 Ah, well this sheet didn't go on very well. Hey guys, so we're gonna be going over a few items that I tried for the first time recently. So we're gonna go over three things. One of them being a puzzle mat that was sent to me. The next thing will be a puzzle glue and then the third is the puzzle glue sheets. Now of the three things here the only thing that I haven't tried as of this very second of me filming this is the puzzle glue sheet. So we're gonna do that towards the end of the video together. But I did previously film me using puzzle glue for the first time and also me using the puzzle mat. So we have a bit to go through. So you know what, let's just get right to it. So for the first one we are going to be checking out a new puzzle mat. So a company called Sonics contacted me asking if I'd be interested in reviewing one of their foldable puzzle mats and I was like, you know, of course. So they shipped one out to me fairly quickly and from what I know so far it's actually quite different than the last puzzle mat that I reviewed. Which if you haven't seen that video I'm gonna leave a link for it down in the description box below but that one was more of a kind of just a big piece of fabric that just laid across and then you have the inflatable tube with it. Well actually I have it right here. It kind of turns your puzzle into like a sausage. So this set not only comes with the foldable puzzle mat but it also comes with some sorting trends. Now one of the main differences with this puzzle mat compared to the last one that we reviewed you have an actual work surface here. This puzzle mat is made out of thick layers of felt. And it holds up to 1500 count sets and with that being felt it's meant to be non-slip which is also really great. It's lightweight. It's portable and when it's folded up it measures at 13 by 9.8 inches by 3 inches. When it's opened up it measures at 39 inches by 26 inches. So I'm really hoping that when it comes to the time when I want to work on a much larger puzzle you know one that's larger than my actual puzzle table I'm hoping this will serve that purpose. Now I wasn't planning on currently working on a very big puzzle set right now but I still want to check this out with a different set and kind of see how it's going to sit on my existing puzzle table. But anyways enough of that let's move to the table and let's open this up. Let's see what this contains, how you put it together and go from there. Alright so as I said before this does come with four sorting trays. They're made out of felt and they have little button snaps on each corner so once you snap all those up they're ready to go. I found them to be kind of on the small size but hey it's better than nothing right? Any kind of sorting tray is handy. But anyways this also comes with a strap that you'll need to store the mat when it's folded up so it doesn't you know flap all over the place. Then it has the four plastic U brackets that you have to use on the sides or bends that you don't want folding over. In this case I just placed them in the middle of each side but again this only comes with four of them. There's more bends than that on the mat so you have to kind of choose your configuration wisely depending on the puzzle size you're working on. In the beginning these were a little tough to get in place at first because it is quite a thick mat but once those were in place we were ready to go. So the first puzzle that I used for this was the Masterpieces Contour Set which was one of the ones you last saw me do and I only used it for the very beginning of this puzzle. There was a point where I had to kind of transfer it back to my table but I was able to quickly get an idea on what this mat was all about. Now again this puzzle mat is made out of some real nice thick felt. So the panels are pretty solid honestly you got a pretty big work surface and depending on where you put the U brackets you can configure the shape and the fold to whatever puzzle you're working on. And when I say fold over your puzzle you're not gonna get like the top of it to lie flat on the puzzle completely to keep it from falling off. Because of the bends it doesn't exactly fold completely flat on top of the puzzle if you're using it in that sense. Now in regards to the surface of this mat it's interesting because when you're putting your hand across it it feels very smooth. But when you have your puzzle pieces on it and you try to move the puzzle pieces it seems like it's fibrous like there's strands sticking out of it and that's pretty much what keeps your puzzle from sliding off. I mean the non-slit surface on this is pretty darn fantastic it really kept the puzzles from sliding off it at some extreme angles. The only thing that would slide off the mat would be my puzzle trays but that's because you know I put the trays on the mat which is probably something you wouldn't typically do anyways. The puzzle trays that it came with did not slide off it because it was basically the same material but in terms of the non-slip surface it's a huge plus on that. But I do have to say though it