Review: The Nutcracker

On December 9, 2018December 9, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews2 Comments

The Nutcracker is a beautiful image and puzzle, and although there was a slight quality issue I enjoyed it’s assembly very much. It’s the first puzzle of this brand that I’ve tried, and I was impressed.

JaCaRou Puzzles are a relatively new brand to the market, but I have to say for someone like myself who enjoys bright, interesting artwork they have an amazing catalog! All the artwork is done by Anie Maltais, who also the owner of the company. I surprised myself by choosing this Christmas image with all the other gorgeous, colorful puzzles they have, but something about this one spoke to me that day.

The pieces are a good thickness and quite sturdy with a very good variety of shapes that fit together well. I had some damaged pieces along with an image reproduction problem (the filigree along the edges was very blurry in contrast to the rest of the puzzle). I admit I was disappointed, but my email to the company prompted an unbelievably fast reply from Anie herself; and the excellent customer service I received leads me to believe that my damaged puzzle was an anomaly. I won’t hesitate to try another JaCaRou.

The puzzle comes in a special edition book box of very nice quality, with what seems to be a switch to turn on a small “music box” that I’m assuming plays The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky. It didn’t work (dead batteries), but I’m not holding that against them – it’s a great idea!

I started out assembling this puzzle in bed, on my trays. It went together pretty darn quickly.

Trayed puzzling

Now that it’s been moved to the board and filled in some it’s looking fantastic.

The Nutcracker 1

The top edge was easy to distinguish from the rest of the edges, and went together quite easily. The cord down the center was a little more of a challenge, but not too much so.

The Nutcracker 2

The filigree pattern around the edges was the most difficult part for me, but I love the look of the puzzle as a whole – all that’s left now are the edges!

The Nutcracker 3

Close-up of the presents under the tree…

The Nutcracker 4

The beautiful colors and patterns on these presents make me want to try one of the other JaCaRou puzzles with the bright artwork, the only problem is which one to choose. 😉 I’m leaning towards either Hearts of Glass or Home Sweet Home. I can’t decide!

Details:

Title: The Nutcracker
Artist: Anie Maltais
Brand: JaCaRou
Piece count: 1000 pieces
Size: Approx. 27 x 20 in. (70 x 50 cm)
Purchased: New

Quality:

Board: Very good
Cutting: Very good
Image: Good, blurry filigree
Box: Excellent, book box
Fit: Very good
Puzzle Dust: Small amount
Piece cut: Grid cut
Piece shapes: Very good variety
Finish: Slightly shiny finish

Overall Rating: Very good, recommended

**I don’t normally contact companies about small quality problems, things happen. It’s been my experience though that puzzles with specialty packaging have their own unique problems and are sometimes manufactured at different facilities. I thought that JaCaRou should be made aware of the quality issues I had, especially because of the packaging; I believe the damaged pieces were most likely the result of how they were placed in the box. Anie was apologetic, and graciously offered to replace either the damaged pieces or the entire puzzle (I declined both). She was also appreciative that I mentioned the fuzzy border, so that she can address the issue. I love that she cares so much about making sure the puzzles she produces are the best quality they can be, and that she took so much of her time to correspond with me about resolving any problems.

Best of British

On November 21, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

This was a fantastic thrift store find, with bright colors and fun subject matter. Even better – mom came over to help finish it, and all the pieces were present and accounted for!

I put this puzzle away for quite a while, I was a bit hesitant to get going on the assembly. It was all that red! I love a collage, but all that red everywhere had me thinking it was going to be difficult to assemble. It wasn’t though, I enjoyed it very much. 🙂

The quality was excellent! The pieces had a different finish on them than the previous Falcon puzzles I’ve assembled. The finish was clean feeling and smooth; the previous ones I’d worked had an almost waxy feel to them. Interesting. Differences in finish aside, they were thick pieces with a good fit, fair variety in piece shapes, and excellent image reproduction. I enjoyed working with these pieces, and they made a beautiful puzzle.

I’m sure you remember this guy from yesterday’s post. I love his face! Every time I look at this puzzle I’m drawn to this adorable dog. I don’t know why I think of it as a male though, other than the face seems masculine to me; which means it’s probably a she. LOL

This is basically what many people think of when they think about Britain – double-decker buses, the queen’s guards, and fish & chips. I was intrigued about why there were daffodils though, because the national flower of Britain is the rose. A little research tells me that they’re associated with Lent because they bloom in the early spring and the blooms usually drop before Easter – which is why in Britain they’re known as the Lent Lily. I love it when I learn something from a puzzle!

