Tag: Wooden Jigsaw Puzzles

Flower Bee

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Flower Bee – Crafthub – 146 pieces

If you’re a long-time reader you would probably think that this image is absolutely my pile of pieces – and it is. The problem here lies in the puzzle that it was attached to – the worst quality wooden puzzle I have ever come across.

There was/is a “going out of business sale” on Crafthub’s website, and I wanted to try them out so I bought 3 small puzzles (to make shipping worthwhile). Suffice it to say I was not looking forward to the other two after completing this one.

So let me tell you about the quality of this puzzle…

  • The pieces are way too small – they are hard to pick up, hold, and fit into the puzzle. With a detailed image like this one the small pieces make it extremely difficult to see if the patterns or colors match properly when trying to find the right piece.
  • The fit is too loose, and some pieces don’t even attach at all. Most wooden puzzles have a loose fit, but this was unbelievably, over the top loose; the slightest touch would move every piece already “attached”.
  • The wood has no heft to it, the pieces are light as a feather; when I was blowing on the sheet of paper on my tray to get rid of some dust all the pieces went flying because they were so light. I’ve never worked with a wooden puzzle that was so “delicate”.
  • Because the pieces are so small, the whimsy pieces are as well, and there are several shapes with the thinnest cuts I’ve ever seen. Some of those pieces had to be bent back into shape to fit into the puzzle correctly, and if it were assembled more than once they will most likely break off.
  • There were several pieces that weren’t cut all the way through, to separate them would have meant damaging them. If there was adequate quality control this should have been caught.
  • There was no name on the plastic box it came in and no piece count either, I had to count all the pieces myself to give you an accurate number. In addition, the size I chose said that there would be 70-80 pieces in the puzzle – there were 146 – either I got the wrong size or the website was just wrong.

The whimsies and the pieces that fit around them; uh…not great. Just because you can cut interesting shapes with a laser it doesn’t mean you should, especially when the pieces are so small. Several of the pieces that fit around these whimsies (mostly the ones that go underneath the animals) were bent almost to the point of breaking because they are so thin. These aren’t all the whimsy pieces, but once the puzzle was assembled I was so over working with it that I didn’t bother to find the others and take better pictures.

On the right is a piece from one of my MicroPuzzles and on the left is a piece of this puzzle; as you can see the pieces of this puzzle are smaller – too small for a wooden puzzle if you ask me. They’re hard to pick up, hard to place correctly, and in general just annoying to work with.

It also came with a poster bigger than the actual puzzle, and with colors much brighter than the puzzle itself. Because the colors were so different I found it easier to put the poster away and just work with the puzzle; when I was using the poster I ended up looking for brighter colors that weren’t anywhere on the puzzle I had. Frustrating and annoying.

I’ve done wooden puzzles whose pieces didn’t excite my imagination, puzzles that have had a bit of image break off at the edges, and puzzles with image alignment problems. I’ve worked with many brands from Artifact to Zen; but until now I’ve NEVER come across a wooden puzzle of poor all around quality – this was my first. I honestly have nothing good to say about this brand, this puzzle; and if you know me or have been a long-time reader you know that is something I rarely say. Even when there are problems with quality I normally find something positive; but that is not going to happen here. Crafthub has great images to choose from, but if they are attached to puzzles of such poor quality it is most definitely not worth the low, low prices on their website.

Please spend your puzzle budget elsewhere, Crafthub puzzles aren’t worth it – and we all deserve so much better.

1960s Flower Power

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

1960s Flower Power by Andrew Farley – Wentworth – 250 pieces

This beauty was a fantastic puzzle that I enjoyed from the first piece to the last – even with all the chaos on my board! There was something very soothing about the way I assembled this one, thank goodness I listened to myself and did things so contrary to the way I normally puzzle.

When I started puzzling again after my extended break I went a LITTLE crazy and ordered many, many wooden puzzles, including quite a few 250 piece puzzles from Wentworth. For me it’s the perfect size for one of their wooden puzzles – not too overwhelming, not so small that it’s over too soon – it’s Goldilocks baby….just right! 👱‍♀️ The quality is excellent, and even with a “normal” cut rather than a Victorian one the assembly is challenging and satisfying.

