Festive Felines

On July 7, 2017July 11, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

It’s been so unbearably hot here I’ve decided to celebrate Christmas in July! Once a week this month I’ll have a Christmas/holiday puzzle on the blog. It will be a nice reminder that it won’t always be so bleeping hot outside. 🙂

Festive Felines is our first Christmas in July puzzle, a fun thrift store find by Andrews + Blaine. Unopened! I wonder sometimes about unopened puzzles we find at the thrift stores. Was it a gift that someone really didn’t want? Was it put away and forgotten? Was it with a whole collection of puzzles in someone’s estate? I wonder about these things. Mom found an unopened 6000 piece Schmidt puzzle this week – for $1.99!!! 😮

Anyway, back to this puzzle. It was quite a fun assembly, I do love a collage! It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be with so much fur, white, and red – but it was enough of a challenge to be fun.

I’ve done several puzzles by this company, and this is the first puzzle of theirs that I’ve done that I had problems with the pieces themselves. The pieces are a good thickness, fit together very well, and had a nice variety of shapes – the problem is the shapes. In many places the “arms” of the pieces were so thin that even right out of the bag they were bending, and one of them had broken off already.

Many of the pieces had arms this thin or even thinner! That’s just too thin to be able to work with them without breaking pieces. The piece shapes are also a bit obvious in the finished image, making it more difficult to see the details. Andrews + Blaine usually has very nice pieces of a good thickness that fit together nicely. This is the first puzzle I’ve had this problem with, so I wouldn’t let it dissuade you from picking up one of their puzzles if you like the image or find one in a thrift store.

The kittens are adorable and make for a nice puzzle image. There was enough variety in the shades of fur and accessories that it wasn’t too difficult to assemble a section or two at a time. My favorite is the little guy peeking out from inside the gift box. So cute! Did I mention glitter? Glitter puzzle!! It doesn’t photograph well, or I don’t do photographs well – but every section has something glittery. Who doesn’t love a little sparkle?

Fun, sparkly, and cute holiday puzzle!

Review: Neuschwanstein Castle

On July 6, 2017July 31, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviewsLeave a comment

This post is sponsored by Puzzle Warehouse.

Neuschwanstein Castle – Masterpieces (Masters of Photography) – 500 pieces

Neuschwanstein Castle was a quick, fun puzzle that had better quality than I thought it would. I honestly don’t understand the fascination with this castle, there are so many puzzles of it from so many different companies! It’s an interesting looking castle in a beautiful setting, I guess because it makes for a pretty picture? Whatever the reason, it does make a lovely image and it was an enjoyable puzzle to assemble.

This puzzle is part of the Masterpieces Space Savers collection. Small boxes approximately half the size of a regular 500 piece box designed to put a lot of puzzle fun in a little box for a little price. The puzzles are either $4.99 or $5.99 at Puzzle Warehouse, which is a great price for a 500 piece puzzle if you ask me. I was impressed with the quality of this puzzle, and I’m looking forward to working on a couple other space saver Masters of Photography puzzles that I have to review. I’m hoping they’re all nice quality like this one. Click the link above to see all the space saver puzzles available from Puzzle Warehouse.

I was surprised by the pieces of this puzzle, they seemed very nice and not what I expected from the space savers box. I assumed (incorrectly) that the pieces would be thin; they were thicker than expected and fit together very well. The puzzle was random cut and had a nice matte finish that didn’t cause glare.

My only issue was the obvious piece cut in the finished puzzle. It makes it a little more difficult to see the details of the picture through all the piece shapes, but doesn’t really detract from the enjoyment of the assembly. I’m reserving judgement until I complete more of this series for comparison.

The space saver boxes are all one piece with a top that flips up. Not ideal for keeping the puzzle after you’ve assembled it; it would be too easy to lose a piece. I would recommend using a zip top plastic bag to store the pieces in the box after it’s been assembled. Also, because the box is smaller the image of the puzzle is smaller – it could be difficult if you need to reference the picture on a puzzle with more detail. On the plus side, these small boxes are perfect for travel. Throw it in your suitcase for a vacation or just a weekend away and you’ve just packed some quality family time. 🙂

I enjoyed Neuschwanstein Castle even though it isn’t an image I would normally choose. It’s a good quality puzzle that was an entertaining assembly, definitely recommended.👍

I received this product at no charge to facilitate this review, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Sweet-Tart

On June 24, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Aren’t these interesting pieces? Ceaco isn’t my favorite puzzle company but they certainly seem to like take chances on making puzzles in new and different ways. I’ve worked a couple of their cork-backed puzzles, a puzzle with velvet backing, and now we have curly pieces! I love the diversity.

