I know, another 100 piece puzzle. So what? All puzzles are fun if you ask me, so why not write about them? Well, I can because this blog belongs to me. 😎
This is another thrift store puzzle we bought for my friend’s son that I put together to be sure all the pieces were there. Isn’t this the perfect puzzle for little boys? Bugs are cool! Best part about the picture is that I did the puzzle on a drafting table and the color of the table makes it look like the bug in the top left corner is actually crawling off the puzzle! It makes me laugh every time I look at it. (And thanks to mom for pointing that out to me 🤗)
As an added bonus, it glows in the dark. Wanna see?
I love that the background is what glows, and that there are hidden words you can’t see till it glows. I know, I’m way too excited about this puzzle. Oh well. 🙂
Never heard of Creative Edge, but then I don’t usually do kids puzzles. The pieces are thin, but somewhat sturdy for how thin they are. The image reproduction is quite good, the colors are crisp, and there was no image lift on any of the pieces. Piece shape variety wasn’t bad either. Good to fair quality I would say, but I’m not complaining at all – I had fun assembling it and I’m sure my honorary grandson will have fun too!
Another new manufacturer – Galison. I liked it! Not love, but not bad at all. 🙂
I love this image, because I love collages and also my dad used to work for the phone company back when everyone had actual land line phones in their houses. We had plenty of phones to play with when we were kids, old phones that would have been thrown away we got to play with. Doesn’t seem that fun in this world of computers and tablets and smart phone apps but children used to play with things that required their imagination. Wow!
I tried assembling this puzzle once before, put together the edge pieces and then put it away – I just wasn’t in the right mood for it. Second time was the charm and I really enjoyed it. I love how a picture like this is so easy to get sucked in to. You pull the pieces for one of the squares, and that leads to the square next to it and so on and so on. So much fun!
The piece shapes were not bad, there were very few pieces that were 2 prong 2 hole. Lots more different shapes! The pieces were on the thin side, but sturdy. The coating was matte and I had no problems with glare at all, and the image reproduction was very good – the colors were crisp and bright. Very good quality overall in my opinion. I love trying new companies!
Sequoia National Park by Eric Dowdle – Dowdle Puzzles – 500 pieces
I really love the art of Eric Dowdle, but I must also say that they make for some difficult puzzles – this one was a challenge!
Part of the challenge was that at the factory a mistake was made, the puzzle inside the box was not what was shown on the box. We thought we were purchasing Redwood National Park. The box says we did, the poster inside was for Redwood, but the bag of pieces was what you see here. Still a cool puzzle, I wasn’t really that upset. But it did make for a more challenging assembly, no picture to go by! Of course I sometimes do this to myself purposely, I put the box away and do a puzzle with no helps just to give myself a challenge (and because I’m weird) 😉
Also, I don’t usually comment on the boxes the puzzles come in but Dowdle boxes are pretty cool in my book. Extremely sturdy one piece box that has a lid that folds over and is closed with velcro. There is a slipcover that goes over the box with the info about the puzzle, and on the inside you get a poster of the puzzle to work with, and a zip closure plastic bag to store the pieces in once you’ve finished the puzzle. A++ for the box!
This puzzle was quite a challenge for me, there is so much green and trees in the background it took way longer than is normal for me to complete a 500 piece puzzle. But I love the scene and I had no problem taking on the challenge. There are so many little animals all over the puzzle, it was fun to figure out where every one went. And at the very end I found the big eyes and one paw of an animal you can’t really see and don’t notice in the image unless you’re looking for it (or putting in the pieces there). If you look on the left edge of the puzzle about midway up you can see the paw, the eyes are darker and in the background – not easy to see, but they are there. Great puzzle 🙂
The quality of the puzzle was quite good. The pieces were about average thickness and very sturdy and they fit together quite well. The pieces were predominantly the 2 prong 2 hole variety, but within that they were all different shapes and sizes so it didn’t seem monotonous to me at all. The finish was glossy was caused a lot of glare, which is difficult sometimes with a Dowdle puzzle because there are a lot of darker areas and it’s difficult at night under lights. And a lot of the Dowdle puzzles have quite a bit of symmetry and sameness in the backgrounds which can add an extra challenge. Nothing wrong with a challenge though, it’s fun to do and you feel like you’ve accomplished something when you’re done! Â I love the artwork, there isn’t one Dowdle puzzle that I wouldn’t love to own or do, so even if there is glare I don’t mind that much. Awesome images make for fun puzzles in my book!
Ok, it’s a 100 piece puzzle, what on earth am I putting this on the blog for? Cause I want to! Mom got this at the thrift store for a friend’s son, and we put it together to make sure all the pieces were there. So I figured, why not put it on the blog? Â I did it, and just because it’s only 100 pieces doesn’t mean it can’t be a cool puzzle that’s fun to do!
It was pretty fun, but I had to be careful at the top with the sky. The pieces are only two shapes, and they all pretty much fit together. I was surprised at how much we had to pay attention and how many pieces we had to move when assembling the sky! We had fun though, and put it together pretty quickly.
I’d never heard of Janod before, the quality was exceptional! The pieces are extremely thick and sturdy and they almost feel like wood. They fit together well and I was able to pick the puzzle up by the corner and flip it over without anything falling apart. It’s pricey, about $20 for a 100 piece puzzle – but you never know, you might find one at a thrift store and only pay $2! Or if price is no object, go for it, really great quality. 🙂
This puzzle was so much fun!!!! Started it in the morning with coffee, and had it finished before dinner. 😮 It’s one of those puzzles where one section leads to another and then to another and before you know it the whole thing is done!
My first puzzle from Andrews + Blaine, and I have to say I love the quality. The image and colors are gorgeous, the pieces fit together beautifully and are thick and sturdy. The only drawback for me was that the finish was glossy and caused some glare. The piece shapes were mostly 2 prong 2 hole, but to be honest I loved the image so much and had so much fun with the assembly I really didn’t care about the shapes. It has to do with the overall quality of the puzzle, I think, and how entertaining the image is to assemble. For me, that is. That’s all I can come up with. Sometimes the lack of diversity in piece shape is SO ANNOYING to me, and sometimes it’s “eh who cares? – it was fun!” (I never said I’m sane, or that I always make sense) 😉
This image by Kathy Weller is just adorable! I love everything about it, and it was so much fun to assemble that I was swept away and before I knew it the whole thing was finished. I’m definitely going to look up her artwork and check the Andrews + Blaine website to see if there are more puzzles by her. Definitely recommend this puzzle! Fun, fun, fun!!
My Jigsaw Journal 