In Dreams

On November 4, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles12 Comments

If you read this blog regularly, you might remember I bought my first wooden puzzle this year in September. I absolutely adore it, and have already assembled it 4 times! I was looking on the Artifacts Puzzles website for more awesome puzzles and saw this beauty with hexagonal shaped pieces – OH. MY. GOODNESS! I emailed and texted my mother to show her how cool these pieces were, so she decided to buy me this puzzle for my birthday. I wasn’t hinting for a present, I just wanted to show someone who would have the appropriate response; she is the only one who loves puzzles like I do. My mom rocks. I took the puzzle over to mom’s house yesterday and let her complete it by herself. She loved it too, of course!

The piece shapes are so interesting and it made for a challenging assembly; love, love, loved it❣ It only has 116 pieces, but it took me 40 minutes to assemble – 40 fantastic minutes. (I suppose it would have been quicker if I’d looked at the box image, but where’s the fun in that?) This was so fun, I’m sure I’ll be assembling it over and over again. What a treat! The piece shapes are quite obvious in the finished image, but I honestly don’t care. It didn’t diminish the enjoyment of the assembly for me at all, and as long as it’s fun I’m a happy, happy puzzler. 😉

What do I do now? I clearly have an addictive personality; I believe I’ve developed a wooden jigsaw puzzle addiction! I’m still enjoying my cardboard puzzles, I really just love puzzles in general; but I’m pining for more wooden jigsaws too! Here’s how addictive my personality is…..I’ve ordered one puzzle each from the 4 other wooden puzzle manufacturers I’ve found who have relatively reasonable prices. (Also, my wishlist of Artifact puzzles amounts to about $2600!) Oh my.

So, you can look forward to more reviews of wooden puzzles – they’re all on their way to my house right now! Undoubtedly I have issues. Whatever. 😎

Review: Cute Little Owls

On November 3, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews, Thrift Store Puzzles7 Comments

Cute Little Owls by Kerri Ambrosino – Clementoni – 500 pieces

Mom absolutely loved this puzzle, and I can definitely see why. The colors, the cuteness, the collage effect – excellent for puzzling!

This was the first Clementoni puzzle that I’ve done. I’m reserving judgment until I’m able to do at least one more, but I’m not thrilled with the fit; it was extremely loose. Now it was a thrift store purchase, so it may have been well loved before it was donated. That’s one reason why I try not to make snap judgments, I should at least do 2 or more before I decide on the brand in general. Other than the fit, I thought the quality was very good. Nicely cut pieces, a good thickness, excellent image reproduction – impressive!

I recently went to one of mom’s thrift stores with her when she was chauffeuring me around one day. 😮 Oh my goodness! I can’t believe she finds as many wonderful and complete puzzles as she does. Seeing the section where the puzzles are, the chaos everything is in – wow. She is definitely Queen of all things Thrift Store! I bow before you, your majesty!

Also, Happy National Jigsaw Day for any readers in the UK! I’m celebrating by doing puzzles today – what a change, huh? 😎

Details:

Title: Cute Little Owls
Artist: Kerri Ambrosino
Brand: Clementoni
Piece count: 500 pieces
Size: Approx. 19 x 14 in. (48 x 36 cm)
Purchased: Used, thrift store

Quality:

Board: Very good, sturdy
Cutting: Excellent
Image: Very good
Box: Very good, a bit large for a 500 piece puzzle
Fit: Quite loose
Puzzle Dust: None
Piece cut: Grid cut
Piece shapes: Good variety
Finish: Somewhat shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating: Very Good, recommended

Barn Sale

On November 2, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would, I think I was having flashbacks of the last Bits and Pieces shaped puzzle that I’d done. This one seemed to be much better quality, or perhaps a better cut? I’m not sure which, but it was much easier to deal with – the pieces all fit together!

I try not to be overly judgmental about certain brands, but I’m not always successful. Just because the last shaped puzzle from this company was a disappointment doesn’t mean they all will be. But when you’ve had a bad experience it sticks with you, at least it does for me. But sometimes one of the puzzles calls to me from the “to do” pile, and I just have to do that one next, even if it may be one with questionable quality.

I’m glad I decided to ignore my judgy brain and assemble this puzzle anyway. It really was much better quality than I’d assumed, and it was quite fun to assemble as well. I love a puzzle with quilts, so that was even more incentive for me; there’s something so entertaining for me in putting a jigsaw quilt together, I love it! All around I would say this was a very good quality puzzle that I would definitely recommend. 👍

Vibrant Puzzle Calendar Kit Puzzles 5 & 6

On November 1, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles1 Comment

Gourds 100 pieces

Bird 100 pieces

The third of 6 double-sided puzzles in this box. The gourds make for a puzzle that looks perfect for this time of year. I love the fall! Too bad I live in Florida where we only have shades of summer, all year long. 😐

I really enjoy these small 100 piece puzzles; it’s nice to pick up a puzzle and not stop assembling until it’s done. And just because it’s only 100 pieces doesn’t make it any less enjoyable for me, if it’s a pretty picture and a fun puzzle it doesn’t matter if it’s 24 pieces or 2000. Although I must say I get that wonderful feeling of accomplishment much quicker with a 100 piece puzzle. 😉

They say that when you double the number of pieces the difficulty level goes up quadruple. So then a 200 piece puzzle is 4 times more difficult than a 100 piece; and a 400 piece puzzle is 16 times harder, I think. I tried to do the math to figure out how much more difficult a 2000 piece puzzle is but my brain got a charlie horse. Ow!

Review: Castle of Horror

On October 31, 2017October 31, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviewsLeave a comment

Castle of Horror by Jean-Jacques Loup – Heye – 2000 pieces

This puzzle has been calling me for some time, so I decided I might as well get on it since Halloween is here! 🎃

I’ve been having difficulty puzzling lately and am not able to spend as much time as I’d like enjoying my puzzles. In addition, this gorgeous puzzle was very large and I had to assemble it sideways on my smaller board. I wasn’t feeling well enough to get out the larger board by myself, so I worked with the smaller one. It was difficult for me working a puzzle sideways, even more difficult than I anticipated. I guess my little old lady brain couldn’t get accustomed to the odd vantage point. Because of these things it took me an entire week to complete this puzzle!

The artwork of Jean-Jacques Loup makes me smile, he had an irreverent sense of humor and for me that is part of what makes his puzzles so much fun to assemble. The naughty bits put a little smirk on my face, and I’m always wanting to show them to my hubby to make him smile as well. There were plenty of naughty bits in this puzzle, so I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone underage, or anyone who has children that like to assist. 😈

This puzzle had the usual great Heye quality, with one exception – the fit was looser than I’ve had with any of their other puzzles. It wasn’t horribly loose, but you could easily upset a large section with your arm or sleeve if you weren’t careful. A bit disappointing, but otherwise the quality was very good.

There are so many fun things to discover in this image, it was a treat to put together. It’s full of Halloween spookiness – including witches, ghosts, bats, vampires, demons, and much more. It’s a great puzzle for the holiday – Happy Halloween! 🎃🎃

Details: