Tag: Jigsaw Puzzling

Do You Collect Puzzles?

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling18 Comments

Are you a collector? Or do you just like to assemble a puzzle once and then sell or donate somewhere and move on to the next one? I’m a little bit of both, actually. 😁

There aren’t any series of images that I collect (except one, but it’s more for sentimental reasons), but I know that many people do. Almost every cardboard puzzle that I’ve assembled has been packed up and donated – either to friends, a local senior center, charity shop, or school. There are a few puzzles that I’ve kept because they belonged to Mom or Grama, or because Mom and I assembled them and loved them so much that I cannot bear to get rid of them. Other than those, cardboard puzzles aren’t ones that I keep or collect.

*I have kept all The Talking Jigsaw Puzzles because they’re so unique and interesting, and because Mom and I adored working on them together. The Fitness Center, The Hospital, The Office Building. If I find any of the rest of the series in the thrift stores I will definitely be keeping them too; I don’t have The Beach, City Hall, High School, or Heartbreak Hotel.*

As you can see from the above picture, I do keep almost all of my wooden puzzles. (These are just a few of my micro puzzles from Wentworth, I also have almost every larger puzzle from every company I’ve tried.) There have been a few that I’ve given to friends, and a couple that I’ve sent to others from giveaways on the blog, but otherwise I still have all of my wooden puzzles.

I wouldn’t say I’m a “collector” though – making sure I have every one of a certain series or from a particular artist isn’t something I’m interested in. I buy wooden puzzles that have images or interesting cuts that I think would be entertaining to assemble, that’s it. “Collecting” just to have them isn’t me.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being a collector; it’s a hobby or a passion, just like any other. I’m interested in whether or not any of my readers are collectors of puzzles – no matter the kind. Do you collect all puzzles from a certain brand, artist, or series like The Talking Jigsaws? If you do, where do you keep them, and do you assemble them over and over or keep them unopened and pristine like those who collect comic books?

In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling8 Comments

I’ve got a few puzzles going at the moment…

Color Garden – MicroPuzzles – 150 pieces

This is one of my “bathroom puzzles” in progress. The lighting in this picture doesn’t do it justice; it’s an excellent image that I’m truly enjoying working on even if it’s only just a few pieces at a time.

Kuala Lumpur by Harimao Lee – Blanc Puzzles – 300 pieces

This is the puzzle on my board right now. Yesterday was a terrible pain day and I basically didn’t get out of bed until early this morning to update this post – so this puzzle sat alone and unloved all day. I thought it would be finished by now, but it looks like it won’t be completely assembled until perhaps later today or maybe even tomorrow. It’s been pretty fun so far, but the easy part is over and now all that’s left is the more difficult section at the top, we’ll see how it goes.

Flower Bee – Crafthub – 146 pieces

This horrid little puzzle is something I’m almost regretting purchasing in the first place, but at the same time I’m glad I gave it a shot. At the very least I can warn others not to purchase any of these terrible quality things.

In the beginning it was being assembled in one of my trays (in bed) but I had to move it to one corner of my fabric-covered board – because the pieces do not connect together well or at all, and the slightest touch will disrupt everything. I was constantly having to reposition pieces that moved around because they were accidentally brushed with my arm or merely by trying to connect another piece. The fabric makes it a little less likely that pieces come apart with an accidental touch.

I bought this wooden puzzle because it was – no joke – $7.99. Here’s what I’ll say about that…you get what you pay for and I should have known better. To say I’m disappointed in the quality would be a gross understatement; I’m disgusted with myself for buying it and am finding the assembly oddly engrossing as well as extremely frustrating. But, as usual, I’ve got a bee in my bonnet (no pun intended) about finishing this one. You’ll be hearing plenty from me when I post about the puzzle once it’s complete. I have MUCH to say about it. 🤬

I’m hoping to have all three finished before we leave for our vacation on Thursday. It’s always good to come to home to an empty board; we might find a fun looking puzzle or two while we we’re out and I might want to get to assembling it right away when we return. 😎

So those are the puzzles in various states of assembly right now at my house. What are you working on?

Chaos on the Board!

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling5 Comments

1960s Flower Power by Andrew Farley – Wentworth – 250 pieces

Since getting up at 2 am I have finished and taken pics of the previous puzzle and written up the post for publication at a later date, updated the June completed puzzles page, updated the sidebar on the homepage, and decided which puzzle was up next. My decision was mostly based on how I wanted to complete the puzzle…

I honestly felt the need to dump a puzzle out on my board and just start working on it – no sorting, no trays, no order at all – apparently chaos is what my brain is yearning for this morning. Please don’t ask me why, I can’t even explain it to myself. 🤷‍♀️

The puzzle that I chose is a relatively chaotic image as well, a collage called 1960s Flower Power; ugly fabrics, tie-dye shirts, flowers, buttons, and psychedelic patterns everywhere. It’s puzzle anarchy!

The only slight bit of sorting that happened was to put all the whimsy pieces in one place so that I could take a picture for today’s post; other than that it will remain puzzle pandemonium on the board until I can bring order to the image and make a pretty picture for you all to see.

I hope y’all have as much fun with puzzles today as I plan to – happy puzzling my friends! 💟

Sweet Treats In Progress

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling6 Comments

Sweet Treats by Tatiana – Buffalo – 500 pieces

My youngest has decided he is now the driving force behind what puzzles I assemble, and unless I can make a decision when he’s not here or when he’s sleeping then he’s picking what’s next. There is some veto power that I can wield, but for the most part I allow him to find the next puzzle because it makes him happy – what a cool mom I am! 😇

So this is the puzzle chosen for me, and I have to say it was a fabulous choice. The previous puzzle was a 1000 piece White Mountain of less than stellar quality that really had me frustrated at times; the image reproduction was awful, there were hanging chads everywhere and many pieces were not cut all the way through.

But ahhhh… this puzzle is like a refreshing drink of water after chewing on a combination of sand and aluminum foil – the quality is excellent and it’s washing the awful taste of that subpar puzzle out of my mouth and making me very, very happy indeed.

All the candy in the middle will be a bit of a challenge, mostly because I’ve put away the box and am not using the poster for any help. I’m enjoying the puzzle so much that I don’t want to rush through it.

If it takes me a bit longer that’s alright with me, I’m in no hurry.

What’s Puzzling…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling4 Comments

Cozy Bathroom by Olga – Ravensburger – 500 pieces

I’ve only done a couple puzzles with artwork by Olga, and both of them have had only kittens/cats in them – how delightful to have this adorable puppy in this image! How could you resist that sweet face?

Yesterday I had only started on the sorting of this puzzle, but spent most of the day in bed. Luckily (not really), I was up and at the puzzle board at 3 am; so it’s now completely sorted and there is actual assembly going on.🧩

Insomnia is not great for me personally, but it is good for giving me plenty of quiet time to puzzle with no one asking questions or expecting anything of me. It’s also good for making sure there are plenty of puzzles in the queue to be posted – there is much more time for me to puzzle if sleep doesn’t interfere much.

There’s no need to worry about having enough puzzles to get through our upcoming trip, there will be plenty ready to go before we even leave. There will even be enough completed to have a cushion of a couple of days after we return – time for me to get back into the groove of puzzles and posting. I’ll be taking some smaller wooden puzzles and my computer with me, of course, but it’s nice to have a big enough queue of completed puzzles that there’s no worry about keeping up. 😎