This puzzle was great fun, with beautiful colors and the right amount of challenge. I really am enjoying all of these smaller piece count puzzles – they’re perfect when a 1000 piece puzzle is just too overwhelming for me.
I’m finding that many brands with large or EZ grip pieces use excellent quality chipboard; it’s very thick and the pieces fit together extremely well. I’ve had 500 and 1000 piece Milton Bradley puzzles with thinner pieces that were easily bent, but all of their large piece puzzles have had wonderful quality.
I searched the entire box for the name of the artist, but it was nowhere to be found. I could only make out the first name Brooke, but I’ve done several of Brooke Faulder’s puzzles before and was able to confirm that this image was hers as well. She illustrates dogs in such an accurate and adorable way – they have personalities. 🐾
This puzzle was lovely to assemble and it was difficult to walk away from. I would love to find more puzzles from this artist to put together, I’m liking dogs more than people these days. 😕
Mixed Flowers in an Earthenware Pot by Pierre Auguste Renoir – Wentworth Wooden Puzzles – 40 pieces
I spent about 4 days in bed last week; I wanted to work on puzzles so I got out a few of my micro puzzles from Wentworth so that I could assemble them on a cookie sheet while lying down. This was my first Renoir!
I don’t always enjoy working fine art puzzles, the brush strokes and indistinct shapes make assembly more difficult. Sometimes the challenge is just what I need, and sometimes I just don’t want to have to think so hard. Although when there are only 40 pieces my brain doesn’t have to work too strenuously for too long – thank goodness! 😉
I think there are probably still 10 or more of these Wentworth micro puzzles I have yet to assemble. They’re perfect for when I want to puzzle and don’t have much time, space, or energy to assemble a larger one. I’m so glad we found the micro puzzles, and am looking forward to putting together more of them.
I love working with wooden puzzles; even though the fit is loose and sometimes the piece shape is very evident I don’t really care. I just bought myself a present of a new Liberty puzzle and can’t wait for it to arrive. It doesn’t matter that it’s expensive, I don’t apologize for treating myself to something that makes me happy.
Yoga Dogs was so much fun to assemble, and the first 1000 piece puzzle I assembled this month. I’ve been having so much trouble sitting to puzzle that most of the puzzles I’ve put together have been 500 pieces or less. This one took a while, but was completely worth it.
One thing I’ve noticed with Eurographics puzzles is the obvious piece shapes in the finished image. It doesn’t really affect the enjoyment of assembly for me, but if you’re looking to frame a finished puzzle it’s something to consider. I have found though, that if you glue the puzzle before framing it reduces the appearance of the piece shapes. The glue fills in some of the space and the image doesn’t seem as chopped up.
Eurographics have an excellent catalog, including some fascinating educational puzzles along with landscapes, fine art, interesting collages, and much more. They are made from good quality chipboard and are randomly cut which gives a very good variety of piece shapes. The image reproduction is very good with a slightly shiny finish that can cause glare under artificial lights. Check out all the Eurographics puzzles currently in stock at Puzzle Warehouse. There are plenty of great images to choose from, even a 300 piece Yoga Puppies puzzle that looks so precious!
The assembly was relatively easy, I separated out all the pieces with letters or words and also all the background colors. It was simple to assemble each colored background and place it in the frame, and once all the colors were put together finishing off all the dogs and fur was the most challenging part. All in all it was quite an entertaining puzzle and if you’re a fan of dogs or collages I definitely recommend it. 🐶
Details:
Title: Yoga Dogs
Artist: Unknown
Brand: Eurographics
Piece count: 1000 pieces
Size: Approx. 19 x 27 in. (49 x 68 cm)
Purchased: N/A, sent for review
Quality:
Board: Very good
Cutting: Good
Image: Very good
Box: Average
Fit: Slightly loose
Puzzle Dust: Moderate amount
Piece cut: Random cut
Piece shapes: Very good variety
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, lays flat
Overall Rating: Very good, recommended
I received this product at no cost in order to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own.
