Wavy Rainbow

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Wavy Rainbow – All Jigsaw Puzzles (Impuzzible) – 1000 pieces

Isn’t this a gorgeous image? I fell in love with it and had to get it, even though at the time I was trying not to buy more puzzles. I fell off the wagon, so to speak.

I’ve done 3 other puzzles from this company, All Jigsaw Puzzles, and I’ve never had any problem with their quality. This one though, slight problem – the color was coming off in a few spots. You can’t really tell in the picture above, but there were small bits on the edges of a few pieces where the color was coming off. I then glued the puzzle because I think it would be a beautiful wall-hanging. But spreading the glue around on the top of the puzzle with an old plastic credit card pulled more color off. I could see flecks of color in the glue before it dried, and once it was completely dry there were places where the color came completely off. This has always been my method when gluing puzzles and I have never come across this problem before.

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It only affected this small portion of the puzzle, which I found odd, but perhaps it has something to do with the ink used? Whatever the reason, it isn’t something you’d want to have happen to your puzzle. I emailed the company and got an immediate response; they took care of me with excellent customer service. As I said previously, I’ve worked 3 of their other puzzles and have not had any quality issues before. The quality has been very good and I believe this was just an anomaly, they assured me they would be communicating with their manufacturer to fix the problem. I bought another of their Impuzzible images at the same time as this puzzle, and will be posting about it here. Hopefully there won’t be any more color lifting.

Quality issue aside, I enjoyed this puzzle very much. Even though it may look difficult, I didn’t find it too much of a challenge. For me the red to orange section was the most difficult, my eyes had a hard time distinguishing the difference in the colors. The rest of it was actually quite easy and fun. It really is stunning in person, and I very much enjoyed assembling mine.

This image has also been made into a puzzle by Buffalo under the name Vivid Color Challenge, in case you don’t want to take a chance on a quality problem but would still like to give the puzzle a try. It’s gorgeous!

Blind as a Bat

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Blind as a Bat by Mike Jupp – All Jigsaw Puzzles – 500 pieces

This is the third puzzle in the Party Animals collection from All Jigsaw Puzzles that I’ve assembled. I was a bit worried about all the snow in this one, thought it might be difficult. It wasn’t of course, it was the perfect amount of challenging, and a lot of fun!

The quality of these puzzles has been very good, but there was a bit of an issue with this one. There were quite a few pieces still connected and many pieces with hanging bits of paper on the back. I must have gotten one from the end of the run. The first two puzzles in this series that I did had no problems at all.

I love these Party Animals by Mike Jupp, they’re so fun and adorable; glad I bought all four. The artwork is incredibly detailed and beautiful and the humor is right up my alley. I’m hoping that my quality issue with this puzzle is just a manufacturing mistake – All Jigsaw Puzzles have so many great looking images that are very tempting! 😉

Drunk as a Skunk

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Drunk as a Skunk by Mike Jupp – All Jigsaw Puzzles (Party Animals) – 500 pieces

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. 😎

P****d as a Newt

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P****d as a Newt by Mike Jupp – All Jigsaw Puzzles (Party Animals) – 500 pieces

Alljigsawpuzzles.com is where I purchase most of my European made puzzles, you can click that link to check them out. Their prices are excellent, the shipping is VERY fast and shipping is free when you order $75 worth of puzzles. (Getting free shipping usually isn’t something I have to worry about 😉 )

Lately I’ve been trying to order at least one puzzle from a company I haven’t tried before every time I place an order. I’ve been looking at these Party Animals by Mike Jupp and wanting to try them but I didn’t have any idea what the quality would be like. I’ve never seen a puzzle store/distributor that also sells their own puzzles. Interesting! This Party Animals collection finally tipped the scales for me and I jumped in with both feet and just ordered them all – there was a special. Normally I would only order one from a new company so I can check out the quality before I lay down any more cash. But these puzzles were too adorable and funny (and on sale if you bought all 4) so I went for it. I make no apologies. 😎

I was very impressed with the quality! The image reproduction is gorgeous – bright and sharp with a matte finish that feels good in your hands. The pieces are about the same thickness as Heye puzzles, and sturdy too, with a nice variety of piece shapes. They fit together well and the piece shapes aren’t glaringly obvious in the finished puzzle. I’m glad I bought them all and can’t wait to do the other three Party Animals. They have Drunk as a Skunk, Blind as a Bat, and High as a Kite. Drunken animals everywhere!

I enjoyed this puzzle very much and I would definitely recommend it. Mike Jupp’s artwork is crisp and funny and detailed, and just a great puzzle image. Butterflies, lily pads and liquor bottles everywhere break up the water and greenery and the assembly was never tedious. Loved it! 🙂