Holiday Parade

On July 26, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

I didn’t want to like this puzzle, but honestly I had a really good time assembling it. Even though all the pieces were what I call “ballerinas” it was an entertaining puzzle to put together.

This is the 3rd Briarpatch puzzle I’ve assembled, and all 3 had differing levels of quality. I wonder why it is that some companies seem to have no consistency in the quality of their puzzles? Perhaps they have particular manufacturers for various puzzles; I can’t really say. What I will say is that it’s disappointing at times, if I’ve done one of their better quality puzzles and feel confident purchasing another – I end up becoming discouraged by the inconsistency.

The quality of this particular Briarpatch was fair to middlin’ (technical term 🙂 ) The pieces were a good thickness and the fit was excellent – you could pick up the entire puzzle from just the middle and nothing came apart. Unfortunately that’s where the good ends; there was no variety in piece shape at all, the image reproduction was fuzzy in places, and the finished puzzle did not lay flat.

At first glance it doesn’t really look like a Christmas puzzle with Uncle Sam and the giant clown balloons, but once you take a second look there are wreaths everywhere and Santa is in the parade. By the way, why on Earth is Santa sitting on a giant swan atop his sleigh? I find that a little odd. Is that just me?

Not being a fan of Christmas puzzles, and having only fair quality you’d think this would be a puzzle I wouldn’t have enjoyed. I thought I wouldn’t enjoy it either, in fact I didn’t want to enjoy it – it just didn’t look like a fun puzzle to me. Turns out, I had a great time with it in spite of myself. 👍🎄

The Village Tree

On July 24, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

This puzzle has a wonderfully bright color scheme, it was fun to assemble and a pretty finished image. I love these micro puzzles; I can put them in my purse and take them anywhere that I know I’ll be waiting for a while. It’s much more fun to pass the time putting together a puzzle than just sitting and reading old magazines or staring at something on my phone.

I was a little disappointed that the whimsies were a rerun of the whimsies in the Yuletide Puppies micro puzzle that I assembled earlier this month. I also realize that there must be a limited number of whimsy pieces per subject. They probably didn’t think someone would go crazy and buy all of the micro puzzles they’ve got in one shot like I did!

This image would be fun to assemble in larger piece counts too, but it isn’t really my taste. It’s pretty and bright, but the subject matter just doesn’t do it for me. If you like Christmas puzzles, this might be a good one for you. It’s available up to 1500 pieces by Wentworth, and was also produced in a 1000 piece count by White Mountain. There’s also a slightly altered image (with no presents under the tree) from Gibsons in a 500 piece. It really is a beautiful puzzle, I would recommend it from any of these companies.

After putting together 4 of these winter themed micro puzzles in one day I remembered that I still have four more 250 piece Wentworth puzzles yet to assemble. I’m recovering today from another all day car trip to a doctor’s appointment yesterday – perhaps today’s the day to start one of those. 😎

Review: Merry Christmas to All!

On July 21, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Merry Christmas to All! – Hallmark – 550 pieces

The top half of this puzzle was actually pretty entertaining to assemble, but the bottom half – yikes! I had to call in the puzzle posse to help me get it done, good thing she was available.

The quality, other than the fit, was quite good. The pieces were thick with a very smooth matte finish. They feel good in your hands, but almost a bit dry – I don’t know how to explain it – perhaps the feel is more dusty than dry, I can’t seem to find the right words. Whatever the finish on them is, it doesn’t feel unpleasant to me, just different than the finish on most other puzzles.

The fit was loose, which was the most noticeable when trying to assemble the edges, it was a challenge to keep them together at times. Bumping them accidentally with my arms could upset many pieces, which was pretty annoying. Once I started to fill in the rest of the puzzle the fit didn’t seem quite as loose as before.

This was a thrift store find, mom brought it over a few weeks ago, and I decided it would be perfect for Christmas in July. I’m not much a fan of Santa images to be honest, but it was only 550 pieces so I figured it wouldn’t be that difficult. Boy was I wrong! The top half wasn’t bad, my daughter even helped me a little bit when she was visiting. But once I got to the bottom I have to admit I was intimidated.

