Bookshelf

On June 25, 2018June 25, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

At the end of a day that contained no puzzling I grabbed a micro puzzle to feed my addiction. This beauty was just what I needed!

Wentworth puzzles are beautifully made wooden puzzles produced in Wiltshire, England. They are made from a specially developed wooden board taken from sustainable sources. The pieces have an excellent feel in your hands, and there’s nothing like the satisfying “plunk” when they fall into place. The whimsy pieces are intricate and interesting, and usually match the nature of the image. It’s so enjoyable for me to just open one of their puzzles and look at all the pieces; even if I don’t start working on it right away I still find it satisfying to just handle the pieces and see all the detailed whimsies.

This 40 piece micro puzzle was pretty challenging, but still entertaining to assemble. I love Colin Thompson’s artwork, and I even have this particular image in a larger piece count from a different puzzle company. I haven’t assembled it yet, but I’m looking forward to having a larger image to work with and reading the spines of all the books.

I love jigsaw puzzles of all kinds and sizes, and even a 40 piece puzzle is entertaining and satisfying for me. I’m enjoying more smaller piece count puzzles these days, and it’s the puzzling itself that makes me happy – no matter how many pieces there are.

Oops, I did it again!

On June 20, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling12 Comments

Five new puzzles are on their way to my house, including the image above. I don’t need them, but I want them – and I don’t feel bad about it at all. 😁

I got an unexpected check recently, and after a disappointing trip to Tuesday Morning that netted me zero puzzles I had this extra money burning a hole in my pocket. What to do?

At first I planned on doing nothing; I have plenty of puzzles both here and at mom’s house and I don’t actually NEED more. Later on in the evening though, I was in bed and just looking around at puzzles online and ended up on the Wentworth site. They’re having a summer sale – many discontinued puzzles are 25% off – and I also have a code for 10% off any regularly priced puzzles. How unfair to tempt me like that!

I spent a bit of time thinking about it; I don’t really need them – just because they’re on sale doesn’t mean I have to buy them. After a while though, I remembered a few things. 1) Puzzles make me happy and help me feel better, 2) I can afford it right now, and 3) Life is short, if getting some new puzzles makes you happy why wouldn’t you? I shouldn’t feel bad for doing something that’s just for me, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks or says.

Before I knew it five puzzles had jumped into my cart. I didn’t want them to feel unloved, so I adopted all five of them. I’m a giver – these lonely puzzles need a place to go, and selflessly I will be sharing my home with them. Ain’t I a sweetie?? 😉

Rosso Angelo

On June 18, 2018June 18, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

IMG_E4704 — Rosso Angelo by Ross Fiorentino – Artifact Puzzles – 228 pieces

This puzzle was really fun to assemble, and not nearly as difficult as I thought it might be. I was worried that the darker places would be tedious and very hard to complete, but thankfully I was wrong. It was a wonderful assembly all around. 🙂

Artifact Puzzles are having a sale at the moment, while supplies last, and I just couldn’t resist 50% off! I bought this and another puzzle because I knew if it were “while supplies last” that the puzzles would eventually be out of stock and gone. And at these great sale prices how on earth could I resist? They’re still having that sale, if you are so inclined there are still quite a few beautiful puzzles to choose from. (If I had unlimited funds I would get every single one of them!)

Once I started working on this puzzle, it was difficult to stop. I started with the mandolin (or whatever the instrument is), and from there went up the angel’s arm and into the wings. One section led to another and it went very quickly. For some reason the angel’s nose is located in the center of the circular end of a mandolin shaped whimsy piece. It looks odd, and my eye jumps to that section every time I look at the picture. To me, it almost looks like a clown nose.

The whimsies for this puzzle are all “angelic” There are several cherubs and mandolins, along with a harp, a violin, and one piece shaped like Italy. This image is from the Italian Renaissance after all, so the piece shaped like Italy is a perfect fit.

I’m currently working on the other puzzle I bought from this sale, it’s a secondary one I’ve been working on for well over a week now. I only put in a piece or two here and there, it isn’t the primary puzzle that I’m working on. It’s going to take a while, it’s much more difficult than I bargained for and will take plenty of patience. I don’t mind though, to me time spent puzzling is never wasted – it’s always worthwhile. Especially with a wooden puzzle! 😉

Arcane Shelfie

On June 15, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

About a week before Mother’s Day my daughter said that she wanted to start working on puzzles again, but she didn’t have the space for it at the moment; so I decided to get her a small wooden puzzle for Mother’s Day. She IS the “mom” of my grandpuppies after all! I bought her this puzzle, and she brought it over to my house the next weekend so we could assemble it together, I chose well – we loved it!

The design of the pieces for this puzzle drew me in, and the image itself is so adorable it was calling to me from the computer screen. Artifact Puzzles have some of the most interesting piece cuts I’ve ever seen, their designers are extraordinary! This puzzle is quite small, at 5.5 x 16.5 inches (approx. 14 x 42 cm) it doesn’t take up much room, and the pieces are so delightful and unique it makes for quite an entertaining and challenging assembly.

There are a LOT of straight edges in this puzzle which made putting it together more difficult than I had assumed. The pipe-styled connectors and the pieces they fit into are interesting to work with and give your brain quite a workout! Of course this is a plus in my book, time spent puzzling with such an interesting image and wonderful pieces is very much time well spent. Plus I got to assemble it with my daughter, which was even more wonderful. 💕

I bought another interestingly shaped Artifact puzzle for my mom’s Mother’s Day present. They’re great to give as gifts – and when I give them to family who live close by that means I get to assemble them too. Bonus! I’m looking forward to assembling mom’s puzzle too, but she hasn’t finished it herself yet. Hurry up mom! Or better yet, bring it over here and we can assemble it together. 😁

Penguin Pandemonium

On June 8, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

This is the most challenging of the Wentworth micro puzzles that I’ve assembled so far. At only 41 pieces you wouldn’t think it would be that difficult, but I actually put it away the first time I attempted it because I just couldn’t get my brain to work right and none of the pieces wanted to fit together properly.

I adore these micro puzzles, and am so glad that I bought a BUNCH of them last year. They’re perfect when I want to puzzle but just can’t get out of bed or even sit all the way up. I can dump out the pieces on a cookie sheet lined with paper and puzzle lying down. I’ve got 16 of them left that I haven’t assembled yet, and will be doing 8 of them next month for Christmas in July. There are a few “extra difficult” holiday puzzles included in those 8 with an extra difficult cut – repetitive pieces and no whimsies. I’m looking forward to them!

The mostly black and white image made it difficult, as did the cut; you can see the shapes of the pieces below…

Luckily my brain cells were firing properly (for the most part) on my second attempt at this puzzle and I was able to get it done. The perspective helped; with the larger penguins at the bottom of the puzzle at the smaller groups at the top. It was an enjoyable challenge to complete this image and I was pretty proud when I heard that last piece plunk into place. Success!