Tag: 100 pieces

Distant Mountains

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Distant Mountains by Bob Ross – Thunder Bay Press – 96 pieces

This is the first puzzle from my Happy Little Jigsaw Puzzle Book full of Bob Ross images that I bought in November of last year. At only 96 pieces this was a bit more difficult than I imagined it would be, but I still love the look of it and am pleased as punch that there are still so many more to do.

As I said in my first post about the puzzle books that my daughter and I found, the pieces are extremely thin – almost like cardstock – but the fit is exceptional. It has to be in order for them to stay in the book properly. Even though this puzzle was removed from the book to assemble, it still took a bit of effort to put it back in so that it would stay there without falling out. It’s back in place and the book can even be stood upright and the puzzle remains in place without danger of it coming out. Very cool!

The quality other than the thin cardboard was excellent. The image reproduction is GORGEOUS, there are a good variety of shapes and the fit is wonderful. I’m so glad my daughter and I found these books, and am really looking forward to assembling the remaining 17 puzzles. (Plus the nine images in the Game of Thrones book also come together to form a large map of the country/areas in which the show takes place🗺)

This is the page this puzzle comes from, the image is from Season 14, episode 1. Even though the show was on the air for only eleven years, there are 31 “seasons” of The Joy of Painting. He made 403 episodes of his show, that’s amazing!

I also learned from a little research that he created three versions of each painting. The first one was done before the show and was used as a template to paint the one he made on air. The second was painted live during the show, and the third he painted after the show was taped to add more details for use in his instructional books. All of the paintings were either donated to various public broadcasting stations, the Smithsonian Institution, or kept by Bob. With 403 episodes, that’s a lot of painting!

On the page opposite each puzzle is a little blurb about Bob Ross; his philosophy of painting, his life, and his thoughts about nature, etc. His works of art aren’t images I would normally choose for puzzling, but at less than 100 pieces they’re beautiful little one coffee puzzles that make me smile – happy little clouds and all!

Land and Sea*

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Land and Sea* – Robert Frederick – 100 pieces

I was all set to be disappointed in this puzzle, but happily it surprised me with much better quality than the first Robert Frederick puzzle I completed, Woman with a Parasol, Facing Right.

Unlike that first puzzle, this didn’t have the bent pieces or the overly shiny finish. That means the cut, chipboard, variety in shape, fit, and finish were all very good. What a pleasant surprise!

Sadly, in my mind that doesn’t speak well of the company. If it can have very good quality but there is no consistency it wouldn’t be a brand I would be confident in purchasing retail. When there’s no guarantee it’ll be at least good quality it goes on my list of brands to only buy second hand. It’s annoying for me, knowing the potential for a good or great quality puzzle is there, but the standards aren’t always met. Although this particular puzzle was quite good, I find myself disappointed in the brand.

Thinking back to my shopping trip with my daughter, I cannot recall why in the world this puzzle was chosen. It is definitely not my pile of pieces, as far as the artwork goes. Why did I pick this one? Not a clue. It’s the mind/memory that goes first. Sigh. Old age ain’t for sissies. 👵

Still, at only 100 pieces it didn’t take too long, and it was a nice palate cleanser in between larger piece count puzzles.

*There was no title for this image, nor artist credited; I named it Land and Sea as I wasn’t feeling overly creative or inspired today.

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.

Bed of Clouds

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

Bed of Clouds by Schim Schimmel – Ceaco – 100 pieces

Quick little kids puzzle that didn’t take long at all to assemble. It was a thrift store purchase, taped up with another 100 piece GITD puzzle – both were new and unopened. To me, there’s no problem buying it there because Ceaco isn’t actually getting any of my money.

It’s sometimes sad for me when I see a beautiful image on a Ceaco puzzle, the quality and their customer service is just not up to snuff – but some of their puzzle images are just stunning! Oh well, I’d rather work a puzzle with better quality from a company that I know will take care of things if there’s a problem.

The quality on this one wasn’t great, you can see along the border where the pieces are bent at the corners and sticking up, and the fit wasn’t great either. Still for about 99 cents it was a good purchase and my youngest son and my hubby enjoyed the GITD aspect of it. They took it outside to “charge” in the sunlight and had a good ole’ time finding the darkest spot in the house to check out how much it actually glowed. Love💖my boys!

For me the glow was a little disappointing, the entire top portion of the puzzle had no glow at all. Still, it’s cute, right?

Christmas Party (Puppy)

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles7 Comments

Christmas Party (Puppy) – Brother Sister Design Studio – 100 pieces

Here we have the last of our Christmas party attendees – these adorable puppers in silly sweaters. They’re all cute, and the addition of the googly eyes to the pieces made for entertaining puzzling.

Anyone out there know for sure what breed of dog this is? My daughter is certain it’s a St. Bernard puppy, while to me it looks like some breed of terrier. We could both be wrong, obviously. The Pug and the French Bulldog were obvious to me. This one – not so much. Any help?

I’ve done three or four little puzzles from this Hobby Lobby brand, and going back through my posts and remembering the puzzles (along with seeing the pictures) tells me that these were the thinnest pieces and worst fit I’ve had from them. It wasn’t horrid, by any means. But of the puzzles of this brand I’ve completed, these were the thinnest, and had the loosest fit. Perhaps it was because they’re shaped, I’m not sure.

Still, they were a gift from my personal puzzle fairy, and I enjoyed and appreciated them very much. How can you not love these little puppies? Thanks Penny!