Tag: Collage

Bestsellers

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Bestsellers – Re-marks – 1000 pieces

This fantastic collage image was so entertaining to me that I did something I haven’t done (alone) in years – I completed this puzzle in less than one day. It was already sorted, but I started with the edge in the morning and it was finished before 9 pm. It was easy to pick out pieces for each book and I was fully engaged in each little section.

The fit was a bit loose, but otherwise the quality was pretty good. I know going in that Re-marks puzzles aren’t premium quality, but their catalog of images is just too fun for me to pass up. In general though, they have good quality puzzles and I never hesitate to buy one of them.

I wanted to show the books closer up, so I’ve taken pics of each third of the puzzle. Please excuse the glare at the top, I didn’t have the angle just right.

This section has my favorite book of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird. And a confession that I haven’t read many of these books at all. In this first section only four of these books have been cracked open by me; what an ignorant philistine I am!

Three is the number of books read by me in this section. Yikes. But in all fairness, if they don’t interest me or the subject matter is too heavy and deep it is like slogging through mud for me to read them. I don’t do things because others do; I follow my own weird, winding, strange little path. I don’t read books because “people” think they’re important; I read books purely for education and/or entertainment. No excuses or explanations required.

I’ve only read two books in this section! And yes, one of them was Twilight. 🦇 In my defense, I was wanting to understand why my teenaged (at the time) daughter was so enthralled by this series, and so I read it. Then I needed to find out what happened so I kept on going. I won’t say they’re a guilty pleasure because I don’t believe you should feel guilty about things that make you happy (unless it hurts others), but I do enjoy that series now and again. It’s nice to zone out once in a while and read a sappy young adult love story.

The other book in this section that I’ve read was Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. VERY different in every way from Twilight. Very very different.

I love these panoramic collage puzzles from Re-marks, no matter what the subject of the collage is. I’ve got another one waiting in the wings – Broadway Musicals. I wonder if I’ll like it…..

OF COURSE I WILL! 😎

Owl Collage

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles10 Comments

Owl Collage by Kathrin Stockebrand – Schmidt – 500 pieces

SO MUCH FUN! That truly sums up how I feel about this image and the puzzle itself, it was honestly so entertaining to assemble that I cannot find the words to express it properly. SO. MUCH. FUN.

Such amazing quality, I wish I had more Schmidt puzzles here to assemble, unfortunately their catalog doesn’t have as many puzzles that float my boat as I’d hope. The fit is sublime, the finish feels amazing, the pieces are thick and there are a great variety of shapes, the reproduction is excellent – they’re such premium, wonderful puzzles and my wish would be that more of their images were more to my taste.

The sameness of the background made it so that the puzzle wasn’t too easy; the many eyes did the same, but also helped because they were all so different. The assorted colors and patterns made it interesting, challenging, and easy all at the same time – absolutely fabulous puzzle. If this were available in 1000 pieces I’m certain I would adore assembling it again. It might even be more fun than the first time!

It was just a lovely puzzle image, and I truly adored assembling it. There are very few puzzles (for me) with both superb quality AND imagery.

This was one of those few.

60s Shows

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

60s Shows – MasterPieces – 1000 pieces

Strangely I enjoyed this 60s puzzle much more than the 80s Shows, which is weird – the 80s was my era. Oh well, I’m certainly not complaining about enjoying a puzzle. My frame of mind was most of the problem with the 80s puzzle, I think I was in a better place emotionally when I assembled this one. It was great fun!

Very good quality for MasterPieces, and the fit was excellent. You could pick up a whole section of 20 pieces or more without anything falling apart! Great random cut too, which I enjoy (most of the time). Sometimes MasterPieces puzzles are ribbon or grid cut, and sometimes they’re random – both are fine with me. It’s nice to have a change of pace once in a while though, and this one was quite enjoyable.

Lost In Space – I loved this show as a kid! The scheming doctor always fascinated me, why couldn’t everyone else see that he was always only thinking of himself? Danger Will Robinson! Danger!

I was surprised to see these two images; when Walter Cronkite announced the death of a president, and his widow, daughter and others. Neither of these was a tv show – but it was a pivotal moment in the 60s, to be sure.

These were the only two shows that we didn’t recognize; between myself, hubby and my dad we knew all the rest of them. Can anyone help us out? I know it’s Bill Bixby on the right, but have no idea what the show is. And the one on the left has me completely stumped, no idea who the actresses are at all. Are there any other oldsters out there who can give us a clue?

Hershey’s Moments

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles10 Comments

Hershey’s Moments – MasterPieces – 1000 pieces

A challenging puzzle with a few quality issues that were annoying – still, as my mother used to tell me, it’s better than a sharp stick in the eye. 😉

The fit was spongy on this one, and there were quite a few pieces with bent corners and image lift. In addition, the poster that came with it did NOT show the complete puzzle – that one really threw me for a loop! Not the best MasterPieces puzzles I’ve done, in fact I was pretty disappointed with this one. But no manufacturer is perfect and there have been plenty of their puzzles that were extremely enjoyable and entertaining.

In addition to the problems mentioned above, you can see on the right side of the puzzle that there was an extra piece. Not good for whomever received the puzzle boxed up just before mine. My puzzle was complete, but I had someone else’s missing piece. Not good.

I was looking forward to this section, and thought it would be the most fun to assemble. It was fun, but interestingly another section was the most enjoyable for me….

Surprisingly, even to myself, this was my favorite section. Perhaps because it wasn’t too simple and I got to sit and look at the pieces for a bit figuring out the solution. Whatever the reason it was REALLY fun for me.

You can see here that not only does the poster cut off the bottom of the image, it also cuts off about half of the right side. What is the purpose of a poster that doesn’t show you the whole damn puzzle?

Do better puzzle companies. We deserve good quality puzzles and attention to detail.

Authors

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

Authors – Re-marks – 1000 pieces

I knew this puzzle would be entertaining the moment I saw it, but I enjoyed it even more than I thought I would. The random cut was a change from the usual grid cut that most manufacturers prefer for their puzzles. It usually takes my brain a few minutes to adjust to the difference in how the pieces fit together, but once I’m there it’s a nice break from the way my brain normally works in putting together grid cut puzzles.

Other than a slightly loose fit this lovely collage was excellent quality. Re-marks puzzles can be hit or miss sometimes, but they have so many interesting and beautiful collages in their catalog that I cannot help myself and buy them anyway. I put up with issues because the images are absolutely my pile of pieces, and most of them cannot be found with any other puzzle brand.

My favorite of the sections to put together. Lewis Carroll isn’t my favorite author, but I enjoyed the assembly of this section the most.

All along the edges were books by the authors in the image. You can read titles, author’s names, and even publishers on them all – you can even see the rips in the dust jacket on this book. Clear, crisp reproduction all the way around.

There were only two authors on more than one stamp, J.W. von Goethe and Charles Dickens. I’m not sure why they, above everyone else, deserved a double dose – but there you have it. I suppose whomever put this collage together would have had their own ideas about which authors were more important.

If you had been in charge, who would have gotten extra space?