Author: Stacey at myjigsawjournal

Rainbow Pets In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling8 Comments

Studio Pets? by Myrna – Sure Lox/TCG – 500 pieces

Oh man, I wish I could tell you this adorable image is fun to assemble, but that would be lying; and we NEVER lie about jigsaw puzzles here. It’s obviously not finished yet, but I can’t wait to complete it so it can go bye bye; the quality is subpar and the assembly hasn’t been much fun.

After finishing a Ravensburger, to jump to one of this quality is such a let down. It is going slowly because it isn’t very enjoyable and I keep stopping to do something else. Sometimes I do that to make an entertaining puzzle last longer but that is not the case here; I keep stopping because this puzzle is just…ugh. Sigh. It’s not horrible, I’ve assembled much worse quality puzzles, it’s just not the right puzzle for right now I guess.

Usually I’m an advocate for not assembling puzzles that aren’t entertaining; “life is too short for crappy puzzles” – that’s my motto. But this is more about making my son happy, because he rarely asks for anything at all. Even when he should absolutely ask for help, he doesn’t – he doesn’t want to be a burden or take away time from whatever you’re doing. So, when he asks me to put together a puzzle because he likes it, I cannot seem to resist because he actually asked for something. Mom wants to grant his request, how could I not?

My son has been trying to get me to assemble this puzzle for quite a while, and I finally gave in. This time it’s gonna get done so that I can get it OUT OF HERE! I’m either going to stop letting him pick out puzzles to purchase or be more firm about his choices. When he picks up a horrible image like that god-awful unicorn or puzzles from companies that aren’t the best quality – like this one – I have to say no way!

There is no title that I can find anywhere on the box, the only way to find it was looking it up online. Annoying. And this puzzle is already annoying me with it’s shiny finish and thin pieces. I’m annoyed. Can you tell?

Tube-tastic

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles1 Comment

Tube-tastic – MicroPuzzles – 150 pieces

This little thing was MUCH more difficult than anticipated, I was constantly putting pieces in the wrong places! I thought the image would be fun (it was) and wouldn’t take too long (it did); but no matter, the challenge got me motivated to finish it and it was enjoyable the whole way through.

Normally I don’t have to use the image on the tube these puzzles come in – but for all the little scribbles on the paper it definitely helped to have a reference.

The fit was a little looser than usual, but otherwise it was the same great quality MicroPuzzle that I’m used to. Loved it!

Rainbow World

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Rainbow World by Michael Searle – MasterPieces – 300 pieces

This image is quite an assault on the senses (my son picked it out), but the puzzle was excellent quality and I enjoyed the assembly very much – in spite of the eyeball blistering artwork. 😲

This was the best quality MasterPieces puzzle that I can remember assembling. The pieces were quite thick with a very good variety of shapes, the fit was excellent, the reproduction is bright and crisp – overall just a great quality puzzle and I was duly impressed.

The fit was so impressive that I even got one of my favorite types of pictures….you guessed it!

I was so confident in the fit that I took this picture first, before making sure I had a good “normal” picture for the post. If I’m not mistaken I have never been able to take one of these pictures with a MasterPieces puzzle before – this puzzle really impressed me!

Also, this is a glow in the dark puzzle. I’m not always a fan of these types of puzzles, only because of the tactile feeling of the pieces. They can feel grainy, almost like there is sand glued to the puzzle, and this one did as well. I can usually deal with it, as most GITD puzzles are smaller piece counts; but I’m not a fan of the way it feels in my hands.

Grainy feeling or not, I got a FANTASTIC glow in the dark picture!

…Mad In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling2 Comments

Most Everyone is Mad by Dean MacAdam – Ravensburger – 1000 pieces

I’ve haven’t gotten too much completed on this puzzle so far; some nasty virus has taken up residence and for the past couple of days I’ve been in bed trying to rest and feel better. Thank goodness today I’m finally feeling up to sitting at the puzzle table again and have accomplished a bit this morning.

Most of the principle characters are done or almost done, except of course for the Cheshire Cat who’s smack in the middle of the image. He’s next, and that nasty smile of his should make it pretty easy.

This is my third puzzle with artwork by Dean MacAdam, and his images are so full of fun and interesting characters that they make for excellent puzzling. There are a couple newer fairytale images I have yet to purchase (Goldilocks and Red Riding Hood), and he’s got another one called The Dog Walker that looks too adorable for words. 🤎🐕🐩🐕‍🦺🤎

Uh oh, I feel the PADS kicking in…where’s my wallet?!

Garden Study of the Vickers Children

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

Garden Study of the Vickers Children by John Singer Sargent – Laurel Ink – 500 pieces

Fine Art puzzle images aren’t usually my thing, but there was something about this one that I couldn’t resist; there’s something about the faces of the children but I’m not sure I could articulate what that is. Not only is the artwork striking, but the puzzle is from a company I hadn’t heard of before – the added excitement of trying out a new brand!

The quality of this puzzle was good/very good. The chipboard is a good thickness and there are an excellent variety of piece shapes. The fit is very good, as is the image reproduction; the finish was somewhat shiny which did cause me a few problems, but it wasn’t too bad. My only quality concern was quite a few pieces still attached.

Whoever assembled this puzzle before didn’t separate all the pieces; so there were probably about 40 or more with two pieces attached, and some with more than three or four pieces still connected together. Separating the pieces caused little bits of cardboard to stick up at the corners of the pieces, and in some places it shows in the finished image. Overall though, it was a good quality puzzle which made me very happy.

The entire back of the box was dedicated to a small biography of the painter, John Singer Sargent. It was an interesting read, and I enjoyed both learning about him and his work and assembling the puzzle.

I really did well on my last trip to the thrift store. I found both this one and the 65 year old Tuco; Mom would be proud. 💖