kind of got on my nerves a little bit when I would try to move completed sections from one side of the puzzle to the other. And this was one of the reasons why I had to move my USA puzzle back to my normal table surface because every time I would try to slide these little sections from one side to the other it would snag on these little fibers and kind of just crumble on me. And that was the reason why I had to move that particular puzzle back to my normal surface because there was no way that I could you know continue letting this happen while I was trying to piece it together. So if the puzzle that you're working on tends to be one of those that crumble a lot this might pose an issue. But you know then again when you think about it at the same time the mat is doing its job it's not letting the puzzle slide across it so you know there's that. I absolutely love the size of this mat. It is fantastic. This is definitely something that I will be using for my bigger puzzle sets. I do have a few sets that are a few inches bigger than my actual puzzle table that I always use. So you this is going to be fantastic. This is going to be perfect to use instead of buying you know the one dollar phone boards that you know I thought would probably work out but you know now that I think about it they're not going to serve any purpose whatsoever. My only thing is I do wish that it came with more of these plastic U brackets so that you know you can kind of have it set in a way where all the bends are kind of supported so that it doesn't fold over at all and you just have like a completely flat surface but I mean you know I'll figure it out when the time comes. Now the price of this mat you know for me is a little up there but then again you know me I'm always trying to stay on budget or maybe I am just cheap I don't know but anyways considering the price that it runs for I kind of feel like they should have included two more of those U plastic brackets so that you can kind of have or create a more solid puzzle mat. I also do kind of wish that it came with the bracket that is pictured on the website that helps to angle it up because without it it would just be a flat mat on a flat surface you would have to put something behind it to kind of angle it up so that you have a better view but aside from that I'm very happy to have this mat because now I have something that I can use to work on my bigger puzzle sets. Will I use it as a puzzle surface for like any other puzzle? I don't know probably not and one of the reasons why I say that is because my puzzle table does angle up and if I'm going to work on a puzzle that fits on my puzzle table well then I'm just gonna use my puzzle table there's no sense in me putting my mat on top of it because they'll probably just slide off if I don't bracket or secure it in some way to the table itself but as I said before it's gonna be great use when I work on my larger puzzles. Now if this is something you want to look more into to see if it's something that'll work for you I'm gonna leave their link down below and there's also gonna be a promo code there that you can use to get a discount but I'm curious do any of you have this particular puzzle mat or is there a different type of mat or a puzzle surface that you use because I'm curious to know what else is out there. Alright so let's move on to when I used my puzzle glue for the first time. So I really need to get this puzzle off of my board and I was looking online for some frames that I could possibly put it in but there's no way in the you-know-what that I am spending more than 30 or 50 dollars on a frame so that I could display a puzzle that cost me $1.25. So I figured the only other thing that I can do to get this off my table in one piece was to finally do something I have not done before and that is to finally use my puzzle glue. Now as I just said I've never glued a puzzle before I'm pretty sure it's not rocket science or anything but I mean you know I wasn't quite mentally prepared to do this right now but you know it's either that or spend 50 bucks on a frame so I'm gonna keep my 50 bucks that I don't have and I am gonna start gluing this puzzle together. Now I got this particular pot of glue last Christmas and it's been sat on my shelf ever since because quite honestly I've always been too afraid to even attempt anything like this. So let's see what I have to do here real quick I have to place puzzle on a board or paper to keep my surface free of glue. Now do I have anything to use underneath it? I don't think I do probably what I'm gonna do is I'm just gonna find some random sheets of paper and then you know kind of slide it underneath the puzzle and you know just go from there. Then we have to pour some glue onto the puzzle front. I will have to use the included scraper to form an even thin layer over the entire puzzle then scrape off any excess. Let it dry overnight and then if I want to make it super strong repeat on the reverse side of the puzzle and let dry again overnight. I do have another puzzle that I actually want to attempt this with but I don't