Tall Tower

On December 17, 2018December 16, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

Tall Tower was a tall order! We started assembling it on Thanksgiving Day, and didn’t finish until December 3rd. It was super challenging, but the best part was that I got to work on it with both my mom and my oldest son. 💖

I purchased this puzzle during a sale at Artifact Puzzles earlier in the year, and it took me months to be in the right mood for it. My weird old lady brain makes absolutely NO sense sometimes. Take it from me, getting old definitely ain’t for sissies. 😉

The whimsies for this puzzle are so adorable! I didn’t realize it until I was dis-assembling the puzzle, but some of the whimsy pieces are shaped like images in the puzzle, it’s so creative! Alas, it was too late for pictures to show close-ups of the image and the whimsies. My apologies.

Tall Tower whismies

There were a lot of musical figures, in addition to plenty of animals. It’s so fun to work with them. I truly enjoy the detail you’re able to get with wooden puzzles; you could never make such small, intricate cuts on a regular cardboard puzzle.

This is the first Artifact puzzle I’ve worked with small dropouts in the whimsies, they make the image even more interesting in my opinion (see the top left corner, and the picture below). It’s not a true dropout in the sense that it isn’t negative space that you have to work around, but I still like the look of it. And I didn’t even notice the flock of sheep until we were done and I was taking photographs. Love it!

Tall Tower back

Such an interesting cut! This puzzle gave us quite a mental workout, but it’s always worth it in the end if you’ve enjoyed yourself. Mom did the majority of the work on this one since the puzzle stayed at her house, but my son and I helped too – shout out to my puzzle posse!

Wallace & Gromit Christmas Pudding

On December 12, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles8 Comments

Now here is your “not the usual” Christmas puzzle! I love the special whimsy pieces, the image, and the exceptional Wentworth quality. I’ve never seen an episode of the show, but I love this image – it’s so cute!

This is unusual for Wentworth too, this image is only available in the micro puzzle size, you can’t get it in a larger puzzle. It’s a pity, I’d have loved to have seen even more of these fantastic whimsies….

Christmas Pudding whimsies

I’ve never had a Christmas pudding – as a matter of fact, I had to look up what exactly it was! It doesn’t sound very appetizing to me, but I’m sure that’s because it isn’t something I grew up with (and also because I’m an extremely picky eater). I’m sure some of the things I love to eat would not seem appetizing to many others. 😉

This was such a fun puzzle! Merry Christmas pudding! 🎄

Over the River

On December 11, 2018December 11, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles11 Comments

Over the River is the companion puzzle to one I assembled in February of this year. They come in a book box with two compartments – each holds a puzzle with cork backing, both by the same artist. Like many of the “different” Ceaco puzzles it was very good quality.

🎶Over the River and through the woods, to grandmother’s house we go!🎶

The first one I put together from this box was Simple Pleasures, and it seemed much easier to assemble than this puzzle (although my memory isn’t as reliable as it used to be 👵). There were so many places around the whimsies that didn’t connect at all, and it was a bit frustrating to constantly have to fix pieces that had moved. It can get quite tedious – but sometimes that’s how whimsies go.

With these puzzles it’s sometimes hard to find all the whimsy pieces before you begin; so these are some, but definitely not all of them…

Over the River whimsies

The scalloped edges aren’t as easy to assemble as you’d think, so I began with the words. It took way more brain power than I’d assumed!

Over the River 1

The inset scenes were lovely!

Even though it gave my gray cells a little bit of a workout, it was great fun. And you definitely can’t beat the price – 99 cents for two 500 piece puzzles with cork backing! I absolutely got more than a dollar’s worth of entertainment. ☺

Snowman Trio

On December 4, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

This assembly was a special request by my youngest son. It is 3 weeks until Christmas, and he’s very much in the holiday spirit. He’s gotten himself a Santa hat and he’s ready to go! He said that this was the puzzle I should assemble next, and so I did. I admit that I am absolutely NOT in the spirit at the moment, but I guess I’ll fake it till I make it. Ho Ho Ho-hum.

There’s not much I can say anymore about these little wooden puzzles, it’s all a repeat of things said before; they’re excellent quality and wonderful to work with. It’s a “One Coffee Puzzle” as my friend from Russia calls them. Small enough to sit down with a cup of coffee and finish them both about the same time – a lovely little respite in this hurry up and get going world.

Snowman Trio whimsies

I love Santa’s face, I think he just met the m & m’s! 😉

Sugar Magnolia

On December 3, 2018December 2, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles7 Comments

Well, here it is, the post that tens of readers have been waiting for – my completed birthday puzzle! It is without a doubt the most beautiful and entertaining puzzle I’ve ever assembled – absolutely fantastic!

Sugar Magnolia whimsies

These are almost all of the whimsies, they’re so beautiful! Laser cutting makes it easier to cut such wonderfully interesting and detailed whimsies; it’s always so much fun to go through all the pieces and find them.

I started with the red flowers, then moved on to the orange-ish colors. It was very slow going because of my surgery and the recovery, but I can honestly say I enjoyed every single piece.

Once I got the bottom done, it was easier to work upwards and figure out what the edges looked like. The artwork by Phil Lewis is so stunning, and it makes for a fabulous puzzle image!

There are so many beautiful areas of this puzzle, it was difficult to choose what close-ups to photograph. I truly had the best time with this one, I’m so thankful hubby picked this one for my present. ❤ He has good taste. (Well of course he does, he picked an awesome wife!)

There’s so much stuff you can’t see until it’s completely assembled and you flip it over. I definitely didn’t find all those skeleton pieces when I first sorted the puzzle, and that gorgeous flower in the center of the puzzle isn’t visible until it’s complete. So pretty!

There aren’t enough adjectives to tell you how happy this puzzle made me, and how much I enjoyed it. It was the best!