Penny

On October 13, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Pretty cool puzzle! 100 piece puzzles only takes a few minutes, but they’re still fun to assemble.

The pieces of this one were thin, but fit together well. Not the best quality for a kid’s puzzle, but not horrid either. Another thrift store find, and another new company – always interesting!

It’s a good thing we have so many kid’s puzzles to assemble. I’m having the hardest time sitting, even for a few minutes. I’m spending most of my days in bed and only able to concentrate long enough for a small piece count puzzle. I’m working on a 2000 piece puzzle at the moment but it is going at the pace of a sedated snail. 😐

For some reason I really like the look of this puzzle; it wasn’t the greatest quality but it was a quick fun assembly and will hopefully enjoy it’s new home at the school. 👍

Magical Jungle

On October 12, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

I love this image, it’s bright and cartoony and makes for fun puzzling. I had a great time assembling this one, it was quick and easy and took my mind off of stressful things. I definitely needed that!

I like the work of Johanna Basford, and think it is excellent puzzle material; she is a Scottish illustrator who has published many adult coloring books. This image feels like a coloring book, perhaps that’s why I like it so much. Even though my brain isn’t working properly enough for me to articulate why it is that certain images are appealing to me, I still try. 🙂

This puzzle also comes with a black and white poster of the image for you to color. Don’t like the purple elephant? Why not make him bright pink? I haven’t finished coloring it, but I sit and work on it every now and then. I worry about my color choices sometimes, which makes absolutely no sense at all. It’s my picture, who am I trying to please other than myself? If I want to color a sloth bright green, so what?!

Just Married

On October 11, 2017October 11, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

There’s something about this image I just can’t put my finger on, but I absolutely loved it and had to get it. It’s the people, it almost feels like they have character. I’m not explaining it properly, but that’s the best I can do. I love these people and this image, and it made for an excellent puzzle! 🙂

The pieces of this puzzle seemed to fit a little better than the previous Anatolian puzzle I did, and the piece shapes are not so obvious in the finished image. The quality was very good, and so far I’ve very much enjoyed the puzzles from this company. There was a good variety of piece shapes that fit together very well, and the image reproduction is quite nice too.

I’m looking forward to getting more puzzles by Ronald West, I absolutely adore his work! There are a couple in stock at Puzzle Warehouse that I’ve got my eye on. I hope to find more. His artwork makes me happy, turn it into a puzzle and I’m doubly happy! 😍

Under the Sea

On October 10, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Wow this puzzle was big! I didn’t want to get my big 4 x 5 foot board out just for a kid’s puzzle, so I did this one on my bedroom floor. It’s over 50 inches tall!

The pieces are extremely thick and sturdy, with a finish that can be wiped down if your young child gets any of the pieces sticky. They fit together very well – all in all excellent quality from Melissa & Doug. This puzzle also had an informational insert that has the names of all the creatures shown in the puzzle. Some of them I’d never heard of, I love learning new stuff!

I enjoy working the educational puzzles we’ve found, especially because we now donate most of our kid’s puzzles to a school, and I get to learn cool new things! Plus, when I’m working on a difficult puzzle, it’s nice to pick up a kids puzzle and finish it without having to concentrate too much.

Solar System

On October 9, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Fun kid’s puzzle! I love seeing what kind of quality the larger companies put into their children’s puzzles. MasterPieces did well. 🙂

The pieces of this puzzle were very nice; thick and quite sturdy. They fit together well and the puzzle lays flat, which hasn’t always been the case with a lot of the kid’s puzzles I’ve assembled. Excellent quality! There’s even an informational poster included that has a picture of the image along with some planetary fun facts. This puzzle is being donated to a school and I know they’ll enjoy the educational poster.

My only issue with this puzzle is the paint or the powder mixed with the ink that glows. It almost feels like sandpaper to me, but not so rough that it would scratch your hands; it feels dry and like very fine sand. I detest the feel of sandpaper and for me this was almost like nails on a chalkboard! Of course, this is really only a big issue for me, but if you’ve got a child with any tactile sensitivities it may be something to consider.

Fun puzzle, and an excellent thrift store find! I love a glow in the dark puzzle, I enjoy seeing what parts glow. Usually it’s difficult to get a “glow” picture, but luckily this one worked out pretty well.