The Wedding

On April 23, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles5 Comments

Got my hands on another old wooden puzzle, are you surprised? It’s a lovely image, but there were so many missing pieces! I went into this knowing there were only 499 pieces, but I mistakenly assumed that meant there was only one missing piece. I was wrong of course. This puzzle apparently started out with 510 pieces, not 500. Still, mom and I had a good time putting it together and that’s what counts. The Wedding 1

There is such beautiful detail in the artwork, the hands seem almost photo quality. It was a beautiful puzzle and mom and I enjoyed it even with the many missing pieces.

The Wedding 2

EBL 1920 – I wish I knew if that was in reference to the date the puzzle was cut or if it’s when the image was painted. It could be both, actually.

I’ve got one more old puzzle yet to assemble and one more in the queue, but unless I find something amazing I’m done with the vintage/antique puzzles. Not because this one had lots of missing pieces, but because either fortunately or unfortunately (I’m not sure which), the municipal building puzzle was so amazing, and such fantastic quality that I feel that everything else is a bit of a letdown. Even if it’s great quality it still isn’t as good. I was so lucky to find that puzzle; it’s a one of a kind, exceptionally well made, and mom and I enjoyed the journey of putting it together so much – it just can’t be matched or duplicated. Nothing even really comes close.

I’ve told hubby to stop sneakily buying these old puzzles on eBay. He purchased a few for me as a surprise, it’s very sweet but I’d prefer it if he didn’t do that anymore. I think I’d rather be happy we had the experience and fun of assembling a very rare and wonderful antique than be let down by the not up to snuff quality of lesser (but still lovely) puzzles.

Something Fishy

On April 19, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles6 Comments

This has beautiful colors, but wasn’t as much fun as I’d hoped; I’m not a big fan of underwater images. Isn’t it interesting how I love bright colors in a puzzle, but if they’re fish or a scene under the ocean it isn’t as entertaining? My brain is so odd!

That isn’t to say that it wasn’t fun to assemble at all, because it was. It just wasn’t as much fun as I’d hoped. Who’s to say why some images make us happy and some don’t, we like what we like. The best pictures don’t always make the best puzzles, and sometimes images look like they’ll be fun, but for some reason we can’t explain they just aren’t.

Unfortunately this had a missing piece so it ended up in the recycle bin instead of being given back to goodwill, but those are the chances we take. It’s a tiny bit disappointing, but I still got to put the puzzle together; I can’t be unhappy with that. 🙂

Yellow and White Labs

On April 13, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

I absolutely adore this image, but the puzzle itself was not good quality at all. I enjoyed the assembly though, even with the questionable quality. When the image is entertaining enough I can forgive quite a bit.

It’s the chance we take when we buy puzzles from the thrift stores, they could be poor quality, missing pieces, or both – like this one. But how could I pass up those beautiful labradors?

Three Hunters

On April 8, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

3 Hunters — Three Hunters? – ? – 340 pieces

This is another vintage wooden puzzle that mom and I assembled. It was great fun, with an amazing fit that you wouldn’t believe! We know absolutely nothing about this puzzle – it came without a box so we don’t know the maker or name of the image. Still, it’s lovely and mom and I enjoyed it very much.

At only 340 pieces it was much quicker the the municipal building, but it was still quite difficult. There’s something about a vintage image like this that makes all the colors seem fuzzy and indistinct which adds quite a bit to the challenge. I love the softness of the look even though it adds to the difficulty for me.

I really had a great time with this puzzle, it’s beautifully made and has a lovely image.

The Conversation

On March 24, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles4 Comments

Here’s another puzzle I would not normally choose; it came in the lot of puzzles purchased from the marketplace. The artwork is phenomenal, it reminds me of Norman Rockwell with it’s precise and photo-like detail, but it makes for quite a challenging assembly – which is why this image wouldn’t be my first choice to puzzle.

It’s always a little bit of a wonder to me how the puzzle looks when it’s complete. When you’re assembling it the pieces seem muted and fuzzy with an image like this, but when finished it looks so crisp and clear you can’t believe you had a problem putting any of it together. At least I can say with this one I knew going in that it would be difficult, no surprise this time! 😉

The fit was slightly loose, but otherwise the puzzle was good quality; and even though it was challenging I enjoyed myself.