Tag: 1000 pieces

Review: Butterfly Kingdom

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews4 Comments
This post is sponsored by Bone Owl Puzzles.
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Butterfly Kingdom – Bone Owl Puzzles – 1000 pieces

Butterfly Kingdom is a beautiful image and makes for a wonderfully challenging puzzle. I enjoyed the random cut and oddly shaped pieces which added to the difficulty, but didn’t detract at all from the entertainment of the assembly.

Bone Owl Puzzles is a new company based in Canada offering a small selection of beautifully crafted “offbeat” jigsaw puzzles from artists all around the world. Their puzzles are manufactured in the US and I found them to be very good quality. The images are unique and interesting and I had a difficult time choosing which puzzle I wanted to review. They have 6 different puzzles in their catalog at the moment, and I was only able to narrow it down to 4. I had to enlist the help of my husband and sons to help me decide! The artwork is so beautiful and unique and each of the choices had something that really drew me in; that’s so important – having images that inspire and get you excited about assembling them.

The quality of the puzzles was very good, and I was quite impressed. The pieces are made from single-ply chipboard to prevent the splitting that sometimes happens with lesser quality multi-layered board. They are a good thickness and fit together well, and have a linen finish that gives a luxurious feel. The image reproduction is excellent, the lines are crisp and the colors are amazing.

My only problem with the quality was the large amount of puzzle dust. It can be annoying to deal with, but in the end doesn’t really interfere with my enjoyment of the assembly. I’ve learned that if you get a puzzle that’s near the end of the run when the die is getting duller you’ll have more dust. I’ve had many premium quality puzzles with a lot of dust, and I don’t consider it to be a flaw, it’s just one of those things that sometimes happens – there is no perfect manufacturing process. I’ve never assembled a cardboard puzzle that didn’t have at least some dust, for me it’s just part of the process of working with puzzles.

The pictures above show the unique cut of the pieces and the beautiful colors in the image, it was a fascinating puzzle that was a joy to assemble. I enjoy the random cut, it keeps me on my toes and makes me look at the pieces differently. The image is always the key though; if the image is boring or uninspiring I won’t be assembling the puzzle no matter how interesting the pieces are.

The trees on either side of the image were the most challenging part of the puzzle for me, but not too much so. There are shades of color and patterns in the tree trunks that help with the assembly, along with the unique shapes of the pieces. It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it might be, and I was nearing the end of the assembly and very motivated to see the entire finished image. It was the perfect combination of fun and challenging for me and the completed puzzle is gorgeous!

Bone Owl Puzzles are definitely recommended. This puzzle was a treat to assemble and I look forward to working on more of their puzzles, the only problem is choosing which one I’d like to do next. 👍

Details:

  • Title:                  Butterfly Kingdom
  • Artist:                Dan May
  • Brand:               Bone Owl Puzzles
  • Piece count:     1000 pieces
  • Size:                  Approx. 27 x 19 in. (68 x 49 cm)
  • Purchased:      N/A, sent for review

Quality:

  • Board:               Very good
  • Cutting:             Very good
  • Image:               Excellent
  • Box:                   Average
  • Fit:                     Very good
  • Puzzle Dust:     Large amount of dust
  • Piece cut:          Random cut
  • Piece shapes:   Very good variety
  • Finish:               Matte finish, lays flat

Overall Rating:      Very good, recommended

 

I received this product at no cost in order to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own.

 

Review: Yoga Dogs

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews2 Comments
This post is sponsored by Puzzle Warehouse.
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Yoga Dogs – Eurographics – 1000 pieces

Yoga Dogs was so much fun to assemble, and the first 1000 piece puzzle I assembled this month. I’ve been having so much trouble sitting to puzzle that most of the puzzles I’ve put together have been 500 pieces or less. This one took a while, but was completely worth it.

One thing I’ve noticed with Eurographics puzzles is the obvious piece shapes in the finished image. It doesn’t really affect the enjoyment of assembly for me, but if you’re looking to frame a finished puzzle it’s something to consider. I have found though, that if you glue the puzzle before framing it reduces the appearance of the piece shapes. The glue fills in some of the space and the image doesn’t seem as chopped up.

Eurographics have an excellent catalog, including some fascinating educational puzzles along with landscapes, fine art, interesting collages, and much more. They are made from good quality chipboard and are randomly cut which gives a very good variety of piece shapes. The image reproduction is very good with a slightly shiny finish that can cause glare under artificial lights. Check out all the Eurographics puzzles currently in stock at Puzzle Warehouse. There are plenty of great images to choose from, even a 300 piece Yoga Puppies puzzle that looks so precious!

The assembly was relatively easy, I separated out all the pieces with letters or words and also all the background colors. It was simple to assemble each colored background and place it in the frame, and once all the colors were put together finishing off all the dogs and fur was the most challenging part. All in all it was quite an entertaining puzzle and if you’re a fan of dogs or collages I definitely recommend it. 🐶

Details:

  • Title:                  Yoga Dogs
  • Artist:                Unknown
  • Brand:               Eurographics
  • Piece count:     1000 pieces
  • Size:                  Approx. 19 x 27 in. (49 x 68 cm)
  • Purchased:      N/A, sent for review

Quality:

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

Overall Rating:      Very good, recommended

 

I received this product at no cost in order to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own.

Review: Preamble

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews2 Comments
This post is sponsored by Puzzle Warehouse.
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Preamble by Mike Wilkins – Pomegranate – 1000 pieces

Preamble is a beautiful, interesting puzzle that I can’t recommend enough – I had the best time assembling it! It’s a little more challenging than I thought, but it never became tiresome or frustrating; it was fun for me to the very last piece.

