Tag: Wooden Jigsaw Puzzles

Tea Bath

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles13 Comments

Tea Bath by Stasia Burrington – Artifact – 210 pieces

This is another of the very cute puzzles brought to my attention by my Deputy Chief Puzzle Enabler – Penny (aka Puzzle Momma). I mean, look how adorable this image is, how in the world I am supposed to be able to resist that?

The answer is that I cannot. I am weak, and easily swayed by a pretty “face” on the top of a puzzle box. 😍

We weren’t sure what some of the whimsy pieces (mostly the people working out) had to do with the image, but Artifact’s website says that the puzzle is full of “me-time” and grooming themed whimsies. I’m sure for many people exercising is a way to make time for yourself, I just didn’t think of that because my only exercise is half a sit-up in the morning when I wake up. 😁

We did notice in the completed puzzle some of the grooming going on though…

You can see in the lower left corner that there are two monkeys in the process of grooming each other, and two cats to their right maybe just having some meow time. 🐒🐈

We’re not sure why, but my brother-in-law puzzled with us on this one; he hadn’t seemed very interested in helping with any of the previous puzzles so we were pleasantly surprised that he wanted to join in. At the beginning all four of us were working together, until my husband got tired and decided he needed some me time with his pillow.

My poor brother-in-law was bamboozled by the border though; he decided early on that the border was his responsibility. The image on the box made it look as though the border was a “normal” one, but it was a little tricky at the top. Let’s just say he was not amused. (My sis and I thought it was hilarious 🤣) He kept saying that there had to be pieces missing, and there weren’t enough edges! I told him sometimes they trick you and it may not be straight all the way around, but he just kept repeating that there weren’t enough pieces. There was a lot of giggling going on, quietly, so we didn’t upset him. It still makes me smile just thinking about it. Poor guy. 😁

Another beautifully made Artifact puzzle, and one that sis fell in love with while we were assembling it. I wasn’t planning on leaving it with her, but she must have said “This puzzle is so much fun!” at least 20 times while we were working on it. She loved the image and the unique pieces, and had such a good time putting it together that I decided pretty quickly it would be in a very loving home and well cared for if it were in her hands.

Hubby took this picture as he was on his way to bed. I’m on the right, and my SIL is in the middle with her hubs on the left. Ain’t we an adorable group of “seniors” working on our jigsaw puzzle?

Bluebells In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling2 Comments

Bluebells – Wentworth (Mini Mindful) – 40 pieces

My son has picked out the next puzzle for me to assemble (a 300 piece called Magical Journey), and I’m putting it off just a bit by having a nice, hot cup of coffee this morning and putting together this Mini Mindful puzzle first.

It shouldn’t take me too long, but it’s nice to work with a well made wooden puzzle, and the Mini Mindful puzzles require a bit of extra concentration so you can clear your mind of all the stresses of your day and just focus on the puzzle.

Discerning Dissectologists know that even a small puzzle can help you de-stress, calm your nerves, bring down your blood pressure, stave off memory loss, quiet anxiety, and even help put your brain into a meditative state similar to dreaming. Now why wouldn’t you want a bit of that every single day?

I know I do. 🧩💚

Buffalo

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

Buffalo by Phil Lewis – Liberty – 148 pieces

Is that not a beautiful and interesting image for a puzzle? My favorite sister-in-law and I put this one together in her cabin in Northern Michigan, and of course we had a marvelous time. A great puzzle – assembled with someone you love spending time with – I couldn’t ask for more! 💟

I bought this specifically for my brother and sister-in-law as a gift for having us up at the cabin and putting up with us for an entire weekend. Sis and I put it together just the two of us, but my hope is that their whole family will enjoy putting it together many, many times while they’re up there vacationing.

There were great outdoorsy whimsy pieces, but we especially loved the fox, the elk, and the moose. Perfect for putting together at the cabin; there aren’t any moose in the lower peninsula that I know of, but still it’s a great puzzle for assembling at a cabin in the woods. The whimsies were all so lovely and made for such great shapes on the pieces around them – absolutely fantastic!

We didn’t notice until the puzzle was finished and I turned it over that the swirly pieces were a snake! Such delightful whimsies in a beautifully made Victorian cut puzzle assembled with loved ones – we had a wonderful time with this puzzle and thoroughly enjoyed every single piece of it. 💖

This was the first time I’ve taken puzzles with me on vacation, and let me tell you it will DEFINITELY be happening again (this week, in fact). Spending time over a puzzle with loved ones; talking about everything, nothing, or just the puzzle itself made for beautiful memories that I will cherish for a very long time.

This was the first puzzle of a great vacation. 😊

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.