Beauty and the Beast

On September 13, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

This beautiful image was fun to assemble, but it was the first time I’ve been disappointed in a MasterPieces puzzle in quite a while. 😒

My experience with this brand has mostly been very good. The image reproduction has always been excellent in my opinion, as are the variety of piece shapes. They are a good thickness and fit together well. I’ve heard that others have found the fit to be quite loose, but that hasn’t been my experience at all. That doesn’t discount their experience; there have been many times where people with the exact same puzzle have had much different levels of quality – a lot of the time it all depends on where in the run your puzzle was produced. Beginning of the run may give you a tighter fit, end of the run can be much looser.

My problem with this puzzle wasn’t the fit at all, it was the bent pieces. I can’t be sure if it was because of the box (book shaped and somewhat small for 300 large pieces) or if it was another reason. The pieces were almost jammed in the box, and up into the spine of the “book”. Whatever it was, there were many bent pieces and the puzzle didn’t lay flat when complete, which was disappointing.

Otherwise I enjoyed the assembly very much, and found the image itself to be absolutely stunning. Steve Crisp’s artwork is beautiful, the colors are perfect for the scene, and it made for a captivating puzzle.

The random cut helped with keeping my focus as well, you couldn’t rely on the edges of the pieces to help you find what exact shape you were looking for. You have to rely more on patterns and shades of color because you may think you’re looking for a certain shape and it could end up that 2 pieces fit where you thought only 1 should go. I love it when a puzzle keeps me on my toes. 🙂

The bent pieces were a bummer, but I enjoyed it anyway – it’s a beautiful puzzle!

American Angel

On July 4, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

Happy Independence Day! Luckily mom found this beauty at a thrift store in time for the holiday. It was a bit of a challenge, but an enjoyable one – and it’s a gorgeous puzzle!

The quality was good, with thick pieces that fit together well and beautiful colors. The random cut kept me on my toes and made for an interesting assembly. The finished puzzle didn’t lay completely flat, with some tabs and edges sticking up; but with a used puzzle I don’t blame that on the manufacturer. The missing piece was disappointing, but again that’s something that happens with a thrift store puzzle.

The flag was harder to put together than I thought it would be, you’d think the bright red and blue colors wouldn’t be too much of a challenge, but they definitely were. The red sections especially took more time than I thought. The clouds at the bottom were the most challenging part, but the random cut made it interesting and difficult to walk away from. The entire assembly was great fun!

I always enjoy puzzles like this though, taking a color or section (like the red and blue flag sections) and figuring out how it all fits together is extremely satisfying. That’s the fun of a puzzle for most people; but there’s something about taking the pieces for a smaller section and putting it all together without the help of adjoining pieces. Perhaps that’s the reason I enjoy collage puzzles so much. With a collage, the whole assembly is putting together small sections. I love it!

The Petting Zoo

On June 13, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

This was a quick puzzle that I decided to put together without looking at the box; I guess I needed a little bit of extra challenge. There were plenty of animals and little details to help out with the assembly, and lots of words to put together too!

The quality of this puzzle was quite good; the pieces were very thick and the fit was exceptional. I’ve found that the large EZ grip puzzles from MasterPieces have much better quality than their regular puzzles, the chipboard they use is thicker and more dense and makes for an excellent tactile experience. The cut is random, which makes for interesting piece shapes and also makes you look more closely at the pieces and colors to find what you’re looking for.

IMG_4697 (2)

I really enjoyed all the little details of this image, all the horse’s stalls have their names above them, and each of the pens had signs on them as well.

IMG_4697 (3)

I love the art of Art Poulin, I’ve done several of his puzzles and enjoy the Americana/Folk images he produces. They bring to mind images of simpler times, when none of the kids had cell phones or tablets and were happy to spend time at the petting zoo interacting with the animals and being in nature.

It seems as if I’m becoming one of those little old ladies talking about how great things used to be – and I haven’t even turned 50 yet! 👵

Daisy Field Farm

On May 21, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

Here’s the last of the 3 “bathroom puzzles” – hubby enjoyed this one the best. Assembling the fence was his favorite part. He loves structure and linear images so the fence was what he wanted to work on the most. I even left the last 10 pieces of this puzzle for him to put in – what a sweet wife he has! 😉

This puzzle was as much fun to assemble as the other two, and I was sad for us when it was finished. I didn’t see any more at the store the last time I was there except for Starry Night, and I don’t think I’m brave enough for that.

I have to go out twice tomorrow for appointments, so if I’m feeling ok I just might make a stop at the same store and see what else there is for me. These aren’t premium quality, but they’ve got me and my husband working together on puzzles again, that’s what makes me happiest about them.

Delphinium Cottage

On May 12, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

I thought I should show one of these mini framed puzzles actually in the frame. The glue I used was high gloss, so there’s a bit of glare; but it looks pretty darn good to me. ☺

This was the second of my newly named “bathroom puzzles”, and hubby and I enjoyed assembling it very much. It’s difficult not to work on a puzzle when it’s sitting there – and you’re sitting there. To be honest, I miss not having a tiny puzzle in there now that they’re all assembled. Here’s hoping I find more of them one of these days.

I found this image easier to work with than Colors of Venice, and it went together more quickly. The bright flowers and more obvious contrasts helped speed up the pace; it was much easier to separate out certain sections. It may have helped that we were a little more experienced with the very small pieces too – they really were great fun!

To be honest, I didn’t even notice the puppy in the bushes until I was assembling the dogs in the grass. I got all the dogs in the foreground put together and still had pieces with light yellow fur on them, they didn’t seem to connect to the dogs already assembled, where in the world did they go? And how did I miss that every time I looked at the poster? I’m claiming muddled middle-aged brain as an excuse for my lack of perception.😉

I’ll puzzle just about anywhere that’s it’s possible, obviously. It actually helps me deal with my chronic pain, and reduces my anxiety and stress. And even if those things weren’t a factor I find puzzling to be fun, engaging, entertaining, and satisfying. Whatever reason motivates you to puzzle is the best reason there is. Puzzle on my friends!