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.

Joyful Blooms

On April 3, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

This was much more difficult than I thought it would be, but it was only 300 pieces so it didn’t seem like too much of a commitment to keep going. I really need a break from flower puzzles, they keep faking me out!

The chipboard used for this puzzle is different than the other MasterPieces puzzles I’ve done, the backing is white and is thinner than usual but quite sturdy. They fit together very well and being random cut there were a very good variety of shapes. The image is fuzzy in some areas, but I believe that is the artwork itself and not the reproduction. Overall it’s a good quality puzzle that comes in a metal tin. It’s great for collecting, but not so great if you need the image to help with assembly, the picture on the lid is quite small and makes it difficult to see the detail.

It’s a pretty image, but it’s quite dark near the bottom and took a bit of concentration to get it done. Still, it’s nice to be in the moment and focusing only on the pieces and colors and how they fit together; that’s the stress relieving part of puzzling for me. I end up hyper-focused on the puzzle and turn off the part of my brain that’s thinking, planning, worrying, anxious, or stressing. It’s the closest I come to actually meditating, and it’s necessary to help keep me sane in this crazy world we’re living in. 🙂

Green Acres

On March 1, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

I think my age is showing, when I see the title of this puzzle my brain immediately starts singing the theme song to the old tv show. Green Acres is the place to be, FARM living is the life for me! 🎵

This puzzle is absolutely beautiful, and at only 300 pieces was a quick, fun assembly. The cut is random and interesting and the fit was wonderful! There was never any guessing whether or not a piece fit in a certain spot. MasterPieces large piece puzzles have excellent quality, I have never had an issue with any of them. The pieces are thick and fit together well, and the images are crisp and clear and always beautiful.

Many people only do 1000 piece puzzles, and I think they’re missing out; there are wonderful puzzles to be assembled in every shape and size. But I would never tell someone what they should or shouldn’t do, so if they’re working only the larger puzzles that leaves plenty other sizes for me, right? 😎

White Duck Inn

On February 1, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Another small piece count puzzle to get me back into the groove after being stuck at the hospital doing small puzzles to fit on my bedside table. This one was fun and fast and the image makes me smile, doesn’t that look like a lovely place to spend the weekend?

I love the extremely random cut of MasterPieces puzzles, it makes for a fun and interesting assembly. Their EZ Grip 300 piece puzzles have large, easy to handle pieces that are great for hands with dexterity problems, or just someone who enjoys large pieces from time to time. Like me!

The finish was a little bit shiny, but not too terrible to work with under artificial lights. I was able to assemble it resting in bed on my white board without too much difficulty from the overhead lights; and it was easy, which was what I was looking for. I’d love to able to get back to 500 and 1000 piece puzzles soon. Hopefully by the time I get this posted I’ll have a larger piece count on my board and be back to puzzling sitting up. Fingers crossed! 🤞