I absolutely love these whimsies! They even got that funky 60s font for the letters just right and made sure that Ms. Thing on the right had on some big ‘ol bellbottoms. Yikes. It really was one of the worst decades for fashion if you ask me. 🤮

I mean, look at the fabric of this tote bag – hideous! So many fabrics, patterns, and clothes were unflattering or just plain ugly. I still remember taking my mother to task when we would look at old family photos; I would say “Mom, how could you have dressed me like that? That is so ugly!” Her response was always the same, “It was the style, that’s what was in fashion.” Thank goodness the fashion of the 60s has passed us by – and here’s hoping it’s NOT one of those trends that comes back around again.

It’s been almost six years since I’ve assembled a puzzle with artwork by Andrew Farley, and this image is very different than that previous one – African Splendor. The colors in this image, and the way it’s put together reminds me of Aimee Stewart’s art; perhaps that’s why I love it so much. 💗

Great quality puzzle, beautiful artwork, and a chaotic assembly that I adored. There’s not much more to for a puzzle geek to ask for.

Space Flare

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Space Flare – Wentworth – 80 pieces

This Mini Mindful puzzle from Wentworth sure does make a person slow down and focus completely on the puzzling – of course I loved it!

The repetitive tessellating pieces made for a challenging but fantastic assembly; the geometric shapes were so fun to work with. The “extra difficult” puzzles from Wentworth are very entertaining, and even in such small sizes give your gray matter a little bit of a workout!

As usual the puzzle itself is beautifully made, an excellent quality puzzle all around. You can see from the picture above the stunning image reproduction. Gorgeous 😍

Once I put together the obviously easier sections (shown above), the difficulty level ramped up significantly. We worked on it in the bathroom for a while, you can also see in the picture above how the light is much poorer than it is in the puzzle room.

My daughter came over to visit and while sitting in the puzzle room with me she asked my son to bring out whatever puzzle was in the bathroom so she and I could work on it together. At first she was NOT happy about which puzzle was there, she was hoping to work on Casual Friday but hubby and I had already finished that one. She was a trooper though and got into it after a few minutes, eventually we had a great time working on it together. I love that she wants to work on puzzles with me when she’s here. 💕

There are quite a few more Mini Mindful puzzles here to be done, and after seeing how entertaining this puzzle was I am very much looking forward to the next ones!

Cape Cod Pier

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Cape Cod Pier by William Glackens – Artifact – 139 pieces

What a fantastic puzzle! I can’t say enough good things about it, the unique cut of the pieces, the beautiful artwork, the quality of the puzzle itself – it all went together to make for a wonderfully challenging assembly, even at only 139 pieces. I adored it! 💜

Love the whimsies in this puzzle, and the image was difficult enough that I “cheated” and used the unique shapes of the pieces around the whimsies themselves to get started. That isn’t something I normally do, as I like to make my wooden puzzle experience last as long as possible. But the painterly style of the image and the split tendril cut of the pieces made for a most challenging assembly – and I am on a LOT of pain meds these days.

*If you use the shapes of the pieces around the whimsies to get started on a wooden puzzle, of course it isn’t really cheating. However you choose to puzzle is exactly the right way, and there’s really no such thing as cheating (unless you have someone else assemble it and claim the work as your own). What I meant was that I considered it slightly “cheating” for me because that’s not where I usually begin, and it seemed to lessen the difficulty level somewhat once I had several small sections complete.

There’s something so satisfying for me in seeing the back of an interestingly and well cut wooden puzzle. I hope you guys like the picture too!

Fabric Owls

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Fabric Owls by Annya Kai – Artifact – 156 pieces

I cannot stress enough how adorable and entertaining this puzzle was to assemble. Such a great little puzzle from Artifact, and if you’re so inclined it is highly recommended – it gets two very enthusiastic hoots! 🦉🦉

The decorative border was quite interesting, it was my first time was a border like this and I found I liked it very much. There were no whimsy pieces, but honestly it didn’t need any. And the artwork by Annya Kai makes for a great assembly – the colors and patterns were lovely to work with.

My youngest son picked this out for me to assemble, and even came in and helped me near the end – a minor miracle! Although these days he seems more interested in what puzzles I do and has been helping more often when the image is to his liking. This makes his old momma very happy.

This was one of those puzzles that I wanted to take apart and immediately start working on again. Love, love, loved it! ❤💕❤