Review: Dog Stamps Quilt

On November 29, 2019November 29, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews2 Comments

Dog Stamps Quilt – hmmm, a collage with dogs, I wonder if I liked it? It won’t be much of a spoiler for me to tell you I adored it! It had everything going for it before I even opened the box, and luckily once it was opened the quality was just as good as the artwork.

Bits and Pieces is a brand I normally only buy second hand because of some very bad experiences with their puzzles. When I saw this image though, and the fact that it was only 300 pieces, I had to throw caution to the wind and give it a try. And I’m very glad I did! The pieces were very thick, with an excellent variety of shapes that fit together very well. The offset, almost wavy grid cut made for some fascinating piece shapes that sometimes seemed almost geometric, and the interesting way they fit together made for an absorbing and entertaining puzzle.

Dog Stamps 1

These adorable puppies jumped right out at me when I was sorting; first of all, their little faces look like they’re about to get into a lot of mischief, and secondly the background is a beautiful shade of blue that stood out in a sea of brown and tan pieces. Their faces and expressions are just too cute!

Dog Stamps 2

This little guy had such sad, sweet eyes. I had to take a close-up picture of this stamp; it’s just too sweet to pass up, and I think it would make a great puzzle image on it’s own.

Overall I was quite impressed with the quality of this puzzle. I find that many 300 piece puzzles with large pieces have thick chipboard that is quite sturdy, even if the larger piece count puzzles from the same brand aren’t as thick. Bits and Pieces is a brand I don’t usually endorse, but in this piece count I have no reservations in giving this puzzle a thumbs up. It’s great quality and an excellent image, and if the artwork makes you smile it is definitely recommended. Two doggie paws way up! 🐾

Details:

Title: Dog Stamps Quilt
Artist: Barbara Behr
Brand: Bits and Pieces
Piece count: 300 pieces
Size: Approx. 18 x 24 in. (46 x 61 cm)
Purchased: New

Quality:

Board: Very good
Cutting: Very good
Image: Very good
Box: Average
Fit: Very good
Puzzle Dust: Small amount
Piece cut: Offset grid cut
Piece shapes: Very good variety
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating: Very good, highly recommended

Hair Gossip

On November 21, 2019November 21, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

This is another puzzle my daughter insisted I buy. I seem to be buying puzzles that SHE likes when we’re together, but I’ve completely enjoyed all of her choices so I’m definitely not complaining. She has excellent taste in puzzles, and knows what her momma likes. 🙂

After the assembly of the previous Sure Lox 300 piece in the newer boxes, I felt a little more confident purchasing this one. Again it had very good quality – which my fingers definitely didn’t want to type in regards to a Sure Lox puzzle. But it’s true, the new boxes contain much better quality puzzles than I’ve worked previously. The pieces are thicker and fit together very well; the image reproduction is quite good too. There is only the one piece shape, but that’s my only criticism.

02640_giggles_300pc_hairgossip_lid_full_web

This is the new box design. I’ve only tried their 300 piece puzzles so far, but the two that I’ve assembled have been very good quality. I was brave and also got myself a 500 piece with the new box, so I’ll let you know once I assemble it if the larger piece counts also have improved quality.

I love that Sure Lox has improved their quality, and I’m loving their “Giggles” images featuring the photography of John Lund. I don’t usually go for photographic images, but the adorable animals in silly situations are too cute to pass up. 😍🐶

Jumanji

On November 17, 2019November 16, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

I love the look of this, it’s quite striking compared to the fuzzy, soft, sweetened Christmas puzzles I’ve been seeing everywhere; I much prefer the look of this to be honest. I loved the movies too, both of them, which is why I bought it. I’m glad I did. 💗

It’s only a 300 piece puzzle, but don’t be fooled, this was way harder than it looks! It isn’t the best quality puzzle I’ve done lately, but it wasn’t too terrible. At the very least the colors are quite nice. The thickness of the pieces was fair, as was the fit. But it’s one of those puzzles where the image is so cool or entertaining that I can overlook it’s shortcomings.

Even if it wasn’t as easy as I’d assumed and wasn’t premium quality I still very much enjoyed this puzzle. The colors are both subdued and bright at the same time, and it was great fun figuring out which of the corner vignettes I was working on or what letter in Jumanji I was assembling.

300 pieces of entertainment and looking at the picture of it still makes me smile. Lovely!

Winged Things 17

On November 13, 2019November 12, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles5 Comments

This is a gorgeous image that was a little challenging too – it needed just the right amount of brain power. It’s a great little puzzle that I think looks amazing. The name of the puzzle makes me wonder what the other 16 Winged Things look like, and I also wonder if they were made into puzzles.

Normally there isn’t much discussion about the boxes puzzles come in, but this one was was something worth talking about. The box was so enormously difficult to open that I had to have one of my sons help me. It’s just a round-ish box with one flat side (easier to put on the shelves I’m assuming). Seriously, it was so difficult to open it took two grown people working together, and we had to use a butter knife to pry the pieces apart. We must have looked like a couple of world class mindless idiots – we couldn’t open a cardboard box! (Thank goodness there is no video evidence of this to add to my humiliation)

Once we finally got the box open I had a fabulous time putting this together. The piece shapes were interesting, and the colorful image made for such entertaining puzzling. This puzzle had a somewhat loose fit but it wasn’t too bad, and the image reproduction was absolutely beautiful.

Winged Things 1

The center was very unusual; most circular puzzles have 3 pieces that form a small circle, but this one had eight pizza shaped pieces – very interesting – and it added to the difficulty as well.

It isn’t often that you see circular 300 piece puzzles, but I was very happy to find this at the store. I only bought two of them, but there were more; I might have to go back and get another one. 😉

Wings

On November 6, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

A beautiful, colorful puzzle that was actually quite calming for me to assemble. The bright colors made it relatively easy, but all the birds and butterflies made for a bit of a challenge; the perfect combination.

Great quality puzzle with thick pieces that fit together well and a good variety of shapes. The image reproduction was bright and clear, but the finish was extremely shiny. It’s part of Buffalo’s Vivid Collection, perhaps that’s the reason for the shininess. It’s a bright image though, and the shine didn’t cause too much glare while working under artificial light.