Author: Stacey at myjigsawjournal

Review: Frenchie

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews6 Comments

Frenchie – de.bored puzzles – 500 pieces

I ADORE this image – French Bulldogs are one of my favorite breeds – it’s my dream puppy. With that sweet little face and that bright, colorful background how could I not give this puzzle a try?

de.bored is a new company to me, and the quality was good. On the pro side there were a great variety of shapes, sturdy chipboard, a good fit, and excellent reproduction. For cons, it had a very shiny finish, and the white, slippery, “sharp” backing that I am not a fan of. It was made in China, but according to the box the company is in Ohio in the United States. Overall the quality reminds me of a Mudpuppy puzzle but with more varied shapes.

It says on the back of the box that they are a “new puzzle company bringing artist-inspired puzzles to you. These frame-worthy designs will help you unplug and destress, allowing you to de.bored your life!” Cute slogan, helping you to be de-stressed and de-bored. Although, if their puzzles are artist-inspired then it’s a bit disappointing that nowhere on the box is the artist who created this image given any credit at all. Just an observation.

I did enjoy this puzzle and the quality was better than I thought it would be. The image was a little challenging, with the colored background much easier to assemble than the dog itself. But then again, if it were too easy it wouldn’t have held my interest as much.

Many thanks and much love to my darling daughter who saw this while she was out shopping and decided that mom would like this puzzle. What a sweetie! 💗

Details:

  • Title:                  Frenchie
  • Artist:                Unknown
  • Brand:               de.bored puzzles
  • Piece count:     500 pieces
  • Size:                  Approx. 17 x 23 in. (43 x 58 cm)
  • Purchased:      New

Quality:

  • Board:               Good
  • Cutting:             Very Good
  • Image:               Excellent
  • Box:                   Average
  • Fit:                     Good
  • Puzzle Dust:     Minimal amount
  • Piece cut:          Grid cut
  • Piece shapes:   Good variety
  • Finish:               Very shiny finish w/sharp, white backing, lays flat

Overall Rating:      Good quality, recommended

Peanuts – Snoopy

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Peanuts (Snoopy) by Charles Schulz – Vista Puzzles – 100 pieces

A miracle happened when I was assembling this puzzle – my youngest son came in and started helping me, and he stayed and was fully engaged until it was finished! It may not seem that miraculous to you, but to his momma it was an amazing blessing.

Both of my sons are autistic, but my youngest is more in his own world than my oldest. He does only the things he is interested in, and trying to get him to engage is quite difficult and sometimes upsets him greatly. For some reason this puzzle was different and he stood next to me and put pieces in until it was finished. AMAZING!

Anyway, this is another of the Peanuts puzzles that come in a metal tube, and they’re good quality. The color scheme is different than the previous puzzle, and obviously Snoopy is featured instead of Linus, but the comic strips in the background are the same.

We had a great time putting this puzzle together – myself and my newest puzzle posse member. 💖

Went a Little Crazy…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling, Miscellaneous11 Comments

I bought a BUNCH of puzzles this past week – which is not something I usually do. Do you ever feel like even though you have plenty of puzzles to assemble that none of them are ones you really want to assemble? I understand that’s absolutely not an actual problem or what is called a “first world problem”. I’m just dealing with a lot right now and not handling it well, and when I was trying to decide on what puzzle was next I was not in a good place.

Add quite a severe case of P.A.D.S. into the mix and you’ve got a recipe for crazed online puzzle shopping late at night – and also a trip to a brick and mortar store earlier in the week. You can see from the picture above that the P.A.D.S. was in control of me and I went a little puzzle crazy. (Surprisingly there is no remorse whatsoever)

I only bought Ravensburger and Buffalo puzzles; I wanted good quality that I wouldn’t have to worry about. Also, I wanted to get some Aimee Stewart puzzles, some that I hadn’t seen before. All the puzzles shown above were online purchases, I forgot to add the brick and mortar buys to the picture – sorry.

From Buffalo I got seven Aimee Stewarts (only four shown here), a Charles Wysocki with quilts, a Ciro Marchetti, a couple of the Country Life series (both with quilts), and one of the Vivid Collection.

From Ravensburger I got a couple of interesting 500 piece puzzles, a Hansel and Gretel puzzle that is too cute for words, and one of their Abandoned series called The Deserted Department Store.

Sixteen puzzles later there are even more puzzles at my house to choose from; I haven’t decided which one is next, but I’m happier with my choices at the moment (and in a slightly better headspace). 🧩❤

Queen of Hearts

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles12 Comments

Queen of Hearts (Villainous) – Ravensburger – 1000 pieces

Loved this one, and a special thanks to Penny for letting me borrow it. It’ll be on it’s way back to you in the next swap box that goes out. And I may take you up on your offer to borrow more of the Villainous puzzles, this was great fun! 💛

Excellent Ravensburger quality, and a super fun image to assemble made this more entertaining than I’d hoped. It’s dark along the sides, but once you get down to the last pieces it isn’t difficult at all to find what goes where.

This was the very first thing I assembled after the border was completed – you know how I love words.

The characters moving across several pictures made it more interesting, and the reproduction was stellar. I absolutely loved this puzzle!

Except for the border; the border sucked. But I’m going to let that slide because the rest of it was great fun.

Great American Novels

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles14 Comments

Great American Novels – Re-marks – 1000 pieces

Not great quality – not bad either – but I had a good time regardless. To be honest I wish there had been less books and more pieces for each one – it would have made it more challenging, which is what I would have liked. Collages like this are almost like working on many mini puzzles all connected, and it would have been more entertaining for me if there had been more to each little mini puzzle.

This puzzle had a very loose fit, but thankfully it had the paper backing that I prefer – so that was a bonus. Re-marks has become another White Mountain for me, in that I am not always happy with the quality but I put up with it because of the great collage images to choose from.

This book was one of my favorites from my youth. I adored it and reread it several times.

My favorite book of all time, and I have read it too many times to count. Once I saw the movie, it became my favorite movie as well.

I consider myself an intelligent person, but out of the 50 Great American Novels shown here I’ve only read 13 of them. I’m not always a fan of the “classics” and don’t read books just because everyone else is reading them or some reviewer says I should. I like what I like.

Although a book may be a “classic” that doesn’t mean I’ll enjoy it, and if it feels like work slogging through reading them then it isn’t worth it. I’ve read my share of classics or great American novels, but it’s better if they’re read because they look interesting – not just because I’m supposed to want to read them.