Review: Vintage Signs

On February 9, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles8 Comments

My first new puzzle purchase of 2018, and it was absolutely as much fun as I’d hoped. Collages are my favorite kind of puzzle, I love being able to assemble one small section at a time, and it’s satisfying to connect the sections together.

This Re-marks puzzle was very good quality; although they are shiny the pieces are thick and they connect together very well. The piece shape is quite obvious in the finished image, but for me that doesn’t really detract from the enjoyment of the assembly. The shine was a little annoying under the lights – even though the image isn’t dark it was still difficult at times to see the pieces properly.

I feel a little bit better now that I’ve successfully completed a 500 piece puzzle, and after a couple more I hope to get back to doing 1000 piece puzzles and maybe even higher piece counts.

Details:

Title: Vintage Signs
Artist: Re-marks
Brand: Re-marks
Piece count: 500 pieces
Size: Approx. 16 x 20 in. (40 x 50 cm)
Purchased: New

Quality:

Board: Very good
Cutting: Very good
Image: Very good
Box: Average
Fit: Very good
Puzzle Dust: Moderate amount
Piece cut: Grid cut
Piece shapes: All 2 prong 2 hole pieces, but good variety within that shape
Finish: Shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating: Very good, recommended

Retro Dogs

On January 16, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles3 Comments

Isn’t this an adorable puzzle? Look at all the cute puppies! My oldest son gave this to me for Christmas, and my daughter helped me put it together on Christmas Day while waiting for Christmas dinner. A super fun puzzle that was made even better because I got to work on it with my baby girl.

Easy to sort, easy to assemble, adorable dogs and a great finished image. Re-marks makes some great collages. There were lots of words to assemble, which is always fun for me, and I also loved that my dog’s breed is represented there too (a cute little Boston Terrier, second from the left in the bottom row).

I’ve really been having a good time with the 300 piece puzzles lately, and glad that one of my Christmas present puzzles was 300 pieces too! I still enjoy larger piece counts, but there’s nothing quite like a smaller puzzle that’s still a little bit of a challenge that can be finished in one day. So fun!

The quality was pretty good; thick, sturdy pieces that fit together well. I enjoy the larger size of the 300 piece puzzles, and I enjoy being able to finish them quickly. This one was quick, fun, and cute as a barrel of puppies! Definitely recommended. 🐶

Vintage St. Nicholas

On December 25, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Challenging puzzle, but gorgeous and fun with excellent whimsies! Take a look….

My last Christmas puzzle of the year, I did quite a few for someone who doesn’t really like most Christmas puzzles. I’m posting this before any presents are unwrapped, so we’ll see if any of my family, or even Santa, gifted me puzzles this year. 🎄

My mother decided she absolutely had to take advantage of the black Friday sale at Wentworth and got this puzzle and one other for 35% off! (The other is an art nouveau collage, 750 pieces – SO BEAUTIFUL!) We started this one together at her house, but it was quite the challenge so it wasn’t finished by the time I left; she finished it on her own late into the night.

First thing for us to do when assembling a wooden puzzle is to pull all the whimsy pieces we can find and get a picture of those separately. We are still amazed and delighted at every new shape we find – we’re like little kids on Christmas morning! Next we try to assemble the edge, but they’re so sneaky about the cutting that we have never found all the edge pieces on the first try. Still, it’s fun to give it a shot.

The assembly was quite time consuming, much more so than we’d expected. The piece shapes are mostly like the random cut of a cardboard puzzle, but they are cut in a way that makes the assembly more difficult and more fun. The shapes aren’t fantastical and wild, but it doesn’t matter as much because the working of the puzzle itself is such a pleasure.

I love the look of all the vintage Santa characters, they are all so different, but similar too. So sweet and lovely to look at. I think we’ll assemble this one next year at my house so I get to be the one staying up late into the night! ⏰

Merry Christmas everyone!

Chocolate Artistry

On December 17, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Excellent thrift store find, it was so much fun! This one was unusual in that mom completed it first, and then I did; typically it’s the other way around. We both enjoyed it very much, it was absolutely worth the 99 cents we bought it for. 😎

The fit was tight, but not in the extreme which was good. Sometimes the Springbok puzzles are so tight the edges curl up! I’m not a fan of the super tight fit and was glad that wasn’t the case here. The image is perfect for puzzling, especially for someone who enjoys collages. I love being able to grab a bunch of pieces for a small section and put them together without having to look at the box image. I think that’s why I’m not a fan of the super busy images; I dislike having to stare at the box trying to figure out what I’m actually assembling or where it goes.

I had a very good time with this puzzle, it was hard to walk away from working on it and was completely entertaining. Excellent quality puzzle with an awesome image; if you come across one new or used I would definitely recommend it – 2 chocolate bars way up! 🍫🍫

Review: Golf Around the World

On December 14, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviewsLeave a comment

This post is sponsored by Puzzle Warehouse.

Golf Around the World – Eurographics – 1000 pieces

Collages really make me happy, and Golf Around the World was no different. I don’t even like golf! I enjoy the 4 hours or so I get to myself when my husband goes golfing, but golf just isn’t for me unless it’s in puzzle form. ⛳

Eurographics puzzles are good quality, and they have an excellent catalog of puzzles to choose from. They’ve got many beautiful collages, along with a great number of educational puzzles for both children and adults; I love the informational puzzles! From fine art to cartoons, there are plenty of interesting puzzles to choose from. Their pieces are thick and sturdy, and fit together well. The pieces of this puzzle were a bit snug, but it wasn’t extreme. The finish is slightly shiny, but otherwise crisp and clear with bright, beautiful colors. Eurographics puzzles have a random cut, which I find interesting, but not everyone enjoys the non-traditional piece shapes. Check out all their puzzles currently available at Puzzle Warehouse by clicking the link above.

This puzzle went together very quickly – collages usually do in my house. It’s hard to walk away, because finishing one small section leads to the next and so on. I loved all the colors in this image, there’s something really beautiful about the vintage posters. The illustrations are detailed and lovely, much more interesting than the posters and ads we have these days in my humble opinion. Collage puzzles are my favorite 🙂 , click to see the pages and pages of fun to assemble collages available at Puzzle Warehouse.

I’m not sure if this puzzle is going to be framed for hubby or not, we’ve already done several puzzles that have been glued and framed; we may be running out of wall space! This puzzle would be an excellent wall hanging for a golf lover, and as a bonus it’s a puzzle that’s a LOT of fun to assemble!

Details: