Afternoon at the Park

On February 28, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles8 Comments

Such an adorable puzzle! It’s also an image with hidden animals, some you can see in the image as it is, and some you can only see when you look at the glow in the dark image. Most of the glow was no longer visible, even after sitting it outside in the sun for about 20 minutes there was almost no glow at all. It doesn’t really matter though, it was still a cute puzzle that was entertaining to assemble.

The quality was quite good, it had an offset grid cut and pieces that were a good thickness and fit together very well. It was a bit shiny, but the image reproduction was otherwise very good. I had a great time with the assembly. 🙂

Afternoon at the Park 1

I started with the easiest pieces to find, and the gorgeous puppy.

Afternoon at the Park 2

I’m getting close to the end here, and it was a bit more difficult than I’d assumed. Difficult doesn’t mean it wasn’t enjoyable though, I like having to concentrate and focus all my attention; it’s part of what’s great about puzzling for me. It turns off my brain to almost all other thoughts and I’m only thinking about shapes and colors and what goes where. It’s almost like meditation.

Afternoon at the Park 3

The pug’s face was almost the last thing I assembled, but look how cute it is! Can you see the hidden kitty in his fur?

Grandpa’s Cabin

On February 10, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles5 Comments

I’ve had this puzzle at my house for a few months, and just wasn’t in the right mood for it when mom first found it. I finally decided to dive in, and had a great time. The artwork by William S. Kreutz made for a challenging and beautiful puzzle and I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. Love it when that happens!

MasterPieces random cut usually keeps things interesting, but this one was quite devious! Many times I was convinced a piece was missing, and it turned out to be 2 oddly shaped pieces in a configuration I hadn’t even considered. It certainly kept me on my toes right until the very end. This isn’t one of those puzzles where the nearer you get to the end, the faster the pieces fly into place; and I really enjoyed the challenge of it. Maybe our work on the Mystery Box Puzzle is giving me a greater appreciation for fun of conquering a complicated puzzle. 😎

I love the image, especially the characters. Grandma’s face is so sweet looking! Although if it were my family my daughter would be the one who went fishing and my sons would have stayed inside at the cabin to play video games or watch a movie. 😉

There’s something about this puzzle that makes me very happy, but I’m not sure how to articulate it. I had a wonderful time with the assembly, and just looking at the pictures brings a smile to my face.

Cupcake Heaven

On January 16, 2019January 16, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

My first completed 1000 piece puzzle of the year. I chose it because it’s the kind of puzzle image that makes me happy – a collage with bright colors – and I wanted the first puzzle of the year to be awesome and entertaining.

Cupcake Heaven had 7 missing pieces and a devious random cut that had me using more brain power than I’d bargained for. If the puzzle was complete and the fit were less spongy it would definitely be one I’d assemble again. It wasn’t always easy to be sure the pieces were in the correct places because the fit was odd.

Even though it had missing pieces and a wonky fit I still enjoyed myself, which was the aim all along. Everything doesn’t always have to be perfect – life certainly never is! It’s what you do with what you’re given that counts in the end.

Cupcakes for everyone! 🙂

Sophia’s Doll House

On October 25, 2018October 25, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

Sophia’s Doll House was the puzzle that jumped out at me while mom was showing off her latest thrift store haul. The beautiful colors and interesting scene looked like so much fun, and luckily it was!

It’s been a while since I’ve assembled a MasterPieces puzzle, and I had forgotten how enjoyable the extremely random cut of the pieces is. It always takes me a few minutes for my brain to get into “random gear”, especially if I’ve just finished working a grid cut puzzle. It can be frustrating for some, and it is sometimes for me too; but once I figure it out and everything starts coming together it makes for such an entertaining assembly.

Although it’s not really a collage, the many rooms of the dollhouse made the assembly seem as though it was. It was the best of both worlds for me; a collage of dollhouse rooms, and just a regular domestic scene from a playroom around the edges. I loved it!

These were my favorite 3 rooms to assemble. They’re so adorable, and the interesting wallpaper in the many rooms made for an easy sort. There are framed pictures of dolls in almost every room, and the pretty frames around them were fun to put together.

If you don’t mind a random cut, I highly recommend this puzzle. I had the best time with it, and it didn’t scare me (that much) that it was 1000 pieces. The fit was lovely and the entire scene makes for a wonderful assembly. 👍

Review: Reese’s

On September 27, 2018September 27, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviewsLeave a comment

This post is sponsored by Puzzle Warehouse.

Reese’s was an excellent quality, entertaining to assemble puzzle that surprised me. It was better quality than I was expecting, and not nearly as difficult as I’d anticipated. It made for a fun couple of days, and for some reason it also made me extremely hungry for peanut butter cups. 😏

I enjoy MasterPieces puzzles, they have a great catalog of diverse images to choose from, with very good quality and even better value. They have both grid cut and random cut puzzles, so there’s something for everyone. The quality of the chipboard is very good with thick pieces that fit together extremely well. Sometimes the fit can be a bit loose, but with this puzzle the pieces fit together snugly – so much so that I could lift the puzzle by one piece and nothing came apart!

I thought perhaps the image would end up being quite difficult with all the repetition of packages, but I found it to be much easier than I’d assumed. That doesn’t mean that it was an easy puzzle; it took just the right amount of concentration, but not so much that it became frustrating. I enjoyed diving in to all of that yummy chocolate and peanut butter!

The image reproduction was spot on, and the bright colors made it fun to work with. You just have to decide where you’re going to start and jump right in. After assembling the edge I started with the white packages (which I would NEVER do in real life, “white chocolate” isn’t chocolate!), but they were the easiest pieces to pick out. Then I went with the largest logo in the center, those pieces stood out as well…

I had a great time with this puzzle, I find shaped puzzles to be a lot of fun and they end up looking amazing when you’re finished. Check out some of the amazing shaped puzzles at Puzzle Warehouse, there are so many to choose from!

If you’re looking for a yummy puzzle to get you revved up for Halloween (best candy holiday there is), I highly recommend Reese’s. It’s wonderful quality, a great image, and was extremely entertaining to assemble.

I’m hungry for some reason…maybe some peanut butter and chocolate…🥜🍫

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