Tag: Steve Read

Secrets of the Deep

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles10 Comments

Secrets of the Deep by Steve Read – MasterPieces – 500 pieces

This puzzle was a joy – random shapes, beautiful colors, excellent fit – I absolutely adored it! Ocean images aren’t really my thing, but I wanted to clear out some of the older thrift store puzzles and this had the right piece count so I gave it a go. I’m so glad I did.

MasterPieces puzzles have always had good quality in my opinion, and this was one of the best quality puzzles of theirs that I can ever remember doing. The image reproduction is stunning, the fit was exceptional, the random shapes made the assembly wonderfully interesting, it was just an all around great puzzle. 💙

It can be interesting putting together a random cut like this where the “corners” of the pieces don’t meet – it can be all over the place. In my case it makes me slow down a bit and really pay attention to the connections and be sure to grab the right piece no matter if it’s tall or short or long or thin.

In addition to being an all around great puzzle this was also a glow in the dark puzzle with hidden images to find; Steve Read likes to hide things in his artwork. I found myself going back through the blog and looking at past puzzles with his artwork, and quite a few of them were ones with hidden images – there were hidden animals, hidden fairies, etc. Anyway, back to this puzzle, there are 16 hidden dolphins to find; can you see a pink dolphin in this coral (or whatever it is)?

The fit was very good, and I was able to get this stand up picture, but just barely. You can see the pieces are moving a bit, and immediately after I took this picture a piece fell out. I almost feel as though I shouldn’t be posting this picture because it wasn’t as good as previous puzzles that stood tall and proud with no pieces moving around. But I did capture the image, so why not?

As I mentioned before this was also a glow in the dark puzzle, and a thrift store purchase. Once it was finished and pictures were taken I took it outside to “charge” for 10 minutes or so in the sun. You can never tell with a thrift store puzzle if you’re gonna still be able to get a good glow out of it and I’ve found that putting it in direct sunlight for a few minutes helps.

Let me tell you, I got the best glow on a puzzle I have EVER seen, and the absolute best glow picture I have ever taken. Ready?….

It’s a little blurry on one side, I think I was so amazed by how well it was glowing that I moved a little when I was taking it. There was absolutely no manipulation of the image other than to crop it, this is actually what it looked like in the darkened room. Isn’t that a glorious GITD picture? I was so excited to capture such an excellent glow on this puzzle – I still am!

This was a fabulous puzzle with hidden images inside beautiful artwork on a puzzle with excellent quality. I absolutely recommend it; it made this little old puzzle lady very happy indeed. 👵

Puzzler’s Desk

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

Puzzler’s Desk by Steve Read – Hua Cao Shu Mu – 300 pieces

Ugh. This puzzle sucked. I would enjoy doing this image put onto a quality puzzle, but on this crap-tastic thing wasn’t any fun at all.

I have a bad attitude about it, admittedly. But it is what it is, this is my blog and I’m expressing my feelings. Here they are – if you see puzzles that are so friggin’ cheap that you can hardly believe it, there’s a reason and you should run away. I didn’t purchase this new, it was bought second-hand at a thrift store, so at least this company didn’t get any of my hard-earned money, but it still ticks me off.

Also, I know for a fact that these companies steal these images and the artists get no compensation at all, which makes me even more upset. It shouldn’t be easy to get away with theft like this, but unfortunately it is. It’s depressing.

This puzzle sucked. End of story.

Toadstool Brook

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles8 Comments

Toadstool Brook

This was such a fun puzzle, with absolutely beautiful artwork by Steve Read. It’s been on my shelf for quite a long time, I’m not even sure how long. While looking for a puzzle with less than 1000 pieces I spotted this one way in the back; thank goodness!

Quality-wise, this puzzle was only good/fair. The fit was pretty loose, which is always a bit disappointing. But, as a whole it was still entertaining to put together, that is more than half the battle! The artwork by Steve Read is stunning, and I’m kicking myself for not getting a good closeup picture of the fairies’ faces – they are absolutely gorgeous!

