These adorable puppies were too cute to leave alone, so this puzzle went together in one day. It was a welcome distraction from a stressful situation; and as usual, I stopped thinking about what was troubling me and focused solely on pieces, shapes, and colors.
Re-marks has so many interesting collage puzzles, they’re right up there with White Mountain in my opinion. My last trip to Barnes and Noble netted me about six more of their collages, and I’m trying to ration them out to be certain they last me for a while. 🙂
This is why I’m a dog person, they give us such loyalty and unconditional love. Look at that sweet face waiting to welcome home his human.
I thought I heard my human coming down the street, is she almost here?! I’m so excited!
The look on the face of the corgi is priceless, they look so happy! In summary, all the sweet faces of dogs and interesting doorways made for a happy, colorful, completely absorbing puzzle.
That’s exactly what I’m looking for these days, how about you?
This is where I would usually show you a picture of the completed puzzle, but as you can see I’ve taken a picture of the box instead. Why? Because this puzzle had terrible quality, and once I’d put together six pieces of the edge that was all I needed. Life is too short to waste on crappy puzzles.
The entire time I was sorting my brain was telling me to really think about whether or not this was a puzzle I wanted to assemble. There were MANY pieces still attached, not because they just didn’t get broken up, but because they weren’t cut all the way through – not even close to all the way through. There were groups of 2, 3, and even 4 pieces still together, and to separate them without damaging them would have required a sharp craft knife and lots of time. 😐
The thinness of the pieces was a concern as well, I don’t ever remember a Eurographics puzzle having such thin, bendable pieces before – and there have been many a puzzle from this brand on my table through the years. If I hadn’t purchased it new myself, the quality would lead me to believe this was a dollar store puzzle.
Once I started putting the edge together I knew this puzzle was going to be horrid to assemble and that it just wasn’t worth it. The looseness of the fit was crazy, there was way too much play in the pieces.
This is the pieces pushed together tightly.
This is how much play there is within the fit. You couldn’t lift two assembled pieces.
I’m not sure exactly when Eurographics quality went downhill, but the last few puzzles of theirs that I’ve assembled have been quite disappointing. They used to have nice, thick pieces with a random cut that made for an interesting assembly. The newer puzzles I’ve assembled have had thinner pieces with only one piece shape. This puzzle just put them on my naughty list, because I absolutely cannot recommend this brand anymore.
It may seem odd to review a puzzle I haven’t completely assembled, but there were so many quality issues that I felt a responsibility to let my readers know – a review seemed to be the best way to do that. It isn’t coming as a shock, I’ve expressed disappointment with the last few Eurographics puzzles that I’ve assembled; but this was by far the worst quality puzzle of theirs I’ve ever seen.
Once I decided to review this puzzle I gathered the pieces for the two yellow butterflies and put them together to be sure about the quality of the whole puzzle. Absolutely awful. Perhaps my puzzle was just one from the very end of the run when the die is dullest, but when you put this disappointing quality together with the problems of the previous ones it all adds up to a brand that has major problems, in my opinion.
Please remember, all reviews are only one person’s opinion. I do my best to be objective, but in the end this review is only about my puzzle and my experience; take it with a grain of salt. Far be it from me to tell you what to buy or not to buy; but for myself I know there won’t be any more Eurographics puzzles in my shopping cart anytime soon. It’s such a shame too, they used to be such nice puzzles. 😥
This little cutie was a quick assembly that was pretty entertaining. These little cereal boxes are even more fun than I thought they’d be, and I thought they were going to be pretty darn fun!
It’s always nice to have a mini puzzle as a palate cleanser in between larger puzzles; sometimes a 300 piece will do, but sometimes an even smaller one is just what the doctor ordered when I’m not feeling well. If only there were more 100 or 200 piece puzzles with more grownup images out there for us to choose from.
I’m putting these together in reverse order of how much I like the cereal. I’m not really a fan of fruity tasting cereals (other than Cap’n Crunch’s Crunchberries), so that’s why this one is near the bottom of the list. Trix was the second of the six mini puzzles from this set put together so far, and I’m completely happy with both the images and the quality.
This was a gorgeous puzzle that sadly was over too soon. The picture doesn’t do it justice, the colors are spectacular! Great quality thrift store puzzle that makes my heart and eyes very happy.
This was another puzzle where I wasn’t aware of the artist until I was finished and writing up the post – it’s Ciro Marchetti. He’s another digital artist whose work I greatly admire, and this one definitely didn’t disappoint. The colors are AMAZING!
Buffalo has to be given some props here for their exceptional image reproduction in addition to the great quality of the pieces and the fit. This puzzle is an example of one of the reasons why I love thrift store shopping. You can find a puzzle like this, of fantastic quality, for a small fraction of what you would pay retail. Yes, sometimes you run the risk of missing pieces, but it’s worth it in my book. Even a puzzle with missing pieces can be entertaining to assemble – at least it is for me. As my friend Nicola says, “The job is to put all the pieces together until there aren’t any more”. You can complete that task even with an incomplete puzzle. 🙂
The colors of the flowers and stained glass were just beautiful. I did not manipulate this image other than to crop it, these are the true colors!
The red and yellow birds were the first ones I put together, one bird led to another and before I knew it the puzzle was complete. I think this image would be excellent in a larger piece count, it was just too much fun to be over so quickly.
The colors, the puzzle, the quality – just fabulous!
The Bookshop by Aimee Stewart – Ravensburger – 1000 pieces
This gorgeous puzzle is an Aimee Stewart – I had no idea! I don’t really check who the artist is most of the time before I start working a puzzle; I just knew the image spoke to me, and thought it would be fun, if a bit challenging to assemble. Well, of course it was – it’s an Aimee Stewart! I put together the entire puzzle and didn’t know until I started writing up this post that it was by my favorite artist.
The quality was fantastic, as per usual for a Ravensburger. Just feeling the weight and finish of the pieces makes me smile; I think I could tell a Ravensburger piece from all others at 20 paces. (Well, maybe 2 paces, these eyes are getting older every day). Holding a piece while contemplating it’s placement and rubbing my thumb across the top of it gives me a quiet kind of happiness, it’s like meditation.
This was a little more challenging than your average Aimee Stewart puzzle; the colors are much more muted, and the scene itself was more difficult. The flowers below the sign and the ivy around the edges were the hardest for me. The books everywhere were less difficult than I’d assumed, even though there are so many of them!
This little girl in her pretty purple frock is so sweet, and it’s such a pretty color.
All those books in the window? You can read the titles, and look at the detail! I should have known who the artist was. I can’t believe I didn’t. I’m hanging my head in shame.
I’d seen this image several times before I finally took the plunge and got it for myself, and am I ever glad I did. Have you been thinking of buying this? Go for it, this puzzle is highly recommended. 👍👍
My Jigsaw Journal 