Safety First – Perfect Picture Puzzle – 375+ pieces
This is an extremely old puzzle, mom and I think it’s more than 70 years old – there’s an ad selling war bonds on the front of the box! You never know when you’re going to find something awesome at the thrift store. She’s so good at finding interesting puzzles, maybe because when dad gets on her nerves she goes shopping at all the goodwill stores. She gets annoyed often it seems! 😉
This was a cardboard puzzle, but so thick and sturdy that it feels almost like wood. The pieces don’t all actually connect, but where they do the fit is wonderful. I found this puzzle much more difficult than expected, which was wonderful and interesting. There were several spots where it was very difficult to figure out what went where.
The image itself is beautiful, but looking at the pieces separately they have an almost blurry quality. Makes for a more challenging assembly, and then when you look at the finished puzzle you wonder why you had difficulty at all. Deceptive! Loved it!
We can’t bring ourselves to throw away such a wonderful, old puzzle even though a piece is missing. I might try my hand at fashioning a replacement piece; that may be difficult though because the box is showing it’s age as well and wouldn’t work for copying the color. We’ll do the best we can, but even with the missing piece it’s a wonderful vintage puzzle. 🙂
Willow Whispers by Alan Giana – MasterPieces (Memory Lane Series) – 300 EZ Grip pieces
Willow Whispers was a quick, fun puzzle to get myself back into puzzling after a short trip out of state. It took a little longer than normal for a 300 piece puzzle, but I’m still recovering from traveling. 🙂
MasterPieces puzzles have come up quite a bit in my eyes, their quality is very good and their puzzles are a great value. The pieces of this puzzle were thick and extremely sturdy, and they fit together very well; I was able to lift the finished puzzle without any pieces coming apart. There was little to no puzzle dust in the bag, the pieces were all separated and undamaged and had no hanging bits of paper on the back. The EZ Grip puzzles are excellent for anyone needing larger pieces. The image reproduction is bright and colorful with a slightly shiny finish. All in all, wonderful quality! Click here to see all the puzzles available from MasterPieces at Puzzle Warehouse.
This assembly was fun, I always enjoy a 300 piece puzzle. It’s a good feeling to start and finish a puzzle in one day, and even nicer when it’s a lovely picture. The edges were easy to find (I appreciate that), and it was also easy to pick out sections to work on without having to check the picture on the box. The red leaves in the foreground and background were easy to spot, as well as the water, path, and bench. There are several sections of flowers, but it’s easy enough to find their places by checking the picture. I wasn’t able to sit for long to work on it, and it was nice to be able to come and sit down for only a few minutes and be able to find and place several pieces.
The finished puzzle is 24 x 18 inches (61 x 46 cm). The box has the name of the puzzle, manufacturer, piece count, and image of the puzzle on all four sides. The name of the artist is on the top and one side of the box, along with a short bio on the back and pictures of other puzzles in the series. Interestingly, if you wanted to shelve this horizontally you would have to store it upside down – the image and wording on the side for storing flat is upside down on the lid. I don’t think it would be a deal breaker if you like the image, but it’s unusual and I don’t recall seeing that on any other puzzle boxes before.
The artwork by Alan Giana is charming, calming, and colorful and makes for excellent puzzling. I’ve done several puzzles with his artwork and they have all been entertaining and sometimes challenging, depending on the piece count. They are beautiful and detailed, and make me want to visit the places shown for a relaxing weekend. 🙂 Click the link above to see all the puzzles from this artist available at Puzzle Warehouse.
Willow Whispers is a beautiful puzzle that made for an entertaining assembly. At 300 pieces it’s quick to go together and could be a great family project for an evening. Definitely recommended. 👍
I received this product at no charge in return for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own.
Chat Noir by Steinlen – Eurographics – 1000 pieces
This is an interesting image, but in my opinion it isn’t ideal for puzzling. There’s too much flat color, and with a random cut it was extremely difficult to find the proper piece. We’ve found that sometimes the “coolest looking” puzzle isn’t one you’d want to assemble; that was definitely the case here.
Mom did the majority of this one, I helped when I could; but it was a bear! Boy were we ever happy when we finally finished it. And I don’t think I’ve ever said this about a puzzle – I’m glad a piece was missing. I truly am. There was something very satisfying about putting this bleeping puzzle in the trash once we had conquered it. 😈
Best Places in the World by Lewis T. Johnson – White Mountain – 1000 pieces
Collage puzzles make me so happy! 🙂 Best Places in the World went together quickly, but wasn’t so easy as to be boring. Just the right amount of challenge in my opinion.
The new White Mountain puzzles have just come out in the past couple of weeks, and so many of them are out of stock already! It’s easy to see why they’re so popular, images that are fun, nostalgic, bright, and many other adjectives my coffee-deprived brain can’t think of. More have been ordered I’m sure, and will be back in stock hopefully very soon. They are very good quality puzzles with an excellent catalog and the best collages around. Click here to see all the puzzles from White Mountain currently available at Puzzle Warehouse.
As usual for a White Mountain 1000 piece the finished puzzle is 24 x 30 inches (61 x 76 cm) so make sure you have a large enough work space. The pieces were undamaged and separated and there was little to no dust in the bag. The pieces were thick and sturdy, with a variety of piece shapes, and fit together well. The image reproduction was very nice with beautiful, bright colors and a slightly shiny finish. I did have a small issue with image lift occurring because I placed a piece incorrectly; when I lifted it out the image layer came up a bit. This only happened on a couple of pieces, and was mostly my fault for placing it in the wrong spot – but it’s worth mentioning.
This image is not one that I would normally purchase. While it is a collage, it doesn’t jump out as something that I would HAVE to have. Of course, as usual, I was completely wrong in my assumption and I had an awesome time assembling it. It was hard for me to walk away from it, I didn’t want to stop! You would think I would learn, but that doesn’t seem to be the case; on the plus side, that means I get to be surprised a lot by how much fun these puzzles are. 😉
Lewis T. Johnson is the artist, and his artwork has been made into many a gorgeous puzzle. He does beautiful collages and much more. Click the link to see all the puzzles from this artist available now at Puzzle Warehouse. Sea Turtle World looks like a fun challenge, and check out all the travel themed collages he’s done – they look like great fun!
Best Places in the World is a beautiful collage that makes for an excellent puzzle. If you’re a travel buff or know someone who is, this would make a great gift. Highly recommended! 👍👍
I received this product at no cost in return for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own.
Another funky and interesting find from the thrift store. This puzzle has only 16 pieces – they are perfectly square, 3D, and magnetic.
The puzzle comes in a small square metal tin; you can solve the puzzle in it and store the pieces in there too! That would be great to keep in the car to occupy little hands, as long as they’re old enough not to put things in their mouths.
Ceaco makes some of the most interesting puzzles. We’ve found many different types of puzzles from them, too bad their regular cardboard puzzles aren’t a little more sturdy. Oh well, bring on the interesting – I love all the oddball puzzles we’ve found!
My Jigsaw Journal 