I had a great time putting this puzzle together, it is a lovely, interesting collage that had wonderful quality. I’m looking forward to finding more fantastic puzzles in the thrift stores this holiday season!

Vintage Needle Books

On November 13, 2018November 13, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

My brain is an interesting place, and for some reason it doesn’t want me to talk about this puzzle. I have absolutely no valid reason for it, but every time I look at this picture I don’t want to type up the post. It makes NO sense.

I had a wonderful time with the assembly; it’s a beautiful collage, it had great quality, and I even got to work on it with my puzzle posse. I absolutely loved it! Why shouldn’t I want to talk about it? No clue.

These sections were the ones I most enjoyed putting together. The blue Woolworth needle book was the first one to be assembled – 79 needles for 19 cents? WOW! I’d love to know how old that needle book actually is. The family in the upper right corner was the most challenging for me, and the very last section to be completed. There was something about the colors that seemed to make it more difficult than the rest. Still, I do love a challenge! 😉

Vintage Needle Books was great fun (even if my aging, messed up brain doesn’t want to discuss it); it’s definitely recommended!

Review: Hot Air Balloons

On November 6, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews3 Comments

This picture just doesn’t do this puzzle justice, the colors are so bright and beautiful! You know how I love a collage, so imagine my happiness at finding such a colorful, interesting image. 😍

This was my first Hennessy puzzle, I was impressed and enjoyed it very much! The quality was very good, with thick pieces that fit together well, a random cut that kept things interesting, and lovely image reproduction. The colors really are something! In general the quality is very similar to Cobble Hill puzzles; the chipboard used, the cut of the pieces, and the fit are all very much alike.

There were some pieces not completely separated from each other, and the piece shape is quite evident in the finished image – which isn’t great if you want to display the puzzle after assembly. Having only assembled one Hennessy puzzle, I cannot say whether this is typical of this brand or is just because my puzzle was cut with a die that was becoming dull. I always try to err on the side of positivity, so until I work more puzzles from this brand I will say it was most likely a puzzle from the end of a run.

Hot Air Balloons was so entertaining to put together! It’s a bit surprising because I normally stay clear of hot air balloon puzzles. There are so many balloon puzzles, and the images for the most part seem so similar – they’re just not my thing. I’ve done a few, and they were fun to assemble; but when looking at puzzles to purchase I usually skip right over the hot air balloons. This image, however, is very different. And a collage! 💖

These are 3 of my favorites, but honestly, I loved them all! Each background was so different, each balloon was so fun – for me this is a perfect image for puzzling, and it made me very, very happy. Every time I look at it I start singing a song in my head from The 5th Dimension (from the late 1960’s) ….. 🎶Up, up and away in my beautiful, my beautiful balloon🎶

Hot Air Balloons is definitely recommended, I absolutely adored it!

Details:

Title: Hot Air Balloons
Artist: Vida Random
Brand: Hennessy Puzzles
Piece count: 1000 pieces
Size: Approx. 19 x 27 in. (49 x 68 cm)
Purchased: New

Quality:

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

Overall Rating: Very good, recommended

Sophia’s Doll House

On October 25, 2018October 25, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

Sophia’s Doll House was the puzzle that jumped out at me while mom was showing off her latest thrift store haul. The beautiful colors and interesting scene looked like so much fun, and luckily it was!

It’s been a while since I’ve assembled a MasterPieces puzzle, and I had forgotten how enjoyable the extremely random cut of the pieces is. It always takes me a few minutes for my brain to get into “random gear”, especially if I’ve just finished working a grid cut puzzle. It can be frustrating for some, and it is sometimes for me too; but once I figure it out and everything starts coming together it makes for such an entertaining assembly.

Although it’s not really a collage, the many rooms of the dollhouse made the assembly seem as though it was. It was the best of both worlds for me; a collage of dollhouse rooms, and just a regular domestic scene from a playroom around the edges. I loved it!

These were my favorite 3 rooms to assemble. They’re so adorable, and the interesting wallpaper in the many rooms made for an easy sort. There are framed pictures of dolls in almost every room, and the pretty frames around them were fun to put together.

If you don’t mind a random cut, I highly recommend this puzzle. I had the best time with it, and it didn’t scare me (that much) that it was 1000 pieces. The fit was lovely and the entire scene makes for a wonderful assembly. 👍