Bedtime Stories

On February 24, 2020February 24, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Bedtime Stories was so much fun, the bright and colorful covers made for a truly entertaining assembly. There were a few books I’d never heard of, although to be fair it’s been a long, long, time since my children were young enough to read books like these.

It was a great quality puzzle too, which makes an entertaining image even more fun to put together. The pieces were a good thickness with an excellent fit, and the image reproduction was bright and colorful. The only drawback was a little bit of a shiny finish which sometimes made the darker pieces hard to see with the glare.

Bedtime 1

The Tom Sawyer cover was a little challenging to put together, but I adore the look of it; I’ve never seen that cover before. The Alice in Wonderful cover was lovely, and I think this puzzle would be fantastic in a larger piece count – 1500 or 2000 pieces would be extremely entertaining!

Bedtime 2

These are books I remember from my childhood, though I admit that James and the Giant Peach wasn’t on my radar until I had kids of my own. I LOVED Pippi Longstocking books when I was young – she was bold and brash and didn’t care what anyone thought, and I wanted to be just like her. In many ways I think I’ve succeeded; bold is a word that’s been used more than a few times to describe me, and I honestly don’t give a bleep what anyone thinks of me – just like Pippi! 🙂

The Jungle Book was my absolute favorite movie, though I didn’t read the book until I was a bit older. Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel was a book I hadn’t thought about in years and years, but I remember it very fondly. I loved it as a child, and just looking at the cover makes me smile. Anyone else remember Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel named Mary Anne and the problem they dug themselves into?

I have such good memories of books and time spent reading from when I was a child; I was a voracious reader with an imagination that was capable of many, many flights of fancy. I’ve raised three children who also love to read, and that makes me unbelievably happy and proud. 📚

Wysocki In Progress

On February 23, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles8 Comments

Mansfield IP — Mansfield Air Spectacular by Charles Wysocki – Buffalo – 1000 pieces

After not touching any puzzles pieces for two days the withdrawal symptoms were too much to take, so I sorted and began this one yesterday. As you can see all that’s left is sky and clouds, so it shouldn’t be too much longer and it will be finished! Once I put all the clouds together I don’t think doing the rest of the all blue pieces will take much time at all.

I got this puzzle with my Christmas gift certificate to Barnes and Noble (along with about 9 other puzzles), and I love that it isn’t the typical Wysocki image. It’s been great putting it together so far, the pieces were so easy to sort – I love that – and have made for a quick assembly.

The quick assembly part is great, because my daughter brought me a new puzzle yesterday, and I love it so much that I can’t wait to start working on it! I even told her that I was a little bummed that I had a puzzle on my board because I wanted to stop everything and work on the new one! 😍

The new puzzle happiness had my PADS flaring up and I went the teensiest little bit crazy and ordered 5 new puzzles online, I haven’t done that in quite a long time! I’ve ordered one or two puzzles here and there, but never a bigger order from one place – it’s been well over a year and a half I think, maybe even longer.

In my defense, I was left unsupervised with a credit card and a computer and I cannot be held responsible for my actions. 😇

Purrfect Blooms

On February 22, 2020February 21, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Purrfect Blooms was a cute puzzle that went together pretty fast. I didn’t realize when I bought it that it was primarily about cats – they are everywhere! I counted 16, but there may be more.

This Sure-Lox puzzle didn’t impress me as much as the last few that I’ve done. On the positive side there were a variety of piece shapes that fit together well, and the image reproduction was good; on the negative side the chipboard wasn’t nearly as thick as the newer puzzles, and there was something about the finish that made the pieces feel odd to me. I didn’t like the way they felt in my hands.

Purrfect Blooms 1

Free kittens? I think if I were there with small children I’d be keeping close watch over them! 😉

Purrfect Blooms 2

In this small section there are 5 cats/kittens. I didn’t even notice any of them when I got the puzzle, and I obviously didn’t read the title either – that would have been a big clue. I guess I don’t get the captain observation award for the day, do I?

Purrfect Blooms 3

I didn’t really like the way the pieces felt in my hands, but the fit was very good. It didn’t feel too tight, as though you had to work to put them in, but in the end you could stand up the puzzle very easily, no pieces even tried to come apart.

