Cute Husky

Brand: Ravensburger
Pieces: 500
Size: 61cm x 46cm
Product Code:  136827

Last week I spent a little bit of time with my brother-in-law, who has a husky named Sasha. She's a very affectionate dog and loves to jump up onto people (much to Kurt's consternation, considering her size!). He's had her since she was a puppy, and when I saw this puzzle image, I was immediately reminded of when she was a rascally little pup, running around and getting into mischief.

Although this Ravensburger puzzle is only 500 pieces, it's a lot larger size-wise than other 500 piece puzzles of the same brand. That is because the pieces are significantly larger than usual. That said, it was still a rather quick exercise to piece it together. The only thing that really held me up was differentiating between all the shades of grey and white in the husky's fur, to find which piece went where. 

Dog lovers, and in particular, fans of the husky breed, are sure to enjoy the end result of this cute puzzle.

Jenny Sanders: 'Yellow Sandman'

Brand: Blue Opal Deluxe
Pieces: 1000
Size: 69cm x 49cm
Product Code:  BL01865

After a two week 'experiment', the results are in! Licenced and popular franchise puzzle versus generic animal design. I have to say, I am quite surprised. I'm not sure if it's because of the designs I chose, or because of the audience I have on Instagram but I wasn't really expecting the results that came in.

After one week on Instagram, my Wonderous Safari  puzzle had 58 likes, and I had 2 people start following me (this may have been a higher number earlier but some people may have unsubscribed before I took down my figures). 

After one week on Instagram, my Justice League Of America puzzle had 55 likes, and I had 4 people start following me. Again, the numbers may have changed as some people unsubscribed but this is where it stands at time of writing. 

So it's a pretty close call. The first puzzle definitely had momentum at the beginning but the DC one had a gradual growth in numbers over the week...

Very interesting.

Well, now that that's over, onto today's puzzle!

I have decided to put up a photo of something a little different today- a Blue Opal Deluxe design by Australian artist Jenny Sanders, called 'Yellow Sandman'. This iconic old Australian car is part of a series Sanders has done that features artworks of classic cars (mostly Holdens). 

The pieces fit well together and the colours are quite bright (obviously depending on the design). I particularly like the beach scene behind the image of the car, as it brings back fond memories of warmer days!

This was a great puzzle to do, and something that many classic car fans will appreciate. 

Justice League Of America

Brand: Aquarius
Pieces: 1000
Size: 51cm x 69cm
Product Code:  65-231

Well, as promised, I am putting up The Justice League of America puzzle from Aquarius today. 

I have checked my Instagram stats and at time of writing, my Wonderous Safari  puzzle has 58 likes. 

I wonder if a licenced and popular franchise can beat those figures by about this time next week? 

Time will tell. 

Anyway, on to the puzzle!

I've only done a few Aquarius puzzles but so far I've been quite impressed. The pieces are made of a good quality cardboard and they have great pop culture designs. I picked up this one of the Justice League Of America not long after seeing the Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice film, and was going to put this one up just before the release of the Justice League film in November (but I couldn't wait!)

This puzzle features each of the main characters (and their villains/adversaries) in a brightly coloured, pop-art style (reminiscent of the graphic novels). This puzzle was fun to do, rather easy when split into colour sections, and would make a great gift for fans of DC Comics. 

Marvel has kind of taken over in the superhero/comics stakes over the last decade or so, so it's good to see DC Comics finally making a splash (especially after the awesome release of Wonder Woman!)

Wonderous Safari

Brand: Cardinal
Pieces: 500
Size: 35.5cm x 27.9cm
Product Code:  -

This may seem strange, but I'm quite in awe of the power of Instagram.

Every week when I post up on this blog, I also post up the same puzzle photo on my Instagram account. It's always a hit-and-miss moment when it comes to the popularity of particular puzzle designs. You would think that licenced designs- of popular pop culture icons or series- would get the most likes, but often Disney and Star Wars, for example, rate less highly than random pictures of say, a sailboat scene (or last week's Kuri Kumi: Summertime).

I guess it can be hard to know what people are interested in seeing.

Maybe there are so many similar designs online that anything that is slightly different will get more interest, hence the popularity of some pictures over others.

I have decided to put up the above puzzle- of a lion and his cubs- this week to test my theory. I was going to put up a DC Comics Justice League of America design (because I saw the new Wonder Woman film this week) but changed my mind at the last minute. I might put it up next week and see how they rate in comparison to one another.

This cardinal puzzle was a pleasure to do. Like the others from the brand, it has really small, good quality pieces and a vibrant design. The sunset colours are gorgeous, as is the illustration of the lions.

We'll see how this one goes Instagram-wise. I don't really care about the numbers so much because the aim of this blog and the Instagram account is to showcase the amazing puzzles I have done, but it's always interesting to see what others think!

Kuri Kumi: Summertime

Brand: Ravensburger
Pieces: 500
Size: 36cm x 49cm
Product Code:  146871

It's been getting quite dark and chilly in the early mornings, particularly with the onset of winter in the southern hemisphere. So to brighten the mood, I thought a cute puzzle depicting cotton-cloud meadows and a cheerful cyclist would be spot on. 

This design, produced by Santoro for Ravensburger, features a delightful female character and her little rabbit companion as they cycle through an almost cloud-like meadow. With her cheerful basket of flowers, she looks like she is having the time of her life. 

In typical Ravensburger fashion, the pieces fit well together, making this puzzle a pleasure to do. I thought the design may have been a little challenging, given all the different shades of blues and greens, but it was easy enough to differentiate between the hues once you worked out where each particular blue and green in the design was. 
This would make the perfect puzzle for fans of Santoro's designs.