Apple Annie’s Carnival Time

On September 20, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Panoramic puzzles make me very happy these days, and I’ve got two more in the to do pile that I’m looking forward to. It’s great being able to reach the top of the puzzle so easily, and they fit my puzzle board very well. This was a lovely image with very good quality, and I had a great time with the assembly.

I noticed that Art Poulin is exacting with words and buildings but draws people and animals a little fuzzy and indistinct…

Apple Annie's 1

You can see the derrick, wagon, and sign are sharp and clear and the sheep next to it is quite blotchy, for lack of a better word. All the animals and people were indistinct and fuzzy and all the buildings and signs were not. I never noticed it in his artwork before. I wonder why, I’ve done quite a few of his puzzles. Perhaps I just wasn’t paying close enough attention.

Apple Annie's 2

Buffalo puzzles for sale. Hmmm. This is a MasterPieces puzzle. Very odd. It made me laugh though, I wonder if the artwork was originally done for Buffalo and then later sold to MasterPieces.

Apple Annie's 3

Also, what in the world is this? This is a panoramic puzzle that is 3 feet long, those are the measurements for a “standard” size puzzle, somebody wasn’t doing their job. I guess they think we don’t pay much attention to things – but they are wrong.

All the weirdness aside, this was a good quality puzzle that I very much enjoyed. The Americana theme is very prevalent in jigsaw puzzles and sometimes I get bored with it, but this one wasn’t boring to me at all, perhaps because of the panoramic aspect. I was completely entertained and that’s what it’s all about. 🙂

Pop Art Princess

On September 18, 2019September 18, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

This image was a blast to assemble, and I completed it in one day. It was many little sessions put together; but I couldn’t keep myself away from it. It was too much fun!

Pop Art Princess 1

This was the first section that I put together, both Ariel and the words “Your Voice”. Almost every part of this puzzle was not too hard and not too easy either – it was just right.

Pop Art Princess 2

Besides Snow White’s face, this whole section of the puzzle was the most difficult. The old hag’s face was pretty challenging, as was the word “Snow”. It was the last bit to be assembled, but I still had a great time and reveled in the assembly. So entertaining!

Owl Farm

On September 17, 2019September 17, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Adorable image and a pretty easy assembly. Still, it was fun to put together and there was a little bit of challenge. Mostly what I was looking for was a “mind-numbing” experience, I didn’t want to think about anything other than puzzle pieces and how they fit together. This puzzle was exactly what I needed.

I think this was the first image by Debbie Mumm that I’ve done, and I had a great time with it. Owls can be very cute, and she has quite a few owl images; there are several that I would very much enjoy assembling.

I’ve done several Ceaco puzzles lately, and they’ve mostly been good quality. But it’s been more about the image for me. They have such a varied catalog of interesting images, and some of them are exclusive, so I’ve got to decide whether I want to pass on the artwork because of the brand. I usually don’t pass on fun or interesting images from Ceaco anymore. If it looks like it will be entertaining then I’m going for it.

Life is for living, and puzzling!

Review: Colored Powder

On September 15, 2019September 15, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews3 Comments

This image is GORGEOUS! It wasn’t as difficult as I’d feared it would be, and I absolutely loved putting it together. 💖

The Big Ben puzzles that I’ve been finding at my local Tuesday Morning store have been very good quality and a joy to work with. I love the slanted grid cut, and the dry feel of the pieces. The fit is quite good as well, and overall the entire puzzle was wonderful.

I started with the light blue, which wasn’t too hard. But the rest of the puzzle was a bit of a challenge mostly because my husband took the extension cord off of the big light directly above my puzzle table. It took a few days for me to find a replacement and before I did, seeing the colors of whichever puzzle I was working on was a little difficult – and this one especially!

Seeing the difference between the reds, oranges, and pinks was made even more problematic because of the lack of good lighting. The hurricane shutters are still on all of our windows (hubby is out of town for work), so I couldn’t even get any help from the window near my table.

All problems aside, this image is so beautiful that I loved watching it come together as each piece was added. It’s a little challenging, but definitely worth it!

Details:

Title: Colored Powder
Artist: Big Ben Puzzles
Brand: Milton Bradley (Big Ben)
Piece count: 500 pieces
Size: Approx. 18 x 24 in. (46 x 61 cm)
Purchased: New

Quality:

Board: Very good
Cutting: Very good
Image: Excellent
Box: Average
Fit: Very good
Puzzle Dust: Moderate amount
Piece cut: Grid cut (slanted)
Piece shapes: Very good variety
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating: Very good, recommended

Pirates

On September 14, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

This is the first puzzle from this box with a missing piece. I was pretty surprised; everything seemed to be well taken care of, and each puzzle is in it’s own small bag. It’s a little disappointing, but there are still a good amount of interesting puzzles in the box that are complete, and I’ve been enjoying putting them together.

Each puzzle has an educational side, where things are named or explained – those are my favorites. The cute pictures are fine too, but I’ve had a great time learning things I didn’t know before, or re-learning things I’ve forgotten.

The explanations of the parts of a pirate ship reminded me of threats I’ve heard on tv shows or movies. “Hang him from the yardarm”, and being “keelhauled”. You can see where the keel is at the bottom of the ship; I think being dragged under the ship attached to the keel is a particularly horrible form of punishment that I would absolutely want to avoid! And being hung by the yardarm was a method of execution that was quite unpleasant as well – not for me, thanks!

Pirates 1

This cute image of cartoony pirates doesn’t really go with my previous paragraph, does it? These are kids puzzles after all. Unfortunately this one won’t be sent with the others to the school where my daughter works, in true pirate fashion it’s lost a leg – and I have no wooden ones to replace it! 😉