Tag: Jigsaw Puzzles

Springtime Beauty

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments
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Springtime Beauty by Kim Norlien – Buffalo – 300 pieces

Mom and I assembled this together on our puzzle/visit day; we’ve been doing more 300 and 500 piece puzzles lately because they’re easier for me. The colors of the flowers caught my eye, and I love the expression on the faces of the birds.

Buffalo 300 piece puzzles are about perfect for me, I like the larger size of the pieces compared to their 1000 piece puzzles. For some reason the pieces of their 1000 piece puzzles seem too small and symmetrical to me – not always, but sometimes. There are times when I have to be in the right mood to do a certain puzzle or work with certain piece shapes. I never claimed to be rational. 😎

The quality of Buffalo puzzles is very good, although I’ve found that the fit can sometimes be loose. The pieces are thick and the image reproduction is sharp and detailed. The fit of this puzzle though was quite good, I find their smaller piece counts seem to fit a little more snugly. Perhaps it’s just me, because I like the smaller puzzles more; it’s all a matter of perception isn’t it?

This image is more difficult than it looks, but still fun to put together. The birdhouse and birds were easy enough to pick out, but there are many flowers and lots of tree bark. We had a good time assembling it, with lots of laughing and teasing. It’s so much more fun for me to puzzle with mom, and I try not to take for granted spending time with her. She rocks!

If this image speaks to you, I definitely recommend it. It’s beautiful and well made and was great fun to assemble. 🐦

 

 

 

Ballet Lesson (2)

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments
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Ballet Lesson – Ravensburger – 100 pieces

This is the second Ravensburger puzzle with this title I’ve assembled, the first was only 35 pieces and not nearly as beautiful as this one. This puzzle is a lovely image enhanced with glitter – I loves me some glitter! How disappointing that it was missing a piece. 😦

The colors in this image are so pretty, and with the added fun of glitter it’s just an all around beautiful puzzle. Absent piece aside, the quality was excellent and to my surprise there wasn’t a ton of glitter loose in the box. A lot of times with a glitter puzzle much of it comes off and ends up in a pile underneath the pieces, not so with this puzzle. Yet another reason Ravensburger puzzles are my absolute favorite. I was hoping it would be complete so we could pass it on, but it’s glaringly obvious that a piece has escaped.

Missing pieces are the chance you take when you purchase puzzles used. I would say probably 90-95% of the puzzles we get from thrift stores are complete, and that’s a pretty good average. Sure, it’s a little disappointing when you find a missing piece, but you still got to assemble a puzzle. Well, most of it anyway. 😉

 

Review: Cats, Rabbits, Birds, Fish, and Flowers

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews2 Comments
This post is sponsored by Puzzle Warehouse.
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Cats, Rabbits, Birds, Fish, and Flowers by Makoto Nakamura – Pomegranate – 300 pieces

The title of this puzzle is a mouthful, I know – but if you look closely you can see the reason for the name. All of the “flowers” you see are made up of Cats, Rabbits, Birds, Fish, and Flowers! Click the link to see this puzzle at Puzzle Warehouse.

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Can you see them?

Makoto Nakamura is one of the foremost tessellation artists in the world, and I adore his work! If you’re a regular reader of the blog you might remember the Pesky Parrots puzzle I assembled last year, it was by the same artist only the tessellations in that puzzle were the pieces themselves! I love that Pomegranate chose one of his works for their puzzles, isn’t it a striking image even before you recognize the animals?

Pomegranate puzzles are in the top echelon of puzzle manufacturers in my opinion; their quality is exceptional! The pieces are wonderfully thick and feel good in your hands. They fit together with just about the perfect amount of tightness, and the matte finish doesn’t glare under lights. Their catalog focuses on illustrations and fine art, and the image reproductions are crisp and clear and retain the original beauty of the artwork. I don’t normally comment on puzzle boxes, but the Pomegranate boxes are the sturdiest I’ve found; and as an added bonus nothing covers up the full image on the box top – you can see the entire picture! Not many companies do that, and it is very much appreciated by puzzlers. Click the link above to see all their puzzles currently available at Puzzles Warehouse.

Even though looking at the pieces made me think it might be a challenge, it was exactly the right amount of challenge for me. I couldn’t walk away from it! I started with the red and pink fishes in the center, and then worked color by color to finish flower after flower. It wasn’t super easy, but it wasn’t eyeball-crossing difficult either – just right!

If you enjoy this image, I highly recommend this puzzle. It’s excellent quality with a beautiful and interesting image. I loved it! ❤💐

Details:

  • Title:                  Cats, Rabbits, Birds, Fish, and Flowers
  • Artist:                Makoto Nakamura
  • Brand:               Pomegranate
  • Piece count:     300 pieces
  • Size:                  Approx. 20 x 20 in. (51 x 51 cm)
  • Purchased:      N/A

Quality:

  • Board:               Excellent
  • Cutting:             Excellent
  • Image:               Excellent
  • Box:                   Very good, sturdy with complete image on front
  • Fit:                     Excellent
  • Puzzle Dust:     Small amount
  • Piece cut:          Grid cut
  • Piece shapes:   Very good variety
  • Finish:               Matte finish, lays flat

Overall Rating:      Excellent, highly 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.

Green Acres

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment
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Green Acres by Alan Giana – MasterPieces – 300 pieces

I think my age is showing, when I see the title of this puzzle my brain immediately starts singing the theme song to the old tv show. Green Acres is the place to be, FARM living is the life for me! 🎵

This puzzle is absolutely beautiful, and at only 300 pieces was a quick, fun assembly. The cut is random and interesting and the fit was wonderful! There was never any guessing whether or not a piece fit in a certain spot. MasterPieces large piece puzzles have excellent quality, I have never had an issue with any of them. The pieces are thick and fit together well, and the images are crisp and clear and always beautiful.

Many people only do 1000 piece puzzles, and I think they’re missing out; there are wonderful puzzles to be assembled in every shape and size. But I would never tell someone what they should or shouldn’t do, so if they’re working only the larger puzzles that leaves plenty other sizes for me, right? 😎

Spice Rack

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment
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Spice Rack by Charlie Girard – White Mountain – 1000 pieces

This thrift store purchase made me so happy! Mom brought it over to show me and I couldn’t wait to get assembling; collages with lots of words are the best!

White Mountain puzzles are good quality, but sometimes it’s hard to make judgments about puzzle quality when you buy second-hand. I have no idea how many times this puzzle has been assembled; it may have been well loved before it was donated so I can’t say for sure if image lift on the pieces is because of repeated assemblies or because of quality issues. 🤔

Still, from my experience with this brand purchased new I can say their quality is good, about mid-range. The pieces are a good thickness, they have a nice variety of piece shapes and they normally fit together well. I’ve had a few White Mountain puzzles with an extremely tight fit, but those seem to be few and far between. Every once in a while the image reproduction can be a bit fuzzy; but again that seems to be the exception, and one I normally only notice on collages with some vintage images.

This puzzle is by one of my favorite collage artists, Charlie Girard. His collages are fun to assemble and always make me smile. I had a great time putting this one together, it was especially fun to see all those vintage spice containers from companies I’ve never heard of. There are some familiar brands like McCormick and French’s, but most are companies that have long since gone; some of them had such interesting packaging. Ben-Hur Allspice? Wow.

I can’t wait to see what fun and interesting puzzles mom finds next, I hope she finds me some more collages!