Overall this puzzle was good quality, even with the thinner pieces; but it didn’t leave me with a good feeling about it. I’m not sure exactly why that is, it’s just a general impression that I have about it, purely an opinion.

It’s a cute image that was fun to assemble, but I’m not sure I would buy another of the 500 piece count puzzles from Sure-Lox unless the box was one of the newer packages. This one didn’t have the new packaging, so perhaps that’s why I didn’t enjoy it as much.

Review: Solar System

On February 21, 2020February 20, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

Now this is the kind of quality I love to see on a kids puzzle, extremely thick pieces, great fit, beautiful image reproduction, and a finish that you can clean off to keep the puzzle in good condition. An excellent puzzle all around, and even though it was only 48 pieces I had a great time putting it together.

Melissa & Doug puzzles are excellent quality, and even though all of their puzzles that I’ve assembled have been secondhand, I’ve always found them to be excellent quality. They take care to make puzzles that will withstand the rough and sometimes careless play of children; the chipboard is extremely thick and sturdy, and the finish is one that can be cleaned off if a messy or sticky hand is used to put pieces together. 🖐

Educational puzzles like this one always make me smile, and even if I know all the information they’re still fun. I’m a big proponent of giving children jigsaw puzzles, they’re so good for developing brains! They help teach problem solving, spatial awareness, hand/eye coordination, and many other skills that help young brains learn and grow.

Delightful puzzle with amazing quality – it is very highly recommended – I loved it!

Details:

Title: Solar System
Artist: Melissa & Doug
Brand: Melissa & Doug
Piece count: 48 pieces
Size: Approx. 36 x 24 in. (91 x 61 cm)
Purchased: Used, thrift store

Quality:

Board: Excellent
Cutting: Excellent
Image: Excellent
Box: Very good, sturdy
Fit: Very good
Puzzle Dust: None
Piece cut: Grid cut
Piece shapes: Very good variety
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, easy-clean surface, lays flat

Overall Rating: Excellent, very highly recommended

Lady in the Meadow

On February 19, 2020February 19, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles6 Comments

I found this puzzle at mom’s house, and I don’t know what in the world I was thinking when the decision was made to assemble it – it’s so difficult! It’s got all the things I don’t care for in a puzzle image, why in the world did I start assembling it? Honestly, I have no idea, other than because mom loved the image so much. I think I did it for her. 💗

I put this on my second, larger board and only worked on it a little bit at a time, I didn’t want to become too frustrated with the dark, difficult image. It took me several weeks to complete, but I think that was the best way to assemble it; when I found myself getting annoyed with the difficulty that was my cue to walk away and work on something a bit less demanding.

This is my second puzzle with an image from this artist, and although I love her style and artwork, I much prefer her lighter and more colorful images. This one is so dark!

Meadow 1

The double border was quite difficult, and I’m not sure why there were the 2 border lines down the center – perhaps we’re viewing this scene through a window? In a cave? It’s odd, but who knows what the artist was thinking. All I know is that it made an already dark and difficult image even more of a challenge.

Meadow 2

Not only is this a pretty face, but you can also see that the quality wasn’t great; there is quite a bit of image lift on the tabs and the puzzle did not lay flat. The image lift is something you get used to when you buy secondhand puzzles, many times disassembling causes image lift; it does interfere with the enjoyment I get from running my hands over the completed puzzle though. With all the tabs sticking up I worry that I’ll tear part of the image off, so there was no satisfying puzzle massage with this one. 😦

You can also see that it’s cut like an Educa puzzle, all the pieces are ballerinas except for the humpback/swayback pieces. This is odd for a Sunsout puzzle, I’ve worked many of them and have never seen this piece shape before. The fit was this puzzle’s best quality – it was exceptional – not too tight (which some Sunsout puzzles can be) and not too loose; it was almost perfect, and you could lift the entire puzzle without any pieces coming off at all.

It’s a beautiful, if odd, image and I’m extremely proud of myself for finishing it! When I come across more interesting and crazy difficult puzzles at mom’s house I think they’ll go right into the donate box – I’ve learned my lesson! 😉