What A View

Brand: Buffalo

Pieces: 300
Size: 46cm x 46cm

Product Code: 2841

Happy New Year!

This would have been the ideal time to put up a puzzle featuring fireworks or some sort of celebration of the coming new year, but once again, I have forgotten to prepare ahead in my puzzle-making and therefore have no images of the sort!

Instead, I have found this image, which is reminiscent of the camping trips we have taken with friends over previous years. Sure, we have not had any scenes remotely like this one appear through our tent doors (I don't know if Australia even has any spots like this) but the camping spirit is there. 

This puzzle was from Buffalo and I was blown away by how pretty the scene was. Even though I'm not a huge fan of camping, I still wouldn't mind waking up to a view like this. 

What are your plans for celebrating the start of the New Year? We left it to the last minute this time round so we will be 'camping' at a friends place. Will you be getting dressed up? Hitting the town? Seeing the fireworks?

Whatever you decide to do, I hope you enjoy a safe and fun night and have a prosperous coming new year!

See you next year with a hopefully updated puzzle catalogue!

xo

Festive Reading Party

Brand: Reverie Puzzles

Pieces: 1000
Size: 50cm x 70cm

Product Code: -

Happy Christmas Eve! 

Tomorrow is the big day but since I usually post on Saturdays, today will be the day when I send you my well-wishes for the holiday season. It is also the day when I have put up this beautiful puzzle from Reverie Puzzles most recent collection! 

This puzzle was recently part of a puzzle-along- which I only realised after I had already completed it, unfortunately. But it was such a pleasure to do that I'm not bothered in the slightest. 

Featuring artwork by illustrator Karina Syevalnyeva, this puzzle brings together all the best parts of a Christmas scene- books, cute gingerbread men and beautiful booklover decorations.

I absolutely love the puzzles from this brand and have nearly all of them in my collection. I'm so glad they produced a gorgeous seasonal design like this one!

That said, I hope you have a wonderful Christmas- my next post will probably be on New Year's Eve if my plans don't get mislaid by the occasion! 

Seasons Greetings to you all! xo

Seasons Greetings From The Avengers

Brand: Buffalo

Pieces: 500
Size: 38cm x 54cm

Product Code: 3210

For my next Christmas puzzle, I have decided to put up this brightly drawn and illustrated design featuring Marvel's The Avengers. Most of the characters we know and love are depicted in this one, complete with a snowy background and jaunty 'Season's Greetings' banner (the only real Christmas-sy thing about the design if I'm being honest!)

This puzzle was a fun, quick one to do, with that wonderful Buffalo quality behind it. 

Next week when I post it will be Christmas Eve and I have a beautiful design ready to upload that I completed during the week. I look forward to putting it up for you then! 

Downtown Holiday Festival

 

Brand: Eurographics

Pieces: 500
Size: 48cm x 68cm

Product Code: 6500-5503

Here is my second offering for my Christmas puzzle posting!

This one, which features the detailed and colourful artwork of Mark Frost, was an absolute pleasure to do. 

The pieces were slightly larger than usual so it also felt like it was quicker to put the puzzle together.

I bought this one online earlier in the year from a company in the UK, when I realised that the only Christmas-themed puzzles I really had were all popculture-based. I have several (which will probably be put up over the coming weeks) that feature characters from film and TV in Christmas settings, but very few that show a traditional Christmas design. The aim of this puzzle was to break that up and show something a bit different. Hopefully I can get one of my other Christmas ones done soon to follow this idea... 

I absolutely loved putting this puzzle together, and enjoyed seeing all the little stalls come together in this traditional Christmas market design. I wish I could visit a market in real life that replicated this one- it's just so sweet! 

Does your town have a Christmas market like the one above?

Galaxy's Greetings

Brand: Buffalo

Pieces: 500
Size: 38cm x 54cm

Product Code: 3389

Here's the first of my Christmas-themed puzzles for the month of December- Galaxy's Greetings from Star Wars: The Mandalorian. Featuring an image of cute little Grogu, this festive design caught my attention as soon as I saw it. I loved the series' and this addition to my puzzle collection seemed fitting- especially since I don't have a lot of Christmas-themed puzzles to do! 

The pieces fit together well, and had that wonderful Buffalo quality. I have a few more Buffalo-branded puzzles to complete which I bought from Puzzle Warehouse during one of their sales, so you may see some more pop up in the future...

Play Girls

Brand: Sunsout

Pieces: 500
Size: 48.26cm x 48.26cm

Product Code: 71334

Can you believe this is the last weekend before December begins? 

From next week, I will be posting up Christmas-themed puzzles throughout the month (just in keeping with tradition, I guess). 

