Jamie the Polar Bear

On November 17, 2021November 17, 2021 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

Jamie the Polar Bear by John Francis – Wentworth – 15 pieces

This was the first of the kids puzzles from Wentworth that I assembled; it was delightful to work with the large pieces and bright colors to put together this adorable ice skating polar bear. Funny though, he doesn’t look like a Jamie to me; he looks like a Michael – but his parents call him Mikey. Then again, who am I to challenge the artist? He says Jamie, so Jamie it is.

It’s a good thing I have some young children in my life to gift these puzzles to, otherwise it would just be idiot me with kids puzzles that were ordered because I failed to make sure what exactly I was purchasing. I’m not that upset with myself though, these are the first premium wooden puzzles for young kids that I’ve ever tried, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to put them together. (I’m not counting those wooden puzzles in a wooden tray that are mass produced, although those can be good quality as well)

The whimsies are very cute, although I might be worried about the snowman’s pointy nose if I were a mom. But, if my children had this beautiful puzzle when they were little they would only be playing with it when they were being supervised by an adult. Because these puzzles can last for years if they’re taken care of and treated well. The cardboard box they came in might be a little worse for wear after a while, but the puzzle will definitely last.

I took a picture of one piece from each of the puzzles to show the size. EXTREMELY large just about covers it, don’t you think?

Perry the Penguin

On November 14, 2021November 14, 2021 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Perry the Penguin by John Francis – Wentworth – 15 pieces

How adorable is this little guy? According to my father the Christmas season doesn’t start until after Thanksgiving. But I’ve got a ton of Christmas puzzles this year to share with everyone, so according to me the season is now. My Christmas tree has been up since 2019, so the season is always. All the time. ❄

This little guy wasn’t supposed to show up on the blog until early December, but I’ve decided he’s too awesome to wait. And I don’t want to bombard everyone with micro puzzles and mini puzzles for the whole month of December, so I’m starting now. Because I can.

To be completely honest I wasn’t paying close attention when I was ordering a bunch of micro puzzles from Wentworth; if they were cute or had images that weren’t the ordinary holiday themes they found themselves in my cart. If I had read everything completely I would have seen that I ordered three children’s puzzles – ones with EXTREMELY large pieces for little hands to assemble. It was pretty surprising to find them and their great big pieces in my delivery of mostly micro puzzles, but since I love puzzles of all shapes and sizes these little guys were adopted into the posse for the time being.

They’ll be going to their forever home soon. Where little hands can have fun and learn to love puzzles like Grandma Stacey does. Hopefully. Well, maybe not like Grandma Stacey – I can be a little bit obsessive about jigsaw puzzles. Maybe we’ll just hope they learn to love puzzles. 💜🧩

Such cute whimsies, and ones that children can easily identify. Each of these kid’s puzzles have a whimsy piece of the character, so sweet!

I wanted to show you how VERY large the pieces are. They are made for small hands to grasp easily, and made of wood so they’ll last for years if they’re taken care of.

Even though these puzzles only took me a minute or two to assemble, they are beautiful – and beautifully made. And I enjoyed putting them together. If I’m lucky, when I visit my honorary grandkids I’ll get to put them together again, with a little help. 💟

Dinosaurs

On November 10, 2021November 10, 2021 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Dinosaurs – Puzzlebilities (Hinkler)- 500 pieces

Educational puzzles make me so happy, and the assembly is almost always fun. (Spoiler – this one – lots of fun) Learning new things or getting a refresher on things I already knew is entertaining for me; thank goodness there are so many great puzzles out there to learn from.

Puzzlebilities is a new brand for me, and happily the quality was pretty good. There were a few slightly bent pieces, but a teeny bit of muscle power put them right in no time at all. The chipboard was thick and the fit was nice as well. Overall, I’d say the quality was good/very good. They have quite a few educational puzzles to choose from, including two shaped puzzles of the Earth and the Moon – those two look a little too challenging for me. Click the link above to look through their catalog; their mineralogy and human body puzzles are the ones that jumped out at me. They look like fun! The company (Hinkler) is an independent publisher based in Melbourne, Australia, but I found this puzzle at my local Barnes & Noble.

