Over the River by Susan Winget – Ceaco – 500 pieces
Over the River is the companion puzzle to one I assembled in February of this year. They come in a book box with two compartments – each holds a puzzle with cork backing, both by the same artist. Like many of the “different” Ceaco puzzles it was very good quality.
🎶Over the River and through the woods, to grandmother’s house we go!🎶
The first one I put together from this box was Simple Pleasures, and it seemed much easier to assemble than this puzzle (although my memory isn’t as reliable as it used to be 👵). There were so many places around the whimsies that didn’t connect at all, and it was a bit frustrating to constantly have to fix pieces that had moved. It can get quite tedious – but sometimes that’s how whimsies go.
With these puzzles it’s sometimes hard to find all the whimsy pieces before you begin; so these are some, but definitely not all of them…
The scalloped edges aren’t as easy to assemble as you’d think, so I began with the words. It took way more brain power than I’d assumed!
The inset scenes were lovely!
Even though it gave my gray cells a little bit of a workout, it was great fun. And you definitely can’t beat the price – 99 cents for two 500 piece puzzles with cork backing! I absolutely got more than a dollar’s worth of entertainment. ☺
It’s the last day of Hanukkah, and only 15 days until Christmas – I have to say that my holiday spirit has either left the building, or failed to show up in the first place. I’m not in the mood for lights, decorations, cookies, presents, or even being around smiling happy people.
Know what puzzle I’d like to have and assemble right now? This one…
In my mind I’m living just north of Who-ville at the moment; perhaps this puzzle would cheer me up – it is a Ravensburger after all.
The Nutcracker by Anie Maltais – JaCaRou Puzzles – 1000 pieces
The Nutcracker is a beautiful image and puzzle, and although there was a slight quality issue I enjoyed it’s assembly very much. It’s the first puzzle of this brand that I’ve tried, and I was impressed.
JaCaRou Puzzles are a relatively new brand to the market, but I have to say for someone like myself who enjoys bright, interesting artwork they have an amazing catalog! All the artwork is done by Anie Maltais, who also the owner of the company. I surprised myself by choosing this Christmas image with all the other gorgeous, colorful puzzles they have, but something about this one spoke to me that day.
The pieces are a good thickness and quite sturdy with a very good variety of shapes that fit together well. I had some damaged pieces along with an image reproduction problem (the filigree along the edges was very blurry in contrast to the rest of the puzzle). I admit I was disappointed, but my email to the company prompted an unbelievably fast reply from Anie herself; and the excellent customer service I received leads me to believe that my damaged puzzle was an anomaly. I won’t hesitate to try another JaCaRou.
The puzzle comes in a special edition book box of very nice quality, with what seems to be a switch to turn on a small “music box” that I’m assuming plays The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky. It didn’t work (dead batteries), but I’m not holding that against them – it’s a great idea!
I started out assembling this puzzle in bed, on my trays. It went together pretty darn quickly.
Now that it’s been moved to the board and filled in some it’s looking fantastic.
The top edge was easy to distinguish from the rest of the edges, and went together quite easily. The cord down the center was a little more of a challenge, but not too much so.
The filigree pattern around the edges was the most difficult part for me, but I love the look of the puzzle as a whole – all that’s left now are the edges!
Close-up of the presents under the tree…
The beautiful colors and patterns on these presents make me want to try one of the other JaCaRou puzzles with the bright artwork, the only problem is which one to choose. 😉 I’m leaning towards either Hearts of Glass or Home Sweet Home. I can’t decide!
Details:
Title:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â The Nutcracker
Artist:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Anie Maltais
Brand:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â JaCaRou
Piece count:Â Â Â 1000 pieces
Size:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Approx. 27 x 20 in. (70 x 50 cm)
Purchased:Â Â Â New
Quality:
Board:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Very good
Cutting:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Very good
Image:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Good, blurry filigree
Box:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Excellent, book box
Fit:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Very good
Puzzle Dust:Â Â Â Small amount
Piece cut:Â Â Â Â Â Grid cut
Piece shapes:Â Â Very good variety
Finish:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Slightly shiny finish
Overall Rating:Â Â Â Very good, recommended
**I don’t normally contact companies about small quality problems, things happen. It’s been my experience though that puzzles with specialty packaging have their own unique problems and are sometimes manufactured at different facilities. I thought that JaCaRou should be made aware of the quality issues I had, especially because of the packaging; I believe the damaged pieces were most likely the result of how they were placed in the box. Anie was apologetic, and graciously offered to replace either the damaged pieces or the entire puzzle (I declined both). She was also appreciative that I mentioned the fuzzy border, so that she can address the issue. I love that she cares so much about making sure the puzzles she produces are the best quality they can be, and that she took so much of her time to correspond with me about resolving any problems.
This was a fun but challenging puzzle, and it makes me smile every time I look at it. To me, it looks as if the The Dark Helmet is in the process of dabbing….
–“I just blew up Alderaan!” *dab*
–“Obi Wan is now a jumble of Jedi dust!” *dab*
I honestly didn’t see it until the puzzle was complete and sitting on my whiteboard waiting to be photographed; then all of a sudden it clicked. Perhaps it’s all in my mind and I’m the only one who sees it, but I don’t care – it makes me giggle. Once it suggested itself to me, that’s all I can see. I know it’s meant to look menacing and if he’s on the attack, but what I see is a self-satisfied bully dabbing to celebrate his dastardly deeds.
This was a thrift store find that mom purchased mainly because it was only 69 cents. Normally she wouldn’t get a image like this – it’s not our usual “pile of pieces” (cup of tea). But it was a small piece count, we always love to try out new brands, and you absolutely can’t beat that price!
Shutterfly will make just about any custom gift with your photos – cards, mousepads, mugs, puzzles, etc. To be honest, in my head I was thinking that the quality couldn’t possibly be very good. I’m happy to report that based on this puzzle I was quite wrong. 🙂
The pieces were pleasantly thick and felt good in your hand, they had the almost waxy feel of a Gibsons or Jumbo puzzle; there were a variety of piece shapes, but the majority were ballerinas (2 prong/2 hole). The image reproduction is hard to gauge, since the image shown is quite bland color-wise, but there didn’t seem to be any blurry or fuzzy sections. My only issue was the slightly loose fit, though it wasn’t too bad.
I normally don’t comment on puzzle boxes unless they’re unusual or very good quality – I was very impressed with the quality of the box! It was extremely sturdy and felt even nicer than the boxes of some “premium” puzzle brands. Overall I was impressed by the quality of both the box and the puzzle inside.
The picture was quite boring (just my opinion), though perhaps the place held a special significance to whomever the puzzle was made for; it’s just not my idea of an interesting puzzle image. But to each their own, right?
*update*
One of my readers requested a picture of the box. I really couldn’t figure out a way to show why I was impressed with it’s quality other than to show the texture of it in the view of the side. My assumption was that box quality wouldn’t be high on their list, but I was pleasantly surprised!
My Jigsaw Journal 