Tag: Jigsaw Puzzles

Bluebells

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Bluebells – Wentworth (Mini Mindful) – 40 pieces

As beautiful as this image is, I have to say this Mini Mindful was a bit disappointing for me. All of the other puzzles in this line that I’ve done have had tessellating pieces, or a repeating pattern of interestingly shaped pieces – this seemed just like a regular micro puzzle from Wentworth.

There’s not a thing wrong with Wentworth’s micro puzzles, but I was hoping for more of a challenge with the Mini Mindful; one that makes you really focus because it’s more difficult than a “regular” puzzle. This is just my opinion of course, but that’s what this blog is – my opinions about the puzzles I assemble.

Cute whimsies to go along with the outdoor image. They made the puzzle even easier to assemble, the shapes around them were very easy to find. 😢

Still, it’s a lovely image and I enjoyed putting it together even if I was a little let down by the piece shapes.

Vintage Fabrics and Notions

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles7 Comments

Vintage Fabrics and Notions by Aimee Stewart – Buffalo – 1000 pieces

What a fantastic puzzle! I adored this beauty from the first piece to the last, and had to keep stopping myself from working on it because it was getting completed way too quickly. Perhaps I need a 2000 piece Aimee Stewart image to work on?

The quality of this Buffalo puzzle was excellent. The image reproduction was stunning, with bright, crisp colors, no blurriness or fuzziness; the pieces were the usual variety of Buffalo shapes and the fit was the best I’ve worked with from this brand for quite a while. When all was said and done I was highly impressed with this puzzle and it’s quality.

This was the first section that I completed, it made me feel a little nostalgic. Mom used to have so many vintage sewing notions and especially fasteners and buttons, I loved to look through them while she was repairing clothes or making something new.

This pattern also made me think of Mom. When we’d all pile in the car to go shopping at the fabric store I would try to keep myself from being bored by looking through all the patterns. Mom spent much longer in the store than my sisters and I liked, and after a while we’d start to whining about having to be there so long. But for the most part she was buying fabrics, patterns, and notions because she was making clothes; and she was making clothes because it was much cheaper than buying them. She made all my prom dresses when I was in high school, and she even made my wedding dress.

Mom was amazing at just about every craft there was, and I didn’t appreciate it when I was a child; when I became a young woman though it was a different story. She was a whiz at doing all those things, and I was a little jealous of her talents; I very much appreciated all the work she put in making things for us all and made sure I told her so. Often.

All the wild and colorful fabrics in this section were really fun to assemble. I’m not sure I would want any clothes from them, but they were entertaining in this puzzle.

I had the best time with this puzzle, and I assembled it at the right time too – our cable and internet went out the night I started this beauty, so of course I had something fabulous to occupy myself with when there was no tv to watch and the rest of the family were losing their minds.

We all should have some unplugged hobbies we can turn to when we need to, don’t you think?

You Are Here

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

You Are Here – MicroPuzzles – 150 pieces

This gorgeous, colorful and serene-looking image was in July’s subscription box, and my daughter picked it out for us to assemble together. It was quite difficult; the painterly style and less than optimal lighting in the bathroom made for a challenging assembly. There were quite a few times when I put pieces wrong, but luckily they did not quite fit correctly and I could see my errors.

The image isn’t one I would normally choose to puzzle, but it was more engrossing than I anticipated, and the sense of accomplishment I felt once it was complete was rather nice.

I’m very much looking forward to our next subscription box – what could be in store for us this month?

Fantasy Golf (What If? #18)

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Fantasy Golf by Geoff Tristram (What If? #18) – Ravensburger – 1000 pieces

It’ll be no surprise that I had a great time assembling this puzzle, Geoff Tristram’s artwork is always so bright and colorful and full of his sense of humor. It makes for excellent puzzling!

With mystery puzzles like this where the box image is not the final image of the puzzle, I only show you the one character shown on the box as a hint. In this case the character was reversed and facing the other direction on the box, so I reversed the image of my picture to make it match. I also darkened around the edges so the character is the focus.

When I was starting my first What If? puzzle I searched for an image of the box to put on my homepage to show what puzzle I was working on, and the first thing that popped up in my results was a picture of the finished puzzle. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. I couldn’t un-see it, and it ruined the fun I would have had figuring out the puzzle for myself. I never want to do that to anyone else, so I do not show the completed puzzles here. Ever.

In Fantasy Golf, the box says “Have you ever experienced the frustration, fury and despair that only golf can deliver? What If golf suddenly became easier to play – almost a “walk in the park”? The picture on this box shows the disheartened and gloomy golfers at Hacketton Hope Golf Club. The puzzle inside this box shows a new way to play this most challenging sport!”

In my opinion these puzzles aren’t terribly difficult. The box image shows you what the characters are wearing (most of the time), and you just have to figure out how things end up. You do that the same way you would assemble any other puzzle, by finding colors or patterns that match and putting them together. The more you assemble, the more the idea of the image takes shape and before you know it the mystery of the image is clear. The puzzles are in cartoon form, so the colors are bold and bright, and it’s easy to pick out a pattern or color and start building.

The wordplay is always entertaining as well. Did you catch it earlier in the name of the club? Hacketton Hope. Hack it and hope. It’s all over this puzzle in the names of golf clubs, people, even the brands of clothing. It’s one of the reasons his puzzles are a favorite of mine, we have similar silly senses of humor. 😁

If you’ve never given What If? puzzles a try, I highly recommend them. Great Ravensburger quality, excellent images, and a fun little mystery to solve.

Medicine Teepee

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

Medicine Teepee by Joseph Henry Sharp – Artifact – 105 pieces

Oh man, was this ever a fun puzzle to assemble! Usually pieces that don’t connect really annoy me, but the way this puzzle was almost like playing with a tangram was extremely entertaining. I absolutely loved it!

There was really no need to take a separate picture of the whimsy pieces, as they’re all sitting on top of the puzzle – you can check them out for yourself. I actually really liked that, it made the rest of the puzzle a little more of a challenge. Whimsies and the pieces that fit around them make a puzzle easier to put together; with these on the top you couldn’t use them to assist in the assembly.

The image by Joseph Henry Sharp was interesting and made for slightly difficult but excellent puzzling. There were quite a few times where I placed pieces wrong (especially in the sky and the grass), you definitely had to pay close attention. Having to be completely focused on the image and the shapes made for an almost meditative experience and I can’t wait to assemble this one again!

What a fantastic puzzle! And a special thanks to Alice for letting me know about the half-price sale at Artifact they were having in June. I got this beauty for only $18.00! 💗