Today I have decided to put up a colourful, pretty puzzle I picked up during a Sunsout sale that Puzzle Warehouse held a few months ago. I was immediately drawn to this bright, fun design- I love illustrations like this! This was a square-shaped puzzle that was designed and illustrated by the talented Edwina Owens Elliott. There were also plenty of irregular shaped pieces so it kept the puzzling interesting. 

This weekend is also the Black Friday/Cyber Monday shopping bonanza weekend- how have you fared? Did you snap up some amazing puzzle bargains? I have to say, my bank balance will be hurting once all the payments go through. It's such a trap! Haha! 

TMNT Pizza

Brand: Aquarius

Pieces: 500
Size: 35cm x 48cm

Product Code: 62-311

As I mentioned several weeks ago, I was going to have a little hiatus from posting up puzzle images on a Saturday (as I usually do). 

This was the first major break from the page that I have ever had since it's inception in August 2016. Not even a major surgery in 2019 or my daughter's birth in 2021 stopped me from posting regularly over the years. 

All it took was 2 long and busy weekends working at the Supanova (Australian Comicon's) interstate over the last few weeks for that to happen. The weekends were full-on busy, but I enjoyed every minute of the set-up, selling, and pack-down with my workmates (except for catching Covid and coughing my way through the end- that wasn't as fun).

This is my first weekend in 3 weeks where I am home and once again able to post. Although I could have done it on the Wednesday's, I preferred to spend that time with my little family. 

I have put up the above image for several reasons. 

1. It's TMNT! Who doesn't love them? Plus the popculture reference is there from having sold some of their merch over the weekend (not me personally, but I'm sure someone did)

2. Pizza! We ate a lot of junk food over the last 2 weeks, including good ol' pizza

3. I haven't put up any character puzzles in quite a while (not since Aladdin's Jasmine back in September) so I needed to include something this time round.

The above puzzle was excellent quality and the colours were vibrant and fun. Aquarius never seems to disappoint, and I'm very grateful for that, considering the amount of their puzzles I have in my collection.

Speaking of which, is everyone ready for the Black Friday sales?! I am, but I'm also dreading it, cos I know just how many puzzles I have at home which I have not yet done, and I know my self-control for buying them is shot. This is going to be a problem...

Charles Wysocki: Trick Or Treat Hotel

Brand: Buffalo

Pieces: 500
Size: 54cm x 38cm

Product Code: 3872

Despite their popularity, this is the first Charles Wysocki puzzle I have ever owned or done, and I couldn't have been more pleased with the end result. I hadn't done many Halloween-themed puzzles before so I thought it might be time to get into the spirit of the spooky season. 

This puzzle stood out to me with its elaborate detail and overall coolness, so I decided to go with it. The colours and design were fantastic and the illustration was so detailed. 

I'll probably end up doing more of this guy's designs over time- this was a great introduction to his work!

I'm gonna be pretty busy with work over the next few weekends so my puzzle-posting schedule might be a little off. I usually post on a Saturday morning here at home but I will be interstate and very busy for the next two weekends so that won't be possible. I might have to post on the Wednesday's preceding before I leave, so if you don't hear from me for a little while (or if the days are a bit off) that'll be the reason why...

Take care, and keep on puzzling!

The Witches Lair

Brand: Pennywinks

Pieces: 1000
Size: 75cm x 52cm

Product Code: -

Halloween is approaching, and what better puzzle to do than one that incorporates all the spooky fun of the day! 

I never used to be terribly interested in Halloween- I thought it was a very commercial and unnecessary day that we had adopted from other countries. But over the last few months, I have been invited to a party and seen all the excitement surrounding it, and now I'm kind of in the mood! Haha! I'm actually looking forward to dressing up and seeing other people's costumes now, and I'm looking forward to the day when my daughter is old enough to want to get involved. My, how things change...

Anyway, this puzzle is the only one in the Pennywinks catalogue so far. They released it through their Amazon page and are Australian. There are more puzzles apparently in the pipeline. The quality was wonderful, the colours more vibrant than my photo shows and the pieces fit together perfectly. While it was a little on the expensive side to purchase- I bought it when they put it on sale- I will definitely be looking at whatever else they have to offer in the future.  

Wind And Rain Depend on Each Other

Brand: Toy Town Mini Puzzles (Test Tube Puzzle)

Pieces: 150
Size: 10cm x 15cm

Product Code: -

OK, so I honestly don't know what this puzzle is called. 

I'm pretty sure it's a reproduction of a famous painting by Leonid Afremov, but my Google translate app gave the above title when I scanned it in. I have done a few of these test tube puzzles and the Chinese titles are always a little iffy (I guess because they are usually breaching copyright to produce the images). 

Regardless, they are great little puzzles for on the go, and the above one seems quite appropriate this week considering the amount of rain that Victoria was subjected to. A lot of regional areas have experienced flash flooding during the last few days and as this was one of the few puzzles I had featuring a rainy scene, I decided to put it up (despite it's dubious title).

