Tag: Jigsaw Puzzling

Fun Fair Food In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling2 Comments

Fun Fair Food by Lars Stewart – Buffalo – 300 pieces

There were several 300 piece puzzles I considered before choosing this one, it was the colors that decided it for me. It’s a Lars Stewart, so most likely it’s because it seemed as familiar as an Aimee Stewart. Thank goodness we have digital artists like the Stewarts and Ciro Marchetti to make us such colorful and entertaining images to puzzle!

There hasn’t been much work on this, but it got started because I needed some “me time” doing an actual puzzle in between writing up all the posts of the puzzles that we did on vacation.

My family and I assembled eight puzzles during our holiday; all I did was take pictures when they were complete. I’ve spent the past couple days writing up posts so I don’t forget any of the little things about the assemblies – my memory isn’t what it used to be – if I don’t get things written down now there will absolutely be forgotten details. But in this midst of typing up all those posts I felt the need to put my hands on an actual puzzle and fit some pieces together. 🧩💚

We’re Home!

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling, Miscellaneous2 Comments

We made our way back home, and now’s the time to recover from vacation. There were lots of little wooden puzzles assembled, and I’m looking forward to sharing them all with you.

Hope you’ve all been well, and working on lots of fun puzzles!

Lots of Puzzling…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling, Miscellaneous2 Comments

There’s been quite a bit of puzzling so far on our trip, even more than I anticipated! We spent the weekend up in Northern Michigan with my sister and brother-in-law at their cabin – a bonfire all weekend long, lots of sitting around and visiting, several puzzles assembled with family, and plenty of good food and good times.

Hubby designated himself in charge of the fire, and he took this picture early one morning when the rest of us were sleeping. I told him it was a beautiful image and my sister-in-law said it would make quite a difficult puzzle. It’s very pretty, but I don’t think I’d be interested in a puzzle with this image unless it was a wooden one with a Victorian cut – otherwise it would be way too difficult for these old eyes.

I brought several puzzles for myself to put together while we were on vacation – because I purposely don’t want to be “entertained” while we’re on our little holiday. Hanging around and not doing much at all is my favorite kind of vacation. I was showing my sister-in-law all the different puzzles I’d brought, and she was excited to do a couple of them – at one point I told hubby that I may not have brought enough puzzles, we were gonna run out if we kept putting them together so quickly!🤣

Of course his answer to that was that we should find more puzzles to buy. (I sure did find me a good husband, didn’t I?)

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?