quite think I'm ready to do that yet until I feel like I've mastered the process. So you know what let me shut up and you know let's just get on with this process. I'm gonna try to slide this underneath the puzzle as carefully as possible. This is I know this looks very very bootleg but you know I'm trying. I must say as nervous as I am about this I'm actually quite excited to be trying this out for the first time. Alright so let's pour some on the surface here. I'm not really sure how much to do. Let's start with that and let's start using our scraper to get this out as evenly as we can. I feel like I'm gonna be here forever doing this. I'm not really sure if there's an easier way to go about doing this but I'm really hoping that I'm getting even layers here. Probably I'm not. Alright honestly I'm not really sure if I'm doing this scraping correctly but let me know down below if you have any good tips when you glue your puzzles. Oh no I got a little bit on the table there. I'm really hoping that this settles a bit because I got a lot of like streaky lines here. You can kind of see where I'm scraping and I'm hoping that I'm doing this correctly. Hoping this kind of settles down into more of a flat looking finish. I do appreciate that this glue is clear but it is giving me a hard time trying to see whether I am missing any spots here with glue. I must say this is quite satisfying. Alright I feel like I've been doing this for about a million years. We're gonna let it dry overnight and then I might flip it and do the backside as well tomorrow. Anyways guys I'll see you soon. So it was several days later when I finally got back to this project and I did end up flipping it around and gluing the backside of it in the end and after that side dried I was left with a pretty darn good finish and then after successfully gluing this puzzle I had the confidence to do it all over again when the time finally came to end my haunted mansion puzzle nightmare but I worked my strokes a little better this time and I also poured on a lot more glue on that one which left minimal streaks. I did notice a few little air bubbles once it dried but it was really nothing noticeable. Now the one thing that I noticed with both of these puzzles after they dried was that the corners kind of curled up a bit. It ended up looking a little bit warped and what I did to remedy this was kind of lie it on my table and stack some light items on top of it just to try to get it to flatten out of it. Now it worked really well with the coffee puzzle and it's actually been set on my desk for quite a while nice and flat. As for the haunted mansion puzzle I haven't had the time or the space really to flatten it out and kind of you know kind of get it a little bit in better shape but you know I'm pretty sure once I you know do the same thing again like I did with the coffee puzzle it's gonna look just fine. I still can't believe I completed this one again. It was a bit of a messy process which you know to be honest isn't surprising it's glue but overall I've been very happy with the way they both turned out. You just got to make sure you take your time and also make sure you're not working on a surface that you don't want to ruin. Other than that it's a pretty simple straightforward process and the pots of glue themselves aren't very expensive so you know it's a pretty cheap and easy way to save your puzzles. But anyways let me know what you guys think to puzzle glue and let me know down below if you have any tips on how to apply it easier or if there's any particular brands that you prefer. But anyways let's move on to the glue sheets. Now I'm sure some of you remember when I worked on the Disney classics puzzle and that was my first 1500 count set and I never took it apart. I did end up saving it in my first puzzle mat and I'm hoping that it's still in one piece because I want to try putting this together with the glue sheets. So you know what let's open this up let's cross our fingers that it's still in one piece put some glue sheets on it and hang it up because it's long overdue. Alright let's get this sausage opened up. Now it's been a really long time since I've checked on this so let's see what condition is this in. Oh boy. Alright look at that it's still in one piece. Alright now I thought I should quickly mention this because I know early on in the video I was flashing the glue sheets from Eurographics but after I flipped my puzzle over on the table and was reading through the instructions I realized that I was not gonna have enough glue sheets for this puzzle. So I quickly went on to Amazon and ordered a different pack of glue sheets and I think this one came with like 18 or 20 sheets or something like that so this is gonna be more than enough but it was cheaper than the Eurographics glue sheets. So in terms of overall quality with these I mean again I've never used glue sheets before so I don't know what I should be looking for in terms of quality but I'm hoping this works out pretty good and it even comes with a little scraper as well so that's nice. So we're gonna end up using