Interconnection

On July 25, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

This puzzle is the last in a series of 3 by Richard Welker, all the images were so much fun to assemble! I love the look of all of them, and all three made for excellent puzzling. (Sorry about the glare, I usually do a better job with the pictures)

The quality was fair, but how I wish it were better! The board is made of many layers of board, and right out of the box some pieces were split and peeling. Why can’t Ceaco up the quality even just a little bit? They have some fantastic images, but the quality is great on one puzzle and terrible on another. The image reproduction was very good, as was the fit; but the quality of the chipboard used is a major component with puzzles, and it’s hard to ignore when it’s bad. 😦

These images by Richard Welker are eye-catching and interesting, and I bought them knowing the quality might be less than optimal. I’m not sorry I did, the image made up for a lot. There’s one more image by this artist that I’ve found, it’s not in the same series, but it’s been produced by Ceaco/Brainwright….

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I think it looks like fun! Hopefully I’ll run across it one of these days, it’s interesting and calming and full of bright, beautiful colors. 🙂

Review: Well Head

On June 6, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviewsLeave a comment

Well Head by Richard Welker – Ceaco – 550 pieces

This puzzle is the second in a series of three that I’ve assembled. The artwork by Richard Welker makes for a fun and challenging assembly, and surprisingly the Ceaco quality with this series is very good. I enjoyed this puzzle very much!

As with the first puzzle in this series, the quality was very good. The pieces were thick enough with a good variety of shapes and the fit was excellent. You can barely see the piece shapes in the finished image, and you could pick up the entire completed puzzle and nothing came apart! The image reproduction is excellent, with beautiful colors and sharp lines; overall I was impressed with the good quality of this puzzle.

I almost never buy Ceaco puzzles new, but I saw Humility when I was shopping for some smaller piece count puzzles to keep me entertained while I was in bed. Even though it’s not a brand that makes my “awesome” list, I couldn’t resist the image. Mom and I enjoyed it so much that I went back looking for the others in the series and found this one. There’s one more left to find called Interconnection, and I’m on the lookout for it locally – it’s gorgeous!

If you like the look of this puzzle, I definitely recommend it. The colors and patterns are interesting and entertaining to assemble; I had a great time putting it together!

Details:

Title: Well Head
Artist: Richard Welker
Brand: Ceaco
Piece count: 550 pieces
Size: Approx. 20 x 20 in. (51 x 51 cm)
Purchased: New

Quality:

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

Overall Rating: Very good, recommended

Puzzles in Progress

On May 22, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling17 Comments

First Trip to the Beauty Shop by Norman Rockwell

I’ve got two puzzles in progress at the moment, I can’t seem to get my brain to settle on just one. This first one mom found unopened at the thrift store for 39 cents. The box is extremely small for a 500 piece puzzle which means the pieces are quite small as well. Once we opened the box, we saw that the quality was less than optimal – very thin pieces with an unbelievably loose fit. Ugh. I started assembling it at least 2 times before and put it away because I wasn’t in the right mood to deal with the poor quality.

I’m not sure why I’m in the mood for it now, but at the moment I really want to see this puzzle assembled; partly because nowhere on the box is a picture of the entire puzzle image – frustrating! And if I’ve got 2 puzzles going I can take a break from the horrible quality of this one and work on one that isn’t as annoying

The image on this puzzle is much brighter and easier to work with, and even though it’s a Ceaco puzzle the quality is many times better than the Norman Rockwell puzzle (which is made by Kappa Books Publisher). The fit is much nicer and the pieces aren’t nearly as thin.

So I’ve got 2 puzzles going, but for some reason neither of them is my newest wooden puzzle that was my anniversary present. I’m not sure when my weird old lady brain will be in the right mood for that one. I think it’s partly because I’m missing working on puzzles with mom; I haven’t been able to have any puzzle/visit days with her for the last 3 weeks. Every puzzle is much more fun when mom and I work together, and a new wooden puzzle is something we both love to assemble.

We won’t be able to have our visit day this week either, so perhaps I’m just too bummed about that to start on the new Liberty puzzle. We’ll have to wait and see I suppose.

Humility

On May 6, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles12 Comments

IMG_E4514 — Humility by Richard Welker – Ceaco – 550 pieces

So I have to eat my words, this puzzle is from Ceaco and not only was it really good quality, the image is amazing and was fantastic to assemble.

Ceaco isn’t a favorite brand, but they do have an interesting and varied catalog and very reasonable prices. We usually only buy them from the thrift stores and only when it’s an image that really strikes us. I actually bought this one new! Can you believe it? I loved the image so much and was on the hunt for puzzles with smaller piece counts so I decided to give it a try. The quality was quite good and we loved putting it together. So here I am, chomping on my puzzle snobby words. 🍴

The pieces were thicker than many other Ceaco puzzles I’ve assembled, and the fit was excellent. You can barely see the piece shapes in the image above, and that’s only because of the light color in the bottom corner. When it was photographed and ready to be disassembled we were able to lift the entire puzzle and nothing came apart!

The image is amazing and I’ve already found and purchased another one by the same artist; I’m ready to assemble it with mom when she gets home. Get your little old lady butt home soon momma, we’ve got puzzles to do!