Holland

On March 28, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

I love collages, they’re my favorite type of puzzle. This one took me almost an entire week, not because it was too difficult but because I’m just having a hard time puzzling these days. I may have to start posting every other day, my backlog of puzzles ready to post is dwindling fast! 😦

I find that collages are the easiest puzzles to assemble; even if you don’t have a lot of time you can grab the pieces for a small section and put them together. When I’m only able to sit for only a few minutes I can still complete a small portion of the puzzle and still get a small sense of satisfaction for my little victory.

This puzzle was pretty good quality; it’s a random cut, so the assembly was interesting and kept me on my toes which is always a good thing in my book. The pieces are a good thickness and fit together well but were a little loose for my taste. The image reproduction was very good and the overall image is beautiful and interesting.

The picture doesn’t do this puzzle justice, it’s bright and colorful and was pretty fun to assemble. Re-marks has some excellent collages to choose from, I believe this one was a Barnes and Noble exclusive we got during the January bogo sale. It’s dangerous for me to go puzzle shopping in a brick and mortar store, there are too many fantabulous puzzles to choose from, and I end up not choosing between puzzles and just buying all the ones I want. 😮

Stuffed Animal Collection

On March 25, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

IMG_E4370 — Stuffed Animal Collection by Susan Rosenthal – Milton Bradley – 300 pieces

I didn’t enjoy this puzzle as much as I thought I would. The bears don’t seem very cute to me and the fit was pretty loose. Perhaps this puzzle was assembled many times – I’ve never had a large piece MB puzzle that fit this loosely.

The pieces were thick, but the image reproduction seemed a bit blurry. It’s difficult when you’ve got stuffed animals because they’re actually fluffy, but the pieces seemed a little more fuzzy than furry. Overall I wasn’t a fan of image, so that also plays into how I feel about the puzzle in general.

Whether it was the loose fit or the image I just wasn’t feeling this one and didn’t have as much fun as I’d hoped. As I sit here now typing up this post I’m struggling for things to say, either good or bad. I didn’t care for this puzzle, but in general Milton Bradley puzzles are very good quality – especially their 300 piece EZ grip puzzles.

Like this image? I say if you find this puzzle and it looks like fun, go for it! Everyone’s puzzle preferences are so different; the characteristics that I think make a good puzzle could be the one thing that you really can’t stand. The thing you love could be the one thing I can’t tolerate, but luckily there are so many brands and so many images that there’s always something for everyone.

The Sewing Box

On March 24, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles1 Comment

This was a super fun Springbok puzzle that mom and I assembled together. We love a collage and putting together each little compartment of the box made for a great afternoon. It was a little bit of a bummer that it was missing a piece, but c’est la vie – that’s life.

Springbok quality is sometimes hit or miss, thankfully this one was a hit. The pieces fit together well and didn’t require having to force connections; sometimes I find their fit is much too tight, but this one was just about perfect. The image reproduction was crisp and beautiful, and the image itself made for such a great puzzle!

I love our Fridays when mom and I spend the day together. We assemble puzzles, talk, laugh, and generally just enjoy each other’s company. When the hormones are raging and I can’t stand anyone, mom is the only one I want to be around; no matter how I’m feeling, spending time with mom is always good for me. Lately we’ve been doing smaller piece count puzzles, we are having more fun being able to do more than one puzzle per day.

I love a thrift store puzzle, there’s always a chance that it may be missing a piece but you can find such interesting, fun puzzles at deeply discounted prices. Yes, this puzzle had a piece missing – but it only cost us 99 cents. For less than a dollar we got to spend the afternoon together putting together a really entertaining puzzle – what a bargain!

Review: Playing Cards

On March 21, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviewsLeave a comment

This post is sponsored by Puzzle Warehouse.

Playing Cards by Charlie Girard – White Mountain – 1000 pieces

Playing Cards was a challenging collage that took a little more time than normal, but was really fun! The finished image is very pretty and would look great framed in a game room. I chose this puzzle to review, it just struck me when I saw it and looked like so much fun – and it was. 🃏

White Mountain puzzles are very good quality that can sometimes be hit or miss, but I had no issues with the quality of this puzzle except for the box image. There are 3 different places on the box image that were covered up, I really can’t stand that! If there’s one slightly covered up section it’s not so bad, but 3? Why?

In one corner was the “made in the USA” logo covering almost half of one card, the bottom center had the words “1000 piece puzzle” covering the bottom third of several cards. The top left corner had a sticker with White Mountain’s “happiness guarantee” that covered almost the entire corner card. I can’t speak for all puzzlers, but if the entire image were an inch smaller all the way around there would be plenty of room for all the extras and we could still see the entire image. Having the picture blocked in several places was extremely frustrating, especially for such a fun collage.

In my opinion, White Mountain has the best catalog of collages around; they are colorful and interesting, with subjects ranging from neon signs to fine wines and everything in between. (Collages are my favorite!) They also have fine art, historical, landscapes, educational maps, and much more. The quality is very good with thick pieces that fit together well, and good image reproduction. Click the link above to see all their beautiful puzzles currently available at Puzzle Warehouse.

There was a LOT of red in this image, which made it a bit of a challenge, but once I worked the other colors I had enough to work off of. There were so many interesting old cards to see and assemble, and lots of fun newer ones too. I love a collage – thank goodness there are so many great ones to choose from. 😎 This puzzle is definitely recommended.

Details:

Title: Playing Cards
Artist: Charlie Girard
Brand: White Mountain
Piece count: 1000 pieces
Size: Approx. 24 x 30 in. (61 x 76 cm)
Purchased: N/A, sent for review

Quality:

Board: Very good
Cutting: Very good
Image: Very good
Box: Fair, image blocked in several places
Fit: Very good
Puzzle Dust: Moderate amount
Piece cut: Grid cut
Piece shapes: Very good variety
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating: Very good, recommended

I received this product at no cost in order to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own.

Betty Crocker

On March 14, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Here’s another fun puzzle that 3 generations of women in my family assembled together. My mother, my daughter and I all spent the day together and worked on this puzzle; it was harder than it looks but we got it done!

A lot of these packages were foreign to me, toastwiches? What in the world was an Answer Cake? Never heard of them! Most of our meals when I was young were actual home cooking. Store bought cookies taste awful to me, I’ve always had homemade. (Oreos are the exception, mom never had that recipe 😉 ) Mom got reminiscent while we were working, especially about the Betty Crocker coupons – apparently our silverware was purchased with them! How cool is that?

Sometimes the White Mountain quality is just mediocre, and this was one of those times. There were a few coupled pieces that weren’t completely separated, and a few pieces with the image coming off. The image reproduction was slightly blurry in some places, but overall was good. The fit was very good, right in the middle – not too tight or loose.

Collages are my favorite puzzle type, I love the fun of assembling several mini puzzles that all connect together. Working with the box lid and having to search for where a piece or section goes feels tedious and almost like a job to me, there’s no fun in that. Puzzling for me helps me to relax, de-stress, and pass the time; if it feels like a “task” it wipes out all the relaxation and makes time seem to drag.

We all have something different that we’re looking for in a great puzzle – piece shapes, thickness, fit, number of pieces, an image that excites or inspires. What makes a puzzle fun for me may be the exact thing that drives someone else crazy – good thing there are so many different images and companies to choose from! What’s your ideal puzzle?