these instead so you know what let's let's move on with this already. So this particular pack of glue sheets did not come with any instructions whatsoever but I'm gonna assume it's pretty much the same for all glue sheets so what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna follow the directions on the Eurographics and the first thing we have to do is we have to flip this puzzle over because these sheets actually go on the back of the puzzle so let's do that real quick. Alright I'm just gonna brush my hand across it just to make sure that all the pieces are in place. This cheaper pack comes with a scraper and I'm guessing you use that to kind of smooth the sheets down on the puzzle itself I don't know we'll figure it out but this pack does also include some hooks that you can put to hang your puzzle which is a fantastic. And the Eurographics pack does come with just two of these for one puzzle. Here's our scraper so let's just grab some of these and kind of lay them out so that we can completely cover the backside of this puzzle. Alright let's move on. So according to the Eurographics instructions we have to lay out as many adhesive sheets as we need to cover the puzzle then we peel off the adhesive liner. On each sheet firmly press the sheets onto the puzzle. Alright that was pretty straightforward that's one sheet down I didn't really put it down very even up top but that's okay we can fix that along with the the next sheet. Alright so that's two sheets down as you can see we're gonna have to cut one sheet to kind of fit this area here so that this doesn't fall apart but so far so good. What we're gonna do here is overlap it just a bit just to secure it a little bit more in this area and continue on from there. Alright let's move on. Well this sheet didn't go on very well but that was my fault. I could have gone a little bit closer to here but I kind of missed this whole area up here and I tried to pull it apart to kind of get it back in place but obviously it's it's like tape you can't really pull it out without pulling puzzle pieces along with it so we'll figure this out we might cut another piece from another sheet and kind of just fill this in to extra secure that one but let me try to continue to do this without screwing it up anymore. I'm really happy with how that turned out yes my cuts and my lining up wasn't very even which I wasn't surprised about because I'm not really good at that kind of stuff but in the end it's all glued together and it really was a lot quicker to do compared to the actual liquid glue obviously because you don't have to keep spreading the glue out trying to make it even and you know you don't have to wait for it to dry either. It wasn't a messy process I mean a little bit kind of messy depending how you go about doing things like this it's a very straightforward process. I think I much prefer it over the liquid glue and I'm really excited as well because I have so many sheets left that I can you know keep on going nuts if I want to and I love the fact that it has the hooks with it as well. Now I believe not all glue sheet packs come with the hooks so make sure when you are buying them that you look to see that it does if you want them. In regards to the scraper that it comes with I found it to be pretty handy. It really does help you to kind of evenly glide the clear tape off the paper. My only issue that I had with this particular pack of glue sheets was that it was kind of difficult to peel off the paper and I believe I've seen other glue sheets out there that kind of have like that fold in the center where you can easily pull them out but obviously you know this was a cheap pack I just grabbed whatever I could find. I can't expect too much right you get what you pay for. This looks great and I cannot wait to hang this up on my wall but let me know down below if any of you guys out there have tried glue sheets and if so is there a particular brand that you prefer or a particular type of glue sheet if there are different types of glue sheets I don't know. I will try the Euro graphics pack at some point but obviously I got to make sure the puzzle that I use it on you know that there's actually enough sheets in there unlike what happened with this one but anyways I never did say I was good at planning out my YouTube videos now did I? But yeah this was this was a huge accomplishment I'm happy that I finally got these puzzles in one solid piece so that I could finally you know start decorating my empty wall behind my couch and when I do hang them up I'm gonna post a picture on discord so that you can check it out and if you don't know what discord is it's my puzzling community where you can share anything from your own puzzle halls to puzzling tips suggestions or just general chatting with other puzzlers and myself and I'm gonna leave a link to that video down below so that you can learn more about it but anyways I hope you learned something from this video or got some inspiration to you know glue your own puzzles thank you all for watching I hope you're all doing well and I will see you in the next one