The Racehorse

On July 16, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

The picture on the box shows Jim Luckless buying himself a racehorse, the puzzle shows what happened after that. What if his horse had a very special talent, what if things took an unexpected turn? As usual with these type of puzzles I don’t show the entire finished image, I don’t want to spoil anyone else’s fun figuring out what happened to poor Jim. 😉

Ravensburger puzzle, with it’s usual excellent quality. It’s so nice to “come home” to my favorite puzzle company after working with other brands. They’re just such wonderful quality and I always enjoy working with them.

Geoff Tristam’s artwork is excellent and I love his sense of humor. Oh sorry, he’s from the United Kingdom so I should say I love his sense of humour! 😉 I also enjoy the bio on the back of the box which is always accompanied by a picture of Mr. Tristam with accessories related to the puzzle – on this box he’s next to a beautiful horse. A lot of work goes into these puzzles and it’s very much appreciated.

If you haven’t tried a What If puzzle, give it a shot. They’re fun and the right amount of challenging; I highly recommend it!

The Portrait

On June 22, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

What if Leonardo Da Vinci never painted the Mona Lisa? Would he still have become a famous artist? What would he be famous for? I don’t show the entire image for these types of puzzles because I don’t want to spoil the fun of solving the puzzle for anyone else. When I was just starting to find and order these puzzles I Googled one of them and clicked on a link and was presented with the finished image – I didn’t want to see that!

As usual, I completely enjoyed working this puzzle; Geoff Tristam’s artwork and sense of humor are on display here and make for an excellent puzzle. I love the added difficulty of not having a reference image to work from, it makes me pay attention even more than normal to the pieces and where they might connect. The What If collection by Ravensburger hits the mark every time and I always find myself happy with the end result.

I’m going to have to make sure I type up my post for a completed puzzle on the day I complete it! I finished this puzzle almost 2 weeks ago and I’m just writing it up now. It’s been so long, and I don’t take a picture of the entire puzzle – I’ve almost forgotten the finished image! 😮

This was one of the slightly more difficult What If puzzles I’ve completed. Usually you can tell what the background might look like or what people are wearing from the image on the box, but not so with this one. The box image shows Da Vinci painting portraits on the street long ago, and the finished image is in a more modern setting – not even close to the same background or people. Still, I was up to the challenge and enjoyed it thoroughly!

I love Ravensburger puzzles, the quality of the puzzles themselves is stellar, and they have an excellent catalog of puzzles to choose from. They are one of the companies I never hesitate to purchase if I like an image because I know I’ll be getting a quality product.

The What If puzzles are completely entertaining with an extra challenge to keep you puzzling. I highly recommend them!

The Pet Parlour

On June 4, 2017June 4, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

Pamela runs The Pampered Pooch Parlour, but she dreams of diversifying and branching out to bigger and better things. What If her dream became reality, would things go wild? What would her shop look like then? This is what you have to puzzle in Ravensburger’s What If #6 The Pet Parlour.

If you read this blog regularly you know I love Ravensburger puzzles and that their quality is excellent. This puzzle is no different. It’s nice after working other puzzles to start a puzzle you know is going to be good and whose quality you don’t have to worry about – it’s like coming home. It makes me happy. And yes, I know, I need to get out more. 😐

This puzzle looked like fun to me, and it was even more fun than I thought it would be! I really enjoyed it very much, and of all the What If puzzles I’ve done so far (1-6) I would say this one is definitely my favorite! The concept is funny, the artwork is exceptional and it makes for a wonderful puzzle. If you’re not sure about the What If concept and you want to try it out, start with #6 – it’s tons of fun. 🙂

The Village Hall

On May 22, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

I was in the mood for a Ravensburger puzzle, and this one looked like fun – it was! Again, I don’t take a picture of the entire puzzle because I don’t want to ruin the fun for anyone. So much of the enjoyment I get from puzzles like this is working out what’s going on and who goes where. I don’t want to spoil someone else’s fun!

In this puzzle, the caretaker at Grimley Hall is certain his new booking system is foolproof. But what if he didn’t take enough care and what if the Hall were double booked, or worse? As usual the result is comical and makes for a great puzzle.

Sometimes I’m just in the mood for a puzzle with quality I know will be excellent and I can just chill out and have fun with the assembly. Ravensburger is always available for that! This puzzle was no different and it was nice to sit down and get lost in the puzzle and tune out the world, even if only for a few minutes at a time. The pieces just feel good in your hand and you can put your mind in puzzle gear and not think about anything else.

As usual the art of Geoff Tristam is excellent and funny with bright colors and clean lines, and humor that I love. Also if you’re not familiar with the What If puzzles, on the back of each box is a blurb about the artist and he’s dressed up for a picture relating to the puzzle. On the back of this box he’s dressed up like the caretaker and he even has a ledger for bookings! I adore cartoon puzzles, and Geoff Tristam’s artwork is some of the best. 🙂

I highly recommend trying the What If puzzles. The quality is exceptional, the artwork is excellent and it’s wonderful exercise for your brain.

At The Vets

On May 4, 2017May 18, 2023 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

I’ve been in a What If and Wasgij mood lately, I keep switching from one to the other. I like the added challenge of not having a picture to work from and I suppose I’ve been wanting to use my brain to prove it’s still there and functioning. 🙂

So for this puzzle, the picture shows what Brett the vet hopes the surgery (they say surgery in Europe instead of office) would look like if he stops making house calls and everyone has to come to the surgery instead. The puzzle is what actually happens when everyone has to come to the surgery/office. It doesn’t turn out to be as calm as Brett had hoped!

This puzzle was really fun for me as I didn’t even use the box for clues. Usually you can tell what certain characters are wearing and where they might be in the image and use those clues to assist in the assembly. I put the box away completely and just started working the puzzle and I must say it was a great time! I didn’t know who was wearing what or where anything was supposed to be so it was all just assembling and paying attention.

I can’t really put into words how much I enjoy taking a few pieces of a certain color and looking how they may fit together and putting them where they’re supposed to be. It’s a sense of pride almost, but also it’s just a good time for me. Again, this is clumsily worded and it doesn’t convey how much I adore doing jigsaw puzzles, but it’s the best I can do for today. Apparently my brain is helping with puzzles today, but not vocabulary. 😉