Tag: Jigsaw Puzzles

Lilac Point Glen

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

Lilac Point Glen by Charles Wysocki – Buffalo – 300 pieces

After working on a 1000 piece puzzle that was quite a challenge, this 300 piece Wysocki was just what the doctor ordered to cleanse my puzzle palate. I always enjoy working an Americana puzzle, and Charles Wysocki’s images are some of the best around in my opinion.

This is one of the puzzles I bought during my trip to the thrift store a while back, and I was happy to find that not only was it complete but it was still in excellent condition. There aren’t many smaller piece count puzzles here for me (not counting my mini puzzles, of course) and it was so nice to find a few smaller ones to keep me occupied in between larger puzzles.

The oddest thing happened when I was assembling this puzzle, my youngest son got really involved with it. Most people wouldn’t think that’s out of the ordinary – but it most definitely is! My youngest has autism, and he has never been that interested in my puzzles unless it has an image of something he enjoys like comic books or particular movies. He doesn’t really engage much unless there’s something that interests him, but to my surprise he came in when I was working on this puzzle and helped me with it. But that’s not all, he actually stayed in the puzzle room working on the puzzle when I took a break and went to lie in bed to rest!

When my husband told me he was still working on the puzzle I snuck down the hall and took this picture of him (yes, he does wear a hoodie like that in the house). I was so shocked that he was working on this puzzle without me that I had to document it with a picture!

I have no idea why this puzzle in particular interested him so much, but I absolutely love that he engaged with it and with me while we were working on it together. I definitely got more than my money’s worth from this thrift store puzzle. 💕

Get Your Stitch Together

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles11 Comments

Unlike almost every other post I’ve done here at My Jigsaw Journal the picture of the completed puzzle will have to be a little farther down instead of at the top. There’s a LOT of cuss words in this puzzle, and I wanted to be sure to give anyone who wishes the option to decide whether or not to see the image.

This puzzle was a gift from my bestest puzzle buddy Penny, who was so excited that I finally got back to the puzzle board that she ordered a couple of naughty image puzzles to be delivered to my front door. You have no idea how hard I laughed when I saw the images that she choose for me – she knows me so well!

What The Puzzles is a new-to-me puzzle brand, and it was new to Penny as well. Luckily this brand seems to have very good quality. The pieces are a little thin but very sturdy, there are a good variety of piece shapes, the image reproduction was beautiful, and the fit is exceptional. I was impressed! It also comes with a large poster that you can use to help with the assembly; even the poster was impressive as the paper used was thick with a beautiful reproduction of the image. The one drawback for me is that it has that “sharp” white backing that I’m not overly fond of, but it wasn’t too bad to work with. I haven’t found too many puzzles “made in China” that were of such good quality, so this was a pleasant surprise. I try not to make quick judgements until I have at least assembled two or three puzzles by any brand, but so far this brand has done very well. I’ll let you know how I feel after I’ve put together the second puzzle Penny choose for me.

*Also, the legal-ish stuff included on the box was too funny! This puzzle is…zero carb, gluten free, dairy free, tobacco free, not tested on animals, gateway to knitting, and may cause extreme frustration. 😎

Ok, that’s enough yammering for now; if you’re interested in seeing my VERY naughty puzzle then all you have to do is scroll down…

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Get Your Stitch Together – What The Puzzles – 1000 pieces

There’s something about these very naughty sayings cross-stitched and embroidered into little samplers that I find absolutely hilarious. I’m not ashamed to tell you that I can have quite the potty mouth when I get upset, although I have never ever told anyone to deep throat a cactus.

Yet. 😈

I love this little section – just for us puzzle junkies!

The fit was so good that I got to take my favorite kind of picture – this 1000 piece puzzle stood up with no problems at all! I can usually only get this type of picture with smaller piece counts, it’s very rare that a 1000 piece puzzle is able to stand up. Impressive.

Overall I was very happy the quality of this puzzle, and even though it wasn’t an easy assembly I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Thanks again Penny, I loved this $%^&* !@#$ of a *+>@&% puzzle! 😇

Vintage Fairy Tales

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles11 Comments

Vintage Fairy Tales by Lois B. Sutton – White Mountain – 1000 pieces

Long time readers of the blog may be surprised to hear this, but I didn’t enjoy this collage as much as I’d hoped to. The fit was NOT good, and the loose, floppy manner in which the pieces fit together was a pain to deal with. A bit of a bummer, as this was one of the new purchases that I was very excited to assemble. Sigh.

White Mountain puzzles have never been a premium quality brand in my opinion, but I always know that going in when I purchase them and deal with their issues because of my adoration and love for collage images. White Mountain and Re-marks both have excellent catalogs of collages, and when necessary I deal with less than premium quality because those kind of puzzle images make me extremely happy.

