Trick or Treat 2

On October 30, 2019October 30, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles4 Comments

I found this puzzle at mom’s, it’s a thrift store find and I really like the image! The box was pretty beat up, and I was worried that it would be missing pieces, but luckily they were all present and accounted for. I love how colorful it is, and it was a lot more fun to assemble than I expected.

The random cut was pretty fun to work with, but the fit was mushy. You could put two pieces together and they felt and looked as though they fit, but they absolutely did not. With this kind of fit you can’t rely on feel, you have to pay close attention and sometimes I even had to turn the pieces over to be certain. That’s what I call a mushy fit, and I am most definitely NOT a fan.

Mushy fit aside though, it was still pretty entertaining for my first holiday puzzle of the month.

Tomorrow is the big day – I love Halloween!

👻Boo!👻

Little Feminist

On October 27, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

This colorful puzzle was completely entertaining and quick to go together. Only one piece shape, but the little sections were relatively easy to pick out and assemble even without a variety in the piece shape.

I love the catalog of Mudpuppy puzzles, but they’re another brand that only has the one piece shape. Perhaps I’m getting to be a crochety old lady who complains too much, but I’m a bit annoyed by how many brands have just the one piece shape. I’ve assembled a few of their puzzles before, so at least I knew going in that they would all be the same shape.

This is my kind of image though; I love a collage and I love cartoon puzzles too. It went together very quickly because it was hard to walk away. Each section lead to the next, and they were all fun to assemble.

This is another puzzle that my daughter found for me in the clearance section at Barnes & Noble when we were trying to find a particular book. I can never go into a store without checking to see if there are any puzzles for me to look through. It’s a sickness, one I believe I discovered – PADS. I’m severely afflicted and loving it! 💖

Sewing Collage

On September 24, 2019September 24, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles7 Comments

This puzzle was an interesting test for me, I assembled it much differently than I usually do. I found it enjoyable and pretty entertaining! It’s a very nice quality puzzle, and the repetition of the image made it a bit of a challenge. I had a very good time with this one. 🙂

With all the different elements repeated several times, I picked certain things (like pincushions, the red buttons, or the spools of thread) and assembled them all. Then I used the box image to see where each one fit into the frame.

Sewing Collage 1

I found that I really enjoyed assembling the puzzle this way. And once I got a few parts assembled and set in the frame, it was easier to see where things belonged and work off of them. It’s not always going to be applicable to every puzzle image, but it was a nice change for me.

Maybe we should all shake things up every now and again and try things a different way – we might find that we like it very much!

I’m enjoying these Big Ben puzzles, the quality is quite good and they have plenty of interesting and challenging images to choose from. They’re nice when I need a quick puzzle fix, and I like having them around. When I finish a larger puzzle and want something that will be entertaining and won’t take forever to complete I’ve got a Big Ben puzzle that’ll do the trick very nicely.

Review: Colored Powder

On September 15, 2019September 15, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews3 Comments

This image is GORGEOUS! It wasn’t as difficult as I’d feared it would be, and I absolutely loved putting it together. 💖

The Big Ben puzzles that I’ve been finding at my local Tuesday Morning store have been very good quality and a joy to work with. I love the slanted grid cut, and the dry feel of the pieces. The fit is quite good as well, and overall the entire puzzle was wonderful.

I started with the light blue, which wasn’t too hard. But the rest of the puzzle was a bit of a challenge mostly because my husband took the extension cord off of the big light directly above my puzzle table. It took a few days for me to find a replacement and before I did, seeing the colors of whichever puzzle I was working on was a little difficult – and this one especially!

Seeing the difference between the reds, oranges, and pinks was made even more problematic because of the lack of good lighting. The hurricane shutters are still on all of our windows (hubby is out of town for work), so I couldn’t even get any help from the window near my table.

All problems aside, this image is so beautiful that I loved watching it come together as each piece was added. It’s a little challenging, but definitely worth it!

Details:

Title: Colored Powder
Artist: Big Ben Puzzles
Brand: Milton Bradley (Big Ben)
Piece count: 500 pieces
Size: Approx. 18 x 24 in. (46 x 61 cm)
Purchased: New

Quality:

Board: Very good
Cutting: Very good
Image: Excellent
Box: Average
Fit: Very good
Puzzle Dust: Moderate amount
Piece cut: Grid cut (slanted)
Piece shapes: Very good variety
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating: Very good, recommended

Pet Portraits

On September 13, 2019September 13, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles7 Comments

My daughter found me a bunch of clearance puzzles at Barnes and Noble, and she was very insistent that I get this one. Of course, it has a Boston Terrier in it! She loves my Buddy, and we all love Boston Terriers, they are not only adorable dogs, but they’re so wonderfully sweet – especially our Buddy.

Of course it was our favorite portrait in the puzzle…

Pet Portraits 1

That frozen look, especially when we’re playing with our little guy, is what we lovingly call “crazy eyes”. Bostons love to play, and when we’re getting ready to throw a toy he freezes and looks at us with the crazy eyes, it’s because he’s just so excited!

Pet Portraits 2

I love the demure look on the bird’s face – how cute is that? It’s like she knows she’s cute and is posing for a picture. Adorable! I’m not a fan of birds as pets, only because I very much enjoy peace and quiet, and I find that birds are always making noise – no thank you. I’d much rather assemble a puzzle with birds. 😉

The puzzle itself was good quality, but I’ve had quite a few puzzles with just the one piece shape lately and they’re a bit boring. I enjoy figuring out which piece shape I’m looking for, and I find it’s also very helpful when you have a large area of one color. I’m choosing what to puzzle next right now, and if I open the box and see only one piece shape I close it right back up and keep looking for a more interesting one with a variety of shapes.