Driving Home for Christmas

On December 18, 2021December 18, 2021 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Driving Home for Christmas by John Francis – Wentworth – 33 pieces

What can I say about this puzzle? It was my absolute favorite of all the cracker puzzles from Wentworth this year, the image is completely charming and colorful and I adore it. The bright colors, the overloaded car, even the license plate – all fantastic!

The cut of this puzzle was odd and wonderful and the whole thing took much more concentration than I thought it would – which was perfect. Have you ever assembled the perfect puzzle at the perfect time? One that was exactly what you needed at that very moment? That’s what this puzzle was for me.

I had a very challenging 1000 piece puzzle on my board, yesterday’s Life Rules, which was there to keep me from getting too burned out on holiday puzzles. It was very tall and thin so that it could be scooted to the back of the board when necessary. That way I could stop when I was frustrated or tired of the tedium and work on some of my small wooden holiday puzzles.

When I was sick of that difficult puzzle one day I scooted it to the back of the board and started working on Driving Home for Christmas; and it was precisely what I needed.

It’s a great puzzle that had me completely absorbed in the assembly from the very first pieces. The beautiful colors and interesting cut wiped away all the frustration I was feeling about the large puzzle; I was just in the moment and enjoying putting this little beauty together.

The perfect puzzle at the perfect time. Perfection!

Tinsel Town

On December 14, 2021December 14, 2021 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles5 Comments

Tinsel Town by Richard Macneil – Wentworth – 40 pieces

Tinsel Town was the last of the micro puzzles from Wentworth that I assembled this season. (Don’t worry, there are still plenty left to show you, this isn’t the end of the holiday puzzles) It was a little more time consuming than it looks like it would be, but it was a fun assembly. I had a good time in spite of myself. 😉

This was purchased a couple of years ago, but for some reason I never got around to putting it together. Most likely it just got lost in the shuffle, it’s probably not because of the image. A couple of years ago I bought EVERY single micro puzzle Wentworth had without regard to image. It’s one of those holiday puzzles I don’t normally care for; however, with such a small piece count it wasn’t nearly as tedious as my brain thought it would be.

Don’t get me wrong, the artwork by Richard Macneil is absolutely beautiful. I appreciate the colors and the use of light – it’s truly lovely. I just have an (admittedly) irrational dislike of puzzles with traditional Christmas images. They just all seem the same, and for me that’s boring. I recognize and appreciate the artwork, they’re beautiful. Honestly, some of them – like this one – are stunningly beautiful. They’re just not what I like to assemble, that’s all.

The usual nicely accented whimsy pieces; my favorite is the snowman with his pointy carrot nose. ⛄🥕

Brian’s Worst Nightmare

On December 13, 2021December 12, 2021 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles8 Comments

Brian’s Worst Nightmare – MicroPuzzles – 150 pieces

This one was done in about 3 days, which is pretty fast for one of our bathroom puzzles. Hubby said it was because he doesn’t care for cats and wanted to finish it quickly. I wasn’t fooled though, it was finished fast because it’s a cartoon puzzle with bright colors on a white background and it was relatively easy – and he enjoyed it more than he’s willing to admit.

You may be wondering about the title – Brian’s Worst Nightmare – it’s a great title! To tell you why I’ll have to tell you a little bit about MicroPuzzles. It’s a small company run by a husband and wife team in Anaheim, California. One of their “employees” is Brian in shipping – and he’s their adorable dog! Here’s what their website says…

Part unpaid intern, part scapegoat, part family pet – he has been a two time (non consecutive) Employee of the Month in June 2018 (and again in February 2021). Brian (whose real name is Presto) is a 13 year old senior rescue with a sunny disposition and a bad habit of handing out discount codes. He’s the oldest and least productive member of the staff…. but we love him anyway.

So, this puzzle full of cats is Brian’s Worst Nightmare. It made me laugh out loud when I saw the title for the first time, and it makes me smile now when I think about it. Although, since this puzzle came in a box with many puzzles and the name of the artwork isn’t on their tube’s label, I had to go to their website to find the official title.

As for the assembly, it wasn’t quite as easy as hubby thought. He put together the entire border, and started working on the inside completely on his own in the middle of the night. When I started working on it, the realization came quickly that the border wasn’t quite correct and had to spend some time trying to figure out where he went wrong. The images of the cats are repeated, so he got a little mixed up and had things switched around – but it was put to right with not too much trouble. I almost wish I’d been able to do a little more of it, because honestly he did the majority, but I love that he was so engaged with it and almost couldn’t stop working on it.

It’s such a cute puzzle, with an even cuter title – and even though it was full of cats hubby had a great time putting it together. And so did I. 😸

*On a side note, the owners of MicroPuzzles (and the company itself) own one of the oldest examples of jigsaw puzzles in existence – a John Spilsbury in it’s original box with label! It’s from 1767, and is in excellent condition. A 250 year old puzzle, wouldn’t you love to see that up close? You can see pictures of this amazing puzzle here.

