Tag: Happy Halloween

Grin & Bones

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles10 Comments

Grin & Bones – MicroPuzzles – 150 pieces

This is such an adorable Halloween puzzle, it was much harder than it looks! Still, it’s bright and colorful and was highly entertaining to assemble.

I’ve never had an issue with MicroPuzzles quality before, but this puzzle had a printing issue. Things happen, no manufacturing process is ever perfect so I don’t find it to be that distressing at all. I’ve emailed the company and have alerted them to the problem in the hopes that they can resolve whatever issue caused this. They offered their apologies and a replacement puzzle, but I don’t need a replacement, and asked that they not send me one as that wasn’t why I contacted them.

You can see below the dark substance/color across part of the lower portion of the image (across the porch of the house)…

I’ve had similar issues like this with other puzzle brands, and though I’m not sure what causes it – it really didn’t detract at all from my enjoyment of the assembly. I’m not one of those people who immediately wants a refund or a replacement. If that is something that you do, I’m not disparaging that at all – you’re well within your rights to ask for those things if you wish – I’m just saying that it isn’t normally what I do.

If I assembled the puzzle and enjoyed myself, that’s enough for me. I have so many puzzles already here, and almost never assemble cardboard puzzles more than once. If I received another copy of this puzzle I wouldn’t even assemble it, it would be wasted on me.

I let the company know about the problem; they were apologetic and offered a replacement and told me they would look into the issue – which is all I wanted. If I can help in some small way to make sure others get good quality puzzles then I’m a happy puzzler. 😎

MicroPuzzles has always provided me quality mini puzzles that I enjoy assembling, and my opinion of the brand and their puzzles hasn’t changed. I love them!

Happy Socktober

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles12 Comments

Happy Socktober – MicroPuzzles – 150 pieces

How fun is this image? So fun! After exhausting my supply of Halloween puzzles I was thrilled to get this month’s subscription box from MicroPuzzles with two more puzzles for my favorite holiday; plus the gift in this month’s box was a perfect compliment to to this puzzle…

Puzzle socks for Socktober! They don’t quite match the colors of the socks on the witch in the middle of the image, but they’re close enough. I don’t normally wear socks here in sweaty, sunny Florida, but how can I part with these? I love everything puzzle related, even these socks that I will wear only rarely.

Even though there was a different micro puzzle in progress in the master bathroom, I had to jump in and immediately get going on this one. As I’m typing up this post the date is October 1, but by the time you’re reading this it will be very close to the end of the month. There are puzzle posts already typed up and scheduled for most of October already, so there’s no waiting on these two holiday puzzles – they need to be assembled quickly in order to be sure they’re ready for posting before Halloween.

Although this is a brightly colored image, it isn’t an easy one to assemble. The two sets of striped socks on either side were much easier to find and assemble than the puzzle socks in the middle, so obviously that’s where I started. The middle bit with the darker background and the socks with four different colored puzzle pieces made for a much more challenging assembly.

Still I absolutely loved it, and was so excited to have some more Halloween puzzles to put together. The quality that MicroPuzzles has makes for fun puzzles that I usually enjoy very much. This one was no different in the quality department, but the image made me so happy that it made for even more entertaining puzzling than usual. I had the best time.💟

Happy Socktober my friends!

Horror

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles15 Comments

Horror – Re-marks – 1000 pieces

This collage of horror book covers was so much more entertaining to assemble than the Stephen King covers puzzle that I posted last week. The quality was much better, which made for a more satisfying experience – loved this one!

I usually tell you how many books of those shown that I’ve read; and you’ll be able to tell that horror isn’t exactly my genre when I let you know that I’ve only read 4 out of the 55 books shown. Yikes, it make me seem like an illiterate troglodyte, doesn’t it?

Whatever. Even if I am, my mom said I was adorable and my family loves me – so there! 😜

Typical Re-marks quality; random cut with a variety of piece shapes, good image reproduction, very good fit, and a slightly shiny finish. Pretty good, all around – and it made for a great assembly that went quite quickly.

