Review: Ladybugs

On May 7, 2018May 7, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviewsLeave a comment

This post is sponsored by Puzzle Warehouse.

Ladybugs by Michael Searle – MasterPieces – 100 pieces

Ladybugs is a bright, beautiful puzzle that’s fun to assemble but not too easy. It would be a great challenge for a young one in your life, or even for you if you’re so inclined. 🙂

MasterPieces puzzles can be hit or miss quality sometimes, but for the most part I find them to be quite good. They have a varied catalog of beautiful images and interesting series to choose from, and great prices too. The pieces are a good thickness and fit together very well. There are a nice variety of piece shapes, and the image reproduction is absolutely gorgeous! Click to see all the MasterPieces puzzles currently in stock at Puzzle Warehouse.

I love a good glow in the dark image, but you have to deal with the somewhat grainy feel of the pieces that glow. Whatever they use to add the phosphors (luminescent material) feels like very, very find sand. If you have tactile issues, be warned – glow puzzles may not be for you.

I’m a big supporter of giving children puzzles, they’re excellent for helping develop essential skills every child needs. Problem solving, spatial awareness, fine motor skills, reasoning, sequencing and many other skills are developed when solving jigsaw puzzles – and as an added bonus they’re really fun and great for family bonding! I have wonderful memories of assembling jigsaw puzzles with my grandma, my mom, my husband, and my children. Even in this crazy world of 24/7 information and electronics, having time to sit and talk and work on a puzzle together is a must for me – it’s so much nicer than staring at your phone or the television!

Ladybugs was a fun assembly, but wasn’t as quick as the average 100 piece puzzle. The greenery in the background added to the challenge, and the sheer number of ladybugs kept me on my toes. Having different shapes helped in finding the right pieces, the bright colors helped as well. Even though it was a small piece count I found it to be the right amount of difficulty; it’s definitely recommended.

Check out all the kids puzzles available at Puzzle Warehouse – they’ve got tray puzzles, block puzzles, floor puzzles, and many more to choose from. From 3 pieces all the way up to 1000 or more, there are tons of puzzles for kids or for the kid in you. 😎

Details:

Title: Ladybugs
Artist: Michael Searle
Brand: MasterPieces
Piece count: 100 pieces
Size: Approx. 15 x 12 in. (39 x 29 cm)
Purchased: N/A, sent for review

Quality:

Board: Very good
Cutting: Very good
Image: Excellent
Box: Average
Fit: Very good
Puzzle Dust: Small amount
Piece cut: Grid cut
Piece shapes: Very good variety
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, somewhat grainy feel, lays flat

Overall Rating: Very good, recommended

I received this product at no cost in order to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own.

Colors of Venice

On May 2, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles8 Comments

When I bought this puzzle I wasn’t paying attention at all, I saw that it was a 300 piece puzzle that also came with a frame for less than $5. What a great deal, and I even like the image. I didn’t realize until I got it home and opened it up that they were MINI pieces – oh no! I had horrible flashbacks of Winter Aspen, but it was only 300 pieces instead of 1000, so I figured I might as well give it a try.

The finished puzzle is only 6.5 inches square – there was more than enough room to put the entire thing on a cookie sheet including laying out all the pieces. Once I got the edge put together I had a great idea; I decided to put the puzzle on the table in the master bathroom and have my husband make good use of all the time he spends in there. He could help me with this tiny puzzle! I told mom and a fellow puzzling friend from Canada (Hi Linda!) what I was going to do and they both thought it was pretty funny. I wasn’t kidding – I knew he’d help if it was right there, and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to finish it. (But it is pretty funny 😁 Why do men spend so much time in there?)

Turns out it was an excellent idea! Not only did hubby help me out with the puzzle, we both enjoyed it very much – much more than either of us thought we would. When it was near the end we brought it out of the bathroom and sat on the bed working on it together. He hasn’t helped me with my puzzles for quite a while, but we both had a great time working on this teeny little thing together. Good thing too, because when I bought this one I also bought a second one, he helped me finish that one too. I loved working on puzzles with him again, so I went back and got another one yesterday. Bathroom puzzles are awesome! LOL

Just so you can get an idea of how small this thing is, here is the entire completed puzzle next to my computer mouse…

IMG_E4495

Talk about teeny tiny! It wasn’t the greatest quality, but I didn’t mind that much. The piece shapes were pretty obvious in the finished image, but once I glued it they weren’t as noticeable. The fit was quite loose as well, but there was something about the small pieces that made it really entertaining – so much so that I overlooked the annoyance of the fit. I enjoyed the challenge of working with such tiny pieces, and this time I had colors to work with, unlike Winter Aspen!

It’s a cool little puzzle that was more fun than I thought, and I’m glad I was too stupid to read the box in the store and process what the word “mini” means. There’s a third mini puzzle in our bathroom at the moment, and hubby and I will hopefully have a great time with that one too! 😎

Fly Away Home

On May 1, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles4 Comments

I love the bright colors in this puzzle, and the artwork is quite interesting. Mom and I assembled this together, and although the fit was terrible we had a good time with it. Everything doesn’t always have to be perfect, we can be entertained and appreciate the time spent together puzzling even if it’s quality was sub par.

MasterPieces puzzles have fluctuating quality at times, I’ve had excellent puzzles from them and also really bad ones. It seems as if different series are manufactured at different places, the quality is so varied. The pieces of this puzzle are grid cut and more elongated than most other MasterPieces puzzles I’ve assembled. The image reproduction is very good, as is the piece thickness and variety; but the fit was extremely loose and difficult to work with.

The image is perfect for puzzles and I found it very unique and fun – the colors and patterns made for just the right amount of challenging that day. The artist, Hayley Gillespie, has a delightful point of view and the artwork made the puzzle worth assembling even with the fit problems. I’d love to find more of her puzzles.

Mom is away this week and I won’t be visiting or puzzling with her on Friday. 😪 When real life gets in the way of my puzzle happiness it is such a bummer! Come home soon momma, I miss you already.

Spring Dance

On April 25, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Spring Dance was much less difficult than I thought it would be and I thoroughly enjoyed assembling it. Mom and I swore off flowers for a while, but I couldn’t resist those quilts and gave it a go anyway.

This puzzle comes in a metal tin, which is not great for using the image on the lid for reference. The picture is so small that it’s barely useful, I just had to go with the shapes and colors of the pieces. The quality of the pieces were good; thinner but sturdy pieces that fit together very well.

I’m still struggling with being able to sit and puzzle for any length of time, so 500 pieces or less is mostly what I’ve been working with lately. There are stacks and stacks of 1000 piece puzzles both here and at mom’s house, but they’re just too much for me most days so I’m hanging out with the smaller ones for a while – we’ve become quite good friends!

Summer Surprise

On April 23, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Summer Surprise was not the best quality puzzle, but for some odd reason I really wanted to finish it. I have no explanation for my completion obsession other than I found the assembly to be somewhat entertaining even though the quality was lacking.

I’m surprised at the variation in quality that I’ve found from MasterPieces. This puzzle was quite thin, there were no variety in piece shapes at all, and it was grid cut. I’ve also worked several of their space saver puzzles and found the quality to be quite good; with good thickness, a random cut, and very nice images. Their EZ grip large piece puzzles have excellent quality with very thick pieces that fit together wonderfully and lovely image reproduction. From “meh” all the way up to “excellent” – hmmm, what is the reason for such fluctuation? Perhaps their different puzzle lines are produced by different manufacturers?

I liked the image well enough, thought it doesn’t wow me. It took me a couple of days to finish, and was entertaining at times. I wouldn’t recommend this puzzle though – the quality just wasn’t up to snuff.