Tag: 500 pieces

Hello Kitty and Friends – Day 1

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Hello Kitty and Friends – RoseArt – approx. 125/500 pieces

It’s been a while since I’ve done a pack of mini shaped puzzles from RoseArt; these were much more enjoyable to assemble and much better quality than the last set I put together. Plus, I’ve learned so much about the world of Hello Kitty – I had no idea there were so many characters!

Overall the quality was quite good, I was happy to find this after the not so great quality of the Peanuts puzzles I did earlier this year. The pieces fit together well, there was no damage to them, and none of the pieces were still connected. The pieces are much bigger now than the puzzles I began doing all those years ago, and they make for bigger mini puzzles. The finish is a bit shiny, but the colors were bright and fun, and made for excellent puzzling.

Many times when I’ve done a puzzle like this I create names and backstories for each little puzzle, but that won’t be happening this time. These characters already have names and extremely detailed backstories, so I’ll just be sharing what I’ve learned about them online and letting you know how each puzzle was to assemble.

This is Monkichi (his full name is Osaru no Monkichi, which means “Monkey’s Monkey in Japanese). He enjoys puns, and has a sunny easygoing personality. He loves bananas and apparently can eat 10 of them in just one minute! He lives on a mountain in the Japanese countryside with his Mama who is a very good cook, and his Papa who is the Pun-Master.

This little guy was one of the easier puzzles in this set; he was smaller, and the colors made it less difficult to assemble than some of the others.

Chococat gets his name from his chocolate-colored nose; and his whiskers are like antennae that help him pick up information so he usually the first to know about things. He loves to fool around with his best friends, but he can be a little scatter-brained at times. His parents (Rory and Catrina) are divorced, and he lives with his mom.

Although this was the smallest of all the puzzles at only 24 pieces, it was by no means easy to assemble! Almost every piece was just black and white, and it took me much longer than you’d think to put everything together properly.

Pompompurin is a good-natured golden retriever dog who was born on a sunny day on the 16th of April. He lives in his very own basket in the entrance hall of his sister-owner’s house and his favorite food is his Mama’s cream/caramel pudding. His trademark is his brown beret that is always on his head. He loves collecting his owner’s shoes, sleeping, and hanging out with his friends (a hamster named Muffin, a mouse named Scone, and a bird named Custard). He’s a laid-back dog who easily makes friends, and he loves soft things.

This was one of the few puzzles that I had to assemble the edges first in order to make progress. All those yellow pieces were a LOT.

Hope you enjoyed your introduction to these Hello Kitty characters, I enjoyed learning about them. Stay tuned for more new characters on Day Two!

I Read Banned Books

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles13 Comments

I Read Banned Books by Laura Korzon – Mudpuppy – 500 pieces

You’re damn right I do! In fact, when I do a puzzle like this or read about banned books, it only makes me want to read them even more; I wonder if those book-banning d**che-bags understand that at all. Probably not, that would take critical thinking skills, logic, and comprehension.

This was a fantastic puzzle with very good quality that went together quite quickly – in fact it was almost too easy and I found myself wishing it was 750 or 1000 pieces to make it last a bit longer.

Although I don’t care for the backing Mudpuppy uses, and wish there was more than one piece shape, it was otherwise a very good quality puzzle. The fit was excellent, and the image reproduction was stellar. In fact, the fit was so good that….

I don’t know why it makes me so happy to be able to take pictures like this, but hey, if it makes me happy to take a stupid picture of a puzzle standing up – why not? It’s a little thing, and it really does make me smile. 😁

On the back of the small poster that comes with the puzzle is a little blurb about each of the books with one or two sentences describing what they’re about. A couple of the books I’d never heard of, and a few I’ve heard of but haven’t read. Finding out what they’re about has made me want to read them all. I’ve only read three of the nine books shown, but I’d definitely be interested in reading the rest of them.

