C. S. Lewis

On January 5, 2020January 5, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

This puzzle was great fun! I had such a good time that I could barely walk away from it, every piece put in lead me to another and so on; it went together much more quickly than most 1000 piece puzzles do for me because I was having such a good time. Collages are the best!

Sometimes I’m torn between keeping at it because I’m having so much fun, and slowing down to make it last longer. Usually I choose to keep at it; because – why put a damper on my puzzle fun? But sometimes I choose to walk away for a bit or just slow down putting in the pieces to really savor the assembly. This was one of those that I chose to keep on puzzling, it was extremely enjoyable.

The quality was a bit disappointing though; the fit was loose and spongy, and the piece shapes are very obvious in the finished image. Most likely my particular copy of this puzzle was produced at the end of the run when the die was duller. It happens with every puzzle brand, and it doesn’t mean the brand has poor quality. The assembly was delightful, but the overall the fit made it slightly less satisfying.

My first thought when I saw the puzzle was that I had no idea C. S. Lewis was so prolific, but a closer look showed that there are many books shown multiple times with different covers. Both The Screwtape Letters, and The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe are shown with five different covers!

CS Lewis 1

This was my favorite of The Screwtape Letters covers. I’m not sure why; usually I go for lots of color, but there’s something about this one, maybe it’s the pointillism – it’s quite striking. And believe it or not this was one of the easier covers to assemble. It just looks so cool. 😎

I had a great time assembling this puzzle even though I was somewhat frustrated with the quality. I’m recommending it as it was so entertaining, but am cautioning about the quality – specifically the fit. For me, the fact that putting it together was so absorbing outweighs the annoyance of the loose fit; but ultimately it’s something you’ll have to decide for yourself.

*I’m fully aware that my thoughts about this puzzle are all over the place; and I have no excuse other than to say that they are factual. Collages make me truly happy when I assemble them, and unless the quality is completely horrid I will enjoy myself. But I also feel a responsibility to let my readers know if there are quality problems, even small ones. If there is a problem with the fit, the cut, the chipboard, or anything else I need to let you know. So even though I thoroughly enjoyed myself, I still have to let you about any issues I found. (This paragraph made sense in my head, I hope it translated well enough to be somewhat understandable. 😉 )

Yeah

On January 4, 2020January 3, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles12 Comments

Please forgive the angle of this picture, I tried to go back and fix it but the stupid photo program wouldn’t let me change anything after I’d renamed it. Stupid technology. 🤐

This was much more challenging than the previous four letter puzzle that I assembled. The shading at the back made for odd shapes, and my brain took quite a long time to wrap itself around the concept. But I loved that about it; when you know the solution is right in front of you and all you have to do is SEE it. You just have to let your brain catch up and figure it out. And then, when you finally do get it, the exhilaration is fantastic! (My PADS posse understands, don’t you?)

A friend says I should have left the other puzzle assembled and then taken a picture of “S**t Yeah!”. Why didn’t I think of that? I was moving the letters around to spell other words, and was thinking that I’m only one letter short of being able to spell my name; if I had gotten the other naughty word or even the word Crap I’d have the C so I could spell out my name in pretty letters. Ah well, I missed my chance.

This puzzle was very good quality, just like the first one. I’m quite impressed with them, especially because the company doesn’t only do puzzles. In fact, these four letter words are the only puzzles they carry. To get such good quality is a surprise, a very pleasant one. Check them out at Knock Knock.

I’ve enjoyed assembling these words/letters, and I think any of the others would be very entertaining. If you’re looking for a silly, challenging, enjoyable puzzle, I would absolutely recommend these four letter words.

S**t Yeah! 😉

Tropical Paradise 14

On January 2, 2020January 2, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Got up early in the morning because I couldn’t sleep, and finished this puzzle before hubby left for work. Pretty good!

I’m loving these wonderful little 300 piece round puzzles with such interesting images. They’re a lovely, quick puzzle when I’m not feeling well enough to start a larger one, and the colors and patterns make for such an engrossing assembly.

Perhaps it’s a good thing that so many people don’t assemble anything smaller than 1000 piece puzzles, that leaves more wonderful little gems like these for me to find and put together! 🙂

Kitty in a Basket

On December 31, 2019December 30, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles4 Comments

I found this puzzle in the puzzle room, sandwiched between two boxes. It had no container at all, so I have no idea of the brand or the title (if there was one).

Many puzzles for children, especially photographic ones, have no title. Just a cute little image that kids would like, and like to assemble. I’ve given this one the not so imaginative title, Kitty in a Basket. Sometimes the easiest and most obvious is the best choice. I could have gone with something enigmatic or ridiculous, like “She’s Hiding Her Sadness”, or “The Wistfulness of Veronica”. But what’s the point of that, other than to amuse myself? 😉

Anyway, not the best quality puzzle, but it was easy to put together and I finished a puzzle for the day – both good things!

Be safe out there tonight my friends, Happy New Year’s Eve! 🎉🎆🎉

Jingle Bell Teddy & Friends

On December 29, 2019December 29, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

And so it is that we have come to the last of the holiday puzzles for this year – Hooray! I actually really liked this image, and found it quite entertaining to assemble. So farewell Santa, we’ll be seeing you here on My Jigsaw Journal around December of 2020!

This is another puzzle that was purchased much earlier in the year by mom at the thrift store, and I’ve kept it around to assemble closer to the holidays. Sometimes I get a little bored with the Wysocki images, to me they can all seem a little similar; but this one is quite different and that’s one of the reasons I enjoy it so much.

This puzzle shows Santa Claus in some of his many other incarnations: Father Christmas, St. Nick, Pere Noel, etc. They were fun to assemble, and I liked the look of all of them except for one, there’s an ornament, and the look of it seems a little creepy to me…

Teddy 1

I know, I’m used to the sugary sweet Coca-Cola American version and many other countries and cultures have a much different image of Santa. He’s not always a jolly old elf, in some places he’s rather stern looking. Still, there’s something about this ornament that seems odd in some way – it wasn’t my favorite for sure.

Teddy 2

The lovely looking Santa with a green suit in a boat, he makes me smile. I’m not sure if this is a version of Santa from another country or if he only lives in the mind of Charles Wysocki, but I think he’s completely adorable!

This thrift store puzzle was complete, and I told mom when she brought it over that I would be assembling it this Christmas. And so I have kept my word. It was a lovely puzzle to assemble at 2 am when I couldn’t sleep and the house was quiet.

It kept this old lady off the streets and out of trouble. 😉