Wolf Rider

On August 14, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

I was cruising my favorite wooden puzzle websites (as one does) and found this interesting image for only $14! How in the world do they expect me to pass something like that up? I’m a jigsaw puzzle junkie who was left unattended with access to my own debit card, so of course I had to buy it – and in order to get free shipping I had to buy another puzzle. Guess who got free shipping? 😇

At only 58 pieces this one didn’t take long to put together, but it was very entertaining! Mom actually did most of the work; she came over to see the new puzzles the day they were delivered and couldn’t leave before we assembled this one. It’s so small, why not put it together right away?

We started with the blue dress, the male rider, and the wolf. The flowers on the right side were next, which then left mostly dark pieces. Although it wasn’t easy, it wasn’t too difficult either – it was Goldilocks – the difficulty level was just right!

As usual, the quality is excellent. The pieces are made of 1/4 inch wood and are laser cut. The fit is loose, as laser cut puzzles tend to be, but I don’t mind it much because the rest of the puzzle’s quality is so good. The whimsy pieces are extremely detailed and make for interesting adjoining pieces as well. Artifact puzzles are quite reasonable – especially compared to many other wooden puzzle manufacturers.

It was a fun assembly from start to finish, although mom did most of the work. We enjoyed the quality, the image, the pieces, and how they all worked together.

Sky Roads

On August 12, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles1 Comment

I needed a quick puzzle fix on a day where I couldn’t get out of bed or even really sit up to work on a puzzle. On these days the puzzles I can assemble entirely on a cookie sheet are a godsend! Thank goodness I still have more micro puzzles to assemble. 💗

At between 30 and 60 pieces, Wentworth’s micro puzzles are easy to do lying down; I can put all the pieces on a small, paper-lined cookie sheet and assemble them without even having to sit up!

This image is full of beautiful colors and made for an excellent immediate dose of puzzle happiness. I’m not sure I understand the theme of the whimsies; this image is primarily about balloons and not really about nature other than as background to the hot air balloons.

Even with interesting choice of whimsy pieces the difference in themes didn’t really detract from my enjoyment of the puzzle. It was still entertaining and took my mind off of other things if only for a little while. That’s one of the reasons why puzzling is so very important to me.

No matter what reason makes puzzling important to you, keep on puzzling my friends!

Farmyard Cabbage

On August 10, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

Farmyard Cabbage was an excellent quality puzzle that was great fun to assemble. I adore the image – it’s so different from your average jigsaw puzzle – and it’s so cute!

Wentworth puzzles have excellent quality, with thick wooden pieces that have a great feel in your hands. There are a good variety of shapes; and while their pieces aren’t Victorian cut they do have intricate whimsies that compliment the image. The image reproduction is excellent with beautiful colors and is expertly adhered to the wood.

The whimsies for this puzzle are shapes I haven’t seen before from Wentworth and were perfect for this farmyard image….

I especially love the detail on both the tractor and the cow. They’re all so fun to pick out when you first open the box – searching through the pieces to find the whimsies is almost as entertaining as putting the puzzle together!

The beautiful colors and interesting image made this assembly so much fun, and I loved every piece! I don’t use the box image when putting together wooden puzzles (unless I’m REALLY stuck), and this one tested me – but in the best way possible. I started with the dirt on the bottom of the image and worked my way up from there. The cabbage itself was the most challenging part, especially finding where each of the animals fit in.

I usually end my posts about wooden puzzles by telling you that you should treat yourself to a wooden puzzle if you can – this post is no different. Perhaps you could ask for a small one for your birthday or for Christmas. You can find small wooden puzzles starting at $12 for Wentworth, $18 for Artifact, and $39 for Liberty. They are definitely worth it – and so are you! ❤

Three Arches

On August 2, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

This is a beautiful puzzle that I very much enjoyed assembling. As always, working with a wooden puzzle makes me extremely happy, and that the image is so lovely makes it even better.

The artist, Arturo Zarraga, was born in Mexico City and many of his paintings are scenes from the area where he was raised. The info I found on this puzzle says this is a street scene from Mexico City. The whimsies, however, tell a slightly different story…

If the image is supposed to be Mexico City, I’m not sure why one of the pieces is in the shape of South America – it’s the wrong continent! There are no llamas in Mexico, and Christ the Redeemer is in Rio, Brazil.; but I’m probably nitpicking, right? Problem is, I have way too much time on my hands to look these things up!

Inaccurate whimsies aside, this puzzle was beautiful and wonderfully entertaining to assemble; the color palette is so pleasing it makes for great puzzling. Wentworth Puzzles have such excellent quality and a large and varied catalog, it’s difficult for me to go on their website without wanting to buy way too many puzzles. Of course if I’m honest, that happens on pretty much EVERY puzzle website that I go to. 😉

Winter’s Warmth

On July 31, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles10 Comments

This image definitely isn’t one I would choose in a larger piece count, but with only 40 pieces I’m willing to try just about anything. I’ve looked at a few of this artist’s other puzzles, and they’re very different than this one – and I liked every one!

Unfortunately this puzzle’s whimsies were another repeat, but it didn’t make the assembly any less entertaining. With so many trees and so much snow it wasn’t the easiest of puzzles, but was I completely absorbed by it.

With this puzzle, Christmas in July is officially finished! Woo hoo! Christmas puzzles aren’t my thing, but I know a lot of people enjoy them very much so I try not to be too derogatory about them. If I’ve offended anyone with my attempts at humor about Christmas puzzles, I beg your forgiveness.

See you tomorrow in August, when I’m back to assembling whatever puzzles I feel like, for whatever dumb reason I choose to apply. 😁