Wonderland In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling11 Comments

Wonderland by Bill Bell – Wentworth – 140 pieces

This little Wentworth puzzle has been slow going so far, I’ve put away the box so this is being put together without an image for reference. Still, it’s bright and colorful and I’m hoping it’ll be great fun.

The image on the box seems quite small, and it’s a bit difficult to see the detail; so I’m looking forward to seeing the artwork in more detail on the pieces themselves. There have only been a few pieces put together here and there, when I see a piece that goes with another – pretty much like all jigsaw puzzling now that I think about. But there’s so much going on that it isn’t coming together as quickly as it normally does.

Still having a good time with it though, and that’s the part that counts!

I’m having a rough time lately, and don’t seem to be as interested in puzzling as I usually am. Once I get a puzzle going things are ok, but it’s getting one started that’s the problem; I’d rather lay in bed and watch Netflix to be honest. But that isn’t good for me at all. Sigh.

Tiered Treats

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles8 Comments

Tiered Treats by Aimee Stewart – Wentworth – 210 pieces

A shaped wooden puzzle with an image by Aimee Stewart – yes please! This was much more difficult than I thought it would be, but that didn’t matter one bit because I enjoyed this puzzle from the first piece to the last. 💚🧩

Interestingly this puzzle was easiest at the top with the brightly colored macarons; the cupcakes, fruit and mille feuille in the middle tier were a little bit more challenging, but the bottom tier with the sandwiches was not easy at all. Still, it was fun to work from the top down – that isn’t something I usually do.

*Mille feuille are the beautiful layered treats on the right side of the middle layer – it means “thousand sheets” and is made from puff pastry and usually filled with a vanilla pastry cream and topped with vanilla and chocolate icing. I’ve never had one, but I’ve watched enough of The Great British Baking Show to know what they are. They sound amazing!

Aren’t these fabulous tea time whimsies? Bread, sandwiches, cakes, cookies, teapots, fruit – I love them!

This puzzle had excellent quality and stunning image reproduction, I absolutely adored this assembly. There’s another shaped Aimee Stewart from Wentworth on the to-do shelf, and I’m very much looking forward to it. 😍

Flower Deer

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles4 Comments

Flower Deer by Coco de Paris – Milton Bradley – 300 pieces

This image is just beautiful, and adorable at the same time. Loved it! This is the third of these puzzles with images by Coco de Paris that I’ve done, and they’ve all been great fun, but not too easy at the same time. So entertaining!

The quality was pretty good for this thrift store puzzle. A good variety of piece shapes, good fit, nice image reproduction, and a not too shiny finish. Overall, I would say good/very good in the quality department for this one.

If you look at the back of the box there are so many different brand names it was difficult at first to decide which one to credit. Listed on the box were Milton Bradley, Cardinal, Hasbro, and Spin Master. I decided that the name shown on the front as well would be the name I went with, so Milton Bradley is credited here.

Fun little puzzle that didn’t take nearly as long as I thought it might, it was difficult to walk away from once I got into the assembly of the center. The border was assembled first, and then the puzzle sat unloved and alone on the board for more than 24 hours before I actually started working on the inside of the puzzle; but once I started I didn’t want to leave.

Lots of fun!

The Alchemist’s Home In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling6 Comments

The Alchemist’s Home by Vasilisa Romanenko – eeBoo – 1000 pieces

I’m loving this puzzle that my beautiful daughter gave me for Christmas and although it’s slow going I’m enjoying every bit of it. It’s been quite a while since I’ve put together an eeBoo puzzle, but the image on this one is fantastic and it’s been very entertaining so far.

Just a side note, the “stamp” on the front of the box says that the company is Woman Owned and Mother Run. LOVE THAT!

Woman with a Parasol, Facing Right

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles5 Comments

Woman with a Parasol, Facing Right by Claude Monet – Robert Frederick – 100 pieces

I really wanted to enjoy this puzzle, sadly I was quite disappointed in it’s quality. Fine Art puzzles can be quite difficult with the painterly style and brush strokes, but the bent pieces and overly shiny finish made it even more troublesome than usual.

This was my first time with a Robert Frederick puzzle, and while I don’t like to make snap judgements I was pretty let down by this brand. I’ll hold off making a decision about the brand in general until there have been one or two more puzzles assembled, but so far it ain’t looking good.

Although the pieces were quite thick and sturdy, that in itself made the first problem I’m going to tell you about even worse. There were SO MANY bent pieces! And with a thick and sturdy chipboard, once it’s bent trying to get it back into shape is a losing battle. The finished puzzle didn’t lie flat because of all the bent pieces that I couldn’t get back to their original configuration.

My second issue with this puzzle was the EXTREMELY shiny finish. It was so shiny that even with the lightest areas of the puzzle I was constantly having to tilt my head to be sure what the piece actually looked like. I’m not a fan of the extra shiny coating on a puzzle. Not everyone can work with natural lighting (my puzzle board is in a room with only artificial lighting) and the shine makes it very difficult to see what you’re doing.

On the positive side…there were a good variety of piece shapes, the chipboard was thick and sturdy, and the fit was very nice. But to me those things don’t mean much with bent pieces that prevent the puzzle from lying flat and a shiny finish that makes it difficult to see what you’re doing under any artificial lighting.

While I love the actual artwork by Monet, this isn’t an image that I would dare to try in a larger piece count. Finding it in only 100 pieces made me quite happy, but unfortunately the quality left a lot to be desired.