China Cupboard

On February 5, 2022February 4, 2022 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

China Cupboard by Ciro Marchetti – Ravensburger – 1000 pieces

It was completely by accident that I chose this puzzle to assemble while holding the giveaway for a Wentworth puzzle with an image by Ciro Marchetti. I didn’t even realize it was his work until I was checking the box for the name of the artwork. What a fun coincidence!

Normally I associate Ciro Marchetti with fantasy images, but I have done one or two puzzles with his artwork that aren’t in that genre. Now we can add this beauty, it’s a great image for puzzling and I loved every piece. It’s a little dark at the bottom and up the sides, but not too much so and it wasn’t overly difficult.

Great Ravensburger quality, there was quite a bit of puzzle dust to deal with – but otherwise it was excellent. The fit was lovely as was the reproduction and as always there are a good variety of shapes so as not to make for a boring assembly. I knew I would enjoy this puzzle, and fortunately I enjoyed it even more than I thought I would!

The images on these china plates was as crisp and clear as if they were their own puzzle. Absolutely beautiful.

We all know I’m not a cat person, but this little one was very cute. You can tell by this cat, or at least I can, that this is digital artwork. I’m not knocking it at all, many of my favorite puzzles are those by digital artists who use their computers and creativity to produce compelling and beautiful images that make for most excellent puzzles.

This puzzle was so much fun, and with the wonderful quality made for a fantastic puzzling experience. I absolutely loved it!

99 Funny Animals

On January 21, 2022January 21, 2022 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles3 Comments

99 Funny Animals – Ravensburger – 1000 pieces

My beautiful daughter bought me this puzzle during 2020, and I finally got around to putting it together. It was great fun and much less challenging than I thought it would be. It was easy to pick out a certain animal or background, and once you’ve got one section done it leads to the next. I really enjoyed this one!

It had the usual great Ravensburger quality and was full of adorable images – what more could you ask for?

Love the mustached pup and the very zen lemur. And that llama on the bottom looks like he wants to tell me something intense.

The picture on the lower left is the photographic representation of what it’s like to have a Boston Terrier, that is their personality in one image. And the stomping frog is awesome! That cat with those eyes is scary looking, and the joey (baby kangaroo) is so sweet hiding in momma’s pouch.

Those starfish – best pose ever! And that squirrel looking beat is such a great picture.

This puzzle was full of silly and funny pictures and I truly did enjoy putting all 99 of them together. Thanks again to my sweet baby girl for gifting this to me. Love you!🤗

Still Life – Fast Moving

On January 14, 2022January 14, 2022 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Still Life-Fast Moving by Salvador Dali – Ravensburger – 300 pieces

Oh man this was so much fun, it was done in one sitting! I should have taken a break, I should have taken several breaks – because I paid for my insistence on staying seated for that long – but it was worth it. I love puzzles. 💛

This was a fantastic puzzle to do after the horrid mandala by Page Publications; this was like eating fresh fruit after having to lick garbage – it tastes like nectar from the gods. Sorry for the gross imagery, but honestly the difference between the two was equally as great. Ravensburger quality – especially with the smaller piece counts – is excellent!

This is actually the first image by Salvador Dali that I’ve done and I enjoyed it very much. Famous art doesn’t always make for the most entertaining puzzles (for me anyways), and I haven’t seen one of Dali’s works from a good brand that I wanted to assemble until now. Eternal thanks to my friend and fellow puzzle blogger Nicola from Puzzler1909 for sending this in our puzzle swap – it was lovely!

Started with the bedspread/tablecloth, it was the most difficult part, and sometimes I like to get the hard parts out of the way at the beginning.

Loved this section, it’s so crisp and clear it looks almost like a photograph – fantastic!

Alice in Wonderland

On January 3, 2022January 1, 2022 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

Alice in Wonderland – Ravensburger – 1000 pieces

This assembly was so much fun! All the bright colors made it relatively easy to put together, and the entire image just made for excellent puzzling. I really had a great time. 😊

Working with a Ravensburger puzzle is almost always a wonderful experience. The excellent fit, the beautiful image, the quality of the chipboard and how the pieces feel in your hands as you’re contemplating where it should go – all reasons they’re one of my favorite puzzle companies.

There’s a thing that happens each time I sit down with a puzzle, it’s hard to describe. At first I’m looking at all the pieces as I lay them out, trying to find things that look easy to pick out or colors that jump out at me. I’m searching for the edges, and also for what parts I’ll be assembling first after the border is put together. The pieces and I are almost getting to know each other.

Every time I’m searching for a particular piece to finish a small section I’m also becoming more familiar with every piece, every color, every shape. Soon, it becomes easier to find a piece; because I’ve seen them and touched them and moved them around so much that I know exactly which one I’m looking for. The assembly starts to speed up, the image is becoming clearer – it’s exhilarating and intoxicating – I love that feeling!

This puzzle was the epitome of those things for me, and was completely entertaining to assemble. Cartoon images are much more fun for me to put together than photographic images (just my opinion), and the bright colors make it easier for these old eyes to see what’s going on. There were so many great characters and sections to assemble – absolutely loved it! 💖

Tweedledee and Tweedledum. When you say the names it makes me think of lovable but annoying idiots. They try to help, they think they’re helping – they are so NOT helping! I’ve run into a few people in my life that I would put into this category; unbelievably exasperating. You know the kind of person I mean; the ones that make you repeat over and over in your head that you are actually a good person and please don’t lose your temper – they’re trying to be helpful.

Or is that just me?

Ah, the king. He’s so darn cute, at least I think so. He’s only about 12 pieces out of 1000, but I distinctly remember his voice from the movie; and how he wanted so much to be in charge but was completely overtaken by the Queen of Hearts.

I had such a fun time with this puzzle. I’d like to find more of these collector’s edition puzzles; there are so many memories for me that are locked up in these old Disney movies.

I’m amazed that this movie came out in 1951 – my parents were four years old!

Seaside Sunshine

On November 22, 2021November 22, 2021 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles1 Comment

Seaside Sunshine by Nancy Wernersbach – Ravensburger – 500 pieces

Sorry about the cockeyed picture, apparently I was having balance issues the morning I took this picture. I started working on this puzzle on Halloween, and finished it up the next morning; perhaps it was a candy hangover – that’s why I couldn’t hold my camera straight. I was coming out of my sugar coma!😉

It was so nice to get back to Ravensburger quality; the feel of the pieces, the wonderful click when they fit perfectly, the matte finish. Just a great quality puzzle with a beautiful image. This puzzle has been in my to-do pile for several years, and now I’m trying to figure out why I waited so long – it was so entertaining!