Perhaps I just wasn’t in the mood to deal with it this time, cause it kinda p*ssed me off. (Part of it could have been that I received two gifted puzzles yesterday from Penny my puzzle posse pal and as soon as they arrived I REALLY wanted to get started on one of them. Who knows?)

Honestly, this puzzle annoyed me because I was so looking forward to it and it let me down in the quality department. I didn’t even want to take any close up pictures this time or talk about any of the books.

Annoyed. Disappointed. A little sad too.

Minnie Mouse

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles8 Comments

Minnie Mouse – Mega Puzzles (Multipack) – 150 pieces

This is another thrift store purchase that I got the other day, ain’t she cute? I thought so too. The quality was pretty awful, but I knew going in that it most likely would be, so it wasn’t a surprise. Puzzles from a multipack usually aren’t premium quality, but 8 Disney puzzles for $4.99 with adorable images was just too good a bargain for me to pass up.

I documented my progress with this one, as I knew it would go together quickly. It didn’t start the way most of my puzzles do, there was no sorting at all. All the pieces were laid out on my board and the edges were separated…

Once the edge was assembled I smushed all the pieces a little closer together so I wouldn’t have to lean or reach for any of the pieces…

Then the assembly really began. I started with the words in the yellow bubble in the corner, and as many pieces of the faces of Minnie that I could find. She’s coming together and looking adorable isn’t she?

At only 150 pieces this one was started and finished quickly, but it doesn’t mean it wasn’t enjoyable. Even with the questionable quality it was fun and entertaining and has me looking forward to working with the other cute images in this box of 8 puzzles.

I am most definitely a puzzle snob who prefers a premium puzzle like Ravensburger, Pomegranate, or Jumbo to name a few, but I also don’t limit myself to only the very best of puzzles. I enjoy expensive puzzles and cheap ones alike; there’s nothing like finding an amazing deal at the thrift store. I still have hopes of finding a Stave puzzle at a thrift store, although I doubt it will ever happen!

Thoughts of mom had me going out of my way to get to a thrift store that has always had a very good jigsaw puzzle selection this week after I went in for a mammogram. (Ain’t it great being a lady? *sigh* It definitely isn’t much fun, but it is necessary – take care of your ta-tas ladies!)

I’m glad I took the time. I feel the teeniest bit closer to mom when I’m working a puzzle from the thrift store, and now I have quite a few of them here to choose from.

Work In Progress

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles4 Comments

Work In Progress by Ken Zylla – SunsOut – 300 pieces

A thrift store puzzle! The first one I’ve worked since I came back, and it went together quickly. I don’t have many smaller piece puzzles here; combine that with me re-reading through my blog and seeing all the amazing puzzles mom used to find for us to do from the thrift stores – and I got a bee in my bonnet about going to find some “new” puzzles to do.

I was pleased to find some great deals, although if you ask me the price of some of the puzzles at the thrift store was ridiculous. $4.99 for a 100 piece kid’s puzzle? I don’t think so! So I was happy to find a couple of Ravensburger 1000 pieces for $2.99 each, a box of 8 Disney puzzles (Mega Puzzles brand) for $4.99 and a few other interesting images and brands I hadn’t heard of. Mom would be proud of me! 💖

Anyway, to the puzzle. The image jumped out at me for some reason I’m unable to articulate properly, which is why I bought it. SunsOut isn’t a brand I usually buy – and it’s one we (the puzzle posse) never purchase new. If it’s a great image and a good price at a thrift store then I’ll get it; luckily that’s what this one was. I enjoyed this one immensely and it went together quite quickly as it was only 300 pieces and an easy one to sort.

The quality wasn’t great, the fit was VERY loose. Two pieces put together couldn’t be picked up and moved without them coming apart. Annoying. But once I realized that I changed where I was putting pieces together – the trick is to only assemble pieces as close to where they belong as possible, that way I won’t have to pick them up to move them. I find that pretty darn annoying, but it doesn’t preclude me from actually assembling a puzzle that is otherwise entertaining.

I’m missing and remembering my beautiful momma a lot these days, and somehow this puzzle made me feel a little closer to her today. She loved a bargain, she loved jigsaw puzzles and finding puzzle treasures for the both of us to assemble; she loved stopping at my house on the way home from her puzzle hunting to show me what she found and maybe helping me out for a little bit on whatever puzzle was on my board. She loved me so much, we were truly best friends and talked to each other every single day, we loved spending time together and I loved her to puzzle pieces!

I miss you momma. So much. 😥💔