The Sewing Box

On March 24, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles1 Comment

This was a super fun Springbok puzzle that mom and I assembled together. We love a collage and putting together each little compartment of the box made for a great afternoon. It was a little bit of a bummer that it was missing a piece, but c’est la vie – that’s life.

Springbok quality is sometimes hit or miss, thankfully this one was a hit. The pieces fit together well and didn’t require having to force connections; sometimes I find their fit is much too tight, but this one was just about perfect. The image reproduction was crisp and beautiful, and the image itself made for such a great puzzle!

I love our Fridays when mom and I spend the day together. We assemble puzzles, talk, laugh, and generally just enjoy each other’s company. When the hormones are raging and I can’t stand anyone, mom is the only one I want to be around; no matter how I’m feeling, spending time with mom is always good for me. Lately we’ve been doing smaller piece count puzzles, we are having more fun being able to do more than one puzzle per day.

I love a thrift store puzzle, there’s always a chance that it may be missing a piece but you can find such interesting, fun puzzles at deeply discounted prices. Yes, this puzzle had a piece missing – but it only cost us 99 cents. For less than a dollar we got to spend the afternoon together putting together a really entertaining puzzle – what a bargain!

Paw Patrol (2)

On March 23, 2018March 23, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

This is the second of three puzzles that come in one box. They’re absolutely wonderful quality, and even when there are only a few pieces like this one they are so much fun to put together.

I love that each puzzle has it’s own poster to help with assembly and that the backing of each has a different pattern so you can sort them easily. They fit together easily but with enough of that signature Ravensburger “click” that you know you’ve got the right piece in the right place. Puzzles like these are great for beginning puzzlers, they stand up to rough handling and have great images that kids love.

Paw Patrol is crazy popular right now, so if you’ve got a little one in your life who loves them I definitely recommend these cute little puzzles – we loved them!

Secret Garden (Biddlestone Manor)

On March 22, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

This was just a quick break in the middle of working another puzzle, it was definitely something I needed. I’ve been having trouble being able to puzzle lately, and I needed to get a puzzle done quickly and feel some great wooden pieces too. Thank goodness I have a bunch of these Wentworth micro puzzles around for times like this. 🙂

Secret Garden is a pretty difficult image, it’s only 40 pieces but it took me almost 20 minutes to get it assembled! At least I’m hoping it was because the image was challenging and not because of my recent puzzle problems.

It was a fun challenge though, and I absolutely love the times when I’m puzzling and the rest of the world seems to fade away and all that’s left is the pieces and how they fit together. When the only thing that registers is the patterns and colors, that’s when assembling a puzzle is the most fun for me. Times ceases to exist and I can be shocked at how much of it I’ve lost. Jigsaw puzzles are the best!

The image isn’t one I would normally choose, but when there are only 40 pieces I’m a little braver and a little less picky. I don’t think I’ll ever do Starry Night in a larger piece count, but I didn’t hesitate to get it in the micro size. Whatever the image, Wentworth micro puzzles have a deceptively challenging cut and are great fun to put together. This was exactly what I needed!

Review: Playing Cards

On March 21, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviewsLeave a comment

This post is sponsored by Puzzle Warehouse.

Playing Cards by Charlie Girard – White Mountain – 1000 pieces

Playing Cards was a challenging collage that took a little more time than normal, but was really fun! The finished image is very pretty and would look great framed in a game room. I chose this puzzle to review, it just struck me when I saw it and looked like so much fun – and it was. 🃏

White Mountain puzzles are very good quality that can sometimes be hit or miss, but I had no issues with the quality of this puzzle except for the box image. There are 3 different places on the box image that were covered up, I really can’t stand that! If there’s one slightly covered up section it’s not so bad, but 3? Why?

In one corner was the “made in the USA” logo covering almost half of one card, the bottom center had the words “1000 piece puzzle” covering the bottom third of several cards. The top left corner had a sticker with White Mountain’s “happiness guarantee” that covered almost the entire corner card. I can’t speak for all puzzlers, but if the entire image were an inch smaller all the way around there would be plenty of room for all the extras and we could still see the entire image. Having the picture blocked in several places was extremely frustrating, especially for such a fun collage.

In my opinion, White Mountain has the best catalog of collages around; they are colorful and interesting, with subjects ranging from neon signs to fine wines and everything in between. (Collages are my favorite!) They also have fine art, historical, landscapes, educational maps, and much more. The quality is very good with thick pieces that fit together well, and good image reproduction. Click the link above to see all their beautiful puzzles currently available at Puzzle Warehouse.

There was a LOT of red in this image, which made it a bit of a challenge, but once I worked the other colors I had enough to work off of. There were so many interesting old cards to see and assemble, and lots of fun newer ones too. I love a collage – thank goodness there are so many great ones to choose from. 😎 This puzzle is definitely recommended.

Details:

Title: Playing Cards
Artist: Charlie Girard
Brand: White Mountain
Piece count: 1000 pieces
Size: Approx. 24 x 30 in. (61 x 76 cm)
Purchased: N/A, sent for review

Quality:

Board: Very good
Cutting: Very good
Image: Very good
Box: Fair, image blocked in several places
Fit: Very good
Puzzle Dust: Moderate amount
Piece cut: Grid cut
Piece shapes: Very good variety
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating: Very good, recommended

I received this product at no cost in order to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own.

Paw Patrol (1)

On March 20, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Mom found this box of 3 Paw Patrol puzzles, 49 pieces each at the thrift store. She cannot pass up a Ravensburger at the thrift store, I think it may be physically impossible for her. Since they’re going to be donated to the school my daughter works for we always assemble them to be sure no pieces are missing; all 3 puzzles were complete. 🙂

Ravensburger puzzles are premium quality and their kids puzzles are no exception. The pieces are thick and sturdy, fit together wonderfully, and the image reproduction is crisp and clean with bright, fun colors. With this box of 3 separate puzzles you also get posters of each of the images to help with assembly since the box top images are small. Also, the backing of each puzzle is different so that you can separate them easily; one is the traditional blue chipboard of a Ravensburger, and the other two have symbols added to each (triangles, circles).

The puzzles themselves are basic and easy to assemble, but it doesn’t matter to me – I love assembling puzzles no matter the size. I do have to confess that I’m always happy to put together a bunch of kids puzzles not only for the enjoyment; I can assemble a BUNCH of them in a day, so they’re helpful in making sure that I’ve always got a good backlog of puzzle posts for the blog. 😇

These puzzles are cute, fun to put together, and excellent quality. If you’ve got a little one in your life who loves Paw Patrol I highly recommend these puzzles. Two little old ladies had fun putting them together!