Tag: 150 pieces

Dressed to Shine

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

Dressed to Shine – Mega Puzzles (Multipack) – 150 pieces

I avoided this image in my thrift store box of eight Disney puzzles for the longest time; but today decided that I needed to finish all of the puzzles that were left in this multipack and get the whole box out of here and back to the thrift store so someone else can enjoy them.

The quality is the same as the previous ones in this Mega Puzzles multipack; thin chipboard, loose fit, etc. But I knew what the quality would be when it was purchased and I still wanted to assemble them. This image is the one I really didn’t care for out of all eight puzzles; that’s ok though, there was still enjoyment to be had in the assembly itself and I did my best.

To me, the Disney princess images that are available for things like puzzles are just ridiculous these days. The face of Cinderella shown here is NOT the same face she had in the movie. What’s wrong with Cinderella’s face the way it was? Why did it have to change? Did the imperfection of an artist-drawn image really need to be changed into a male’s airbrushed concept of femininity? It disgusts me that she’s been updated to be more beautiful and modern; and I really hate that all the princesses seem to have the waistline of a small, sickly pre-teen boy. Ick. What a ridiculous ideal for girls to try to live up to. Just…ick.

*It’s hard to find nice things to say when you’re “in a mood”, and as you can no doubt tell I am most definitely in a mood today. Sometimes it just spills over and comes poring out of my fingertips and you get a post like this where I rant about Disney movies, how things were better back in the day, leaving good things alone, and feminism. I’m not apologizing for it, just explaining it.*

The Gang*

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

The Gang* – Unknown manufacturer – 150 pieces

This puzzle was just at my house somehow, because I have no memory of where it came from. There’s no markings at all on the test tube it came in showing the manufacturer, photographer, nothing at all. So it has been given a title by me, just for this post. It looks like a fun group doesn’t it? So this is “the gang” everyone. Wouldn’t you love to hang out with them for a little while, I certainly would!

The quality of these little puzzles is really quite good. Most mini or micro puzzles are only one piece shape – not these – there are a very good variety of shapes, beautiful reproduction, and a relatively good fit. This one was a little looser than Vivienne*, but still not bad at all. I wish I knew who made this puzzle so I could give them their props, because these little puzzles really impressed me.

As always, this picture is in Mom’s memory, she told me you can’t really tell the size of a very large or very small puzzle unless there is something for comparison. If you crop a picture to only show the puzzle you have no sense of the size, really. That was driven home to me when we finally assembled the entire 40,320 piece Disney puzzle. If you read along on the blog as I was assembling each section you couldn’t really tell how big each one actually was, but once you see it laid out in front of you there’s no forgetting it.

This puzzle wasn’t as big of an accomplishment, but still it made me happy, and taking that second picture made me think of mom and smile – what more could this old gal ask for? 💖

Spooky Treats In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling3 Comments

Spooky Treats – MicroPuzzles – 150 pieces

I’m running way behind schedule here, and have literally gotten out of bed this morning just to start a puzzle for this post! I had an appointment with my cardiologist yesterday and spent the rest of the day in bed – absolutely no puzzling went on at all unfortunately.

But, just in time I sorted and put together the border for this puzzle, and I can already tell that it isn’t going to be an easy one. The words are quite large and take up many more pieces than I bargained for. Usually putting together words is one of the most entertaining parts of a puzzle for me, but I think this one may be more difficult than most. Oh well, the only way forward is through, right?

Hope you’re puzzling something fun today!

Mysterious Owl

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

Mysterious Owl by Pixie Cold – Ravensburger – 150 pieces

So I finally decided to try out one of Ravensburger’s wooden puzzles, and I was very happily surprised by how good the quality is! Perhaps because they’re my favorite brand I didn’t want to tarnish my perception of them so I stayed away purposely; whatever the reason, it makes no difference as I thought the quality was excellent!

Many puzzle brands that go from cardboard to wooden don’t seem to understand that the way you design the pieces of a wooden puzzle is very different; Ravensburger doesn’t seem to have stumbled over that problem. The thickness of the wood, the image adherence to the wood, the image chosen, the design of the pieces, how they fit together and most especially how they fit around the whimsies – all of these things are fantastic!

Beautiful whimsy pieces that match with the image perfectly, although to me that owl in the lower right corner looks somewhat like a cat.

Yes, this is the back of the puzzle. You can barely see the lines of cutting, which to me tells me they wanted to be sure that the fit of the puzzle wasn’t too loose – and it wasn’t. It’s a little sad that you can’t see all the piece shapes and whimsies on the back, but it also shows that it’s a well made puzzle.

This puzzle was excellent, and much better quality than I gave it credit for. Shame on me for waiting so long. This puzzle was stunning and fabulous all around!

Hello Fall In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlingLeave a comment

Hello Fall – MicroPuzzles – 150 pieces

I know I told you that after the last puzzle there was a 1000 piece all sorted and ready to go, and that’s still true. But I kinda got in my own way here and have taken a small detour before we get to that big’un.

The week hasn’t been much fun for me and there hasn’t been much puzzling. Yesterday was particularly difficult and I spent it almost entirely in bed, but I did get up for a few minutes and got myself into the puzzle room to get a small puzzle that I could do lying down – one of my 80 piece puzzle packs from MicroPuzzles.

But once I got that one finished I kept looking at it to see all the differences between the puzzle packs and their 150 piece test tube puzzles. Which led me to telling myself that I needed to do one of the test tube puzzles so I could show the differences close up in a post. That has led to where I am now, partway through this 150 piece fall puzzle. I didn’t get very far before I ended up back in bed, but it’s a start!

You can’t tell much from my picture, but the image is adorable and looks as though it will be very entertaining and engrossing to assemble. Hopefully after a medication adjustment I’ll be back at the puzzle board in no time. First I gotta finish this little one coffee puzzle so we can all say Hello Fall!