New Puzzles!

On December 26, 2019December 26, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling6 Comments

Just thought I’d do a little bragging, I got a bunch of puzzles this year for Christmas! My beautiful daughter went a little overboard, but I understand the reason and love her even more for it. 💝

She wanted to make sure I had enough smaller piece count puzzles to choose from; I have MANY, MANY 1000 piece puzzles or larger here at the house. When we go puzzle shopping together I’m usually looking for puzzles under 1000 pieces to fill in the gaps, so she stocked me up for a month or so. 😉

There are three puzzles at 550 pieces, three that are 500 pieces, and two 300 pieces – what a great selection! I’m certainly glad the Jan van Haasteren puzzle is only 550 pieces, it’s so busy and it’s been years since I assembled one of his images. The Aimee Stewart Skate Night puzzle is GORGEOUS and it just might be saved until last, and there are three adorable dog puzzles that are so sweet!

She did a beautiful job selecting puzzles, and I can’t wait to get going on them. I’m starting today with Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, the image makes me very happy and I think it’s going to be a great assembly. All those colors in the background should be a lot of fun. 😎

I also got these beauties from my dear friend Penny at Puzzlemomma.com. The cottages are for when I can’t sit at my puzzle table and am resting in bed, the Elf puzzle is because we were just talking about funny movies (and it’s adorable), and the 2000 piece Pixar puzzle is because she’s always cheering me on to overcome my anxiety and do some larger puzzles again (and because it’s a collage and she knows how much I love them).

She did an excellent job of selecting puzzles as well, and I’ve got a great new pile of puzzles in my stash to choose from. I’m almost looking forward to having to be in bed so I can get to assembling those cottages! 😉

Both my puzzle benefactors this year picked out some wonderful puzzles for me and as I’m putting them together I will be reminded of the thoughtfulness and kindness of these two fantastic women. Every piece of every puzzle is thoroughly appreciated, and I’m looking forward to each assembly and to sharing these puzzles with my readers.

My PADS is flaring up today and I find that my mood this morning is a puzzle induced euphoria – so many sensational new puzzles to choose from! 😍

12 Days of Christmas Puzzles Day 4

On December 17, 2019December 17, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

12 Days - 4 — Knitting Snowmen – Ceaco – 100 pieces

Yes, puzzle friends, your eyes are not deceiving you, another puzzle with a missing piece. I am very disappointed and have contacted Ceaco.

I’m not one of those people who thinks a puzzle with a missing piece is the end of the world, and contacts the company to demand a replacement for every puzzle with a missing piece. In fact, the few times I have contacted companies I have refused replacements, my purpose was only to let them know about a manufacturing issue that they needed to address.

For me, once I’ve assembled the puzzle I have no need of a replacement. Even when there are missing pieces I still got enjoyment putting the puzzle together; and I feel that asking for a free puzzle because of a missing piece is ridiculous. There is no way to guarantee that a missing piece is a manufacturing problem or if it’s the result of “user error”. People swear up and down that they have looked “everywhere” and it must be the company’s fault. Sometimes it is, to be sure; but I believe most of the time it is not. (These are my just opinions, and in no way am I passing judgement on anyone else.)

My purpose in contacting Ceaco was to let them know that there does seem to be a manufacturing problem with these puzzles. I have had 2 puzzles with missing pieces out of only 4 that I have assembled, and Penny has had an extra piece in one of her puzzles from the same set. These puzzles were assembled in one sitting, the pieces were dumped out onto a tray, and I am certain the missing ones just weren’t in the bag. It’s been my experience that Ceaco usually does a good job with their special editions, like this one; unfortunately, this advent calendar seems to have issues.

I did not ask for a replacement, because frankly I don’t wish to do these holiday puzzles again after the holidays. They should be made aware of problems though, and I wanted to express my disappointment. I made a special trip to the store for these puzzles, and that’s a big deal for someone with my physical problems. The advent calendar of puzzles made this PADS sufferer very happy and I was so excited to get it and start assembling a puzzle each day. Having missing pieces in 50% of the puzzles I’ve put together so far is quite frustrating, and I felt Ceaco needed to hear about it.

Anyway, that’s about 400 words written about a kids puzzle with a missing piece. Yikes. Sorry for the rant guys, but thanks for listening.

The snowmen were cute.

Giveaway Winner!

On December 16, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling7 Comments

The winner of a copy of Browsing & Butterflies on 5th Avenue autographed by Charles Fazzino is…………….

Entry #2 – rleedee – Congratulations!

I’ve sent you an email, hopefully we can get your copy out to you very soon. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 🙂

Thanks to everyone who entered. I enjoyed holding this giveaway, and perhaps there will be more of them in the future!

Follow Your Nose In Progress

On December 11, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling10 Comments

Nose IP — Follow Your Nose – Buffalo – 300 pieces

So there was another puzzle sitting on my board waiting to be sorted and assembled, but I just wasn’t feeling it yesterday or this morning. So, back to the pile it went to wait for another day – and now I’ve got this adorable little 300 piece on the board that makes me extremely happy to look at, and I hope happy to assemble too!

Sometimes I’m just not in the mood for certain puzzles, and I’m trying to listen to my brain when I feel that way. I put pressure on myself occasionally to assemble a puzzle that “the readers will like”, forgetting that this blog is about the puzzles I choose to assemble. It’s ridiculous, I know, but I’m trying to do better. If I feel like putting together a bunch of very small piece count puzzles that’s what should show up here, even if many of my readers only put together larger puzzles.

Onward to a lot of adorable doggie faces! There’s quite a bit of fur along with lots of tongues and noses, but it is exactly the puzzle I want to be assembling right now. Even if it’s a little bit difficult it’ll be entertaining, and that’s what I’m looking for today. 🐶🐾🐕

Dreaming of Puzzles

On December 8, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling8 Comments

The oddest thing happened to me yesterday. I was taking one of my many mini naps throughout the day and started to dream about a puzzle I assembled quite a few months ago. I remember feeling frustrated about the fit, and annoyed with myself for placing a few of the pieces incorrectly, and was in the process of switching them to their proper positions when I was startled awake by a loud noise in the other room. I opened my eyes and realized that I was holding my hands as if I had puzzle pieces in them, and my hands were moving as if to switch the pieces.

This story is peculiar for several reasons. First, I’m not a person who remembers my dreams. I wake knowing that I had a dream, but can never remember what they’re about or what happens – even when startled awake. So to remember not only exactly which puzzle I was working on but also how I was feeling in the dream is extremely unusual. Secondly, acting out a dream is not something that has ever happened to me before that I can remember (and hubby says in the 31 years we’ve been married he’s never seen me do it). This is especially true with the medications I’m currently taking. With these meds when I do sleep I wake in exactly the same position as when I nodded off; once in the past week I fell asleep holding a tv remote and woke 7 hours later with it still in my hand.

So my puzzle friends, I’m wondering if that dream meant something. I don’t know that dream interpretation is something I put much stock in, but the fact that I was dreaming of a puzzle completed almost 6 months ago and acting it out seems quite bizarre to me.

Have you ever dreamed of working on a jigsaw puzzle? Have you ever mimed your dream while you were having it?