Tag: 100 pieces

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 Puzzles6 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!

Christmas Party (French Bulldog)

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Christmas Party (French Bulldog) – Brother Sister Design Studio – 100 pieces

Here’s another cutie from the box of three puzzles, I should love this one – a French Bulldog is kinda my dream puppy. Unfortunately, although it was an absorbing assembly, it wasn’t actually a lot of fun.

The pieces seemed thinner on this one, the fit was much more loose, and the pieces easily came apart. It was frustrating and I had to be very careful not to disturb what was already put together. Maybe it’s because with each successive puzzle I was feeling more and more under the weather, maybe the second and third were just harder assemblies than the first one, or maybe I’m just feeling Grinch-y these days. Who knows?

Wish I was feeling this one more, but I’m just not. The puppy is adorable, but that’s about it for me.

Christmas Party (Pug)

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

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

I hope this sweet little pupper with the googly eyes gave you a laugh this morning. Isn’t it adorable? And hilarious? This is from a set of three puzzles, each 100 pieces, that was given to me by fellow PADS sufferer and my bestest puzzle buddy Penny. 🧩💚

Brother Sister Design Studio is Hobby Lobby’s house brand. I don’t shop there for personal reasons, but I’ve been gifted their puzzles a few times. The quality has usually been good. The pieces are on the thin side, and the fit is somewhat loose, but otherwise they are good puzzles with unique images that are entertaining to assemble.

This was assembled without looking at the box. The first thing I wanted to do was get that face put together, so I started with all the fur. It looked so funny I texted this picture to my daughter. She replied, “That made me laugh so hard I almost peed!”. 🤣

From there it was easy to see what colors and patterns were on the hat so I finished the top of the puzzle.

The sweater and scarf pieces looked like a whole lot of sameness, so then I decided to assemble the rest of the border so all that was needed was to fill in the middle. This was another puzzle with edges that didn’t always connect – but it was less annoying this time because of the order in which I assembled it.

I put all three of the puppy puzzles together today, because hubby decided to share his virus/cold whatever it is with me and I’m a little under the weather. All the pictures have been taken and I can work on the posts in bed if I’m not feeling great. That way I don’t have to get up and get myself to the puzzle board early in the morning for the next couple of days.

And if my typing wakes up hubby….well, that will be my gift to him….you know, for him being such a giver and passing along his illness. 😇