Arctic Kiss

On January 6, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

This was a cute kids puzzle that I only assembled because I wanted to see how it glows. Unfortunately there wasn’t much as far as glow was concerned, so I wasn’t able to get a good “glow picture”. Oh well, it’s still a cute image.

The puzzle wasn’t the greatest quality, it’s a Ceaco puzzle, but we had hopes that because it was a specialty (Glow Zone) that it might be a little better quality. We’ve worked several special Ceaco puzzles with really nice quality – some with cork backing, one with velvet backing, and some with long strips of pieces instead of the average piece. The odd ones seem to have much better quality than the average Ceaco puzzles – at least that’s been our experience so far.

This puzzle, even though it was a glow zone puzzle, was about average Ceaco quality. The pieces are thinner, and although they fit together well the finished puzzle doesn’t lie completely flat. You can see in the picture above that some of the pieces stick up a bit. Still, the image is nice, and even though it’s not a premium quality puzzle, it was still entertaining to assemble.

I used to say I didn’t want to do any puzzles under 1000 pieces, and was pretty snobby about the brands of puzzles I would buy. I don’t buy new puzzles from companies whose quality isn’t up to my standards, but used puzzles are a whole different story. Now, as long as I can assemble the puzzle and enjoy myself doing it – that’s what counts. Who cares if the quality isn’t perfect? If we can buy 20 puzzles for the price of 1 at the thrift store, and we can enjoy ourselves assembling them, isn’t that what’s really important? I think so.

Summer Teatime

On January 5, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

This puzzle made me stop and think. It isn’t an image I would choose to purchase new, but having gotten it from a thrift store I’m more willing to assemble it; it’s a lovely scene, but it isn’t an image that grabs me (hope this makes sense). I assembled it one morning because I wanted a smaller piece count puzzle, and oddly enough, once it was assembled the image seems more attractive to me. I had to stop and think why this was.

I suppose it’s a combination of things. First, the puzzle was EXCELLENT quality. Extremely thick, sturdy pieces that fit together wonderfully. The image reproduction is good, if a bit shiny; even with lighter colors a shiny finish causes glare when you’re working under artificial lights. (I have no natural light in my puzzle area) The pieces are EZ grasp, which added to the thickness of the board made for a wonderful tactile experience. Second, the entire assembly was quite fun and I enjoyed placing every single piece. The image makes for a good puzzle with some areas of a single color and some busier areas with flowers and berries.

Having worked with the excellent quality pieces which helped to make the assembly so fun, I took a picture and the image seemed more attractive to me. I was happy about finishing the puzzle and seeing the image assembled I thought “What a pretty picture!”. That isn’t what I thought when I first saw the puzzle box. I didn’t hate it, it just wasn’t a picture that made me suck in my breath and say “ooooh!” You know what I mean, you’ve most likely done it when you saw a puzzle that you loved.

I’ve become a bit less judgy since I’ve started doing reviews because many times a puzzle that was chosen for me to assemble isn’t one I would have chosen for myself. And almost every time I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the assembly and ended up seeing the image differently once I’d completed it. The same goes for thrift store purchases, mom buys puzzles that aren’t always ones that we’d normally purchase, but getting a puzzle at 95% off changes your perspective. 😉

If you get a chance to work a puzzle that might not ordinarily grab your attention, give it a try (especially a thrift store or swapped puzzle). It’s a nice change and you just may be surprised at how much you enjoy it!

It’s a Hoot!

On January 4, 2018January 4, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

IMG_E4085 — It’s a Hoot – Wentworth Wooden Puzzles – 259 pieces

This is a striking image that was a lot of fun to work, and not really difficult at all. Mom and I assembled this one together, and we had a great time doing it. It didn’t take as much time as we thought it would with the repetitive cut, I think it actually makes assembly a little bit easier. You can see in the picture below the repetitive shapes, they’re like little owls!

I love working with these wonderful wooden puzzles. I like the feel of them as they fall into place, I love looking at the interesting shapes, I love the smell of the wood, and the care they take in packaging the pieces. They’re just excellent in every way.

I highly recommend the “extra difficult cut” you can get with some of the Wentworth puzzles. This is the second challenging cut that I’ve done, and I actually found it easy to work with. I’m not sure if I’ll be trying the winter scenes though, lots of snow and trees is too close to winter aspen for me.

It’s so wonderfully bright and colorful, I’d love to hang it on the wall for a while, but there’s no bleeping way I would glue any of these wooden puzzles! They’re too much fun to only assemble one time; mom and I loved this puzzle and will definitely be doing it over and over again.

Dear God, You Thought of Everything!

On January 3, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

This is the last of 3 Dear God kids puzzles mom got at the thrift store. They were all complete, and all much more difficult than we bargained for. The line drawing quality of the artwork makes this puzzle a bit of a challenge. All 3 tested us a bit, and all 3 were completely adorable!

The pieces were a little thin and there was some image lift, but they fit together well and were relatively sturdy. We enjoyed these puzzles very much, and laughed at how difficult they were for us. We put together 2000 piece puzzles, how does a little 100 piece kids puzzle give us such grief?

It’s much more fun working on a difficult puzzle with someone, well I think so anyway. You can talk and laugh and help each other out, and even if it’s challenging you’re not as frustrated because there’s someone else to take off some of the pressure. That’s been my experience anyway. I love assembling puzzles with my mom, there’s lots of laughing and teasing – even some cussing, which is adorable coming from a “little old lady’s” mouth! We know how the other assembles puzzles and we’re used to working together. It’s the best!

Mother and Daughter (1)

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

This puzzle reminds me of my mother, which is why I bought it. This is the first of two 500 piece puzzles in the same box. The second puzzle is the same mother and daughter, a bit older, and mom is teaching her daughter how to knit. Both images are beautiful, the mother reminds me of my mom. ❤

This was my first Falcon puzzle and I was impressed. The pieces are thick and sturdy and fit together well, although there was a tendency for the image to lift sometimes when removing a piece placed incorrectly. The image reproduction is very good, with a matte finish to avoid glare. The majority of the pieces were ballerinas, but there were a few other shapes as well. Excellent quality all around, but I wouldn’t mind a better variety of piece shapes.

The vintage nature of the image makes the pieces themselves seem fuzzy and indistinct, but once you’ve got it assembled it’s clear as a bell, and quite lovely. It makes the assembly more challenging for me, but I really love the image and didn’t mind having to work a little harder to assemble it. I’m getting ready to assemble the second image. I have hopes that it might be a little easier, but I’m probably wrong. Doesn’t matter, I’m sure I’ll enjoy that challenge too! 😉