Tag: Mini Puzzles

Zojoji Temple in Shiba, 1925

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Zojoji Temple in Shiba, 1925 by Hasui Kawase – Wentworth – 40 pieces

I enjoyed this puzzle very much, even though it went together quite quickly. My lack of puzzling in December and January mean that I don’t have any puzzles left in the queue and I was looking for some small, wintery-looking puzzles to get my completed puzzle count back up to where it should be.

As usual, it was great Wentworth quality. And for me there’s something so intriguing and lovely about Asian artwork, it’s just beautiful to look at as well as to assemble.

Aren’t these fantastic whimsies? I love the Geisha!

Clown Fish

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

Clown Fish – Wentworth (Mini Mindful) – 40 pieces

This Mini Mindful puzzle from Wentworth certainly lived up to it’s name! The collection is designed to “calm your mind, piece by piece” with mostly difficult shapes and images that require concentration. You had to pay extremely close attention and I ended up finding that the rest of the world almost fades away as you’re looking for the next piece or color to fit into the picture.

Wentworth’s mini puzzles were already favorites of mine, but the Mini Mindful collection is even better in my opinion. Sometimes with the regular 40 piece minis it goes together a little too quickly, but the Mini Mindful puzzles take more brain power and it normally isn’t a quick assembly – love that!

The triangular pieces made this already challenging image even more so – it probably took me around 25-30 minutes to put this one together. Exactly what I needed that day. 🔺💖

Ripples at Sunset

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles6 Comments

Ripples at Sunset – Dreamtivity – 101 pieces

Quick assembly that was my first completed puzzle of 2024. My youngest son got it for me for Christmas, and bought it at our local library during their book sale. I love that he wanted to get me something he knew I would like and did so by recycling a puzzle. What someone spends on me doesn’t make the gift good or bad, it’s the intention behind the gift that matters – and his mom thinks he did a great job.💖

This is a new to me company that I hadn’t previously heard of. Dreamtivity. To be honest the quality really wasn’t that great. The fit was loose and a bit wonky, and although the variety of shapes was good the actual cut of the pieces wasn’t great. The chipboard itself was a bit on the thin side, but not too much so. The image reproduction was the best part of the puzzle, it’s a beautiful image and it was reproduced very nicely with sharp, bright colors.

This was my first mini panoramic puzzle (I think) at only 101 pieces, and it was pretty enjoyable to assemble even with the less than optimal quality.

Puzzle Pride

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles3 Comments

Puzzle Pride – MicroPuzzles – 150 pieces

Even though this image was quite difficult I loved this one. As an added bonus part of the proceeds from the sale of this puzzle go to The Trevor Project, which makes me extremely happy; love it when I can buy a puzzle and help people at the same time!

The quality is typical for a MicroPuzzles puzzle, and I love being able to subscribe and get new fun images each month. This is one that I bought from their website (puzzle shopping addict? anyone?) and I’m constantly looking for new and interesting images to put together whether the puzzles be large or small.

This image, luckily, was double sided. When I wasn’t sure about whether or not a piece was placed correctly I could just turn it over to verify. Several times I was wrong, because although you might think a rainbow colored puzzle would be simple to assemble – it wasn’t. But therein lies the fun!

I always appreciate a double sided puzzle, especially when the image on the front is a bit challenging, like this one was. Can’t say enough good things about this puzzle.

Love is loved it! ❤🧡💛💚💙💜

Woman with a Parasol, Facing Right

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles5 Comments

Woman with a Parasol, Facing Right by Claude Monet – Robert Frederick – 100 pieces

I really wanted to enjoy this puzzle, sadly I was quite disappointed in it’s quality. Fine Art puzzles can be quite difficult with the painterly style and brush strokes, but the bent pieces and overly shiny finish made it even more troublesome than usual.

This was my first time with a Robert Frederick puzzle, and while I don’t like to make snap judgements I was pretty let down by this brand. I’ll hold off making a decision about the brand in general until there have been one or two more puzzles assembled, but so far it ain’t looking good.

Although the pieces were quite thick and sturdy, that in itself made the first problem I’m going to tell you about even worse. There were SO MANY bent pieces! And with a thick and sturdy chipboard, once it’s bent trying to get it back into shape is a losing battle. The finished puzzle didn’t lie flat because of all the bent pieces that I couldn’t get back to their original configuration.

My second issue with this puzzle was the EXTREMELY shiny finish. It was so shiny that even with the lightest areas of the puzzle I was constantly having to tilt my head to be sure what the piece actually looked like. I’m not a fan of the extra shiny coating on a puzzle. Not everyone can work with natural lighting (my puzzle board is in a room with only artificial lighting) and the shine makes it very difficult to see what you’re doing.

On the positive side…there were a good variety of piece shapes, the chipboard was thick and sturdy, and the fit was very nice. But to me those things don’t mean much with bent pieces that prevent the puzzle from lying flat and a shiny finish that makes it difficult to see what you’re doing under any artificial lighting.

While I love the actual artwork by Monet, this isn’t an image that I would dare to try in a larger piece count. Finding it in only 100 pieces made me quite happy, but unfortunately the quality left a lot to be desired.