Tag: MasterPieces

Millside Picnic

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments
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Millside Picnic by Bonnie White – MasterPieces – 1000 pieces

It’s been a while since I’ve assembled an Americana type puzzle, and it was nice to get back to it. Sometimes it feels boring to do the same type of puzzle over and over again, and so I step away from it. That’s what I did with the Americana/Wysocki/Heronim images – I needed a break. For some reason, though, when I looked at this puzzle I wanted to get assembling right away. Perhaps I had taken a long enough sabbatical and this puzzle was what I needed. 🙂

I absolutely enjoyed this puzzle, the quality was very good, the image was excellent for puzzling and I enjoyed every part of the assembly. I especially enjoyed assembling the houses, although I’m not sure why. I believe this was my first Bonnie White puzzle, but looking through her puzzles available at Puzzle Warehouse, I might be wanting to try some more. They’ve even got some beautiful ♦diamond♦ shaped puzzles I’d love to try.

Here’s hoping we can find more Bonnie White puzzles at the thrift stores, or that someone sends me some to review. 😉

#NuzzleNoses

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment
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#NuzzleNoses by Keith Kimberlin – MasterPieces (Insta Paws) – 500 pieces

Mom and I assembled this puzzle together, and it was really fun! I’m always thrilled by a thrift store purchase that is so adorable and so much fun to assemble. We loved this one❣

This is part of the Insta Paws series from MasterPieces, collages of some of the most adorable puppies and kittens around! Taken by photographer Keith Kimberlin, the images features sweet puppies and kittens doing all kinds of activities. It’s a very cute series, and I’d love to do more; here’s hoping the thrift stores around here help us out with that.

I enjoy MasterPieces puzzles, they’re a good quality puzzle for a great value and they have an excellent and diverse catalog with some great series – Memory Lane, Town & Country, Insta Paws, Space Savers, and many more. I like the feel of their pieces and the random cut makes a more interesting and sometimes more challenging assembly. It’s not a brand I usually purchase new, but love finding them at the thrift stores. They have so many great puzzles to choose from!

I’m a dog person, so my favorite sections of this puzzle are obviously the puppies, especially the little guy sleeping under a blanket, so cute! The kittens in the boots make me smile too. This puzzle is one of those fun ones with different backgrounds that make it easy to pull a section and work on it without having to keep looking at the box, they’re some of my favorite types of puzzles to do. It’s more satisfying for me to grab a section of pieces and figure out how they fit together without any assistance from the box or a poster – it makes me happy.

If this is an image that grabs you, I would definitely recommend this #NuzzleNoses; it’s a very nice quality puzzle with a beautiful image that’s pretty darn entertaining to put together. 🐾🐾

Review: Harborside

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviewsLeave a comment
This post is sponsored by Puzzle Warehouse.
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Harborside – MasterPieces (Shutter Speed) – 1000 pieces

Harborside is a beautiful puzzle that was much more fun to do than I anticipated. It looked more difficult than it was and I enjoyed the assembly very much!

I’ve reviewed several MasterPieces puzzles this year, and I’ve had great quality puzzles every time. The chipboard they use is thick and sturdy and the fit is excellent – you’re never unsure whether or not a piece fits and when complete you can lift the entire puzzle without dislodging any pieces. The image reproduction on this puzzle is bright and crisp and absolutely beautiful. This puzzle is part of the Shutter Speed series which features some of the world’s most spectacular photographs – from big cities to small towns, carnivals, and more. MasterPieces puzzles are a great value as well, click the links to see the puzzles currently available at Puzzle Warehouse.

I started this puzzle with the sky and the water, and built up from there. There were different shades in both the water and sky which made those areas easier, and before I knew it I had the reflections on the water complete and was putting together the boats and buildings. The challenge level was just right, about medium difficulty. As usual it was great fun even though it isn’t the typical puzzle that I would choose to assemble.

If you’re a fan of boat/harbor puzzles, or are looking for a gift for someone who is I would definitely recommend this puzzle. It’s beautiful and entertaining and I had a great time assembling it for review. 👍

Details:

  • Title:                  Harborside
  • Artist:                Vibriant
  • Brand:               MasterPieces
  • Piece count:     1000 pieces
  • Size:                  Approx. 27 x 19 in. (68 x 49 cm)
  • Purchased:      n/a

Quality:

  • Board:               Very good
  • Cutting:             Good – some hanging bits of paper
  • Image:               Excellent
  • Box:                   Average
  • Fit:                     Excellent
  • Puzzle Dust:     Moderate amount
  • Piece cut:          Semi-random cut
  • Piece shapes:   Very good variety
  • Finish:               Slightly shiny finish, 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.

Escape from Alcatraz

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment
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Escape From Alcatraz by Albert Lorenz – MasterPieces (Mythic Mazes) – 1000 pieces

I’d never heard of these Mythic Mazes puzzles, but it was a lot of fun! There are apparently more, including Escape from Merlin’s Dungeon and Escape from the Haunted House. It looks like they’re definitely out of print, so we’ll just have to hope that we are able to find more in the local thrift stores.

MasterPieces quality can sometimes be hit or miss, this one was very interesting. The thickness of the pieces, the fit, and the image reproduction were excellent but there was no variety in the piece shapes. They were all ballerinas. Sigh. It doesn’t make much sense to me, but then again I have no actual knowledge of what goes into manufacturing a jigsaw puzzle. Still, it’s a bit disappointing; the quality was very good otherwise.

You can’t see it well in the picture, but there are plenty of words to assemble, which I love. And even though there’s no variety in the piece shapes the good news was that there were almost no pieces that were just one color. There was plenty of shading and writing so that there weren’t large areas of one color. It made working with just the one piece shape a little more palatable for me.

The bright colors, interesting maps, and the actual information regarding the real life escape from Alcatraz made this puzzle even more fun. I enjoyed it very much, and would love to do the others in the series if we’re able to find them. Thumbs up for the Mythic Mazes! 👍

Barnyard Dreams

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment
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Barnyard Dreams by Dan Hatala – MasterPieces (Childhood Dreams Collection) – 1000 pieces

Another in the Childhood Dreams Collection, and I absolutely love them! The images are nostalgic and sweet, and they make for excellent puzzling.

This one really reminds me of my youth. We lived out in “the boonies” and my dad had a John Deere tractor that he absolutely loved. He would use it to split wood, mow the lawn, drive the kids around the property teaching us how to drive it, and pull city people out of the ditch. (They had no idea how to drive on the back roads in winter!) This puzzle brings back fond memories for me. *sigh*

Mom and I worked on this puzzle together, although I think she did much more of the work than I did. We started it together, but it wasn’t complete when I left so she finished it by herself. Great job mom!

Besides the finish being a little too shiny, the quality of these puzzles has been very good. They fit together very well and are a good thickness, and you can see that the image reproduction is beautiful – very crisp and detailed. We have several of these Childhood Dreams puzzles yet to do, and I’m looking forward to every single one of them.

If these are your kind of puzzle images, I highly recommend them. They’re wonderful to work on, and they make me smile. 🙂 🙂