Today’s Project

On November 5, 2019November 5, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling4 Comments

Mr. Bob

Yesterday I received these two puzzles to review, I’m very excited to get to assembling today. The image I chose was Save the Whales, and I was surprised to find when I opened the package that I had not one but two puzzles!

Mr. Bob Puzzles are manufactured in Australia, and they have recently switched over from making cardboard puzzles to making wooden ones. I’m so appreciative that I’m able to assemble and review these puzzles, and my initial impression is very positive. The pieces are quite large and thick and the image is beautiful. The puzzles come in cloth bags, and each one has a “tag” to tell you which puzzle is inside…

I adore the Save The Whales image, and even though that was the one I chose for review I’m starting with the 100 Aussie Icons. I’m saving the whales for last – to build excitement perhaps. They both look like they’re going to be lots of fun, I don’t think it matters which one goes first.

When I poured out all the pieces I was shocked at how large the pile was, and it had me going through my other wooden puzzles to find another 500 piece to compare it to. This is a 500 piece Wentworth next to the 515 piece Mr. Bob puzzle…

Mr. Bob 3

The Wentworth is on the left, Mr. Bob on the right; there’s quite a difference in size! I’m so looking forward to going through all the pieces, looking at all the shapes and sizes and finding the whimsies. Being an American I’m certain I’ll need help identifying all the Aussie icons, but it’ll be fun even if I don’t know what they are; the image looks very entertaining!

Grandpa’s Potting Shed (National Jigsaw Day in the UK!)

On November 3, 2019November 3, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles8 Comments

Grandpa's Shed — Grandpa’s Potting Shed by Steve Read – Wentworth – 40 pieces

It’s National Jigsaw Day in the UK, and as usual I’ll be celebrating by working on a jigsaw puzzle. You’re shocked I’m sure; it’s a complete surprise, right? 😉

The United States has National Puzzle Day in January, but it isn’t specific to jigsaw puzzles – it includes all types (jigsaw, crossword, logic, sudoku, etc.). Wisely, the UK has a day just for our beloved jigsaw puzzles and in honor of that today’s post is a puzzle manufactured in England; a Wentworth wooden jigsaw puzzle.

I absolutely loved putting this image together, and to be honest I didn’t think I would like it at all. I’m not sure why, but I put off assembling this puzzle for quite a while; the image just didn’t excite. Luckily I was completely wrong and it was much more entertaining to assemble than expected. I’d love to come across this image in a larger piece count; the artwork by Steve Read was great fun in 40 pieces and hopefully would be in a larger puzzle as well.

Why there is a bat shape in the whimsies I’m not sure, perhaps the shed might be home to a small family of bats? Maybe they’re grandpa’s friends and keep him company while he’s out there. 🦇

Grandpa's Shed whimsies

Happy National Puzzle Day to all my fellow PADS sufferers! We may not all be in the United Kingdom, but we can absolutely celebrate with our fellow puzzlers across the pond. I hope you can find a few moments to spend with a jigsaw puzzle, or perhaps if you’re out and about you can treat yourself to a beautiful jigsaw puzzle to enjoy later.

I’m not enabling, it’s unconditional love and support, that’s all. 😁💖

Happy Meow-O-Ween

On October 31, 2019October 31, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

How cute is this puzzle? It’s too adorable! You can’t really tell in the picture, but that isn’t candy beside the cat, it’s a mouse wearing a sweater that makes him look like a piece of candy corn – that seems a little risky to be dressed like a treat!

Hopefully it doesn’t get too repetitive me telling you how much I enjoy wooden jigsaw puzzles. They are a completely different experience than assembling a cardboard jigsaw puzzle and I highly recommend splurging on yourself and getting a wooden puzzle. There are many reasonably priced wooden puzzles from many different companies, and you are absolutely worth it! Happy Meow whimsies

The bat is my favorite of these whimsy pieces, the others are all sort of generic fall items. Still, they’re all pretty awesome to have in a puzzle, and the pieces that surround them have very interesting shapes too in order to fit next to them. The first thing I do when opening up a wooden puzzle is look for the whimsies, they’re so fun and I’m fascinated by how intricate the shapes can be. Wentworth goes the extra mile and makes the extra cuts to define what each piece is, they’re so lovely.

Happy Halloween everyone! I love this holiday, and I am also really looking forward to tomorrow, all the Halloween candy is 50% off! 🎃🍬🍭🍡🍫

The Summer Thatchers

On October 16, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles3 Comments

The Summer Thatchers is an unbelievably beautiful image that was perfect for a 40 piece micro puzzle. There was no enhancing of the photo needed, it’s truly that bright and gorgeous. I’m certain it would be quite difficult as a larger piece count, but my goodness it would be lovely!

If it’s been a while since assembling a wooden puzzle I seem to forget how much I enjoy the tactile experience; the thickness of the pieces, the feel of the image adhered to the wood, the way the pieces fall into place. There’s nothing like it!

Summer Thatchers 1

Pretty whimsies, especially the flowers, and the surrounding pieces make for an easier assembly – they’re oddly shaped and easy to find. You couldn’t make whimsies like this out of cardboard, the edges would bend and break way too easily.

Wentworth’s micro puzzles are a joy to assemble, and they allow me to work many images that I wouldn’t otherwise in a larger piece count. Starry Night definitely wouldn’t have been assembled other than in this format, that’s for sure. There are still quite a few I have here to assemble, including several winter/Christmas themed images – look for them when the holiday season is upon us, it’ll be here sooner than you think!

Whitby Harbour, North Yorkshire

On October 1, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles3 Comments

My youngest son picked out this puzzle for me to assemble, he seems very happy when I let him help me decide what to do next. I told him I needed a small piece count to do after assembling a 2000 piece puzzle, so he choose this one for me. It isn’t something I would normally choose to puzzle, but at 40 pieces I can tolerate pretty much any puzzle.

It’s an interesting image; it looks like a photograph, but it’s actually artwork. I enjoyed putting it together – but to be honest I constantly enjoy Wentworth puzzles no matter the image. Working with wooden puzzles is always a pleasure; it’s a tactile, visual, and even auditory experience that I absolutely love. I adore the whimsy pieces as well, looking at the fantastically intricate shapes and seeing the detail they can cut – they’re gorgeous!

Whitby whimsies

Honestly, it took me a minute to figure out what the ship was, I turned it every which was before it hit me that it was a ship. I have no excuse other than that I am getting older every day, and that includes my brain cells.

Working with wooden puzzles hasn’t stymied my love for cardboard puzzles though, I still do more of those than anything. In general I love working with all kinds of puzzles, I’m a little bit obsessed if you haven’t already noticed. 😉