Review: Yarn Shop

On August 1, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviewsLeave a comment

Yarn Shop by Kim Jacobs – Milton Bradley – 500 pieces

Mom loves this image, but it’s just not my pile of pieces (cup of tea, as it were). It’s too pastel, and there’s too much going on. It’s pretty, but it just wasn’t fun for me to assemble.

The quality was good; the pieces are a good thickness with a nice variety of piece shapes. The image reproduction seems a bit fuzzy, but that could be the artwork itself. The fit seemed a bit mushy to me, it wasn’t always clear if the correct piece was chosen because sometimes a piece seemed to fit but really didn’t. I don’t always have the right words, so I’ve chosen “mushy”.

You can see in the above pictures that there was a lot of patterned background, almost none of the pieces had a solid color with no pattern. Perhaps if it were more brightly colored it wouldn’t have been such a chore, but in my opinion the color palette added to the difficulty. I seriously disliked the entire assembly, but that was more about my taste than the quality of the puzzle.

Of course, it could be that I just wasn’t in the right mood for this image. You never can tell these days; old age is setting in (I’m a few months away from 50), and there are plenty of “You kids get off my lawn!” moods that my family has to endure. 👵

If you’re in the right mood, and this image is one that tickles your fancy, I say go for it. The quality is good and if you like the artwork you should enjoy the puzzle.

Details:

Title: Yarn Shop
Artist: Kim Jacobs
Brand: Milton Bradley
Piece count: 500 pieces
Size: Approx. 18 x 24 in. (46 x 61 cm)
Purchased: New

Quality:

Board: Very good
Cutting: Good
Image: Good
Box: Average
Fit: Good, slightly mushy
Puzzle Dust: Moderate amount
Piece cut: Grid cut
Piece shapes: Good variety
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating: Good, recommended

Butterflies II

On July 28, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

These beautiful shaped puzzles are such fun for me to put together, and even though I have 9 of the series there are still a few that I don’t have and would love to get my hands on.

The colors on these butterflies are absolutely gorgeous and they were interesting to assemble. Unlike the cupcakes and shoes that I’ve already assembled, these were of varying sizes and shapes. The smallest of the butterflies had only 8 pieces, and the largest had 52 pieces! It was quite an entertaining assembly, and I can’t stress enough how stunning the colors are, they are so beautiful. 🦋

Each butterfly was delightful to see and put together, the varying sizes made sure that each was not a cookie cutter of the same shapes. The colors were bright, and the fit was very good. All in all I had a great time with this puzzle.

These are two of my favorites, although I had a hard time choosing only a few. All of them were interesting, challenging, beautiful, and fun!

Holiday Parade

On July 26, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

I didn’t want to like this puzzle, but honestly I had a really good time assembling it. Even though all the pieces were what I call “ballerinas” it was an entertaining puzzle to put together.

This is the 3rd Briarpatch puzzle I’ve assembled, and all 3 had differing levels of quality. I wonder why it is that some companies seem to have no consistency in the quality of their puzzles? Perhaps they have particular manufacturers for various puzzles; I can’t really say. What I will say is that it’s disappointing at times, if I’ve done one of their better quality puzzles and feel confident purchasing another – I end up becoming discouraged by the inconsistency.

The quality of this particular Briarpatch was fair to middlin’ (technical term 🙂 ) The pieces were a good thickness and the fit was excellent – you could pick up the entire puzzle from just the middle and nothing came apart. Unfortunately that’s where the good ends; there was no variety in piece shape at all, the image reproduction was fuzzy in places, and the finished puzzle did not lay flat.

At first glance it doesn’t really look like a Christmas puzzle with Uncle Sam and the giant clown balloons, but once you take a second look there are wreaths everywhere and Santa is in the parade. By the way, why on Earth is Santa sitting on a giant swan atop his sleigh? I find that a little odd. Is that just me?

Not being a fan of Christmas puzzles, and having only fair quality you’d think this would be a puzzle I wouldn’t have enjoyed. I thought I wouldn’t enjoy it either, in fact I didn’t want to enjoy it – it just didn’t look like a fun puzzle to me. Turns out, I had a great time with it in spite of myself. 👍🎄

Shoes

On July 23, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

I am absolutely in love with these small, separate, shaped puzzles from Lafayette Puzzle Factory. Assembling them is so much fun! I bought 8 of the series, and there are still more that I’d like to get my hands on.

The quality is about medium-level in my opinion. The chipboard has different colored backing for each mini puzzle, and sometimes the die doesn’t cut all the way through this backing. I enjoy these puzzles so much that it doesn’t really bother me that some pieces need to be separated. They are another example of how I’m willing to overlook certain quality issues if the image or assembly is particularly entertaining.

The pieces are a good thickness, there are an excellent variety of shapes, and the fit is very good. The image reproduction is excellent with bright, beautiful colors. They are truly stunning!

The shoes are beautiful as artwork, but there is NO WAY that I would be able to wear them. Perhaps I could sit down first and then put them on, I would look pretty but wouldn’t have to actually walk anywhere. These are my two favorites; I have nowhere to wear them, and nothing to wear them with, but I just love the look of them….

The whole time I was putting these together I kept thinking they would be a great idea for decorating a teenage girl’s room. Most young girls can’t wait to be older and high heels are definitely part of that – at least they were for me. I would have loved to have had these puzzles on my walls when I was younger.

If you’re interested in these gorgeous shaped shoe puzzles I highly recommend them. I had the best time assembling them – two heels kicked way up! 👠👠

Maple Sugar Time

On July 15, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

While this image isn’t one I would choose most other times of the year, I saw this one and decided to get it done for Christmas in July. It was good quality, and pretty fun to assemble.

As usual, these Milton Bradley puzzles are good quality; although the fit of this one was quite loose. This happens sometimes at the end of a run when the dies are getting dull. I don’t consider it a flaw, it’s just one of those things that happens in manufacturing.

All the little scenes were fun to put together; carrying the sap to the big kettle to be sugared off, getting more wood for the fire, etc.

Although I’m not a fan of Christmas/winter puzzles, this one wasn’t too bad. I enjoyed it, but to be honest I’d rather working on a puzzle with bright colors, or maybe one that had a bunch of little shaped puzzles. ☺