Tag: 100 pieces

Ghost Friends

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

Ghost Friends by Kathryn Selbert – Crocodile Creek – 100 pieces

You heard about this puzzle a month ago when I talked about Puzzle Chess and how I bought this puzzle expressly for the purpose of playing it with Penny when we finally met and got to puzzle together for the first time. It’s an adorable image by a new artist for me, and a new puzzle brand as well. It was a really enjoyable image to puzzle, and once Penny and I had finished our game of chess and just ended up puzzling together a great time was had by all. 🧩💚

I’d never heard of this brand before, Crocodile Creek. I was impressed with the quality of the puzzle, the pieces were thick and had a good hand feel, there were a great variety of shapes and they fit together well. The image reproduction was bright and clear and colorful with a slightly shiny finish that wasn’t too bad to work with. Overall I was impressed with this little one coffee puzzle!

The great fit made it possible to stand this little puzzle up, it’s the Stacey Stance – woooo hoooo! I don’t know why it makes me so happy to do this, it just does and I don’t apologize for it.

This puzzle was also a glow-in-the-dark image, so we put it outside while we had lunch and brought it in to see if the glow image was as fun as we’d hoped. Alas, it was a little disappointing in the GITD category, but it wasn’t too terrible. I have to keep reminding myself that they can’t all be as fabulous as the Secrets of the Deep puzzle that I assembled earlier this year. Still I got a pretty good picture of this one, it actually turned out better in the picture than it seemed in person.

It’s so adorably spoooooky! Penny and I enjoyed putting these Ghost Friends together, I’m so glad we got to try out puzzle chess, and we put this cutie together – together!

Beats for Bubba*

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Beats for Bubba* – Re-marks – 100 pieces

Come on! Look at that adorable face! How could you not want to put together this mini puzzle to see that sweet face looking up at you? I obviously couldn’t pass it by. Puppy pictures please the puzzle princess. 👑

I’m not really a princess, but the alliteration made me smile.

The quality was just good on this puzzle. The fit was a bit loose, the backing was that sharp, white stuff I don’t care for, and the finish was shiny and had me turning my head and holding the pieces at angles before I just gave in and turned off the lights altogether. Other than those things the puzzle was ok. The pieces were a good size, there were a good variety of shapes, and the image reproduction for very good. Three pros and three cons, you decide which ones are important to you.

It was one of the easier small puzzles I’ve done in a while. The colors around the edges made for easy assembly, then there were only a small number of pieces that were just fur and face to contend with. Overall it was a fun build though, and it’s such a cute puzzle I can’t say too much bad about it.

Sweet face, cute image, fun puzzle!

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.