Sorry everybody, yesterday was another day of making masks – I never even opened up my laptop! I had a puzzle on the board ready to start sorting it, but my daughter came over early in the morning and wanted to make more masks for herself (and me), and we spent HOURS at it.
When she left, I’m not gonna lie, I laid down on the couch and took a nap. I got up, ate dinner, and promptly went back to sleep until 2:00 am. Yikes. I was tired y’all!
She’s coming back over today to finish up a few more masks – girls’ gotta have some choices – so the only thing on my board at the moment is the serger (sewing machine) and a bunch of fabric. Tomorrow, hopefully, I’ll have enough energy to sit and start a new puzzle, because it is definitely not happening today.
Vintage Tin Toys by Lewis T. Johnson – Milton Bradley – 1000 pieces
My beautiful daughter bought me this puzzle for no reason other than she saw it at the store and thought I would love it. She was right – and sweeter than sugar!
It was a pretty challenging assembly, but I absolutely adored it. Such bright colors and interesting toys, not to mention an excellent quality puzzle. The fit was a bit loose, but otherwise the pieces were thick with varied shapes, and the image reproduction was beautiful! I haven’t done many 1000 piece Milton Bradley puzzles, but I was happily surprised at the quality of this one. If we find more amazing images like this one, I hope to be doing more of them very soon!
Umm…..a bartender?
Wow, they certainly didn’t mind unconventional toys back in the day, huh? A bartender toy for a child? This actually made me laugh out loud! I wonder what the mechanism made the little tin bartender do? A toy that pours and serves little drinks? Wow. Just, wow.
This is silly, a tin chicken – but I suppose who am I to judge right? I didn’t even realize this was in the puzzle because the stupid people who designed the puzzle box decided to put a banner over this portion of it. When I realized what the pieces were and set them aside, I couldn’t wait to see what it looked like all put together. A silly chicken!
Ventriloquist dummies must have been all the rage, I love how fun and silly these toys are! Perhaps a young boy or girl wouldn’t care what it said on the side of it, they would most likely be happy with any toy car. Still, this one gave me a chuckle.
Sometimes it amazes me that a box full of hundreds of pieces of cut up cardboard or wood pictures could bring me so much joy – but they absolutely do. But it isn’t only joy – serenity, smiles, laughs, concentration, fixation, obsession, happiness, sadness, exhilaration, peace, victory, pride, and too many more to name. Puzzles are a gift to ourselves and our minds, and I, for one, intend to keep on giving. 🧩💖
Whether she gave you love, kindness, support, encouragement, friendship, or life itself – there’s a woman, or most likely many women in your life to whom you owe a debt of gratitude. Celebrate today by letting those women know how much you appreciate them for who they are and for all they’ve done to make you the person you are today. 💗
Today I want to be sure to appreciate my daughter who has become my bestie in this past year. We’ve been through a lot and held tight to each other and have grown incredibly close. She’s made me a better mother, a better friend, and a better person. I love you to the moon Baby Princess!
Also, to all my women puzzle friends both online and in “real life” – you have supported, encouraged, and enabled me, and brought smiles to my face when I needed it most – you are awesome ladies!
Happy Women’s Day, and as always, happy puzzling! 🧩
My sweet darlin’ daughter took it upon herself to be the Valentine’s fairy this year and put together gift bags for the entire family – I raised a fantastic girl who grew up to be the most amazing, selfless, thoughtful woman I know. The whole family is doing their best to get through all the “firsts” after losing a loved one, and she decided to try and make our first Valentine’s Day without her beloved grandmother a good one for us all. I’m so proud of her and how she truly wants to take care of us all. 💝
She did a great job, and of course she went a little overboard and for my present I received the most adorable wooden puzzle from Artifact! How sweet is my girl? So sweet!
This puzzle is just the cutest! The artwork is by Randal Spangler, and I don’t think I’ve assembled any other puzzles with his artwork before. I don’t know where he’s been hiding, but I adore the look of this one and hopefully I’ll be able to find more puzzles with his images on them. 🙂
I’ve only just started working on it, and have already succumbed to my OCD; the pieces are all laid out on the board in very orderly rows. I started with the pieces just all over the board willy nilly, but my brain can’t function well with things in such disarray. And there’s something very soothing about getting all the pieces lined up neatly, I can’t really explain it. My hunch is that many of us who love jigsaw puzzles have a little bit of the OCD, and putting things right by getting the picture put back together gives us immense satisfaction.
The pieces are very squared off and geometrical looking, but that doesn’t mean it’s overly easy, because it most definitely hasn’t been so far.
I love the interesting cut and the squared off connectors, and I’m looking forward to seeing the completed puzzle – it’s so adorable! It shouldn’t take too long, the puzzle is only 182 pieces so it should be completed today if all goes well.
Thank you to my darlin’ sweet baby girl for the amazing gift, I love it – but I love you more! 💗
Just thought I’d do a little bragging, I got a bunch of puzzles this year for Christmas! My beautiful daughter went a little overboard, but I understand the reason and love her even more for it. 💝
She wanted to make sure I had enough smaller piece count puzzles to choose from; I have MANY, MANY 1000 piece puzzles or larger here at the house. When we go puzzle shopping together I’m usually looking for puzzles under 1000 pieces to fill in the gaps, so she stocked me up for a month or so. 😉
There are three puzzles at 550 pieces, three that are 500 pieces, and two 300 pieces – what a great selection! I’m certainly glad the Jan van Haasteren puzzle is only 550 pieces, it’s so busy and it’s been years since I assembled one of his images. The Aimee Stewart Skate Night puzzle is GORGEOUS and it just might be saved until last, and there are three adorable dog puzzles that are so sweet!
She did a beautiful job selecting puzzles, and I can’t wait to get going on them. I’m starting today with Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, the image makes me very happy and I think it’s going to be a great assembly. All those colors in the background should be a lot of fun. 😎
More Christmas Gifts!
I also got these beauties from my dear friend Penny at Puzzlemomma.com. The cottages are for when I can’t sit at my puzzle table and am resting in bed, the Elf puzzle is because we were just talking about funny movies (and it’s adorable), and the 2000 piece Pixar puzzle is because she’s always cheering me on to overcome my anxiety and do some larger puzzles again (and because it’s a collage and she knows how much I love them).
She did an excellent job of selecting puzzles as well, and I’ve got a great new pile of puzzles in my stash to choose from. I’m almost looking forward to having to be in bed so I can get to assembling those cottages! 😉
Both my puzzle benefactors this year picked out some wonderful puzzles for me and as I’m putting them together I will be reminded of the thoughtfulness and kindness of these two fantastic women. Every piece of every puzzle is thoroughly appreciated, and I’m looking forward to each assembly and to sharing these puzzles with my readers.
My PADS is flaring up today and I find that my mood this morning is a puzzle induced euphoria – so many sensational new puzzles to choose from! 😍
My Jigsaw Journal 