Busy Airport

On February 17, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

This very small piece count puzzle didn’t take much time at all, but it was done on a day where I sat in front of the tv assembling all the kid’s puzzles I had in the house. I wanted to make sure all pieces were there before donating them to the school my daughter works for.

Another wonderful quality Ravensburger puzzle, although I think this one may have been well loved before it was donated to our local thrift store. The box showed quite a bit of wear and tear, but the pieces seem to have held up very well. There was one slightly bent piece that you can see in the picture above (the tab is slightly raised), but otherwise the puzzle remains in very good condition.

Many puzzlers say they only do 1000 piece puzzles or more, but I love puzzles no matter the size. I’ve had quite a bit of fun doing puzzles geared towards children, perhaps because I may be an adult but I refuse to “grow up”. I can enjoy myself doing a puzzle no matter how many pieces it has, and as long as there’s enjoyment that’s all that matters!

Besides, parents need to see reviews of puzzles for children; they deserve information about quality and difficulty of assembly as much as adults do. 🙂

Review: Flower Kaleidoscope

On February 16, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Flower Kaleidoscope by Lori Schory – Ravensburger – 300 pieces

This puzzle is even more beautiful than the picture, and the picture is pretty darn gorgeous! As soon as I saw this image I couldn’t wait to get assembling, it’s just such a lovely puzzle.

This is a large piece Ravensburger, and though it’s only 300 pieces it’s the size of the average 1000 piece puzzle. I enjoy the larger pieces lately, as I can’t sit and puzzle as long as I used to; putting only a few pieces together seems like I made great progress in a short amount of time. 🙂

The quality was wonderful, and I can’t say enough about the image reproduction – just stunning! The colors are bright and beautiful with no fuzziness. I adored assembling this puzzle, and I look forward to finding more beautiful nature puzzles from Lori Schory.

Details:

Title: Flower Kaleidoscope
Artist: Lori Schory
Brand: Ravensburger
Piece count: 300 pieces
Size: Approx. 20 x 27 in. (51 x 69 cm)
Purchased: Used, thrift store

Quality:

Board: Excellent
Cutting: Excellent
Image: Excellent
Box: Average, quite large for a 300 piece puzzle
Fit: Excellent
Puzzle Dust: Small amount
Piece cut: Grid cut
Piece shapes: Very good variety
Finish: Matte finish, lays flat

Overall Rating: Excellent, highly recommended

American Puppy

On February 15, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

I had never worked a Lang puzzle before, and I really love this image so I decided to give this one a try. I might purchase a Lang again if it had an exceptional image that I just had to have, but otherwise I don’t think this is a brand I’ll be purchasing much.

The pieces were on the thin side, and unfortunately there was no variety in the piece shape either. Without a selection of shapes to choose from, large areas of the same color or pattern become even more difficult. The finish was slightly shiny, but not too bad. Overall though, just a little sub-par for me.

I usually like to try at least 2 or 3 puzzles from one brand before making any pronouncements about the overall quality, but this one was purchased new which makes it a bit easier for me to assess it’s quality. Still, if we’re able to find any Lang puzzles at the thrift stores that have good images I’d be willing to give them a try; if for no other reason than to get more information on this brand and it’s quality.

I’m not a great fan of cat puzzles; puppies and dogs are more my style. A quick search of the artist brought up only puppy puzzles, I guess he’s a dog person too! There are still so many brands I have yet to work with, and when an image is sweet like this one I just can’t help myself and I want to give it a try. I’m not sorry I bought this puzzle, even though at times the assembly felt a bit tedious it is still a great image and I was able to check off another brand from my list. There are so many still left to try! 🙂

Panda Family

On February 14, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

This is such a sweet image, it’s hard to resist those adorable faces! I love the pop of color at the bottom too; it’s just a lovely picture all around.

Ravensburger puzzles are excellent quality premium puzzles, no matter what age group they’re geared towards. The puzzles for both children and adults are made from high quality chipboard and have a beautiful finish. They fit together very well, and sometimes I might even say the children’s puzzles fit even better than the adult ones. After giving a few Ravensburger puzzles to my adopted grandson, his mother tells me that he prefers this brand over all his other puzzles. He will assemble pretty much any puzzle he can find, but he always goes back to the Ravensburgers, even the ones that may be missing a piece or two. He’s become a bit of a puzzle snob like me!

This image isn’t too simple, the bright colors at the bottom are easy enough to assemble quickly, but the pandas themselves and the forest in the background take a little bit more time. It was fun to assemble, even for a “grownup”, and was the usual wonderful Ravensburger quality. Highly recommended! 🐼

Heroines

On February 13, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

I had the best time with this puzzle! If you read this blog regularly you know I love a collage, this was a fantastic puzzle with such interesting images – I couldn’t walk away!

Remarks has come out with some really fun collages lately, I had a hard time choosing between them when I went to get some new puzzles. They have several, including this one, that are Barnes & Noble exclusives. So much fun! The quality on this puzzle was a little better than I remember, nice cutting, good thickness, very nice fit, and a poster inside to help with assembly. The pieces seemed a little small to me, but the previous puzzle I assembled had large EZ Grip pieces so I may be mistaken.

I bought another Remarks collage that day, and am trying to decide if I should do that one next or not. This one went so quickly that I may want to do something else in between to make them last longer. I’m still making up my mind. By the time this is posted, of course, I will have done many more puzzles.

I’m almost ashamed to say I’ve only read 9 of these 50 books. I thought I was pretty well read, but it seems not. Still, at this point in my life I have no tolerance for doing things just because I’m “supposed to” or because others think I should. I’m just going to be me, flaws and all. If people don’t like me, that’s ok; I think I’m pretty darned awesome just the way I am. My family and friends love me, that’s what counts. 😎

If you’re an avid reader, a fan of collages, or are just looking for an entertaining jigsaw puzzle I highly recommend this one. Loved it! ❤