Who Left the Cage Door Open

On August 31, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

I’m surprised how many Bits and Pieces puzzles I haven’t posted – it’s been over 2 years since I assembled these! It could be that it’s just because the pictures were so terrible; I don’t recall making a conscious decision to omit this brand. Again, in my defense, at the time I was taking these pictures it was only to send them by text to family members to show that I had finished a puzzle – I didn’t know I’d be starting a puzzle blog. 🙂

The image itself is excellent for puzzling, especially when working on the puzzle with someone else. There are plenty of items to assemble separately, so it was easy to pick out a section for each person to work on.

I’ve found Bits and Pieces puzzles to have fluctuating quality – some puzzles are excellent, and some are extremely lacking. The pieces are a good thickness, but the fit has sometimes been very poor. The image reproduction has always been stellar in my opinion, though with a slightly shiny finish. The random cut makes for a somewhat more challenging assembly, which I enjoy (but not everyone cares for). This is a brand that we only purchase second-hand now, we try not to pay retail for a puzzle that may or may not have good quality.

I remember being disappointed by this puzzle in particular, the piece shape is very obvious in the finished image, and the fit was quite loose. That said, the image was still entertaining to assemble – mom and I enjoyed the time we spent putting it together!

Georgetown Floral

On August 30, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles1 Comment

I figured this 300 piece puzzle would go together pretty quickly, I figured wrong! Luckily the quality was so good, and the image was so pretty that even though it was difficult I didn’t find it too tedious.

Hasbro’s EZ grip pieces are EXTREMELY thick, and fit together very well. The image reproduction was excellent, with beautiful colors; although the finish was shiny and prone to glare under artificial lights. There were a very good variety of piece shapes as well, and they made for for an interesting assembly. All in all, the quality was wonderful.

This was my first image by Jan Ford, and I enjoyed it very much; the color palette was beautiful. Flower puzzles aren’t always my first choice, but usually once I get going I find that I enjoy them very much.

Although it took longer than I thought it was an entertaining puzzle to assemble, and at the end hubby helped with the last little bit. I always enjoy having him help me with my puzzles, and he very much likes to swoop in at the end and help with the last few pieces. If I’m feeling generous I even let him put in the very last piece. 🙂

Still to Life

On August 29, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

This micro puzzle has beautiful, deep colors and was great fun to assemble. I love the images of Dominic Davison; they’re serene, beautiful, and calming.

As usual, this Wentworth puzzle was excellent quality. It has the loose fit that almost all wooden puzzles have, but I don’t find it as distracting as I do with cardboard puzzles. It’s probably a bit hypocritical on my part, but for me the added pleasure of working with wooden pieces makes up for dealing with the loose fit. The image reproduction is excellent, and adhered well to the wood. There are a good variety of piece shapes, including some whimsy pieces – shown below….

This puzzle had another rerun of whimsies; these are the same pieces in the Sky Roads micro puzzle. They made much more sense for this image than they did for the hot air balloons puzzle, in my opinion.

My to do pile of Wentworth micro puzzles is dwindling, there are only 5 left. They’re perfect for when I don’t have much time, when I might have to spend time in waiting rooms, or for when I have to work on puzzles laying down. I’m going to have to make these 5 puzzles last – or perhaps I should purchase some more. 😉

Lucy’s Shop

On August 28, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

How I wish I’d taken a better picture of this puzzle, it’s absolutely beautiful! The colors were lovely and it was just about a perfect image for puzzling.

This Bits and Pieces puzzle had a very good fit, and I very much enjoyed finding and assembling each small section. If you can believe it, after assembling the edge I started with the grass! I figured it was going to be the most difficult part, so why not get it out of the way first? It wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be, and for me it made the rest of the puzzle seem easier.

The shop itself was the easiest part to put together, and each person in front of it was so entertaining to find and assemble; I really had a great time with this puzzle!

How is it that I can remember so much about a puzzle I put together over two years ago, but can’t remember things that happened yesterday? I have no idea, but I do know this – getting older ain’t for sissies!

Counting Sheep

On August 27, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles9 Comments

I had a terrible time assembling this puzzle, and didn’t enjoy it much at all. It had nothing to do with the subject matter, it was all about the fit of the pieces and quality of the cut. 😐

This was the last puzzle from the 3-in-1 box of dog puzzles from Bits and Pieces, and I’m glad that I didn’t assemble this one first. The other two puzzles in this box were good quality and I had a great time putting them together; if I had completed this one first I don’t know if I would have done the others. I think part of the reason the picture is so haphazard is that I didn’t enjoy assembling it, and I just wanted to get a quick picture to send to mom to show it was finished.

The fit was extremely loose, and accidentally bumping any part of the puzzle with an arm or anything else would upset several pieces or even an entire section. I don’t know if the pieces and tabs being so square in shape had anything to do with the looseness of the fit or if it was the cutting itself. Whichever it was, it made for a terrible assembly.

It’s been fun going down memory lane with these older puzzles I’ve done, but it has also shown me how much my injury and the chronic pain that it has brought has slowed my puzzling down. I used to be able to assemble a 1000 piece puzzle in two days, maybe three; and I used to do several of them each week. Nowadays opening the box of a 1000 piece puzzle causes me anxiety and stress.

On the brighter side, I recently completed a 1000 piece puzzle for review, so here’s hoping I’m able to attempt another one soon, purely for recreational purposes. ☺