I haven’t read this book, but I loved the cover – doesn’t it seem perfect for Halloween? Spooky!

Haven’t read any H.P. Lovecraft either, but I know he’s quite popular in the horror/sci-fi genre; and I’ve even seen an episode of Supernatural about him. Plus, look at that creature – yikes! I think it’s called Cthulhu. Do you think Mr. Lovecraft just banged his face onto the keyboard to come up with that name?

Now this one I HAVE read, it’s by my favorite author; it’s one of my favorites of his too – though I wouldn’t classify it as a horror novel. Suspense, sure. Thriller, yep. But not really horror in my opinion. Still, it’s a great book.

I enjoyed this puzzle from the first piece to the last, and highly recommend it if you can find it. When I purchased it the cashier told me this particular puzzle was selling out very quickly. No wonder, it was such fun!

The World of Frankenstein

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles14 Comments

The World of Frankenstein by Adam Simpson – Laurence King – 1000 pieces

Though at times difficult, I very much enjoyed this puzzle. The quality of the puzzle itself, and the interesting collage-like image made for fun puzzling. If it looks like something you’re interested in, I definitely recommend this one (as long as the puzzle is manufactured in the Netherlands).

As I’ve discussed before, Laurence King puzzles have a conditional recommendation from me; I would only purchase them if you can be certain where they were made. Some are made in China, and they are not the same quality as the ones made in the Netherlands; only those made in the latter are ones I recommend.

So let’s get into this particular puzzle. Have you read the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley? I haven’t, but the poster for this puzzle (and my youngest son) has given me plenty of information about not only the book itself, but the author and the origins of this story. I did know the origin story – funnily enough I saw an episode of Drunk History about it – but have never read the book. If you’ve only ever seen Frankenstein movies, you wouldn’t know that in the book he isn’t the murderous rampaging monster Boris Karloff portrayed; he is “an agonized soul made monstrous by lack of human sympathy”.

The image on this puzzle shows important scenes from the story in the book, with a legend on the back of the poster showing the scenes and their relation to the narrative.

This is where most people think the story begins, with the monster being brought to life during an electrical storm. I won’t go through the entire book here, it would take much too long and require many pictures; but it made for interesting and VERY entertaining puzzling!

When the monster sees his own reflection he begins to understand how much of an outsider he is. This particular image seems so very sad to me.

The center of the image, with the monster and Victor Frankenstein on an iceberg in the Arctic, is basically where the story begins and ends. The iceberg itself was challenging to assemble, but every piece added was a little victory, and I enjoyed it very much.

It was interesting to read the synopsis of the story, and see the artist’s interpretations of those pivotal scenes; and it made for a great puzzle. I absolutely loved it!

Vintage Halloween

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

Vintage Halloween by Finchley Paper Arts – Bits and Pieces – 500 pieces

My apologies for the cockeyed picture, I have no idea what was wrong with me today when I took it. I normally check to be sure I’ve got a good picture before I disassemble the puzzle, but it seems I was in a hurry and took it apart before making sure. Please forgive the wonky image.

Good quality puzzle, though very shiny. I didn’t care for the triangular piece shapes; my thought was that I’d get used to it as the puzzle went on, but unfortunately that didn’t happen. I was forever being stumped and confused by the way everything connected. I’ve worked puzzles with a wide variety of different and unusual shapes and have enjoyed them all – until this puzzle with it’s oddly shaped triangular pieces. These shapes just aren’t my pile of pieces.

My first Halloween puzzle of the season, and honestly I’m surprised I remembered to get it going to have it ready in the queue. Yay me and my aging, menopausal brain!

These are a few of my favorite sections, although the artwork in each one was beautiful in it’s own way. The time and attention that went into making these images still impresses me. If these are actually vintage (and they look as if they are) there weren’t computers or AI to make these for the artist, they were each painstakingly drawn/painted. *If they’re not actually old and just made to look like it – forget what I just said.

Do I sound like an old person, pining for the ways of yesteryear? Well, it seems I am an old person now, things seemed much simpler even just ten years ago. Sigh.

Happy Halloween season everyone! 🦇👻