Review: Pennant Race

On February 1, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews6 Comments

penannt race — Pennant Race by David Spindel – TDC Puzzles – 1000 pieces

This was quite the interesting puzzle, it’s a TDC Puzzle series called “The Edge”. The box says it’s a jigsaw puzzle with only edge pieces. Every single piece has a straight (or nearly straight) edge, so starting in the normal way isn’t really an option.

Surprisingly I didn’t find it all that difficult to assemble. The bright colors and many different designs made for an entertaining, but not too challenging puzzle. The pieces were a good thickness and fit together really well; I found the quality to be quite good. I was surprised by the fact that the when complete the entire puzzle could be lifted without any of the pieces coming apart. Usually when there are pieces with straight edges that just butt up against each other if you lift or try to move the puzzle it will fall apart. This was designed so that everything connects beautifully – I was impressed!

There were so many words in this puzzle, I had the best time with it! Baseball isn’t really my thing, but collages, bright colors, and having lots of words is definitely right up my alley, or should I say “right up my baseline”?

Only two little buttons for my Detroit Tigers? SHAME! We may not have won the World Series as many times as some other teams, but come on! We couldn’t even have one little pennant shown? 😕 (I don’t really care that much, it’s baseball LOL) The image reproduction was very crisp and clear – some of the pennants had rosters on them, and you can read every name.

If you come across one of these “The Edge” puzzles, consider giving it a try. I enjoyed it very much, and honestly didn’t find it that much more difficult than the average jigsaw – and it was great fun. Batter up! ⚾

Details:

Title: Pennant Race
Artist: David Spindel
Brand: TDC Puzzles
Piece count: 1000 pieces
Size: Approx. 19 x 26 in. (48 x 66 cm)
Purchased: Used, thrift store

Quality:

Board: Very good
Cutting: Good
Image: Excellent
Box: Square and sturdy
Fit: Very good
Puzzle Dust: Small amount
Piece cut: Grid cut
Piece shapes: Good variety
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating: Very good, recommended

Review: Harvest Festival

On January 22, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews4 Comments

Harvest Festival is a colorful, entertaining, and gorgeous puzzle that I enjoyed immensely! It combined the fun of working with such an interesting image with the challenge of a semi-random cut – and to top it off it was a very good quality puzzle. 🙂

Tidemark puzzles are a new to me company, and I was pretty impressed with both the image and the quality. The pieces are semi-randomly cut, a good thickness, and fit together quite well. The image reproduction is bright and colorful with crisp lines and very little glare. Their catalog is quite small with only 8 images to choose from, but if one of them strikes your fancy you should give it a try. (Most of them are a little muted for my taste, but there may be something you’d love to assemble.)

The wavy lines of color weren’t easy and got a little tedious on the last day of assembly, but I still love the image and am super proud of myself for sticking with it.

harvest festival 1

The artwork by Jonathan Green is so striking that I couldn’t help but enjoy myself; bright colors in a puzzle make me happy, and don’t we all need a little more happiness in our lives? I know I do. 🙂

Details:

Title: Harvest Festival
Artist: Jonathan Green
Brand: Tidemark
Piece count: 1000 pieces
Size: Approx. 19 x 27 in. (48 x 67 cm)
Purchased: New

Quality:

Board: Very good
Cutting: Very good
Image: Very good
Box: Average
Fit: Very good
Puzzle Dust: Moderate amount
Piece cut: Semi-random cut
Piece shapes: Good variety
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating: Very good, recommended

Review: Vintage Baker

On January 14, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews16 Comments

I’ve been wanting this image for a while now, but I’m thinking I should have waited to find it from a company whose quality I was familiar with. Terrible fit, horrible to work with, too shiny causing lots of glare – quite disappointing. 😦

Holdson Puzzles are made in New Zealand, and although I’d heard good things about the quality I found myself pretty let down by this puzzle. The finish was very shiny, the glare was hard to work around and the fit was awful – so loose that you couldn’t even pick up two pieces together. I work on a fabric covered board so it’s a little more difficult for the pieces to slide around, but these pieces managed it well enough somehow. On the positive side the chipboard was a good thickness and the image reproduction was very good.

I love the look of this vanilla bottle; not only is it cool looking, but it also shows the detail in the artwork and the quality of the reproduction.

vintage baker 1

The handwriting in the recipe below looks like my Grama’s, although I know it isn’t. I have noticed that many older people’s writing seems almost identical. Of course schools used to teach things like penmanship and cursive writing. Sigh. I’m old.

vintage baker 2

I try not to make a final decision about new brands until I’ve worked at least 2 or 3 of their puzzles. I’d work another Holdson puzzle if we found it in a thrift store, but I’m not going to go out of my way to buy one retail. If I find one second-hand perhaps it’ll be great quality. Who knows?

Details:

Title: Vintage Baker
Artist: Aimee Stewart
Brand: Holdson Puzzles
Piece count: 1000 pieces
Size: Approx. 19 x 27 in. (49 x 69 cm)
Purchased: New

Quality:

Board: Very good
Cutting: Good
Image: Very good
Box: Average
Fit: Poor
Puzzle Dust: Moderate amount
Piece cut: Grid cut
Piece shapes: Good variety
Finish: Very shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating: Fair, not recommended

Review: Feeling a Little Blue

On January 2, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews9 Comments

This puzzle was quite a challenge, but the image is so adorable that I knew it would be completely worth it – thankfully I was right!

StandOut Puzzles are a new brand to me, and I enjoyed this one very much. The quality is very much like Cobble Hill puzzles; linen finished randomly cut pieces that are pleasantly thick and fit together well, if somewhat loosely. They only produce 750 piece puzzles, and showcase “standout artwork from standout artists”. Their catalog is lovely, with images that you haven’t seen before – they stand out! And just for kicks and giggles they add a packet of “standouts” in every puzzle….

Feeling Blue 4

In case you were wondering, I wasn’t feeling particularly daring. Ralphie wasn’t around to triple-dog-dare me. 😋

I think the two little birds on the left are trying their best to cheer up the bear who’s feeling a little blue. The two on the right, though, are having their own discussion – I think the male bird was out too late eating fermented berries the night before; he seems to be getting quite a talking to!

Feeling Blue 3

What is it about a grumpy face that’s so cute? Or is it just me? It makes me smile every time I look at him!

Although much of the image was quite dark, I found the assembly to be entertaining and the overall puzzle to be of excellent quality. They’re on the pricey side, but I believe in supporting smaller companies with great products; their production and shipping costs are different for smaller batches and result in higher prices. (You can find them through retailers at a lesser cost than from the StandOut website, that’s where I purchased mine)

Great puzzle with great quality and an adorably beautiful image!

Details:

Title: Feeling a Little Blue
Artist: Denyse Klette
Brand: StandOut Puzzles
Piece count: 750 pieces
Size: Approx. 24 x 18 in. (61 x 46 cm)
Purchased: New

Quality:

Board: Very good
Cutting: Very good
Image: Excellent
Box: Sturdy cardboard tube
Fit: Good, somewhat loose
Puzzle Dust: Moderate amount
Piece cut: Random cut
Piece shapes: Very good variety
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating: Very good, recommended

Review: Desserts

On December 13, 2018December 13, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews4 Comments

This post is sponsored by eeBoo.

Desserts is one of those collages puzzles that is so much fun to assemble that I find it difficult to walk away. Back when I could sit for long periods of time this is exactly the kind of 1000 piece puzzle I could have finished in one day – I absolutely LOVED IT❣

eeBoo puzzles have excellent quality, and I have thoroughly enjoyed every one that I’ve assembled. Their catalog is full of bright, interesting images and I find them extremely entertaining to construct. The pieces are pleasantly thick and sturdy, with a good variety of shapes, and the fit is excellent. The image reproduction is stellar, with clean lines and bright colors; my only small criticism is that the finish is quite shiny. If you’re working under artificial lights glare can be a problem, even with the lighter colored pieces. Overall though, they are wonderful quality puzzles. Click on the link above to check out their current puzzle line. (I’m so looking forward to their spring 2019 releases, they have some AWESOME puzzles coming out – including a round 500 piece Votes for Women puzzle that looks amazing!)

The square 1008 piece puzzles they carry have all sides pointing towards the center, they’re great for assembling with family or friends – there’s no bottom or top, whichever side you’re working on is the right side. 😍

Desserts eeBoo Day 1

Desserts eeBoo Day 2

There are only 2 in process photos because I was too caught up in the assembly to stop and take pictures – these are at the end of days one and two, day three had me finishing it. Each small section led to another and I didn’t want to get up from the puzzle table!

The green teapot was my favorite part of the assembly, and the gorgeous cake in the center came in a close second. It didn’t make me hungry for desserts though, it made me hungry to get another puzzle!

Desserts 3

One of the many things I like about this brand is that not only do you get a small poster of the image to use during assembly, they also have an unobstructed image on the back of the box – whichever works best for you. I really dislike it when puzzle companies cover the image with logos and piece counts, and other trivial stuff – we want to see what the WHOLE puzzle looks like! eeBoo gives you the entire image two different ways, and this puzzler is extremely grateful!

I enjoyed this puzzle so much more than I thought I would, it was an absolute delight. It gets two cake slices WAY up! 🍰🍰

Details: