Tag: Jigsaw Puzzles

Review: Easter Eggs

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews1 Comment
This post is sponsored by Cobble Hill Puzzles.
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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:

  • Title:                   Easter Eggs
  • Artist:                 Photography by Jo-Ann Richards
  • Brand:                Cobble Hill Puzzles
  • Piece Count:      1000 pieces
  • Size:                    Approx. 27 x 19 in. (69 x 48 cm)
  • Purchased:        N/A, sent for review

Quality:

  • Board:                   Very good
  • Cutting:                 Very good
  • Image:                   Excellent
  • Box:                       Very good, poster included
  • Fit:                          Somewhat loose
  • Puzzle dust:          Minimal amount
  • Piece cut:              Random cut
  • Piece shapes:       Very good variety
  • Finish:                   Matte finish, lays flat

Overall rating:              Very good quality, 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.

Snow Leopard

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles1 Comment
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Snow Leopard by Schim Schimmel – Ceaco – 100 pieces

Here’s the last of the kid’s puzzles from the big assembly day I had a while ago. It’s an interesting picture, isn’t it?

This wasn’t an overly easy 100 piece puzzle, but I think that’s a good thing. Kid’s puzzles should have a little challenge to them; in my opinion if they’re too easy they become boring. Snow Leopard definitely wasn’t boring. In fact, I thought I was assembling a tiger the whole time! The title of the image was nowhere to be found on the box and I had to go searching around online to find the name. It can’t be that difficult to find a small amount of space on the box to give credit to the artist and the name of the work, can it?

This is a Ceaco puzzle, so the pieces were on the thin side. The box was my least favorite type, with a pull tap to open the top edge and tabs that fit into each other to re-close it (like a cereal box). That’s a great design for making sure pieces end up missing, thank goodness all the pieces were accounted for!

The pieces fit together well, and I think the image reproduction was very good. Normally I don’t care for Ceaco, but we do tend to buy their “special” puzzles at the thrift stores because they are usually a little better quality. This is a “Glow Zone” puzzle, and we thought it was a tiger, which is the reason for the purchase. My oldest son LOVES tigers. It was a relatively quick assembly, and I got a great glow picture too!

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Review: In Full Bloom

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews2 Comments
This post is sponsored by Puzzle Warehouse.
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In Full Bloom by McKenna Ryan – Cobble Hill – 500 pieces

In Full Bloom is an absolutely gorgeous puzzle, but it’s a little harder than it looks! The image is an actual quilt which makes it a little more challenging; still it’s great fun, and would make a beautiful wall hanging.

Cobble Hill puzzles are excellent quality, and this puzzle was no different. Thick pieces with a linen finished image full of bright, beautiful colors. The fit was a little loose and a few of the pieces were still attached by small bits of paper, but not so much as to be a major annoyance. I find that when an image is one I really like that I tend to forgive quality issues a little more readily. A slightly loose fit doesn’t lessen the enjoyment of the assembly, I just have to be sure that I’m paying more attention when moving small sections. Click the link above to see all the Cobble Hill puzzles currently available at Puzzle Warehouse.

The picture above doesn’t do the puzzle justice, the colors are deep and rich and the entire image is beautiful. It takes my breath away! It was harder than I anticipated but the colors and overall image made it worth the challenge. The artist, McKenna Ryan, has three 500 piece puzzles currently with Cobble Hill; in addition to In Full Bloom, there are Back on the Farm and Dog Park. Click the links to check them out, they’re adorable!

I definitely recommend this puzzle, especially if you’re a fan of quilt puzzles like I am, or if you just like a beautiful puzzle of good quality. I had a great time with this assembly, and hope you do too!

Details:

  • Title:                  In Full Bloom
  • Artist:                McKenna Ryan
  • Brand:               Cobble Hill
  • Piece count:     500 pieces
  • Size:                  Approx. 18 x 24 in. (46 x 61 cm)
  • Purchased:      N/A

Quality:

  • Board:               Very good
  • Cutting:             Good, some attached pieces
  • Image:               Excellent
  • Box:                   Average
  • Fit:                     Very good
  • Puzzle Dust:     Moderate amount
  • Piece cut:          Random cut
  • Piece shapes:   Very good variety
  • Finish:               Matte 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.

Fawn and Flowers

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments
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Fawn and Flowers by James Hautman – Buffalo – 300 pieces

I assembled this puzzle while I was working on yesterday’s review, Ruby Red – I needed a win in the middle of all those black pieces! This  image was pretty, only 300 pieces, and exactly what I needed. 🙂

Buffalo 300 piece puzzles are great quality, with nice, thick pieces that feel good in your hands. They fit together extremely well and have lovely images to choose from. I’m not always in the mood for larger piece Buffalo puzzles, but I’m always happy to put together a 300 piece – they’re perfect for a quick, fun assembly.

Wildlife, nature and landscapes aren’t my usual choices; I prefer collages and bright colors for the most part. But purchasing puzzles at thrift stores has been quite the learning experience for me, puzzles I wouldn’t necessarily choose for myself I assemble because they’re available. I end up loving almost every one of them, and am usually surprised at how fun they are! I suppose it shows my age that I’m still surprised by this. 👵

Give a different image a try, you might end up loving it❣

Review: Ruby Red

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews7 Comments
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Ruby Red – Schmidt – 1000 pieces

I absolutely adore the image of this puzzle, but oh my was it a challenge! Good thing I can be completely stubborn at times, because although I may have wanted to give up on this I never did. I wanted to light it on fire a couple of times, but I wanted to see the finished puzzle even more and I stuck with it. Isn’t it gorgeous? It’s not your typical puzzle image, and that’s part of the draw for me – I gotta be me and I try never to follow the crowd unless they’re headed towards someone selling chocolate!

This is a Schmidt puzzle, and usually their quality is excellent. This is the first puzzle of theirs that I’ve been disappointed with. The cut of the pieces was less than good, some of the tabs were completely broken off because the part connecting them was so thin. A couple of the pieces weren’t broken on the initial sort, but they broke when I picked them up or tried to place them. I don’t know the manufacturing process well enough to know what causes this, but it was completely frustrating! Here are a few of the broken and almost broken pieces.

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A few broken pieces aside, the rest of the quality was quite good. Thick pieces with a linen finish, excellent fit, and lovely image reproduction. This puzzle came in a large commemorative tin, so perhaps because it was a special edition it was cut differently than the other Schmidt puzzles I’ve worked? I can’t say for sure.

I knew going in that it would be quite difficult with all that black, but I love the image so much that I really wanted to get it finished. Normally if I’m assembling a puzzle and it feels like work then it isn’t fun; I’m supposed to be enjoying myself! But once in a while I refuse to give up because I really want to conquer it – this was one of those times.

The lovely lady in the middle of the image was easy enough to work with all the skin, fishnet stockings and sparkles; it was the curtains behind her that tested me. At the edge of the curtains the black is a little lighter and you can see a pattern, but the rest of them are basically solid black. Yikes! I sorted the black pieces by shape and counted them (I just wanted to know how much of this puzzle was all black), and almost 400 of the 1000 pieces were completely black. I can’t believe I didn’t give up!

In the end I’m pleased with myself for finishing, it is such a striking image. It’s mostly good quality, but the broken pieces prevent me from recommending this puzzle. It may have been an isolated problem, but this is a quality issue we puzzlers really dislike. If the pieces are broken, the puzzle is broken.

Details:

  • Title:                  Ruby Red
  • Artist:                Phantom Orchid
  • Brand:               Schmidt
  • Piece count:     1000 pieces
  • Size:                  Approx. 27 x 19 in. (69 x 48 cm)
  • Purchased:      New

Quality:

  • Board:               Very good
  • Cutting:             Poor
  • Image:               Very good
  • Box:                   Excellent, commemorative tin
  • Fit:                     Very good
  • Puzzle Dust:     Minimal amount
  • Piece cut:          Grid cut
  • Piece shapes:   Good variety
  • Finish:               Slightly shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating:      Good quality, but not recommended