Tag: Jigsaw Puzzles

Review: Vineyard Visit

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviewsLeave a comment
This post is sponsored by Puzzle Warehouse. 
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Vineyard Visit by Art Poulin – Masterpieces (Town & Country) – 300 pieces

Vineyard Visit was a quick puzzle I put together while waiting for a new order of puzzles to be delivered to my house. I didn’t want to start a larger piece count puzzle because I knew I’d want to start one of the new puzzles that was on it’s way. This was the perfect solution! With only 300 pieces I would definitely be done with it before the delivery person arrived, and I could still work on a fun puzzle while I was waiting. 😎

I’ve always been happy with the Masterpieces puzzles I’ve done. Click the link to see all the Masterpieces puzzles available at Puzzle Warehouse. This was the first EZ grip large piece puzzle from this manufacturer I’ve assembled, and I was pleasantly surprised at the thickness of the pieces and how well they fit together. There were a good variety of piece shapes and excellent image reproduction. The finish on the pieces was a bit shiny, but there isn’t much dark area on the puzzle so it wasn’t a problem. All around a very good quality puzzle!

The box is made of sturdy cardboard and is 8 inches square (20 cm). All four sides show a small image of the artwork and have the brand name; 3 sides have the name of the puzzle and series along with piece count. On the bottom of the box is a picture of the artist and a small biography along with pictures of other puzzles in the series. A nice box for collectors that could be shelved either vertically or horizontally.

Art Poulin is an award winning Folk/Americana artist whose simple but pleasing landscapes and countrysides make for excellent puzzling; and his Town & Country series offers plenty of great scenes to choose from. Click here to see other puzzles by this artist available at Puzzle Warehouse.

I didn’t always want to work 300 piece puzzles, but have changed my mind since working on the world’s largest puzzle. I began working large sections that took weeks to complete, so working a 300 piece puzzle I could finish in one day seemed like the best thing ever! I still enjoy working smaller piece count puzzles, because pretty much all puzzles are fun if you ask me. 🙂

Vineyard Visit was an excellent quality puzzle by Masterpieces that made for a fun, fast assembly. Definitely recommended! 👍

 

I received this product at no charge in return for an honest review. All opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own.

 

 

Antique World Map

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments
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Antique World Map – Ravensburger (Wood Finish) – 1000 pieces

I thought this wood finish would be cool when I ordered it. It wasn’t cool.  It was AWESOME!

I had probably assembled about 20 pieces of the edge when I texted my mom and told her I wanted every single wood finish puzzle that Ravensburger has. I absolutely love the way the pieces look and feel. Especially on this antique map, it gives it something extra and it looks amazing! I can’t stop running my fingers over the puzzle, it’s something special. Either that, or I really need to get out of the house more. Maybe a little of both? 😊

This wasn’t a easy puzzle, the entire map is very muted with very little bright color and lots of shades of brown. It took me 4 days to complete,  though some days I wasn’t able to work on it much. Still it was moderately difficult, but I would definitely recommend it! This is a gorgeous puzzle when complete and would be beautiful framed.

I love the look of antique map puzzles, I think most of them are beautiful and always exclaim over them when I’m puzzle shopping or browsing. But for some reason this is the first one I’ve actually purchased and assembled! Mom did find a 4000 piece Educa map at the thrift store, but I haven’t gotten to it yet. None of them look easy, but I just find them stunning to look at; I’m proud of myself for finally ordering and assembling one. 🙂

If you’re not intimidated by the difficulty of this puzzle I highly recommend it! The texture of the pieces is fabulous and the finished product is definitely frame-worthy!

 

 

 

Day at the Zoo

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment
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Day at the Zoo by Eric Dowdle – Dowdle Puzzles – 100 pieces

This kid’s puzzle from Dowdle was excellent quality. I enjoy Dowdle’s artwork and this was the first kid’s puzzle of his that I’ve done.

The pieces were thick and sturdy, which is super important in a kid’s puzzle, they’re not always gentle. There were a nice variety of piece shapes and the pieces fit together very well. I love it when a company puts effort and quality in a puzzle for kids, and from this puzzle I would say Dowdle definitely does!

There’s lots of discover when you’re assembling this puzzle, the monkeys are up to their usual monkey business, the penguins are roaming around with the patrons, and the bears are trying to feed cotton candy to the big cats. 😮 This is a great puzzle for kids and thankfully all the pieces were here so I can give this one to my grandson for him to enjoy.

