Barnyard Antics

On July 6, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles6 Comments

This panoramic puzzle is so adorable, it helped make up for the less than wonderful quality of the pieces. Also, there was no name of the image or artist on the box. I don’t understand that, if I were an artist whose work was made into a puzzle I would definitely want my name and the name of my artwork somewhere on the box!

This thrift store puzzle was in pretty good condition, but it didn’t seem to be the best quality to begin with. The pieces were thin and easily bent, and separating them caused them to split and peel. The image reproduction seemed quite nice though, and I very much enjoyed watching it come together.

The faces of the animals and their silly smiles were so cute that I enjoyed assembling them very much. Look at two of my favorite faces….

I love that the bunny was sticking it’s tongue out – that’s definitely something I would do when having my picture taken! And the lamb’s face is just funny, it makes me smile every time I look at it.

For me, all the puzzles I assemble don’t have to be perfect. If the quality isn’t premium or a piece is missing I can still enjoy putting it together. It’s the assembly itself that I enjoy, being able to zone out and focus solely on the pieces, shapes, and colors. It helps me to reduce stress and deal with anxiety and chronic pain. It’s almost meditative for me.

Every puzzler has their own reasons for why they enjoy puzzling, what’s yours?

Review: Snowfolks

On July 5, 2018July 5, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Snowfolks by Bill Bell – Springbok – 60 pieces

This is a cute, wintry puzzle for my Christmas in July here on the blog. Unfortunately it had one of the tightest fits I’ve ever worked with, it was quite difficult to assemble – not because of the image, but because it took so much effort to connect the pieces.

Springbok puzzles usually have a tight fit, some much tighter than others; I’m not a fan of having to have upper body strength to complete a puzzle. Sometimes when working with a super tight fit my thumb starts to hurt from pushing so hard to put the pieces together! Springbok has some excellent, fun to assemble images though, and so I sometimes take a chance and hope that the fit isn’t too snug. You can see above that the finished puzzle doesn’t lie flat, it curls up along the edges because of the fit – this made it difficult to get a good picture.

Other than the fit this puzzle was good quality; good variety of piece shapes, thick pieces, and excellent image reproduction. I love the image – it’s very cute, and great for a kids puzzle.

Below are a couple of my favorite “folks”….

All the different snowfolks were adorable, but these were my favorites. The first one is perfect for Christmas in July, and the fisherman and the golfer are just plain cute. There’s also a hockey player, clown, gardener, firefighter, and many others. So fun!

This puzzle is recommended, with the warning that the fit on the puzzle I assembled was extremely tight. Perhaps not all of these puzzles will be this snug, but be forewarned.

Details:

Title: Snowfolks
Artist: Bill Bell
Brand: Springbokk
Piece count: 60 pieces
Size: Approx. 14 x 19 in. (35 x 48 cm)
Purchased: Used, thrift store

Quality:

Board: Very good
Cutting: Very good
Image: Excellent
Box: Average
Fit: Poor, much too tight
Puzzle Dust: Small amount
Piece cut: Grid cut
Piece shapes: Good variety
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, doesn’t lie flat

Overall Rating: Good, recommended (beware the rigid fit)

American Angel

On July 4, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

Happy Independence Day! Luckily mom found this beauty at a thrift store in time for the holiday. It was a bit of a challenge, but an enjoyable one – and it’s a gorgeous puzzle!

The quality was good, with thick pieces that fit together well and beautiful colors. The random cut kept me on my toes and made for an interesting assembly. The finished puzzle didn’t lay completely flat, with some tabs and edges sticking up; but with a used puzzle I don’t blame that on the manufacturer. The missing piece was disappointing, but again that’s something that happens with a thrift store puzzle.

The flag was harder to put together than I thought it would be, you’d think the bright red and blue colors wouldn’t be too much of a challenge, but they definitely were. The red sections especially took more time than I thought. The clouds at the bottom were the most challenging part, but the random cut made it interesting and difficult to walk away from. The entire assembly was great fun!

I always enjoy puzzles like this though, taking a color or section (like the red and blue flag sections) and figuring out how it all fits together is extremely satisfying. That’s the fun of a puzzle for most people; but there’s something about taking the pieces for a smaller section and putting it all together without the help of adjoining pieces. Perhaps that’s the reason I enjoy collage puzzles so much. With a collage, the whole assembly is putting together small sections. I love it!

The Puzzle that Froze Christmas

On July 3, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles1 Comment

This is one of the “extra difficult” cuts, and although I didn’t find it that challenging in the micro puzzle, I can see how it would be a bear in a larger piece count. This was also produced as a 280 piece puzzle, YIKES! That one would have challenged both my patience and my sanity. 😱

You can see below that there are very few different shapes to work with, which can be daunting – but as long as you pay close attention to the image as you assemble it you’ll get there.

The repeating pattern of the reindeer is so fun, and to me it even looks amazing from the back – I would display it either way!

I started by separating piece shapes – that seems the easiest way to work these difficult cuts with challenging images. That’s true for this puzzle especially because the color scheme is only black and white. There are left-facing reindeer, right-facing reindeer, and pieces that go in between and on the edges. From there I started with the darkest part of the fence and worked outward. Patience and attention to the image are all that is required. I had a great time with this one!

I still have a bunch of these Christmas and winter themed micro puzzles to show this month, I hope everyone doesn’t get tired of them. There are a couple more “extra difficult” cut puzzles, but the majority of them are regular images with the regular Wentworth cuts. They’re so entertaining to put together, and my hope is that they’re entertaining to see and read about as well.

Spongebob Squarepants

On July 2, 2018July 2, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Another quick kids puzzle that fit together well, but both the box and the pieces were less than ideal. I guess the fit is one of the most important things, but for me I’d like both the pieces and the box to be more sturdy.

Kids aren’t always careful or gentle with their toys, the boxes especially. I think puzzles are important for children to play with – of course I’m most likely a bit biased. Still, if the boxes are sturdy and not easily broken then there is less chance of losing pieces. When you have a box that just opens like a cereal box there is a greater chance of losing pieces; once you lose pieces you also lose the desire to assemble that puzzle – at least that’s true for me.

It’s a fun puzzle to assemble, with bright colors and a fun picture – especially if you’re a Spongebob fan. It didn’t take long to put together, but was a nice change of pace since I hadn’t had any kids puzzles to assemble for a while. For me a puzzle is a puzzle, no matter the piece count. I try to enjoy them all! 🙂