Tag: Collage

Fireworks

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles1 Comment

Fireworks by Robert Swedroe – Rose Art – 500 pieces

Funnily enough I fully expected this puzzle to take a couple of days, in fact I was counting on it; but as is usual when I find a puzzle enjoyable it went together much more quickly because I couldn’t keep myself away from it. It’s too much fun and I am physically drawn to it because I need joy in my life. 🥰

This was supposed to be the last puzzle before I started the 13,500 piece Golden Age of Disney puzzle to commemorate my blogiversary; I figured it would be a bit of a challenge, would most likely take a couple of days, and it would be done the day before the anniversary of the blog – perfect timing, right? Wrong! Even though it was chosen to give me the perfect amount of down time before the big puzzle began I just couldn’t keep myself away from it. No self control at all! That’s alright, I’ll spend that extra day going over everything and re-checking blog posts. There’s always something puzzle-related for me to do, and if I start getting that itch there’s always a mini puzzle available. 🧪

The quality of this Rose Art puzzle was better than expected, and even though the fit seemed a little “soft” for lack of a better word it still stood up in the Stacey Stance…

Honestly this one surprised me, I didn’t think it would stand up at all. I had to be careful how it was picked up, but once it was safely off the board it wasn’t a problem. These pictures still make me happy after all these years.

These are just two little bits of the overall image, but for some reason I found myself drawn to them. I’m not sure how the artist creates his collages, but however it was done it’s gorgeous. The yellow one on the right looks almost like it could be a bottle cap, doesn’t it?

This was my first puzzle with artwork by Robert Swedroe, and boy would I love to get my hands on some more. This kind of image makes me so happy; it isn’t the usual puppies and kitties or landscapes – the bright, bold colors are just my speed. I’m definitely on the lookout for more of this artist’s work. Stunning!

*He’s got some amazingly difficult-looking images available from Schmidt puzzles, but they look like lots of fun too!*

Delicious Donuts

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Delicious Donuts – Think2Master – 500 pieces

Although I absolutely love this image the puzzle itself wasn’t too enjoyable for me. I’d like to tell you that I can be unbiased about puzzles and speak from a purely neutral place – but we all know that’s bullsh*t. I bring with me the sum total of all my puzzling experiences, good and bad, and they all color my impressions, good and bad.

When I opened this box that I received in a puzzle swap and saw that this puzzle had letters on the back I was so disappointed. The collage image of wonderfully decorated donuts looks like such fun, but now I know that it’s a made-in-China-type-quality puzzle, and try as I might it can’t now be unseen or unknown. Sigh.

There are bad feelings from me toward the puzzle companies that popped up during the pandemic and continue to do so. They steal images from artists and use them to make low-quality puzzles that are sad imitations of the premium puzzles that we know and love. They’re everywhere now and truly I doubt we’ll ever get rid of them. There will always be someone willing to buy their puzzles because they’re cheaper, so of course they aren’t going anywhere. Letters on the back of the puzzle (to use for sorting or assembling) signify to me a cheaply made puzzle, so the moment I see them I immediately assume I will not be enjoying the puzzle.

It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.

So, sadly, that’s what I’m telling you. I have an attitude about these companies, therefore I didn’t really enjoy this puzzle no matter how adorable the image is.

Anyway, wanna see the donut I like best?

I think this donut is beautiful, though I’m not sure I would want to eat it.

Creators (Rebel Girls)

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Creators by Sarah, Paola, Kylie, Sonia, and Marta* – MasterPieces – 100 pieces

This was a great puzzle that would be fabulous in a larger piece count – 250, 300, 500, 1000 – any of them would be great with this image. Apparently this is part of the Rebel Girl series by MasterPieces and Gibsons inspired by the Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls books. I’d love to do any of the others, they all look like such fun! Although I haven’t read any of the books, I’m guessing they’d be right up my alley – me being a rebel girl myself. 😎

Good quality MasterPieces, although this one had the “sharp” white backing that I’m not a fan of; luckily with only 100 pieces I didn’t have to put up with it for too long. Overall this was a good quality puzzle that made me very happy.

As for the artists, each woman shown in the image was illustrated by a different artist. I only put their first names above in the name of saving space, but each one deserves their credit, the artist’s name is first with the subject of the illustration in parentheses…

  • Sarah Wilkins (Millo Castro Zaldarriaga)
  • Paola Rollo (Violeta Parra)
  • Kylie Akia Erwin (Poly Styrene)
  • Sonia Lazo (Carmen Miranda)
  • Marta Signori (Maria Callas)

It is amazing to me how it works together to make such a great image that was so perfect for puzzling. The build was really enjoyable, but unfortunately the fun was over too soon. Hopefully the other puzzles in this series find their way onto my board soon so I can enjoy so more of these great collage images.

As usual I started with the words, and I was surprised that the puzzle seemed so close to being finished at that point. Putting together words is my happy place though I couldn’t tell you exactly why that is.

I stand with all Rebel Girls, so of course we had to get a “Stacey Stance” picture!😂 Some puzzles need to be REALLY curved at the bottom in order to stand up properly, but not this one. It almost could have stood straight up on it’s own.

This puzzle was so pleasant to put together; it was the right puzzle at the right time with the right image and the right quality. Exactly what I needed – just love it when that happens!

*This was puzzle number 100 for me this year. I didn’t plan it that way, but very cool that it was a 100 piece puzzle. 😁

Check Please!

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles1 Comment

Check Please! – Re-marks – 500 pieces

This beauty was one I got secondhand from Penny, and I couldn’t love it more! Even the sorting of this puzzle made me happy, the piece shapes were so interesting – even the border pieces were unique and fun. I absolutely adored this assembly, and when I got down to about two trays worth of pieces, maybe 100 or so left, I had to leave for an appointment. When I got back home to my surprise there were only about 17 pieces left because my youngest son had spent a bit of time working on it! (That makes me so happy, you have NO idea!)

Great Re-marks quality, especially the piece shapes, and I loved it from the first piece to the last. Wish there was more to say, but honestly it would just be another few paragraphs of the same thing told in slightly different ways – that’s no fun to read in my opinion.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVED IT!!

Rainbow Donuts

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles7 Comments

Rainbow Donuts by Julie Seabrook – Good Puzzle Co. – 500 pieces

Gorgeous image on a fair quality puzzle, I enjoyed the assembly regardless – cause I love a rainbow image! This was my first puzzle from this brand, which I understand is the eco-conscious line of Galison puzzles. Hmmm. I’m not a fan of Galison puzzles, but this one wasn’t bad.

All the pieces were ballerinas, which is pretty boring if you ask me. Two male ends/two female ends, same shape. Boring. The fit was a little loose, but the image reproduction was very nice and it wasn’t too shiny. Overall I’d give this one a fair rating.

Sorry I don’t have much to say about this one. It was only ok. Love the image but the puzzle quality itself left something to be desired. I don’t know that I’d recommend buying this one new, but if you can find it at a thrift store or resale shop it’s worth it. The assembly itself was fun and the image is lovely.