Toadstool Brook 1

There are 22 fairies in total for you to find, some of them took me quite a while to locate. If you’re not paying attention this fairy hidden in the toadstool is easy to pass over. Of course you’re seeing it right away – I’m showing you right where it is! 😉

Toadstool Brook 2

This fairy wasn’t too difficult to find, but it did take me a little longer than I’d like to admit. My glasses needed to be cleaned. I’m not old. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

I got a really great glow in the dark picture with this one, which surprised me. This puzzle has been on the shelf for at least 2 years, possibly more. I was pretty sure that the chemical that makes it glow would have petered out, but this puzzle produced an awesome picture.

Toadstool Brook 3

I don’t usually get such good glow images, so this one really pleased me. I love a good glow in the dark picture!

Cake Shed

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles9 Comments

Cake Shed
Cake Shed by Steve Read – Buffalo – 2000 pieces

Cake Shed was quite a challenge, but I got it done! It’s a beautiful, bright image and I truly enjoyed every part of the assembly. 2000 piece puzzles always seem a bit daunting when I’m sorting them; but once the assembling starts I wind up having a really good time. And when it’s finished I always end up quite proud of my accomplishment.

This was a great quality thrift store puzzle; although it does show the chances one takes when purchasing puzzles secondhand. It was missing one piece and had an extra piece from a completely different puzzle in the box. Even so, it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the assembly and I still consider it money well spent. $1.99 for a 2000 piece puzzle that gave me hours and hours of quiet, meditative, and entertaining fun. Where else can you get that much bang for your buck?

Buffalo puzzles have excellent quality, and I’ve been doing more of them lately. Mom bought quite a few of their puzzles at the thrift stores, and I’m working through them as quickly as I can. The pieces are a good thickness with a nice variety of shapes, they fit together well and have beautiful image reproduction. I’ve assembled their puzzles in sizes from 300 to 2000 pieces, and in my opinion they have excellent quality throughout every size.

Cake Shed 1
This cake looks delicious!

This was the first thing I assembled, a delicious looking fruit-covered cake. Yum! The bright red ribbon and the fruit were easy to find, and I almost collected every piece for this small section on the first try. That in itself is amazing!

Cake Shed 2

A birthday cake for a cat? We love our Buddy, and even though we give up room on our bed and lots of belly rubs and back scratches, we wouldn’t pay someone to make him a cake for his birthday. We just wouldn’t – although if you do something like that for your pets I am not denigrating that in any way.  Buddy may get an extra treat on his special day (if I can remember what day that is), but that’s about it.

Cake Shed 3

I love this little big guy, he looks like he makes a mean cake! The artwork by Steve Read was both adorable and beautiful, and it makes me want to find more puzzles with his images. The colors were lovely, and the image as a whole made for a great puzzle.

If you can find this one out there, it is definitely recommended. I loved every moment of it – even assembling the floor and walls. It’s a great image for puzzling, and is excellent quality.  I give it two servings way up! 🍴🍰🍴🍰

Cake Shed In Progress

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlingLeave a comment

Cake Shed IP
Cake Shed by Steve Read – Buffalo – 2000 pieces

There hasn’t been as much progress on the Cake Shed as I’d have liked, but a family member was visiting this week and I didn’t spend as much time at home as I normally do. I’m back at home now; a bit worn out, but ready to get back to my big puzzle. 🧩

My apologies for the wonky picture, it looks to me as though it’s leaning at the top – it makes me tilt my head to the left every time I look at it!

The green dresser and shelf are next up, and hopefully that will fill things out a bit – but there are many, many green pieces so it may also take a bit of time. It’s been a pretty entertaining puzzle so far, and I’m enjoying it very much.

*I do admit to wishing it were only 1000 pieces at times; it’s taking up most of my puzzle board, and it’s sometimes anxiety-inducing when I walk into the puzzle room. #anxietysucks 😐

I hope you’re working on a fun puzzle today. Happy puzzling!