I first bought this puzzle last year as a gift for my favorite sister-in-law; she had many family members coming to stay at her house for several days (including my husband and myself) and I sent ahead a hostess gift of a couple of jigsaw puzzles. When there’s a puzzle in progress it’s difficult not to stop and look, and you end up adding pieces if you can – before long people are working together, talking, laughing and really enjoying themselves. I was hoping the puzzles would help take the pressure off feeling as though her guests needed to be entertained all the time, and they absolutely did – we entertained ourselves and enjoyed the time spent together. ❤

Although we weren’t able to assemble this puzzle on our visit, I loved the look of it so much that I wanted one for myself. When it came time to pick a few puzzles for review I jumped at the chance to take this one off of my wishlist. I was not disappointed; it was tougher than I thought (especially when it was only white license plates left) but always entertaining.

Pomegranate puzzles are the cream of the crop in my book, the quality is superb. The pieces are wonderfully thick, fit together exceptionally well, and there are a very good variety of piece shapes. The image reproduction is lovely, with a matte finish that reduces glare; and even the boxes are sturdy and gorgeous. As an added bonus, the puzzles come in a resealable plastic bag for storage and the image of the puzzle on the front of the box is complete and unobstructed – we puzzlers love the extra details like these that make things easier! Click the link above to see all their puzzles currently available at Puzzle Warehouse, they’ve got a gorgeous catalog of images to choose from.

If you haven’t looked closely, the 51 license plates in this puzzle from the 50 states and Washington, DC phonetically spell out the preamble to the US constitution in abbreviated “license speak”. They wouldn’t make sense on their own, but together in alphabetical order they re-create the beginning of one of America’s most famous documents. What an interesting and well-executed idea!

If you’re a fan of collages, or just interesting images that make for entertaining puzzles I highly recommend Preamble. It’s a bit challenging, but only in a fun way if you ask me – too easy can be so boring!

Details:

  • Title:                  Preamble
  • Artist:                Mike Wilkins
  • Brand:               Pomegranate
  • Piece count:     1000 pieces
  • Size:                  Approx. 25 x 25 in. (64 x 64 cm)
  • Purchased:      N/A, sent for review

Quality:

  • Board:               Excellent
  • Cutting:             Excellent
  • Image:               Excellent
  • Box:                   Excellent
  • Fit:                     Excellent
  • Puzzle Dust:     Small amount
  • Piece cut:          Grid cut
  • Piece shapes:   Good variety
  • Finish:               Matte finish, lays flat

Overall Rating:      Excellent, highly recommended

 

I received this product at no cost in order to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own.

(What If #11) Elizabeth and Raleigh

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments
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(What If #11) Elizabeth and Raleigh by Geoff Tristam – Ravensburger – 1000 pieces

What If puzzles are great fun, I love figuring out how things ended up and seeing the picture taking shape. As usual, I never show the entire completed image because I don’t want to ruin the experience for anyone else. Half the fun is finding out what happens with everyone and how the picture is different from the box image – no spoilers here!

If you’ve never done a What If or Wasgij puzzle, the premise is simple; the image on the box is not the image you puzzle. Something happens to change the scene and you puzzle the result. What If #11 gives us this scenario….Good Queen Bess enjoys visiting favorite courtiers like Sir Walter Raleigh. He is handsome and dashing, and Elizabeth might just be fooled by his chat-up lines. But WHAT IF Sir Walter wasn’t a true gentleman? And WHAT IF Elizabeth really fell for his charms?

I didn’t enjoy this puzzle as much as I usually do, but it had nothing to do with the puzzle itself. The quality was great, the image is fun and funny – the problem was me. It took much longer than normal to complete because of physical issues making it difficult to sit and work on it for any real length of time. This got me a little down and I was avoiding it which kept the vicious cycle going. Taking too long, upset about it taking too long, avoid working on it which makes it take even longer – repeat. Eventually I got it done though, I promise I did the entire puzzle not just that one little section. 😉

Don’t be intimidated by these types of puzzles; they’re not as difficult as you might think. Ravensburger has the What If series, Jumbo does the Wasgij line, PuzzleTwist is a newer company whose puzzles all have a twist on the box image, and there are probably more I haven’t tried yet. I don’t think they’re too difficult; you can usually get clues from the image on the box which will help you with the assembly. The background is usually the same, many times the people are wearing the same clothing, etc. It’s good exercise for your brain and makes you really pay attention to the images, colors, and shapes. Besides all that – they’re great fun!

Potato Chips

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment
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Potato Chips by Charlie Girard – White Mountain – 1000 pieces

I have to confess that mom did this puzzle by herself. Since I don’t post puzzles I haven’t done or at least helped with she then took apart the entire lower right corner and had me put it back together so I could post this. She’s the best!

It’s a beautiful finished puzzle, but the image reproduction seemed quite blurry/fuzzy. I find that a little more often with collages like this for some reason. Perhaps it’s how the picture is taken, I don’t know for sure; but this image seemed particularly fuzzy. It looks great once it’s finished though, doesn’t it?

I’m not really a potato chip enthusiast or anything, but I’ve not even heard of most of these brands – have you? Yo Ho, Red Dot, Zapps, Green Mountain? Perhaps they’re regional brands and I just haven’t traveled enough. I’m ok with that though, I’m definitely a homebody. I’d rather stay home and relax and puzzle; I’ll keep the home fires burning for everyone else who loves to travel – someone’s gotta do it. 🙂