Things have been crazy this year and I didn’t have a puzzle ready for Mother’s Day. I decided yesterday to try and find a great picture of her and use the Ji Ga Zo program and put together a puzzle of my mom. It isn’t perfect, but I like it, and what better puzzle to show than that of one of my favorite people in the world?
This is my mother’s graduation picture from 1965. Wasn’t she a dish? Hot stuff!
My gorgeous momma!
I used this picture in Ji Ga Zo to make a mosaic puzzle of her. If you’d like to know more about the program and how it works, click the link to see my original post about this puzzle game. It took a while to get the picture cropped properly and the contrast right, but she’s worth it. 😎 I wasn’t able to get it all assembled at once, but finished the mosaic this morning. Here she is….
I like to show both pictures together so you can see how close you can actually get with just sepia tones. It isn’t an exact reproduction, but it’s pretty darn close and very entertaining to assemble. It gets better the farther away you are, if you step back from the computer (or hold your phone farther away) it becomes more “clear”. It’s a fun puzzle/game, and mom and I love playing with it and seeing which pictures would make the best puzzles. I think we may be working together to use dad’s graduation picture for a Father’s Day post this year!
My gorgeous momma!
Ji Ga Zo – 300 pieces
My mom is one of the best people I know. She’s flawed, like all of the rest of us; but she’s also kind and loving, smart and well-spoken, funny and silly, open and honest, empathetic and forgiving, and my very best friend. It seems cliche to say that, so many people do – but she truly is. When I’m hormonal and hating the world she’s the only one I want to talk to. When I’m depressed and anxious, she can make me smile and forget my troubles if only for a little while. When I’m tired and getting stupid silly she laughs with me and understands my ridiculous jokes and comments. When I worry about everything (and nothing) she’s always there to listen and just let me know she cares.
She’s also my puzzle dealer, and my favorite person to assemble puzzles with. We have almost a shorthand and work together extremely well. We tease each other, cuss at each other, and give high fives when one of us completes a section or finds that wayward piece. She’s my puzzle posse! Probably 90-95% of the puzzles we assemble come from her thrift store shopping, and as much as it annoys my dad to wade through the piles of puzzles, he knows how happy it makes me and mom and he puts up with it. Most of the time. (He’s pretty damn cool too!)
Being her daughter makes me very proud, and being her friend makes my life better. Happy Mother’s Day mom – I love you to puzzle pieces! ❤
Delphinium Cottage by Howard Robinson – MasterPieces – 300 pieces
I thought I should show one of these mini framed puzzles actually in the frame. The glue I used was high gloss, so there’s a bit of glare; but it looks pretty darn good to me. ☺
This was the second of my newly named “bathroom puzzles”, and hubby and I enjoyed assembling it very much. It’s difficult not to work on a puzzle when it’s sitting there – and you’re sitting there. To be honest, I miss not having a tiny puzzle in there now that they’re all assembled. Here’s hoping I find more of them one of these days.
I found this image easier to work with than Colors of Venice, and it went together more quickly. The bright flowers and more obvious contrasts helped speed up the pace; it was much easier to separate out certain sections. It may have helped that we were a little more experienced with the very small pieces too – they really were great fun!
To be honest, I didn’t even notice the puppy in the bushes until I was assembling the dogs in the grass. I got all the dogs in the foreground put together and still had pieces with light yellow fur on them, they didn’t seem to connect to the dogs already assembled, where in the world did they go? And how did I miss that every time I looked at the poster? I’m claiming muddled middle-aged brain as an excuse for my lack of perception.😉
I’ll puzzle just about anywhere that’s it’s possible, obviously. It actually helps me deal with my chronic pain, and reduces my anxiety and stress. And even if those things weren’t a factor I find puzzling to be fun, engaging, entertaining, and satisfying. Whatever reason motivates you to puzzle is the best reason there is. Puzzle on my friends!
My Jigsaw Journal 