I don’t ever recall seeing this big ol’ swordfish looking dinosaur before – wow! The Shonisaurus was forty-nine feet long; it sure would be something to see that thing swimming towards you, wouldn’t it?

Ok, how many of you knew there was a dinosaur called the Arizonasaurus? How about the Prestosuchus? Without shame I am admitting that I’d never heard of them before. Gee, wonder where the Arizonasaurus was first found – I’ll take a wild guess and say…….Arizona? These two stood out to me for another reason as well, both of their heads look extremely similar to a T-Rex’s. At least they do to me.

This puzzle has already found a new home with my honorary grandson, and he was extremely excited! I haven’t seen him very much this past couple of years and he has apparently developed a love of all things dinosaur. I’m so glad I decided to get this one on my first trip puzzle shopping after my break; it has found a new home and will be greatly loved.

This image is more difficult than I thought it would be, but there was plenty of fun assembling it anyways. Learning new things – especially from a puzzle – really does make me happy. I was so excited to show hubby the new dinosaurs I’d never heard of, and he patiently listened and pretended to be interested. What a good husband. 💜

*Speaking of the hubby, Happy 246th Birthday to the United States Marine Corps! To all those who serve and have served in The Corps, like my husband and his brothers…..thank you. Semper Fidelis!*

African Afternoon

On November 8, 2021November 8, 2021 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

African Afternoon by Gerold Como – Ravensburger – 100 pieces

I do so love when a thrift store puzzle is not only from a company with really great quality, but it is also complete. And if it’s a kids puzzle – even better. I can “check” it to be sure all the pieces are present, and then send it on to a child or school where it’ll be used and loved like puzzles are supposed to be.

This isn’t a scene I would choose to puzzle in a larger piece count, it just isn’t my pile of pieces (or cup of tea as it were). But with only 100 pieces the muted colors and subject matter weren’t a problem to deal with. As an added bonus, once it’s been assembled and if it’s all there my “grandson” gets to have it. He’s gonna love this one.😀

This little guy with his parents is just too adorable for words. I love that brush cut he’s got going on!

I can relate to this cat, the African plains are just too hot. It’s better to spend the day lounging around in a tree. And, if some unsuspecting prey wanders underneath and makes themselves available to jump down onto – even better. 🐆

Peanuts – Linus

On October 28, 2021March 13, 2022 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles5 Comments

Peanuts – Vista Puzzles – 100 pieces

Retail therapy isn’t something that I do, ever. But Monday the 11th was the worst day I’ve had all year, so I decided to give it a go and ended up with this puzzle. Shopping to feel better didn’t work for me, but at least I got a few puzzles out of it.

I thought I’d never done any puzzles from Vista before, but I was wrong. A quick search of my blog tells me that I’ve assembled 3 children’s puzzles from them before. It was about three and half years ago, so I’m giving myself a bit of a break that I didn’t remember. 😁

Anyway, this Vista Puzzle was good quality, although I was a little disappointed that some of the pieces were slightly warped. Not much, but enough that when you run your hands across the finished puzzle you come across several corners sticking up. (I do love the puzzle massage after that last piece goes in). It doesn’t detract from the enjoyment putting the puzzle together, it’s just a quality issue I feel obligated to let you know about. The pieces are a good thickness for a child’s puzzle, and the fit was very good.

Also, I don’t usually comment on boxes unless they’re quite bad or very cool; this one fits in the latter category. It’s a round metal container that reminds me of a thermos that we used to get in our metal lunchboxes back when that was a thing. It’s extremely sturdy and the top doesn’t come off easily, you have to be really trying to open it to get it off – perfect for a kid’s puzzle, it will be more difficult to lose the pieces, they won’t just fall out of the container.

How cute is Linus sitting there? To be honest, I wish there was one featuring Pigpen, as he’s the Peanuts character I identified with as a child. Being a tomboy, I was ALWAYS dirty or had stained my clothes no matter how I tried to keep clean. I wasn’t a big fan of baths either. 👎🛁