Polar Bear Plunge

On July 11, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Another fun kid’s puzzle, and the first I’ve done from Sunsout. I thought it was very good quality! With the temperatures around here lately it was nice to think about a brisk plunge into chilly water to escape this oppressive heat. 🙂

The pieces were extremely sturdy and a good size for kids and they fit together very well. For some reason it looks like the puzzle didn’t lay flat in the picture, but it did. I’m not a photographer, I just do the best I can. The image reproduction was nice and crisp, with beautiful colors. The box is very large for only a 63 piece puzzle, though it’s been my experience that most Sunsout boxes are larger than the norm. All around a very nice kid’s puzzle!

I’m enjoying assembling all these thrift store kid’s puzzles. It’s fun to put one together in only a few minutes, and I’m enjoying checking out the quality of so many different brands. I think all kids should do jigsaw puzzles, it’s a great activity for your brain! Mom finds so many amazing puzzles at the thrift stores, it’s a cost-effective way of trying out different brands – or for keeping up with the demands of a child who loves puzzles!

Review: Puppies in a Basket

On July 10, 2017July 31, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviewsLeave a comment

This post is sponsored by Puzzle Warehouse.

Puppies in a Basket by Susan Brabeau – Ravensburger – 500 pieces

Puppies in a Basket is an adorable 500 piece puzzle from Ravensburger – my favorite puzzle company! Click the link above to see all the puzzles available from this manufacturer at Puzzle Warehouse. Their catalog is large and varied, and there’s something for everyone – from 10 pieces to the world’s largest puzzle at 40,320 pieces! (I don’t want to brag too much, but the 40,320 piece puzzle?–I did that! 😎 )

This puzzle full of puppy cuteness was an entertaining assembly from start to finish! The pieces for this 500 piece puzzles are little bigger than their average pieces, which I enjoy. They feel good in your hands and make for a nice size finished puzzle.

Ravensburger pieces are about the nicest, most premium pieces on the market and they are what I compare all other puzzles to. The fit is excellent and their “softclick technology” makes it so that you know when you’ve found the correct piece and the finished puzzle is absolutely smooth. The variety of piece shapes is excellent and makes for a fun puzzling experience. Their quality is exceptional in my opinion and I never hesitate to purchase a Ravensburger puzzle because I know I’ll be getting wonderful quality.

The artwork by Susan Brabeau feels homey and warm, and is an excellent image for puzzling. There are plenty of different colors and textures to help with assembly, and enough sameness so that it isn’t so easy that it’s boring. Susan’s artwork is nostalgic and beautiful and has been made into many puzzles by several different manufacturers. Click the link above to see all the puzzles available from this artist at Puzzle Warehouse.

These puppies made for a fun puzzle that was quick to put together. I started with the light blues of the window frame and pillow, and then assembled the basket. It was easy to pick out colors or textures to assemble without having to check the box image for reference; the quilt was fun with some repeating fabrics and colors. An excellent puzzle that made me smile every time I looked at it. The picture still makes me smile. 🙂

Dogs (especially puppies) are a popular puzzle image – who can resist all that sweet cuteness? I sure can’t! Unfortunately this puzzle is no longer available, but with almost 20 pages of dog puzzles to choose from at Puzzle Warehouse you’re sure to find an adorable four-legged friend to puzzle with. 🙂

I received this product at no charge in return for an honest review. All opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own.

Glen Canyon

On July 9, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Another new puzzle company we’ve tried! This isn’t our usual puzzle, mom and I prefer cartoon puzzles and collages, but this one was pretty, it was a thrift store purchase, and the pieces were so nice!

The Bela Baliko quality was good-ish. Beautiful image reproduction with nice, thick pieces and no hanging bits of paper or puzzle dust. On the downside, the fit was unusually loose, probably the loosest fit we’ve worked with. The slightest brush with your hand or arm and the pieces were upset. That seems to be happening a lot lately with the new companies we’ve tried. Perhaps it was just the end of the run, I’ve only worked the one puzzle from Bela Baliko so I can’t judge their entire catalog by this single puzzle. I’m just saying how this one was to assemble.

Mom and I assembled this puzzle over several days. It wasn’t too difficult, but could be tedious at times as there was quite a bit of rock that was the same color. Still, it makes for a lovely image and it was fun to try a new company. And you can’t beat the price – 69 cents! 😎

Old Woodland

On July 8, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

An interesting and beautiful image by Dominic Davison, and another new company I’ve tried out – E&L Corp. Unfortunately the quality was lacking.

I enjoy the artwork of Dominic Davison, this image is beautiful and calm and I love that it has a frame as part of the picture. I’ve chosen several of his puzzles without knowing he was the artist; his artwork makes for a great puzzle. If only the puzzle quality itself was as nice as the image. 😐

The pieces were extremely thin and easily bent, and there were a lot of pieces with image lift as well. On the positive side, there were a good variety of piece shapes and nice image reproduction. I’ve only done one puzzle, so I don’t want to say that this is representative of the quality of all their puzzles. This one wasn’t great, and hopefully when I find and work a few more of them I’ll be able to get an overview of their quality in general.

Lovely image though, and a nice quick puzzle at 250 pieces. 🙂

Festive Felines

On July 7, 2017July 11, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

It’s been so unbearably hot here I’ve decided to celebrate Christmas in July! Once a week this month I’ll have a Christmas/holiday puzzle on the blog. It will be a nice reminder that it won’t always be so bleeping hot outside. 🙂

Festive Felines is our first Christmas in July puzzle, a fun thrift store find by Andrews + Blaine. Unopened! I wonder sometimes about unopened puzzles we find at the thrift stores. Was it a gift that someone really didn’t want? Was it put away and forgotten? Was it with a whole collection of puzzles in someone’s estate? I wonder about these things. Mom found an unopened 6000 piece Schmidt puzzle this week – for $1.99!!! 😮

Anyway, back to this puzzle. It was quite a fun assembly, I do love a collage! It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be with so much fur, white, and red – but it was enough of a challenge to be fun.

I’ve done several puzzles by this company, and this is the first puzzle of theirs that I’ve done that I had problems with the pieces themselves. The pieces are a good thickness, fit together very well, and had a nice variety of shapes – the problem is the shapes. In many places the “arms” of the pieces were so thin that even right out of the bag they were bending, and one of them had broken off already.

Many of the pieces had arms this thin or even thinner! That’s just too thin to be able to work with them without breaking pieces. The piece shapes are also a bit obvious in the finished image, making it more difficult to see the details. Andrews + Blaine usually has very nice pieces of a good thickness that fit together nicely. This is the first puzzle I’ve had this problem with, so I wouldn’t let it dissuade you from picking up one of their puzzles if you like the image or find one in a thrift store.

The kittens are adorable and make for a nice puzzle image. There was enough variety in the shades of fur and accessories that it wasn’t too difficult to assemble a section or two at a time. My favorite is the little guy peeking out from inside the gift box. So cute! Did I mention glitter? Glitter puzzle!! It doesn’t photograph well, or I don’t do photographs well – but every section has something glittery. Who doesn’t love a little sparkle?

Fun, sparkly, and cute holiday puzzle!