When I change from working a grid cut puzzle to one that’s random cut it takes a bit for my brain to catch up – I have to change the way I look for pieces, etc. The same applies here, your brain has to change how you see the curly pieces and how they fit together. It’s an interesting challenge, and it looks pretty cool too!

This was a thrift store find, and I was excited to work on it. To my surprise, there is a whole back story on the mice in this puzzle, and a series of curly piece puzzles to go with it! There are pictures of the mice on the side of the box with a small bio of each. So cute! It was such a fun puzzle to assemble because it was so different. Thankfully the pieces were all accounted for, and although the artwork is not exactly what I normally lean towards, it’s cute and makes for a good puzzle.

I started with the limes, green was the easiest color find. After twisting and turning pieces this way and that I finally wrapped my aging brain around how to work these pieces and we were off!

As you can see from the picture quite a few of the pieces were warped. I don’t know if it’s from 1) age – this puzzle is 18 years old, 2) humidity – this is Florida and if this puzzle were stored somewhere without a/c that could account for the warping, or 3) quality issues. I always try to err on the side of being positive, so I will say that I don’t know why the pieces are warped, but I would bet age and humidity have the most to do with it.

The pieces are on the thin side, not overly sturdy, and other than the warping fit together well. I’d love to be able to find a new one to compare the pieces and see if the fit is any better. The image reproduction is good, the lines aren’t always sharp but that is due to the artwork and not the reproduction; it’s an adorable image that lends itself well to puzzling. I’d love it if Ceaco could just use a cardboard that was a little thicker and sturdier. They have so many wonderful images it would be nice if the quality could improve even just a little bit.

If you are able to find any of these curly piece puzzles I would definitely recommend giving them a try! It’s an excellent workout for your brain and it’s fun too! 🙂

Drunk as a Skunk

On June 23, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles1 Comment

More party animals! I really love this artwork by Mike Jupp, the looks on the animal’s faces are perfect!

To be honest, I didn’t realize at first that there is a drunk animal for each season! Drunk as a Skunk is in spring, P****d as a Newt is in summer, and the two I have yet to do are winter (Blind as a Bat) and fall (High as a Kite). I don’t know how I missed it at first, but I definitely did.

This one was a bit more difficult than P****d as a Newt; the darkness of the trees and background and the abundance of leaves made for a more challenging assembly. Still fun, still great quality, just a little more concentration required. That’s a good thing in my book, if it’s too easy it’s just boring. Better to give your brain a bit of a workout, make sure it’s staying healthy. 🙂

It was easy to pick out the pieces of the skunk, the mushrooms around the tree stump, the ice bucket and the grass in the foreground. From there it took a little more brainpower, but I was up for the challenge! It came together well without being too tedious and I had an excellent time assembling it.

I enjoy working the smaller puzzles just as much as the larger ones. 1000 piece puzzles are the average adult puzzle and the piece count with the most puzzles to choose from; but the 500 and 300 piece puzzles are just as much fun for me. I find myself ordering more of the smaller piece counts these days then I used to, and working more of the smaller ones mom finds at the thrift stores. I still do more 1000 piece puzzles than any other piece count, but I’m not as snobby about piece count as I used to be. If it looks fun, I’m all for it!

It’s not about anything but entertainment and fun, if it’s a good time to work a large piece 300 piece puzzle I’m going to do it. If I have a good time putting together a 100 piece children’s puzzle, so what? I’m puzzling because I love it and because it’s fun – those are the only reasons that are important. 😎

Route 66

On June 11, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Here’s another one mom did the majority of, but she insisted that I take a picture of it for the blog anyway.

Mom and I had just finished a 1000 piece puzzle, and were looking for the next puzzle to start. We were both in the same kind of mood apparently because we looked at many different puzzles and we were both feeling the same way about all of them; it was sort of a blah thing where nothing looked like it would be fun that day. Mom had to take a phone call and so I continued the search and ended up on this one. I started sorting the edge pieces and putting everything on trays while she was on the phone and when she was done and came over to the puzzle table she was a bit wary and asked “What puzzle is that?” When I showed her the box she smiled and said “Nice choice!” We were definitely in the same weird mood. 😎

Buffalo puzzles are always good quality and it’s nice after working a loose fitting puzzle to work one that fits together well like Buffalo does. And it was also nice to work on a collage, I enjoy them very much! Somehow a collage puzzle, even if it’s a large piece count doesn’t feel overwhelming. You can work on just a small portion at a time and eventually connect them all together and then it seems like quite the accomplishment! When I’m in the “blah” mood where no puzzle seems to be the right one, the answer is usually a collage.

There’s something about Route 66 that lends itself well to a collage puzzle, this is actually the second one I’ve done – the previous one was a Ravensburger. The old postcards and maps give it a nostalgic feel and it’s interesting to see all the roadside attractions that used to make Route 66 a place to “get your kicks”. 🙂