This really was a fun, good quality puzzle. If it looks like it would be your pile of pieces, go for it! It’s very highly recommended – two stacks of banned books 📚📚 and two thumbs up! 👍👍

*Heartfelt and special thanks to my dear friend and fellow Puzzle/PADS Posse member Penny for this lovely birthday gift. I absolutely adored it! 💖*

Cabana Retreat

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles8 Comments

Cabana Retreat by Nancy Wernersbach – Ravensburger – 500 pieces

This was an excellent quality large piece Ravensburger puzzle, with a beautiful image that was lovely to assemble. 💖

Nancy Wernersbach images are usually quite fun to put together, most of the artwork by her that I’ve done has been outdoor scenes; beachside, flower shop, cottage, etc. There’s something calming and beautiful about her work and it makes for excellent puzzling.

The large piece Ravensburger puzzles are quite fun for me, there’s a special something about the larger pieces that I find wonderful to work with. And the larger finished puzzle makes you feel as if you’ve accomplished something impressive when you’re done; it’s about the size of a typical 1000 piece puzzle.

A beach bag filled with books, drinks, perhaps a little puzzle, and maybe a snack or two sitting beside a bucket of champagne – doesn’t that sound like a lovely afternoon? If it weren’t for the sand (it gets everywhere!) and being out in the sun it would sound nice.

A plate of fruits with what could be a little pot of Nutella or chocolate sauce to dip them in – now that sounds amazing!

Great puzzle; excellent quality, beautiful artwork, and a good time was definitely had. Highly recommended!

The Party

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

The Party – Buffalo – 500 pieces

This very dark looking puzzle was difficult at times, but not nearly as challenging as I thought – it was much more enjoyable than anticipated!

The fit was looser than normal for a Buffalo puzzle, but it was otherwise good quality. The image reproduction was stellar, which it absolutely needed to be for such a dark image. Overall, other than the fit I was very happy with this puzzle.

The border was a little challenging, but not too awful. Sometimes a solid border like that can be extremely frustrating, but the shapes of Buffalo pieces make it a little easier and the system that I use to put edges together helped quite a bit as well.

I started with the kids, obviously. The faces were the easiest to pick out, and their clothing all had different textures to them that weren’t too hard to find. Then I put together those large letters, which other than the house below was the most difficult part of the entire image.

This dark bleeping house was the hardest part of the puzzle, but luckily it wasn’t too many pieces. It’s the only part of the puzzle that had me separating the pieces by shape, and even then I really had to pay close attention.

As a fan of the tv show Stranger Things I was excited to put this puzzle together, thank goodness it wasn’t disappointing!

Rainbow Pets

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Rainbow Pets by Myrna – Sure Lox/TCG – 500 pieces

Adorable as this image is, it wasn’t entertaining to assemble. Thin pieces, somewhat loose fit, shiny finish – it just wasn’t good quality and not the image I was looking to assemble. (My youngest son picked it out for me, and I assembled it to make him happy, ’cause I try to be a good mom.) The nicest thing I can tell you about this puzzle is that it wasn’t horrible quality, I’ve done way worse.

The odd thing about this puzzle was the fit. It seemed quite loose at the beginning when not many pieces were assembled, but the more the were added it seemed to get better. That sounds stupid, I know; almost all puzzles get better as more pieces are added – but this was very different. The edges seemed to barely connect and would come apart if disturbed by an accidental touch; if a small section was put together it was almost impossible to pick up and move without great care. But once you had a large section assembled it seemed to be an excellent fit. It was bizarre.

If I had wanted to (I didn’t) I almost could have taken a picture of it standing up when it was completed. It wasn’t great, almost crumbling, but it did stand up on it’s end – though not for long enough to actually get a picture before it fell apart.

Anyone know for sure what animal this is? I don’t. Gerbil? Hamster? Guinea Pig? Other?

If you like the look of this puzzle I have bad news for you, this puzzle is definitely not recommended.