For those of you who don’t know, John Spilsbury is credited as the inventor of the jigsaw puzzle, which he originally named “dissected maps”. As a young man he was apprenticed to the Royal Geographer to King George III, and he came up with the idea of mounting maps to thin pieces of wood and cutting them along borders as an educational tool to teach children geography.

It’s almost impossible to say who made the very first puzzle; in the early 18th century people were creating jigsaw puzzles by painting images on wood and then cutting them apart. John Spilsbury was the first one to “commercialize” them by making his dissected maps and selling them, so he became known as their inventor.

Checking it Twice

On December 12, 2021December 11, 2021 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

Checking it Twice by Terry Good – Wentworth – 25 pieces

Another beautiful micro puzzle from Wentworth, this is one of their “Cracker Puzzles” that come in an organza bag inside a Christmas cracker shaped box. Perfect for stocking stuffers, or just a fun treat for yourself!

The quality of these Wentworth puzzles is excellent, I’ve never had a problem with any of their products as far as I can remember. The only time I’ve ever contacted customer service was when I didn’t know what the shape of one of their whimsies was. (It was a symbol for the London Tube *their subway system*) They were very nice in responding to my odd request and got back to me right away. 👍

Wentworth micro puzzles are a godsend when I’m feeling awful and in bed; I can still work on a puzzle and take my mind off of things. All I need is a small cookie sheet lined with paper and I can puzzle while in bed. Because they’re so helpful to me when I can’t sit in front of my puzzle table I’m always happy to order myself a bunch of their small puzzles once a year; I try to get every single one whose image speaks to me. I’m totally worth it!

The artwork by Terry Good is so beautiful, and it would make a fantastic puzzle of any size – all the way up to 1000 pieces. There’s so much detail, and even though the colors seem slightly muted they’re still bright enough to make a captivating image.

Look at these cute whimsies; the detail Wentworth etches into them make them even more special. Most whimsy pieces are just the outline of an image or figure, but they go the extra mile and give them detail – love them!

Review: Stained Glass Tree

On December 9, 2021December 8, 2021 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews3 Comments

Stained Glass Tree by Jen Cameron – MicroPuzzles – 150 pieces

Hubby liked the image on Stained Glass Tree much better than the first MicroPuzzle we assembled with the donuts, and to be honest so did I. There was nothing wrong with 2037 Calories, but this one was just so lovely! The colors of this one are so beautiful and the finished puzzle makes me want to frame it and have it sitting on a table somewhere in the house. Love it!

These little MicroPuzzles have quite good quality for such little pieces, and I’ve been very impressed with them. What I love most is that when you’ve chosen the correct piece you know immediately, it slips right into place; that’s pretty helpful for these aging eyes with such small pieces. Once you get the edge together the fit can be loose – until more pieces are added – otherwise the fit is good. Piece thickness is very good for such small puzzles, and the image reproduction is stellar. Click the link above if you’d like to see their catalog of puzzles available, they’re constantly adding new images. I’m currently OBSESSED with their puzzles and absolutely love them!

There is only one piece shape, what I call ballerinas (2 prong/2 hole), but I don’t mind that with these little puzzles. What would normally be very or slightly annoying in a larger puzzle doesn’t bother me at all with these little ones. Probably because there is enough variety within the one shape, you don’t accidentally put a piece anywhere and think you’ve got it right. (Well, I don’t. Hubby did once with some edge pieces, but I came in later and could see it right away and fixed it.)

My one issue is that the artist credit isn’t available on every puzzle. I’m a big believer in giving artists their props here on the blog – their artwork is the reason we all have so many fantastic puzzle images to choose from. The title of each puzzle isn’t shown on the tubes they come in, but my suggestion is to at least give credit on the website. Then you’d be able to see which artist created the image, and I’d be able to put that information here when I post about the puzzles we’ve completed – to give them credit for their beautiful work.

*The artist is credited for this puzzle, but many of the images on their puzzles do not have the artist listed on their website.*

Mom must have whispered in my ear this morning as I’m typing this up, reminding me that you cannot tell the size of the puzzle unless you have something next to it for comparison. She was always telling me when I did a very large or very small puzzle that I needed to show the actual size by putting something next to it for a reference…..

It makes a difference when you can see just how small they truly are. There’s something about working with the small pieces that is so satisfying for me – although I’m not sure I am able to articulate exactly why that is. Whatever the reason, I’m captivated by these little puzzles and having the best time putting them together.

MicroPuzzles are very nice quality mini puzzles, and I’m extremely glad I found them. If you think you’d like to give them a try, I definitely recommend them. We’re giving them two test tubes way up! 🧪🧪

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