Swiss Market Square

On April 28, 2019April 28, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

My wonderfully sweet husband bought this for me as a surprise. I wish I could say I liked it, but I didn’t. Mom didn’t enjoy it either, we assembled it together. It’s an uninteresting image with a terribly loose fit – so loose that sometimes you couldn’t tell if the piece was correct or not because there is too much wiggle room; which is difficult for large areas of one color like the sky.

Victory is an old brand of wooden puzzle manufactured in the UK, and this is my first time giving them a try. I’m not a fan of the cut, except for the few whimsy pieces most of the rest are regular looking shapes. Most of the fun of wooden puzzles for me are the fantastically irregular and interesting shapes that using wood allows you to make. As I said, the fit was extremely loose as you can see in the picture below…

Swiss Market Square 1

I just pulled on the pieces and there’s this much play – it’s way too loose. I’m not making final judgement on the brand from this one puzzle; in fact hubby bought another one at the same time that I have yet to assemble. Perhaps that one will be a more interesting (to me) image and a less wobbly fit. I guess we’ll have to wait and see!

Perhaps the other Victory puzzle is what I should be doing today – I haven’t worked a puzzle in a week and I need to get back in the swing of things soon, my queue is down to only 2 puzzles left! 😱😱

*just remembered I have a few pictures in my phone of the last several puzzles I’ve completed so I do have a few more days leeway before I’m out of puzzles to post – thank goodness!*

The Wedding

On April 23, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles5 Comments

Got my hands on another old wooden puzzle, are you surprised? It’s a lovely image, but there were so many missing pieces! I went into this knowing there were only 499 pieces, but I mistakenly assumed that meant there was only one missing piece. I was wrong of course. This puzzle apparently started out with 510 pieces, not 500. Still, mom and I had a good time putting it together and that’s what counts. The Wedding 1

There is such beautiful detail in the artwork, the hands seem almost photo quality. It was a beautiful puzzle and mom and I enjoyed it even with the many missing pieces.

The Wedding 2

EBL 1920 – I wish I knew if that was in reference to the date the puzzle was cut or if it’s when the image was painted. It could be both, actually.

I’ve got one more old puzzle yet to assemble and one more in the queue, but unless I find something amazing I’m done with the vintage/antique puzzles. Not because this one had lots of missing pieces, but because either fortunately or unfortunately (I’m not sure which), the municipal building puzzle was so amazing, and such fantastic quality that I feel that everything else is a bit of a letdown. Even if it’s great quality it still isn’t as good. I was so lucky to find that puzzle; it’s a one of a kind, exceptionally well made, and mom and I enjoyed the journey of putting it together so much – it just can’t be matched or duplicated. Nothing even really comes close.

I’ve told hubby to stop sneakily buying these old puzzles on eBay. He purchased a few for me as a surprise, it’s very sweet but I’d prefer it if he didn’t do that anymore. I think I’d rather be happy we had the experience and fun of assembling a very rare and wonderful antique than be let down by the not up to snuff quality of lesser (but still lovely) puzzles.

What Do You Think?

On April 20, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling12 Comments

Recently I was contacted by a new puzzle company, looking for feedback from puzzlers about their new product; they’d love to hear your thoughts about their puzzles.

Starz Puzzles are a new brand of wooden jigsaw puzzle and their product seems quite new and different. Unlike many other companies their puzzles are made of solid maple hardwood – not plywood or MDF; in addition, they print the images directly onto the wood, there is no paper involved. They also have designed a new star-like piece shape, which according to Starz allows for an unlimited puzzle, an infinity puzzle. Are you intrigued? I am.

Please check out their website by clicking the link above, and if you’re so inclined please leave a comment here letting them know your thoughts. Any feedback, good or bad, is welcome; they would very much like to know what those of us who actually assemble jigsaw puzzles think. Even though I haven’t actually assembled one of their puzzles I’m giving them my feedback as well.

Thanks so much for your help! 🙂

Three Hunters

On April 8, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

3 Hunters — Three Hunters? – ? – 340 pieces

This is another vintage wooden puzzle that mom and I assembled. It was great fun, with an amazing fit that you wouldn’t believe! We know absolutely nothing about this puzzle – it came without a box so we don’t know the maker or name of the image. Still, it’s lovely and mom and I enjoyed it very much.

At only 340 pieces it was much quicker the the municipal building, but it was still quite difficult. There’s something about a vintage image like this that makes all the colors seem fuzzy and indistinct which adds quite a bit to the challenge. I love the softness of the look even though it adds to the difficulty for me.

I really had a great time with this puzzle, it’s beautifully made and has a lovely image.

Farmyard Scene

On March 23, 2019March 23, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

I’m not sure why I purchased this micro puzzle, it’s not my usual “type” of image; it’s very dark and kind of boring for someone like me who likes bright, busy images. Still, even if the image isn’t my favorite, I still enjoyed figuring out which piece went where and seeing the completed puzzle.

Farmyard Scene whimsies

These micro puzzles are absolutely perfect for me when my brain wants to puzzle but my body isn’t cooperating. Even if I’m not up to sitting in my comfortable chair in front of the puzzle board I can still put one of these together on a tray in bed. And although I’d usually rather spend lots of time puzzling, being able to spend only 10 minutes or so with a jigsaw puzzle seems to settle my nerves and lift my spirits. 🙂