Tag: Multipack Puzzles

Jungle Selfies – Day 1

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Jungle Selfies by Howard Robinson – Cra-Z-Art – approx. 125/500 pieces

Oh no! She’s back with more individual puzzles and silly names and backstories! Sorry (not sorry) guys. 😇

These sets of mini puzzles from Cra-Z-Art are perfect for me when I’m wanting to sit and do some jigsaw puzzling but don’t have the physical stamina to be at it for very long. Once they’re all sorted by their colored backing I can just grab a bunch of pieces and put together one or more little puzzles and feel as though I’ve accomplished something before I have to go back to bed to rest.

If I’m working on a larger piece count puzzle (1000 or 2000 pieces) it doesn’t always feel as though I’ve gotten much done if I’m unable to sit for long periods; these little ones help me to get the satisfaction of having completed something without too much physical or mental strain.

Without any further ado……bring on the ridiculousness!

Meet Wendel everyone; he’s an inquisitive guy who loves learning something new every day. Wendel is a professional student who’s been attending classes his entire adult life. His favorites have been Cryptozoology, Underwater Basket Weaving, The History of Surfing, and Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame. He’s currently courting a beautiful graduate student, and perhaps one day soon there will be thousands of little polliwogs swimming around with Wendel’s love of knowledge!

Alek is a phlebotomist at the Jungle Infirmary, and he’s always trying to make the patients feel better with his funny stories and wonderful bedside manner. He’s saving up to buy his own home so that he can finally move out of his parent’s basement. (Between you and me, I don’t think he’ll ever move out – he’s got it too good!)

Philimena is a makeup demonstrator at the local department store, and loves “beautifying the world” through her work. She fancies herself an up-and-coming instagram model, and is always trying to look her best. She spends hours in front of her many mirrors and never leaves the house without her hair and makeup looking perfect. Philimena has no hobbies other than making herself look good. She’s a vapid little twit.

Butterflies III – Day 2

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Butterflies III – Cra-Z-Art – 500 pieces

Have you ever noticed how much orange coloring there is on butterflies? I’m not sure I ever have until now. It’s not a color one might normally say looks particularly pretty, but here it looks amazing. Just my weird observation.

When assembling these mini puzzle sets I almost never look at the box or poster, it’s more fun to just figure it out on my own. If I was looking for help it would take much less time and I enjoy getting to complete each one at my own pace.

The color of the purple one was my favorite out of all 18, just absolutely stunning! The blue one took me longer than it should have, I was expecting the shape to go upwards and it just kept getting wider and wider.

I’m not certain what the difference is between moth and butterfly, but some of these with their furry bodies seemed more moth-like. It doesn’t make them any less lovely, they just didn’t seem like butterflies to my untrained eye.

Aren’t the pastel colors on the one at the far right just amazing? Love the look of that one. 💗

Butterflies III – Day 1

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles8 Comments

Butterflies III – Cra-Z-Art – 500 pieces

This gorgeous set had 18 puzzles instead of the usual 12. So instead of many days of butterflies with no commentary other than “look how pretty they are”, I’ll just split this up into two days of posts. Each separate puzzle won’t be getting it’s own picture, but they’ll be in groups of three.

They were all quite good quality, and there were far fewer pieces connected than there usually are. Perhaps Cra-Z-Art is getting better at cutting all the way through the colored backing, or perhaps this is one of the rare times that I ended up with a puzzle that was cut when the die was new and sharp. You’re always hearing me say that a puzzle may have been cut at the end of the run when the die was dull, what a novel thing to have the opposite – finally!

I enjoyed all the different shapes of the puzzles. And that pink one on the right is gorgeous!

You can tell that there are big differences in the sizes as well. Some puzzles were only around 15 pieces, and some were closer to 60. It’s nice that they’re all not just the same shape and size with only the colors separating each species.

American Girl – Josefina

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles7 Comments

American Girl – Josefina – Mattel – 150 pieces

This was quite a unique set of puzzles I haven’t seen before; they go along with the American Girl dolls and books. It comes with three puzzles that are 50 pieces each and a frame so that you can display whichever one you’re feeling like showing off at the moment. There’s only one frame to go with all 3 puzzles; you can assemble one puzzle at a time in the tray, place the clear cover over top of it and slide it into the frame.

They were pretty good quality, better than I expected. The pieces are on the thinner side, but are very sturdy, the finish is extremely shiny and hard to work with under artificial lights, but otherwise the reproduction is very nice and there are a good variety of shapes. Overall I was impressed because they were nicer than I thought they would be.

Love the blue dress, and that it looks like there are three generations of women here. 💗

I love the brightness of this one, and the beautiful colors. It was the easiest of the three to assemble.

I love her shawl, and the adorable little goat she’s cradling. So cute!

This is the frame that comes with this set of puzzles. If you had a child who enjoys the American Girl dolls/books/toys this might be a nice set of small puzzles for them. I found two sets of them at the thrift store, maybe you might get lucky and find some too!

Butterflies In Progress

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling2 Comments

Butterflies III – Cra-Z-Art – 500 pieces

I spent A LOT of time yesterday trying to decide on the next puzzle; for some reason my brain was being extremely fickle and I just couldn’t stick with one choice. Several times the decision was made, and several times I changed my mind. At one point I thought the best way to come up with the next puzzle was to go shopping and find something new – my brain is so weird sometimes.

Eventually everything finally came to rest on this set of 18 butterflies and I was able to get them sorted while I was in bed watching tv. I’ve only gotten a few of them finished this morning; either they’re more difficult than usual or I haven’t had enough coffee yet. Or it could be both.

There are some large butterflies in this set and some beautiful (but difficult) patterns. I’ve found myself staring at the pieces, completely engrossed in the assembly; I forget there’s coffee next to me, I forget everything until that mini puzzle is done. Then I come out of my stupor to find that much time has passed and my coffee is cold!

Some of the sets are quite easy to assemble, and some are more challenging. So far I’d put this one in the more challenging category. Last night was a terrible night for sleep and I’m dragging and feeling stupid this morning – that could be a part of the problem. Perhaps I should go watch a couple episodes of the current show I’m binge-watching; I can have a few cups of coffee and make sure I’m more awake and aware before I attempt to put together any more pretty butterflies.

It’ll probably be about a month before you start seeing the assembled flutter-bys being posted, but please don’t expect names and bios; although they’re beautiful creatures they just don’t have personality to speak of.

If I can’t see faces I can’t see individuality, identity, charisma, or emotion. Without those I’ve got nuthin’!