Lapping Up the Luau

On June 25, 2020June 25, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

This is one of those untitled puzzles where, here at My Jigsaw Journal, I get to choose a title that is silly, or ridiculous, or just one that makes me laugh. These usually require some thought, or a complete disregard of thought that has me coming up with an enigmatic or ludicrous title that doesn’t even make sense with the image (those are the really fun ones). In this case though, I decided to go along with the image and just choose a fun and slightly silly title that made me laugh….Lapping Up the Luau.

I mean, look at this little pupper with his/her lei and cool sunglasses; and the rubber ducky is too cute! Even if you’re not a dog person you have to see this image and smile, you just can’t help it. Lap up that luau little one, you deserve a fun day at the beach! 🕶⛱

These small boxes with 100 piece puzzles from Re-marks are just what a gal like me needs to cleanse the palate after a large puzzle, or to jump back in to puzzling when you’ve had a sustained break from it. They’re well made, good quality puzzles with adorable images that are truly entertaining to put together. I don’t know what else I could ask for!

With puzzles that are such a small piece count I always put away the box and just work the puzzle with my only clues coming from the pieces themselves. I think it’s not only entertaining, but it keeps my mind sharp so I don’t have to re-hone the puzzle skills later on with a larger puzzle that perhaps might frustrate me.

Unfortunately I think there’s only one of these left here that I haven’t assembled, which makes me a little sad to be honest. They’re so much fun to do!

Hound of the Baskervilles

On June 23, 2020June 23, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles8 Comments

This is another interesting but entertaining Charles Wysocki image, and even at only 300 pieces it made for a little bit of a challenge. The tree in the foreground, for example, was more difficult than I gave it credit for. I thought this one would be a breeze, and some parts were, but it wasn’t as easy as I’d assumed it would be.

The name didn’t make sense to me until I really started to look at the image; obviously the storyteller in the foreground is telling the story of The Hound of the Baskervilles to his audience. At least that is the conclusion I came to.

Hound of the Baskervilles 1

Traveling storytellers used to be a thing. Back before radio, television, and telephones, all you got was the information found in the newspapers. There were serial stories in some papers, but unless you lived in a city or town you didn’t have access to a paper every day or week.

Hound of the Baskervilles 2

This man seems as though he’s not just telling a story, he’s acting parts of it out and giving it all he’s got. Good for him! Without access to anything other than stories from their families, I can imagine that it would have been terribly exciting to have a professional storyteller in the neighborhood to tell stories you’d never heard of. Imagine having a Sherlock Holmes detective story told to you in such a dramatic fashion, it must have been so entertaining!

Hound of the Baskervilles 3

I’m admitting that I have no idea what this sign means. If this town is where food processing is done, it’s possible that marinating was done specifically in one place. But this doesn’t look like a food processing plant, it looks like someone’s home. I’m intrigued, but confused about the name.

This puzzle was fun to put together, had great quality, and a beautiful image. There’s not much more you can ask for, is there?

Coastal Getaway

On June 22, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles4 Comments

Coastal Getaway is such a pretty scene, and it made for an entertaining assembly. There are only 300 EZ grip pieces that are thick and sturdy, with a nice fit and stellar image reproduction. I always enjoy puzzles with large pieces, for some reason they make me extremely happy. 🙂

Coastal Getaway 1

I love lighthouses; the color of the light is so beautiful on this one, and the trees all around it are gorgeous.

Coastal Getaway 2

The stairs leading down to the beach were really fun to assemble, and I love the shells tucked up at the top; it’s something I would have done when I was younger so I wouldn’t forget to take them with me when I went home.

Coastal Getaway 3

There’s something about this sailboat, and the lone person sailing it – I love the look of it; Alan Giana’s artwork is colorful and beautiful. This whole puzzle was a great image with lovely quality and I had a great time!

What’s a Fancy Girl to Do?

On May 27, 2020May 27, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles6 Comments

I love me some Fancy Nancy, and what girl can resist some glitter? Not me! Even though this is a thrift store puzzle that I knew had been WELL LOVED, it was still entertaining for me to assemble it.

As you can see there are many tabs where the image is lifting, but it didn’t stop me from enjoying the puzzle. And despite the delamination of the image I found the fit to be excellent. Even with this thrift store puzzle obviously having been assembled many times it still had a great fit. So much so that I was able to do one of my favorite things – stand it up…

Fancy Nancy 1

Even though it shows even more plainly the poor condition of this puzzle, this picture makes me happy. Fancy Nancy makes me happy. She’s a girl who doesn’t care what anyone thinks of her, she just wants to be who she is – she is me!

Let’s Play Football

On May 23, 2020May 22, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles8 Comments

This is another thrift store puzzle that mom bought (I still probably have a year or more of thrift store puzzles that she bought to get through). Even though Karmin quality isn’t great I did this one because she bought it – and I love dogs and dog puzzles!

As soon as I opened the box and felt the pieces I knew it wouldn’t be the best quality or assembly. The fit wasn’t great and the pieces were pretty thin, but it was a fantastically adorable image and at least all the pieces were there. And I just cannot resist doggy faces, they’re the best!

Let's Play Football 1

Happily playing tug-of-war with a scarf, so cute! I started with the scarf because they were the easiest pieces to pick out, other than the sky most of the pieces were different shades of brown. The scarf leads to two adorable, happy puppy faces – irresistable!

Let's Play Football 2

The smiling face of this dog, and the scarf makes me think of Lady from Lady and the Tramp. It looks a little like the same breed, even though I don’t think it is; it’s really the smiling face.

Let's Play Football 3

You know I can’t resist a sad puppy face either. It just makes me want to give belly rubs and pets and scratches everywhere to make this little guy/girl happy!

Even with less than premium quality, this puzzle was entertaining for me; they don’t all have to be perfect for me to enjoy them. The quality wasn’t the best, but I had a good time anyway; watching the faces come together, figuring out the best way to assemble the sky, finding those pieces of the football that I didn’t pick out the first time, etc. I needed quiet, meditative distraction and this puzzle provided it.

Perfect puppy profiles provided puzzle play, plus peaceful pondering. 🧩💗