Aphrodite’s Vista

On June 24, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

This image scared me a little bit, I was sure it was going to be very difficult, tedious, and time consuming. Luckily – as usual – I was wrong! It went together much more easily than I thought, and I enjoyed myself very much. 🙂

I purchased this puzzle more than a month ago, I absolutely couldn’t pass up a brand new Ravensburger 500 piece puzzle for only $5.99. It’s interesting how price affects your thinking, isn’t it? If I were shopping online for puzzles I would pass by this image quickly with little to no thought about it. There’s nothing wrong with it – actually it’s quite beautiful – I just normally prefer brighter colors and more distinct lines. But put it in front of me for an extremely discounted price and I won’t be able to leave it behind. I’m a cheapskate and proud of it!

I enjoy the larger piece Ravensburgers very much; for some reason a 500 piece puzzle with the large pieces seems to go together more quickly for me than one with pieces that are the “average” size. I’m not sure why this is. Perhaps because assembling a small section nets a larger finished area, giving one the sense of a bigger accomplishment. The more a puzzle is complete, the more I am encouraged to keep working on it to see the finished image.

As usual, the quality of this Ravensburger puzzle was outstanding – thick pieces, wonderful fit, and lovely image reproduction. This is a beautiful puzzle with excellent quality. Definitely recommended!

Review: Pattern 3

On June 23, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews1 Comment

Pattern 3 by Patchwork – Milton Bradley – 300 pieces

I absolutely love these puzzles by Patchwork; as soon as I finish one I’m wishing I had another one to do. The patterns and colors make for the most entertaining puzzling experience – and the quality is pretty darn good too!

These patterns would be phenomenal in a larger piece count as well, they really are quite fun to assemble – at least they are for me. I know not everyone has the same taste in puzzle images, if we did think of how boring puzzle shopping would be! These are definitely my cup of tea though; a collage of bright, beautiful colors and interesting patterns – along with great quality.

I’m still on the lookout for Pattern 1, I’m sure I’ll come across it one of these days. I’ll be pretty darned excited when I do – because these puzzles make me very happy!

Details:

Title: Pattern 3
Artist: Patchwork
Brand: Milton Bradley
Piece count: 300 pieces
Size: Approx. 18 x 24 in. (46 x 61 cm)
Purchased: New

Quality:

Board: Very good
Cutting: Very good
Image: Excellent
Box: Brick style box with plastic lid
Fit: Excellent
Puzzle Dust: Small amount
Piece cut: Grid cut
Piece shapes: Good variety
Finish: Matte finish, lays flat

Overall Rating: Very good, highly recommended

Black Sheep Wool Farm

On June 22, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Here’s another in the Home Sweet Home series from Ceaco and Roger Nannini, the pieces are thinner and easily bent, but the fit was excellent and the artwork made for a really fun assembly.

I’ve changed my tune about Ceaco puzzles recently, and am more likely to give them a try than I was before. I wish they used better chipboard that doesn’t split and bend so easily; but they have a lot of beautiful images to choose from and the fit is very good.

For some reason I really enjoyed the symmetry of the animals in the foreground. I don’t know that I can really explain why this pleases me, but it does.

The assembly was a little more challenging than I thought it would be. I started with the sky (that’s my usual starting place), and then assembled all the words. Buildings came next and they were really fun to put together. There were so many trees in the background it added a bit to the difficulty, but it was still a fun assembly all around.

This is a thrift store puzzle that has been assembled many times before, but if you find a newer one I would recommend giving it a try. The artwork makes for a fun puzzle!

Garden Shed

On June 21, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles7 Comments

This is a beautiful puzzle that was a little bit challenging, but altogether lovely to assemble. The artwork is charming, the quality was excellent, and the entire experience was entertaining.

I don’t always care for images with so much pastel or muted colors; but this one was quite fun to assemble. The number of different flowers made me really pay attention to patterns and shades, and added to the difficulty level. I enjoyed the artwork and the color palette very much, and would love to find more puzzles by this artist. I have done one other puzzle by Geraldine Aikman, but the color palette was brighter with more primary colors.

These premium Milton Bradley puzzles have very good quality. The pieces have a good feel, are made with thick chipboard and fit together very well. There are a good variety of piece shapes, and the image reproduction is true to the image on the box. Regular readers know I don’t usually comment on puzzle boxes, but these boxes have a “premium” feel and aren’t made of the relatively thin cardboard that you find on most puzzle boxes.

I love the detail on the inside of the shed – including the cat!

For a puzzle with only 300 pieces, this one offered enough of a challenge to keep my mind engaged and keep me occupied for a few hours. Exactly what a puzzler like me enjoys! I know 1000 piece puzzles are the “norm” and the most popular piece count, but at the moment I’m mostly doing 300 and 500 piece puzzles. I’m glad there are plenty of excellent choices in those pieces counts to keep me happily puzzling for quite some time.

Review: Rooster Express

On June 19, 2018February 5, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews, Thrift Store Puzzles4 Comments

Rooster Express by Charles Wysocki – Milton Bradley – 300 pieces

I love a Wysocki image that isn’t the norm, ones that maybe only have one house instead of many; or ones that feature something different, like this rooster. This puzzle is the perfect example of that.

Most puzzles by Charles Wysocki we’ve done are produced by Buffalo Games, every once in a while I come across one from another manufacturer. This beauty is made by Milton Bradley. The quality is very good; with thick pieces, excellent image reproduction, and a beautiful fit. It was a joy to assemble!

I assembled it a little differently than usual, I started from the top and put together the sky, buildings, and fields. Then I went to the bottom and assembled the road, wagon, and rooster. After that all that was left was the grass, which didn’t take much time at all. It was over too quickly! It was more fun than I thought it would be, those are my favorite types of puzzles. 🙂

Details: