Beauty and the Beast

On September 13, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

This beautiful image was fun to assemble, but it was the first time I’ve been disappointed in a MasterPieces puzzle in quite a while. 😒

My experience with this brand has mostly been very good. The image reproduction has always been excellent in my opinion, as are the variety of piece shapes. They are a good thickness and fit together well. I’ve heard that others have found the fit to be quite loose, but that hasn’t been my experience at all. That doesn’t discount their experience; there have been many times where people with the exact same puzzle have had much different levels of quality – a lot of the time it all depends on where in the run your puzzle was produced. Beginning of the run may give you a tighter fit, end of the run can be much looser.

My problem with this puzzle wasn’t the fit at all, it was the bent pieces. I can’t be sure if it was because of the box (book shaped and somewhat small for 300 large pieces) or if it was another reason. The pieces were almost jammed in the box, and up into the spine of the “book”. Whatever it was, there were many bent pieces and the puzzle didn’t lay flat when complete, which was disappointing.

Otherwise I enjoyed the assembly very much, and found the image itself to be absolutely stunning. Steve Crisp’s artwork is beautiful, the colors are perfect for the scene, and it made for a captivating puzzle.

The random cut helped with keeping my focus as well, you couldn’t rely on the edges of the pieces to help you find what exact shape you were looking for. You have to rely more on patterns and shades of color because you may think you’re looking for a certain shape and it could end up that 2 pieces fit where you thought only 1 should go. I love it when a puzzle keeps me on my toes. 🙂

The bent pieces were a bummer, but I enjoyed it anyway – it’s a beautiful puzzle!

Ice Cream Truck

On September 2, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

As summer is technically coming to an end, I figured a bit of ice cream is just what we need. Actually, according to this puzzle (and Charles Schulz) all we really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt!

This is an adorably cute image, almost too sweet. 😉 Mom and I put it together when she arrived one day to help me assemble a puzzle that I was struggling with but had already finished. I had no idea she was coming over to help me, and I completed the puzzle while she was on her way. Since the difficult one was done, we decided to put together a 300 piece puzzle and this was the one we chose.

Re-marks usually has good quality, and although this puzzle was ok there were a few very bent pieces that prevented the completed puzzle from laying flat. Other than that one area, I had no other problems with the quality of this particular puzzle. The pieces were thick and fit together well, and there were an excellent variety of shapes. The reproduction was very good, with sharp lines and colors; there was no blurriness or fading.

The image itself reminds me of the Richard Scarry books I used to read with my kids when they were young. The characters look somewhat like those he illustrated, especially their eyes. They’re very cute, and made for a fun puzzle to put together.

I love that everything is made of sweets; doughnut tires, an ice cream sandwich for a counter, mints for headlights, etc. So very cute!

So as summer is ending and we get together with friends and family, enjoy an ice cream sundae – or even better, enjoy an ice cream sundae or some chocolate and sweets with loved ones and then work on a puzzle together. I can’t think of a better way to spend a holiday weekend! 🍨

Georgetown Floral

On August 30, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles1 Comment

I figured this 300 piece puzzle would go together pretty quickly, I figured wrong! Luckily the quality was so good, and the image was so pretty that even though it was difficult I didn’t find it too tedious.

Hasbro’s EZ grip pieces are EXTREMELY thick, and fit together very well. The image reproduction was excellent, with beautiful colors; although the finish was shiny and prone to glare under artificial lights. There were a very good variety of piece shapes as well, and they made for for an interesting assembly. All in all, the quality was wonderful.

This was my first image by Jan Ford, and I enjoyed it very much; the color palette was beautiful. Flower puzzles aren’t always my first choice, but usually once I get going I find that I enjoy them very much.

Although it took longer than I thought it was an entertaining puzzle to assemble, and at the end hubby helped with the last little bit. I always enjoy having him help me with my puzzles, and he very much likes to swoop in at the end and help with the last few pieces. If I’m feeling generous I even let him put in the very last piece. 🙂

Colorful Glass

On August 9, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

This puzzle was much more fun than I anticipated, it wasn’t as difficult as I thought; and finding all the different colors kept my mind engaged. I definitely recommend it!

It was great quality, which makes me very happy. I’ve worked some Milton Bradley puzzles lately with questionable quality, but this one was great. The pieces were a good thickness with a very nice feel. There were an excellent variety of shapes and the fit was great as well. Excellent all around quality. 👍

Mom has a White Mountain puzzle with a marble image, and I’ve never had the urge to assemble it at all. Usually they’re ones I stay away from. Having only 300 pieces, this marble puzzle seemed achievable – and it was! I can’t really say what my process was assembling this puzzle, because it’s one of those images where you don’t get to put together large sections at a time. It was great fun though.

Interestingly, I’m working on another marble image puzzle today and YIKES – it’s really difficult! I love the image itself, but the fact that it only has one piece shape makes it much harder than it would be otherwise. (I’m reviewing it, so don’t look for a favorable review – it won’t be getting one)

Yellow and Black Labs

On August 8, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

These adorable puppies were just too cute to pass up! It was more difficult than I bargained for, but sometimes that’s a good thing, at least it was here. The quality was very good as well – an excellent puzzle all around!

Just look at those faces! Who could leave these two sitting on a shelf in a store? Definitely not me. It’s a Milton Bradley, and their puzzles more often than not have good quality. Sometimes I come across one with poor quality, but I take my chances when the image makes me happy, and these little guys make me very happy!

It seems to me that the 300 piece puzzles usually have better quality than a larger piece count by the same brand – especially when it’s an EZ grip. I guess us oldsters who do these 300 piece puzzles need thicker pieces too hold onto. I’m not complaining mind you, I love the extra thick pieces. 🙂

Both of the puppies were easy enough to put together, but the background and foreground where the challenging parts. It’s one of those images that makes you say “Aww!” Definitely recommended – two pups way up! 🐶🐶