Tag: Wooden Jigsaw Puzzles

Living In Bird World In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling, Miscellaneous7 Comments

Living In Bird World by Lisa Houck – Liberty Puzzles – 498 pieces

I’m having a bad day today, and this beautiful Liberty Puzzle has been helping me keep my mind off of things. That’s number 138 on the list of reasons why puzzling is good for your mental health. When you work on a puzzle it isn’t possible to multi-task, every part of your brain must be engaged with finding out what shape, cut, and color you’re looking for. The best puzzles can do that with ease, they keep you engrossed in what you’re doing, there’s no time to dwell on problems you may have or situations you can’t change, etc. It’s a mindful, peaceful meditation, and that’s just what I needed today.

I love to puzzle and being a dissectologist has been such a blessing in my life.🧩❤

The symmetrical section with many repeating pieces is where I started, that’s the top section shown; when that began to become more difficult and I needed something a bit easier I went with the darker section of dots in the bottom corner. It took a bit to reorient my brain to how all these pieces worked together, but from then on it’s been pretty smooth sailing. When that was finished I started on the smaller dots in the section above it and that’s where I am now. I’ve pulled out all the pieces (I hope) with the dots on the light background and am attempting to put everything into it’s place and hopefully connect these two sections together.

When I work a premium wooden puzzle like this one I normally put the box away where I cannot easily catch a glimpse of the image on the box. It makes the assembly last a little longer for me and I enjoy figuring out where each piece and whimsy fits into the overall picture. And when I’m finished it gives me a greater sense of accomplishment.

God Bless this puzzle for being here for me today, to keep my mind otherwise occupied when things that I can’t do anything about are happening and I don’t want to wallow (which I would definitely be doing right now). Puzzles have always been a cozy, warm hug for me when I’ve needed it, and I need many hugs today. 🤗🤗

Mojo

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles8 Comments

Mojo by Kristian Adams – Artifact – 118 pieces

This little cutie is finished once again and I found it just as engaging the second time around. The interesting shapes of the pieces made it extremely entertaining to assemble, as did the image itself. At only 118 pieces you would think it would go together quickly, but for me it took a bit of time to orient my brain to the way the pieces fit together.

There weren’t many whimsies in this one, but the creatures all made for an interesting fit in and around all the other pieces. I think the odd little sausage-shaped dog (?) is my favorite, and in second place is the two piece caterpillar. 🐛

To be honest I didn’t take a new picture of the front of the puzzle or the whimsy pieces, I already had them in my media from the first time I posted this puzzle. I did, however, flip it over to give you a different look at the pieces; there’s something about the backside of a wooden puzzle that makes me happy so why not share it, right?

I’ll probably start re-assembling more of my wooden puzzles, just because I feel like it. Hope all you tens of readers are up for a little repetition!

Flight of Scarlet

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

Flight of Scarlet by Daniel Merriam – Artifact Puzzles – 364 pieces

Absolutely stunning image that wasn’t quite as difficult as I’d made it out to be in my head. Good thing I decided to just jump in because it was a lovely assembly all around.

There wasn’t much in the way of whimsies, but I think it’s because it was one of Artifact’s “challenging” puzzles. The whimsy pieces weren’t as important in the design of the pieces, and that’s ok. It was still completely entertaining.

You can see from the back the symmetry in the design of the pieces and where they go, how it makes it’s own gorgeous little design with just the piece shapes.

I had this puzzle for quite a while; bought it because it was beautiful but then was intimidated by the piece shapes and how it was categorized a challenging puzzle. As usual, I should have just jumped in without listening to what others thought – it was so much fun!

Love Connection

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

Love Connection by Sage Wirth – Liberty Puzzles – 440 pieces

Don’t be shocked everyone, but I actually remember assembling this one! Since this puzzle was part of the reason I finally got back to the puzzle board it holds a special place in my heart. Once I saw it online I REALLY wanted it, so it was ordered. But once it arrived that meant I had to get my lazy butt out of bed and get myself back to my puzzling. Honestly, I’m so glad I did.

As usual, the quality of this Liberty Puzzle was amazing. Their piece shapes, the fit, the design of the pieces, it’s all excellent in my opinion. The puzzles aren’t cheap, but for an well-made wooden puzzle I find them to be completely reasonable and very much worth it.

Aren’t the whimsies adorable? Part of the fun for me of wooden puzzles and their intricate whimsies is sorting through the pieces and seeing all the beautiful and intricate shapes and how they relate to the puzzle image.

I always LOVE to look at wooden puzzles from the back, it always amazes me how the puzzle designer comes up with the themes and piece shapes and makes them look so beautiful. It’s always a risk for me to flip the completed puzzle over, sometimes it doesn’t go very well – but this time I did it with no problems at all. Yay me!

Love Connection was an entertaining puzzle that finally got me back to one of my great loves – jigsaw puzzles. It made the connection in my brain that I needed; remembering how much joy jigsaw puzzles bring me and that I needed to get back to them. I’m so glad the love connection was finally made for me, again. 💖

Mojo In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

Mojo by Kristian Adams – Artifact – 118 pieces

One of the best things about wooden jigsaw puzzles is that they’re so sturdy they can be assembled again and again without the wear and tear you would see on a cardboard puzzle. It’s part of the reason they’re much more expensive. Yet for me, I rarely re-do my wooden puzzles, and have almost never re-assembled a puzzle and posted about it.

When I was looking for the next puzzle to do, this one kept jumping out at me. It’s so small that it wouldn’t take long at all – and I didn’t want to start anything larger as I was waiting on a delivery of new puzzles that I’d ordered. I knew I’d be wanting to do one of the new puzzles next, so I put this one out on the board and started putting it together. Got this far and then a virus stepped in.☠

My son brought some virus home and thoughtfully gave it to both my husband and myself. I’ve been waylaid for a few days trying to breathe, trying to cough enough to clear out my chest, and wishing more than anything that if nothing else I would be able to sleep and get some rest. It’s day four now, and I’m finally feeling fractionally better.

The new puzzles were delivered and are sitting unopened on the floor of the puzzle room and I haven’t touched this one in a few days. If things continue to improve then soon I should be back at the puzzle board to finish this adorable little puzzle. Then the boxes of new puzzles will be opened, a new one will be chosen and I’ll be back to work on whichever one is next.