Mom’s gone a bit crazy with the kid’s puzzles lately since she was helping my grandson with puzzles on “puzzle assembly day”. She saw how good he was at assembling puzzles and now she’s determined to find him as many as she can. There will probably be a few more kid’s puzzles than usual on the blog, there’s so many more to assemble every time she comes home from the thrift store! 😁

Going To Church

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment
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Going to Church by William H. Johnson – Mattel – 1000 pieces

This image jumped right out at me when Mom was showing me her latest thrift store haul, and it was the one I wanted to do first. Not only because the image is striking and interesting, but because the manufacturer was a new one for me, Mattel.

This artwork by William H. Johnson is compelling, and makes for an excellent jigsaw puzzle! It’s not as easy as it looks however, it was more difficult to assemble than I assumed. Surprisingly sturdy pieces with very nice image reproduction – I saw “Mattel” and thought they wouldn’t be very good quality (I was wrong, and shame on me). They weren’t as thick as Ravensburger, but the pieces were quite sturdy and there was a good variety of piece shapes.

The only issue I had with this puzzle was that the pieces fit together way too loosely. I work on a fabric board which helps stop pieces from sliding too much, but even with the fabric board the pieces were easily upset when bumped.

Although the puzzle wasn’t as easy as I’d assumed it was still great fun. I love working a thrift store puzzle that is something you wouldn’t necessarily choose and it ends up being more fun than you expected. It happens quite a bit, so I don’t know why I’m surprised every time. Thrift store puzzles rock! 😎

 

Review: Summer Hummer

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviewsLeave a comment
This post is sponsored by Puzzle Warehouse. 
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Summer Hummer by Spencer Williams – Sunsout – 1000 pieces

Summer Hummer is a beautiful puzzle that would look amazing framed. It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be, and went together pretty quickly. It was a fun assembly, which I didn’t expect! 🙂

Sunsout is a puzzle manufacturer I don’t usually purchase. Not because of their quality, it’s just a matter of taste/opinion; I prefer puzzles with a different fit. Sunsout puzzles fit together quite snugly and it always makes me think I don’t have the correct piece if I have to really push it together. A lot of people prefer the tighter fit you get with Sunsout and Springbok puzzles and they are just as right in their opinion as I am in mine. 😎 Sunsout puzzles are made in the USA and eco-friendly using soy based inks and recycled cardboard. Thumbs up for that!

The pieces were undamaged and fully separated in the bag and there was a moderate amount of puzzle dust (might want to dump the pieces out on something other than your board first). The pieces are thick and sturdy and fit together quite tightly; you can easily move sections around without them falling apart and can even lift the entire puzzle once it’s completed. Most of pieces were ballerinas (2 prong/2 hole) but with a large variety of sizes and shapes. There was a small amount of hanging paper on the backs of some pieces – little bits of paper left from the cutting process. It isn’t too much to deal with but can be annoying. The image reproduction is very good – the colors are bright and the image matches the box cover exactly. The finish on the pieces is slightly glossy and can cause glare working under lights; it wasn’t too much of a problem with this puzzle as there aren’t many dark sections.

I was surprised at the size of this puzzle 26 x 26 inches (66 x 66 cm), it seems much bigger when you’ve finished it. The box is quite large for a 1000 piece puzzle, 12.5 inches square (31.75 cm) and the bottom section is thinner cardboard. All four sides have the puzzle and artist’s name, piece count, finished size and manufacturer. Three of the sides also have a smaller complete image making it easy to shelve either vertically or horizontally.

This puzzle took about 3 days to complete which is about average for me. I thought the background sections would be difficult and time consuming but they really weren’t. The larger hummingbird was easy enough to pick out but the smaller bird is green and the pieces were easy to overlook at first. Once the flowers and birds were complete you’re left with a lot of green. Many shades of green. But it wasn’t bad! Plenty of shading within the green and textures on the leaves made it easier.

This was my first puzzle by Spencer Williams, and I enjoyed the artwork very much. It makes for good puzzling and is a beautiful image. You can click here to see the other puzzle available by this artist at Puzzle Warehouse, it’s a lovely image of soaring eagles. Before completing this puzzle I would have thought it would be difficult with the background of the sky, but I think it would most likely be another fun assembly like this one.

Summer Hummer was enjoyable to assemble and the finished puzzle is gorgeous and would be excellent for framing! Even though the fit isn’t my cup of tea I have to say this is one of the most beautiful finished puzzles I’ve seen in quite a while. If you like a puzzle that fits together tightly and this image speaks to you, I definitely recommend this puzzle. 👍

 

I received this product at no charge in return for an honest review, all thoughts and opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own.