left is sky and clouds, so it shouldn’t be too much longer and it will be finished! Once I put all the clouds together I don’t think doing the rest of the all blue pieces will take much time at all.

I got this puzzle with my Christmas gift certificate to Barnes and Noble (along with about 9 other puzzles), and I love that it isn’t the typical Wysocki image. It’s been great putting it together so far, the pieces were so easy to sort – I love that – and have made for a quick assembly.

The quick assembly part is great, because my daughter brought me a new puzzle yesterday, and I love it so much that I can’t wait to start working on it! I even told her that I was a little bummed that I had a puzzle on my board because I wanted to stop everything and work on the new one! 😍

The new puzzle happiness had my PADS flaring up and I went the teensiest little bit crazy and ordered 5 new puzzles online, I haven’t done that in quite a long time! I’ve ordered one or two puzzles here and there, but never a bigger order from one place – it’s been well over a year and a half I think, maybe even longer.

In my defense, I was left unsupervised with a credit card and a computer and I cannot be held responsible for my actions. 😇