Barn Sale

On November 2, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would, I think I was having flashbacks of the last Bits and Pieces shaped puzzle that I’d done. This one seemed to be much better quality, or perhaps a better cut? I’m not sure which, but it was much easier to deal with – the pieces all fit together!

I try not to be overly judgmental about certain brands, but I’m not always successful. Just because the last shaped puzzle from this company was a disappointment doesn’t mean they all will be. But when you’ve had a bad experience it sticks with you, at least it does for me. But sometimes one of the puzzles calls to me from the “to do” pile, and I just have to do that one next, even if it may be one with questionable quality.

I’m glad I decided to ignore my judgy brain and assemble this puzzle anyway. It really was much better quality than I’d assumed, and it was quite fun to assemble as well. I love a puzzle with quilts, so that was even more incentive for me; there’s something so entertaining for me in putting a jigsaw quilt together, I love it! All around I would say this was a very good quality puzzle that I would definitely recommend. 👍

Witch Way to Halloween

On October 1, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

I did this puzzle in 2016, I put it on the 2016 Completed Puzzles January – March page but for some reason haven’t done a full post on it. While going back through the blog to prepare the first birthday post I came across this puzzle and realized with October only a few days away that it was the perfect time to post it. Witch Way to Halloween??

I love the artwork of this puzzle, the gravestones, the trick or treaters, the gorgeous colors of the leaves on the trees, the headless horseman, bats, etc. – it’s an excellent puzzle image. It also included several whimsies – a black cat, a witch in the shape of the puzzle itself, gravestones and others. The puzzle itself it gorgeous; the quality, unfortunately, not as beautiful. 😦

The pieces were a good enough thickness and the image reproduction was very nice. My problem was the cut/fit of the pieces. I know with a shaped puzzle and especially when there are whimsies that you can’t have every single piece connect, sometimes they just sit next to each other. But the fit of this puzzle took this to the extreme. Even when the entire puzzle was completed you could pull away whole sections because they didn’t connect anywhere. You can see in the picture that you can actually remove the witch’s hand – it just comes away. There was constant readjustment necessary, which is extremely annoying to me. And even where the pieces did connect the fit was very loose; any slight bump would upset many pieces.

This puzzle and the terrible cut/fit turned me off Bits and Pieces puzzles. I haven’t ordered from them since. I’ve done one or two of their puzzles we’ve found at thrift stores, but in general they’ve been on my naughty list. I may have just gotten a puzzle from the end of the run, you never know. Still, they’re not a manufacturer I go out of my way to find. They do have some gorgeous puzzles though – we’ve still got some on our to do list that we’ve picked up from the local thrift stores. Maybe the next one I do will be awesome!

Nevertheless, this puzzle is beautiful and a nice kick-off for the Halloween season. I love the fall! 🎃

Think Spring

On June 7, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

It’s funny about random cut puzzles, I did this one immediately after the Springbok Monday’s Child puzzle. The Springbok puzzle was so difficult because it was all basically cream colored and random cut. It was so hard to figure out what piece I was looking for. But this puzzle was no problem at all even though it’s random cut too. This one had different colors and textures to help out and it didn’t seem difficult to me at all. I guess it’s all about the picture. 🙂

This was one of the better Bits and Pieces puzzles I’ve done in a while. The fit was very nice and the pieces clicked together instead of just sitting next to each other like in some puzzles. I hate that! There were one or two pieces that just sat next to each other until you found and adjacent piece that connected them, but for the most part they were all connected.

I think the simplicity of this image is part of what made it relaxing for me. Sometimes with an intricate or busy puzzle there’s too much to see and look for, but this one was just a simple image and I found it relaxing and fun to assemble. It’s not an image I would look at in a catalog or on a website and necessarily want to purchase, but it was an excellent assembly anyway. I think a lot of the time when you’re holding the box in your hand your perception is different than when you’re looking at a website or catalog. This is why mom and I need to take a trip to St. Louis to Puzzle Warehouse. 😎 Although I may need to save up more money before we go, it could end up being extremely pricey!

Thank goodness for thrift stores, mom finds the coolest stuff there and buys things I might not necessarily buy, but they end up being the most fun to assemble. Thrift store puzzles rock! (Mom rocks too!)

Family Farm

On May 15, 2017May 18, 2023 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

This is a very cute puzzle that was definitely worth the 59 cents paid for it! 🙂

I’m enjoying the smaller piece count puzzles; it feels like an accomplishment to finish a puzzle the same day you start it. Little victories, right? If it makes me happy, then that’s what matters.

Bits and pieces, not my favorite brand, but this puzzle quality was pretty good. It seems hit or miss with this company, at least for me; and we only buy this brand from thrift stores where we can check out the pieces prior to purchase. This one was not a problem at all, and quite fun! Mom and I finished it in no time. 🙂

Very random cut as you can see, which made us pay attention – some of those pieces were HUGE! It’s a very cute image and I would definitely do other puzzles by the same artist – Mary Thompson. It reminds me of the area where I grew up – farms and cows and tractors – oh my!

The large piece puzzles make it seem easy sometimes and I think it adds fun – though that’s only my opinion. I love getting wrapped up in a big puzzle that takes a while, but it’s also enjoyable to sit down with a friend or loved one and put together a puzzle that doesn’t seem too difficult. They’re both great in their own way which is why puzzling is great for young and old; any age group or any difficulty. Bring it on!

United Plates of America

On January 19, 2017January 30, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

This was a really fun puzzle for me. It was a thrift store purchase and well worth the 99 cents!

It’s by Bits and Pieces which seems like hit or miss quality to me. I’ve had great puzzles from them and really bad puzzles. So I guess I put them in the thrift store only category along with Sunsout; I have to be able to see and feel the pieces before I will purchase them. This puzzle I had no problem with the quality at all. You can see the pieces fit together well, the piece shape isn’t glaringly obvious in the finished puzzle and the image quality is very good.

Even with all the blue and the stripes of the flag it was only about medium difficulty, and wasn’t tedious for me at all. It was fun to assemble and I would definitely recommend it!