Magical Jungle

On October 12, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

I love this image, it’s bright and cartoony and makes for fun puzzling. I had a great time assembling this one, it was quick and easy and took my mind off of stressful things. I definitely needed that!

I like the work of Johanna Basford, and think it is excellent puzzle material; she is a Scottish illustrator who has published many adult coloring books. This image feels like a coloring book, perhaps that’s why I like it so much. Even though my brain isn’t working properly enough for me to articulate why it is that certain images are appealing to me, I still try. 🙂

This puzzle also comes with a black and white poster of the image for you to color. Don’t like the purple elephant? Why not make him bright pink? I haven’t finished coloring it, but I sit and work on it every now and then. I worry about my color choices sometimes, which makes absolutely no sense at all. It’s my picture, who am I trying to please other than myself? If I want to color a sloth bright green, so what?!

Just Married

On October 11, 2017October 11, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

There’s something about this image I just can’t put my finger on, but I absolutely loved it and had to get it. It’s the people, it almost feels like they have character. I’m not explaining it properly, but that’s the best I can do. I love these people and this image, and it made for an excellent puzzle! 🙂

The pieces of this puzzle seemed to fit a little better than the previous Anatolian puzzle I did, and the piece shapes are not so obvious in the finished image. The quality was very good, and so far I’ve very much enjoyed the puzzles from this company. There was a good variety of piece shapes that fit together very well, and the image reproduction is quite nice too.

I’m looking forward to getting more puzzles by Ronald West, I absolutely adore his work! There are a couple in stock at Puzzle Warehouse that I’ve got my eye on. I hope to find more. His artwork makes me happy, turn it into a puzzle and I’m doubly happy! 😍

Under the Sea

On October 10, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Wow this puzzle was big! I didn’t want to get my big 4 x 5 foot board out just for a kid’s puzzle, so I did this one on my bedroom floor. It’s over 50 inches tall!

The pieces are extremely thick and sturdy, with a finish that can be wiped down if your young child gets any of the pieces sticky. They fit together very well – all in all excellent quality from Melissa & Doug. This puzzle also had an informational insert that has the names of all the creatures shown in the puzzle. Some of them I’d never heard of, I love learning new stuff!

I enjoy working the educational puzzles we’ve found, especially because we now donate most of our kid’s puzzles to a school, and I get to learn cool new things! Plus, when I’m working on a difficult puzzle, it’s nice to pick up a kids puzzle and finish it without having to concentrate too much.

Solar System

On October 9, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Fun kid’s puzzle! I love seeing what kind of quality the larger companies put into their children’s puzzles. MasterPieces did well. 🙂

The pieces of this puzzle were very nice; thick and quite sturdy. They fit together well and the puzzle lays flat, which hasn’t always been the case with a lot of the kid’s puzzles I’ve assembled. Excellent quality! There’s even an informational poster included that has a picture of the image along with some planetary fun facts. This puzzle is being donated to a school and I know they’ll enjoy the educational poster.

My only issue with this puzzle is the paint or the powder mixed with the ink that glows. It almost feels like sandpaper to me, but not so rough that it would scratch your hands; it feels dry and like very fine sand. I detest the feel of sandpaper and for me this was almost like nails on a chalkboard! Of course, this is really only a big issue for me, but if you’ve got a child with any tactile sensitivities it may be something to consider.

Fun puzzle, and an excellent thrift store find! I love a glow in the dark puzzle, I enjoy seeing what parts glow. Usually it’s difficult to get a “glow” picture, but luckily this one worked out pretty well.

Come To Switzerland By Plane

On October 8, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

I had high hopes for this puzzle. Mom thought it would be as difficult as Chat Noir with all the sameness in color in the top portion. I didn’t think it would be that bad as the sky was 2 different colors, blah blah blah. Long story short, she was partly right. The top portion was quite difficult and tedious. I should have listened to her. Sorry mom.

Eurographics puzzles are usually random cut, and this one is a grid cut. I thought that would make the assembly of the sky easier. Nope. There’s something about the way this puzzle was cut, the pieces didn’t seem to fit together well. In my opinion it made it more difficult to complete the sky, not easier. In addition there are several pieces near the top that have the image scratched off, they look like white specks of color. I’ve never come across this problem with Eurographics before, but it was disappointing. This puzzle was a thrift store purchase, but it was unopened. The outer plastic wrapping was still intact, so it wasn’t an issue with it having been done before.

All in all, I love the image but it didn’t make for the most enjoyable puzzling; and the quality issues didn’t help matters. You’d think we would learn by now, even if we love the image that doesn’t mean it’s the best for puzzling. Even just a few more clouds in the sky would have helped immensely.

Still, I definitely got our 99 cents worth out of this puzzle, it had me working for almost 4 days! Hopefully I’ll listen to my mother next time. (You know, I won’t because I’m super stubborn and opinionated, but I’ll try – that’s the best I can do 😁)