Buried Blueprints Adventures of Robin Hood by Al Lorenz – Masterpieces – 1000 pieces
I did NOT enjoy this puzzle at all. If it weren’t for my husband working it with me and making me keep going I would have stopped halfway through. He seemed to enjoy it more than I did, and being the wonderful wife that I am I humored him and kept working on it even though it was frustrating me. 😉
The quality was good enough, but the artwork was fuzzy and indistinct which made it quite difficult to find pieces you’re looking for. I believe it was the nature of the artwork and not the image reproduction. The pieces were random cut which was a nice change from the grid cut puzzles I normally do, and I did enjoy the informational blurbs placed throughout the puzzle.
Not a very fun one in my opinion but it was a 99 cent thrift store purchase, and it occupied me for a while.
Vintage Love Letters by Aimee Stewart – Schmidt – 1000 pieces
I saw a review of this puzzle on Jigsaw Junkies and fell in love with the image. It was the first puzzle I purchased with the intent of gluing and framing it; isn’t it a beautiful, romantic image for the bedroom? Aimee Stewart is one of my favorite jigsaw puzzle artists; her work is beautiful and her use of colors is gorgeous!
This was also my first puzzle from Schmidt, and I must say I was even more impressed with the quality than I expected to be. Thank goodness I found the Jigsaw Junkies blog, without her brand comparison I would never have felt confident enough to try new puzzle brands. I don’t want to guess whether or not the quality of certain brands is good or not, why spend money if you’re unsure whether or not it’ll be worth it? The brand comparison pages are detailed and helped me to discover some really awesome brands I had never even heard of. Schmidt is one of them.
Although I have discovered in my years of assembling puzzles that everything is subjective. Everyone has their own opinions of what a good quality puzzle is, and the only way to know for sure is to try it yourself. There are many brands that Jigsaw Junkies say are great quality that I don’t care for at all; you have to try them and see what you think of them. There are probably brands I say are excellent that you wouldn’t like at all, because we have different tastes and opinions. Anyway, back to the puzzle!
The finish on the pieces feels almost luxurious, the pieces fit together satisfyingly well without being so tight you had to push them into place. The image quality is amazingly bright and detailed without being too over the top. I would definitely buy many more Schmidt puzzles without hesitation. The quality of this company impressed me, and once my self-imposed puzzle buying ban is over I’m looking for more!
Wish You Were Here by Brooke Faulder – Bits and Pieces – 1000 pieces
This one I didn’t think I would enjoy, it’s not the typical puzzle image that I like. That said, I really had fun with this assembly.
The little puppy’s face is adorably cute, although my daughter says it looks judgmental. It makes me laugh because once she said that, I can see it! Still cute, but a little judge-y. Like he/she is disgusted to be at the beach, or can’t believe you spent so much time working on a puzzle!
The random piece cut was fun and interesting, and the image is almost seamless. My only problem was that there were about 9 places on the edge where the pieces just sat next to each other and didn’t connect. A pet peeve of mine – jigsaw pieces should click together, not sit together!
Another collage! I LOVE collages! This puzzle was a gift from my mother, and I had a great time putting it together.
I always love to have lots of words to assemble, and the books reminded me of my childhood; reading Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys, going to the library to get more books to read and watching the tv shows on the weekends. Shaun Cassidy anyone? Pamela Sue Martin? Parker Stevenson? I do believe I am showing my age. The Hardy Boy/Nancy Drew Mysteries! 🙂
Although the puzzle seems dark, it wasn’t overly difficult, and Cobble Hill pieces feel so great with the linen finish. The random piece cut makes it more interesting (or more difficult depending on your preference) If you like collage puzzles or Nancy Drew, this puzzle is for you.
Unknown title, artist and manufacturer – 500 pieces
This was the most difficult puzzle I have ever done! I was unbelievably proud when I finished it, and am trying to find the right frame to display it in. While cleaning the office in my parent’s house, we came across a couple of puzzles in ziploc bags. This puzzle had a very small picture cut from the box for “reference” – it was about 1 1/2 or 2 inches square. Not big enough to help at all, but just to show what the puzzle looks like completed.
It’s hard to tell in this picture, but each of the squares is actually four squares of different fabric/designs. With no picture for reference, this 500 piece puzzle took me 5 days to complete (for comparison a 1000 piece puzzle I can usually finish in 2-3 days)! I don’t know why this didn’t frustrate me, but I was content to work on this puzzle and spend more time looking for pieces than actually assembling. It may have been that I knew it was going to be an awesome looking finished image, or that I loved the challenge of having no picture to work from.
Most of the time when I finish a puzzle, I take it apart and take it to moms house so she can do it if she wants to. She said something to me about trying it herself and I had to tell her that I couldn’t bear to take this apart! Sorry, but I will be gluing and framing it because I’ve never been more proud of a finished puzzle. The most difficult jigsaw puzzle I’ve ever done, and I don’t even know where it came from!
My Jigsaw Journal 