Colorful Animal World Map

On October 19, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

This was a fun 100 piece puzzle that had a little bit of challenge to it. There’s lots of ocean and it wasn’t always easy to see what piece goes next. It doesn’t lay completely flat as you can see in the picture above, but it is a thrift store purchase so perhaps it was well loved before donation. Still, it is a very good quality kid’s puzzle that also glows in the dark! Check it out….

It doesn’t just glow in the dark, it glows in 3 different colors; red (hardest to see), green, and blue. I’m not always able to get a good glow picture, so I was pleased that this one turned out so well showing all 3 colors. How cool is that? Very!

I enjoyed putting this one together, I like it when a kid’s puzzle has a little bit of challenge to it. I think that’s good for kids too, if all their puzzles are too easy they get bored. It feels like a little more of an accomplishment if you had to work at it a little bit. Of course, that’s just my own personal puzzle addict’s opinion. 😉

Galaxies

On October 18, 2017October 18, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

This is our first Japanese manufactured puzzle! The quality is excellent, and the subject matter was very interesting as well. Had a great time assembling it, the very last part was a teensy bit tedious, but overall I loved this puzzle. 🙂

The pieces are quite thick and fit together extremely well. It’s hard to comment on the image reproduction as the entire puzzle was very dark, but it was very clear with no fuzziness at all. There are a nice variety of piece shapes too. Excellent quality all around, and I’d love to find more Epoch puzzles to assemble. Isn’t it amazing that these days it’s not too terribly difficult to find puzzles from all over the world? It’s so much fun for me to try all these companies from across the globe!

Most of the lighter sections of this puzzle glow in the dark, and I must say that it’s the strongest and nicest glow I’ve ever seen on a puzzle. It was amazingly bright and clear, but unfortunately it didn’t photograph well at all, and I wasn’t able to get a good picture of the glow. 😦

As you can see from the picture, there were lots of words to assemble, be still my heart! There were explanations of different types of galaxies, superclusters of galaxies, the anatomy of a galaxy, explanations of light travel time, etc. Educational and fun at the same time.

Mom helped a bit with this puzzle, and we had a good time working together, as usual. When I got to the end, though, I was working alone. The dark pieces around the edge of the galaxy shown slowed me down a bit and it was a little difficult at the end. Still, I enjoyed it very much. 👍

Review: The Music Castle

On October 17, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews2 Comments

The Music Castle by Colin Thompson – Ravensburger – 500 pieces

I’m trying out a new review format here. What do you think? Love it? Hate it? Let me know in the comments or email using the contact me page above. 🙂

As usual, this Colin Thompson puzzle by Ravensburger was wonderful to assemble! I love his artwork and have done several of his cupboards and boxes. I love the little details but at times, for me, they can be a little too busy. It all depends on my mood; sometimes I’m all about an intricate, detailed image, and sometimes I crave simplicity and straightforward colorful images. This one had a little bit of both, the perfect happy medium!

The sky was the easiest place to start with the streak of pink and all the turrets, and from there I worked on the moat and piano keys. The rest of the puzzle seemed to fall into place quickly, and was a joy to assemble. And for you Colin Thompson fans, never fear – there are plenty of little pink people hanging around this castle; they’re singing and playing instruments, or just hanging out. 😉

I don’t always order puzzles new since my puzzle “dealer” keeps me supplied with almost unlimited thrift store purchases; but I saw this puzzle while online window shopping and had to get it. It was as much fun as I’d hoped, and just the right amount of challenging.

Details:

Title: The Music Castle
Artist: Colin Thompson
Brand: Ravensburger
Piece count: 500 pieces
Size: Approx. 19 x 14 in. (49 x 36 cm)
Purchased: New

Quality:

Board: Thick and sturdy
Cutting: Excellent – fully separated, no hanging paper
Image: Excellent
Box: Very good
Fit: Normal/Average
Puzzle Dust: Small amount
Piece cut: Grid
Piece shapes: Good variety
Finish: Matte finish, lays flat

Overall Rating: Excellent, highly recommended

Dog Hammock

On October 16, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Another adorable dog puzzle, look at that face! What a sweet, sweet puppy!

I wasn’t feeling great when I did this, and because it was only a 200 piece puzzle I was able to work on it lying down in bed. It doesn’t take up much room and fits easily on my white board even though it’s a larger piece puzzle. They’re large for Re-Marks, but not the largest I’ve worked with.

These pieces fit together very well, and it was a fun puzzle all around. It really was an excellent image for puzzling, the hammock, dog, and flower were easy to find and assemble. There wasn’t too much plain white space, but enough that the puzzle wasn’t too easy to complete. Excellent quality puzzle, with a truly adorable image. They have more in the series, including 2 more puzzles with dogs, a cat, a hamster, and a frog. They’re all very cute, and I would love to find and assemble them as well. 🙂

Hot Chocolate

On October 15, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

Super cute image, but not an easy puzzle by any means. But the more difficult ones are the most fun when I can work on them with my mom. 🙂

FX Schmid puzzles have excellent quality, I’ve never had a bad one. The pieces are thick and feel good in your hand. They fit together very well, and the image reproduction is exceptional. This puzzle was no different and it was nice to have good quality pieces with such a difficult puzzle.

I know it doesn’t look too bad, but the chocolate lab, the boots, and the darker areas of the fire/fireplace made it a bit of a challenge. It was adorable though, and we enjoyed even the challenging parts. I looked up this puzzle to be sure I had all the information correct and according to some this is a rare puzzle that’s hard to find. Cool! (It’s still going to the senior center though, I’m sure they’ll have fun with it)