I called mom over for an impromptu puzzle party and we made pretty short work of all those Christmas trees at the bottom. We both were working together at almost the same spot and we kept getting in each other’s way and laughing. Perhaps it’s a good thing those trees intimidated me, otherwise I might not have called mom for help – I would have missed out on all the fun of puzzling with her. 😉

It’s a beautifully detailed image, too bad no credit was given to the artist anywhere on the box. It seems to happen a lot, at least that I’ve noticed anyway. It’s an entertaining but challenging puzzle – if you’re up for it and can find it I would definitely recommend it.

Details:

Title: Merry Christmas to All!
Artist: Not credited
Brand: Hallmark
Piece count: 550 pieces
Size: Approx. 18 x 24 in. (46 x 61 cm)
Purchased: Used, thrift store

Quality:

Board: Very good
Cutting: Very good
Image: Excellent
Box: Average
Fit: Loose
Puzzle Dust: Small amount
Piece cut: Grid cut
Piece shapes: Good variety
Finish: Matte finish, lays flat

Overall Rating: Very good, recommended

Ugh, more holiday puzzles!

On July 20, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlingLeave a comment

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I have to confess that I’m absolutely OVER this Christmas in July thing I’m doing. Christmas puzzles have never been my favorite – in fact, I usually go out of my way to avoid them if I can!

Of course no one is forcing me to do this, and to be honest it’s not the actual assembling of the Christmas puzzles that I’m having an issue with. It sounds completely crazy (and most likely I am) but it’s the deciding what holiday puzzle to do next that’s causing me grief. I finish a puzzle and realize that I should do a Christmas puzzle next and it just makes me feel “blah”.

There are so many Christmas/winter puzzles out there, and a lot of people enjoy them. I’m just not a follow the crowd kinda gal; if everyone loves them it doesn’t mean I have to, and I don’t. The images all seem very similar to each other which I find to be boring, so it’s usually only the ones that are very different that appeal to me.

Oh well, there are only 11 more days in the month. There are 5 Christmas puzzles in the queue at the moment (4 micro puzzles and one larger size), that oughta be enough to finish out the month. 🎅

Perhaps it’s not really the Christmas in July thing that’s the problem, perhaps it’s my weird, fickle, little old lady brain. Who knows? Certainly not me!

Review: Easter Eggs

On March 9, 2018March 9, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews1 Comment

This post is sponsored by Cobble Hill Puzzles.

Easter Eggs – Cobble Hill Puzzles – 1000 pieces

I love collages, bright colors, cookies, and puzzles – it’s no wonder I loved Easter Eggs! It pushed all the right buttons for me and was one I had a hard time walking away from. For me, these are the most entertaining puzzles, and I loved figuring everything out piece by piece.

Cobble Hill Puzzles are excellent quality, with the only issue I’ve found being that the fit of their 1000 piece puzzles can be somewhat loose. It isn’t so much as to be overly annoying (not for me, anyway), but it is worth mentioning if you’re someone who prefers a tight fit. I puzzle on a fabric covered board, so the loose fit isn’t as much a problem for me. All other areas of quality I find to be excellent, and I never hesitate to purchase a Cobble Hill puzzle. Click the link above to see all of their puzzles currently available from one of their preferred online retailers, Puzzle Warehouse.

I think this was my first Easter puzzle, though I can’t be sure; my memory isn’t what it used to be. I assembled Cobble Hill’s Sugar Skull Cookies last year and had a great time with it, and was looking forward to assembling Easter Eggs – I wasn’t disappointed. The pieces are easy to sort and the random cut was interesting to assemble. I enjoy taking a bunch of similarly colored pieces and figuring out how they fit together. I don’t need the box to tell me anything, I’m figuring it out on my own. This is basically the thing that all puzzlers enjoy, putting the image back together. Collages like this are the most fun for me because it’s like assembling many mini puzzles all connected together.

I highly recommend this puzzle, it was great fun to assemble and has me looking forward to working on the rest of their cookie series – Halloween Cookies, Ugly Christmas Sweaters, and there’s another Easter puzzle called Easter Cookies (mostly the same cookies in a different pattern – looks like fun!) They also have one called Christmas Bake Sale, but it looks like a little bit too much of a challenge for me!

Details: