Cats Around the World

On January 28, 2020January 28, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles7 Comments

We were sorting through some of mom’s puzzles, and my daughter said to me “here’s one with a lot of cats”. My response was “Ugh, no thanks”, but then she said it was funny, so I had to take a look at it. I’m glad I did because this is not only a funny image, but was an entertaining assembly too.

I haven’t done a Dowdle puzzle in quite a long time, when did they start using just the one piece shape? And why in the world are so many companies using only one shape? It’s really frustrating, do they think that’s what we like or want? News flash puzzle companies – we like variety in shapes even if it’s only within a ribbon or grid cut – only one piece shape is BORING to work with.

This puzzle came with a legend that names all the cats and tells where they’re from…

Cats 1

Starting at the bottom in the middle and going around clockwise…

Sheriff “Cat” Masterson – Dodge City, Kansas
Audrey Hep-PURR-n – Belgium
Trojan Mouse – Greece
Fat Cat – Wall Street, New York

Cats 2

Starting at the top left and continuing clockwise…

“Mew”-stafa – Egypt
Mr. “Meow”-gi – Japan
MVP (Most Valuable Pussycat) “Go Kitty Wampus!!!”
“Feline” Nightingale – England
Yassir Ara-“cat” – Saudia Arabia

Cats 3

Starting at the top left again, clockwise…

Guillermo del “Gato (gato is Spanish for cat) – Mexico
Maurice “Chat”-velier (chat [pronounced shot] is French for cat) – France
Bat Cat – Gotham City
Coot Cat – Magnum P.C. (Pussy Cat) – Hawaii, USA

Cats 4

Starting at the top in the middle and continuing clockwise…

Captain Cat Sparrow – England
Lady Lib-PURR-ty – a gift from France to the United States
Big Lou – known for his cat calls – New York City
Chaim “khah-Tool”-evsky (khah-Tool is Hebrew for Cat) – Israel

Just for clarification, the explanations of the words for cat in different languages were part of the legend, and I copied them exactly.

While I was disappointed in the lack of variety in piece shape, I still enjoyed the puzzle and especially the names and silly faces of the cats. Chaim khah-Tool-evesky makes me laugh every time I look at him, that grumpy face is hysterical! Feline Nightingale’s cranky face is pretty funny too – the ones that make me laugh made this puzzle completely worth it. Just looking at the picture of the puzzle makes me smile. 🙂

Firefly Friends

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

This is a thrift store puzzle that was pretty awful in the quality department, but was still extremely cute, which is why I bought it in the first place. And as a bonus I got the second best glow in the dark picture I’ve ever been able to take. Intrigued about the best one? Check out Creepy Crawlies. 🐛🦟🐜

Firefly Friends – Creative Edge – 100 pieces

By itself the glow picture looks a little odd, so for me it’s better to put them side by side. It’s a pretty good one, don’t you think? The hard part is being certain you’ve got the whole image in the frame when you’re taking the picture in the dark – it’s dark, so you can’t see much of anything! Part of the very bottom edge may have been cut off, but I’m sure I got almost all of it.

You know when you finish a puzzle how you run your hands across all the pieces, making sure they’re all pushed down and just reveling in the feeling of all the pieces connected together? DO NOT do that with a glow in the dark puzzle if you are at all like me and have some tactile issues. The additive they use to make the ink glow is grainy, almost like sand. The grainy feel on top gives me the shivers, I didn’t like it at all!

Star Wars Finn

On January 16, 2020January 15, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

I wanted the first puzzle of the year to be a thrift store puzzle, for mom. 💚 I went to the thrift store on New Year’s Eve, and was lucky enough to find a few kids puzzles that looked as though they might be entertaining. It’s always nice to start out a new month with a finished puzzle on day one, and kids puzzles are perfect when I haven’t timed it right to have a larger puzzle ready to be completed.

My sons both love Star Wars, so I thought this was a good choice for the first puzzle of the year. It was missing a piece, but I honestly didn’t mind. It’s the chance you take buying second hand, and I still enjoyed putting it together.

My youngest had to tell me the name of this character; I haven’t seen any of the newer Star Wars movies, so I had no idea who this was. His name is Finn, and he was a storm trooper, and lots of other information that I didn’t really grasp or process. I got the whole, long storyline for Finn from my son, and all I asked for was the name of the character!

These Cardinal puzzles for children aren’t the greatest quality, the pieces are thin and easily bent (and perhaps easy to lose too). But they’re perfect for a thrift store find; once the kids have played with them enough they find their way to me or some other puzzle junkie who enjoys assembling puzzles of all shapes and sizes. 😉

Kitty in a Basket

On December 31, 2019December 30, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles4 Comments

I found this puzzle in the puzzle room, sandwiched between two boxes. It had no container at all, so I have no idea of the brand or the title (if there was one).

Many puzzles for children, especially photographic ones, have no title. Just a cute little image that kids would like, and like to assemble. I’ve given this one the not so imaginative title, Kitty in a Basket. Sometimes the easiest and most obvious is the best choice. I could have gone with something enigmatic or ridiculous, like “She’s Hiding Her Sadness”, or “The Wistfulness of Veronica”. But what’s the point of that, other than to amuse myself? 😉

Anyway, not the best quality puzzle, but it was easy to put together and I finished a puzzle for the day – both good things!

Be safe out there tonight my friends, Happy New Year’s Eve! 🎉🎆🎉

Jingle Bell Teddy & Friends

On December 29, 2019December 29, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

And so it is that we have come to the last of the holiday puzzles for this year – Hooray! I actually really liked this image, and found it quite entertaining to assemble. So farewell Santa, we’ll be seeing you here on My Jigsaw Journal around December of 2020!

This is another puzzle that was purchased much earlier in the year by mom at the thrift store, and I’ve kept it around to assemble closer to the holidays. Sometimes I get a little bored with the Wysocki images, to me they can all seem a little similar; but this one is quite different and that’s one of the reasons I enjoy it so much.

This puzzle shows Santa Claus in some of his many other incarnations: Father Christmas, St. Nick, Pere Noel, etc. They were fun to assemble, and I liked the look of all of them except for one, there’s an ornament, and the look of it seems a little creepy to me…

Teddy 1

I know, I’m used to the sugary sweet Coca-Cola American version and many other countries and cultures have a much different image of Santa. He’s not always a jolly old elf, in some places he’s rather stern looking. Still, there’s something about this ornament that seems odd in some way – it wasn’t my favorite for sure.

Teddy 2

The lovely looking Santa with a green suit in a boat, he makes me smile. I’m not sure if this is a version of Santa from another country or if he only lives in the mind of Charles Wysocki, but I think he’s completely adorable!

This thrift store puzzle was complete, and I told mom when she brought it over that I would be assembling it this Christmas. And so I have kept my word. It was a lovely puzzle to assemble at 2 am when I couldn’t sleep and the house was quiet.

It kept this old lady off the streets and out of trouble. 😉