The quality was quite good for the price - I think I bought this one from Wish- but, like I mentioned, it is a knockoff design from a proper artist and I feel that there's been a copyright breach in the production of it. I have a few of these mini puzzles which I aim to get through quite soon however...

Everything Is Better With Ice Cream

Brand: SunsOut

Pieces: 500
Size: 45.72cm x 60.96cm

Product Code: 35935

It feels like summer is finally on it's way! Last weekend we had absolutely beautiful weather (although the rest of the week left a lot to be desired), daylight savings began (which means that it's lighter later) and yesterday, our favourite local ice cream shop reopened it's doors after a winter break! Sure, it's still spring now, but the warmer weather is a-coming! 

To celebrate, I have put up this puzzle of a few kids enjoying an ice cream from a very colourful ice cream truck. I love visiting these vans down by the beach- they really evoke the feeling of summer fun. It was especially wonderful during the lockdowns of the last few years when we had the trucks driving down suburban streets to do visits for birthdays and whatnot. They were such great moodlifters. 

The above puzzle is made up of irregular shaped pieces and the artwork was created by artist Tricia Reilly-Matthews. I think this is actually the second puzzle I have done/put up of an ice-cream truck related theme. Haha oh well, why not?!

Look After Your (NBCF Limited Ed)

Brand: Mr Bob Puzzles

Pieces: 201
Size: 39cm x 39cm

Product Code: -

I think this is a good indicator of just how far behind I am when it comes to my puzzle posting lately! 

I bought this puzzle last October from Mr Bob Puzzle, as a percentage of the funds were being donated towards the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF). 

Now, a year on, I have decided to post up the image of the puzzle that I completed! I have so many puzzles that I have bought as soon as they've been released, only to complete them a ridiculous amount of time later- so sorry! 

But I have finally got this one up now, in time for this Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

The quality of this puzzle was absolutely perfect (as usual from this brand) and the image is a stark reminder that breast cancer can affect anyone, no matter your age, colour or even gender! 

This puzzle has a few whimsy pieces and, while the piece count was small, it was still a pleasure to complete.

Cat Lover's

Brand: Ridley's Jigsaw Puzzles

Pieces: 1000
Size: 55cm x 70cm

Product Code: JIG034

Today's post is quite late- I usually post first thing on Saturday morning but today it's closer to 4.30pm. That's because we stayed overnight with some friends for the extra long weekend and we only got home a short while ago. 

Extra long weekend, you ask? Well, being in Victoria, we were due to have a long weekend anyway (with Friday off for the AFL Grand Final public holiday), but then Australian's were also given the Thursday off as a National Day of Mourning on the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. That meant that we had two days off, in addition to the weekend (therefore an EXTRA long weekend). 

This year the AFL Grand Final was between our hometown team of the Geelong Cats versus the Sydney Swans. So, since I don't have any football-related puzzles, I figured the next best thing would be to put up a puzzle of cats (especially since at the time of writing, the Cats are very convincingly winning!)

The above puzzle shows a selection of cat breeds and was quite good to do, although some of the pieces had the backing peeling off them (as a manufacturing issue, because the puzzle was brand new). Other than that, I quite enjoyed it. There are also other puzzles in this series, including one that features dogs. 

Next week my posting should be back to normal, time-wise, so we'll see what we have in store...

Travel Stamp Fun

Brand: Harlington

Pieces: 1000
Size: 69cm x 50cm

Product Code: -

Next up is a puzzle that I was lucky enough to win in an Instagram competition for Harlington Puzzles a little while back. 

I absolutely love this design and was so happy that this was the one they chose to send to me! 

It's so fitting at the moment, with so many people travelling around the world again. Since I won't be leaving my home for any adventures any time soon, it seemed like a good puzzle choice to pass the time away. The design is so vibrant and colourful and I love the selections for each of the location stamps!

On a side note, have you seen how many puzzle sales are on right now?! This is really an exercise of my self-control- I have waaayyyyy too many puzzles that I haven't yet done to consider buying any new ones, but there's just so many that I want to get! Aarrghh! The struggles of a collector! In fact, I think it's safe to say that at the moment, I'm more interested in buying puzzles than doing them- I'll have to change that attitude pretty soon if I want to have anywhere to store them without running out of space!

Are you as out of control in the buying stakes as I am?

Adventurous Spirit

Brand: Ravensburger

Pieces: 100 XXL
Size: 49cm x 36cm

Product Code: 104093

Like many people the world over, I was saddened yesterday to hear the news that Queen Elizabeth II had passed. She was such an iconic role model and a beautiful woman in so many ways. It's hard to believe that she is gone now, especially after having reigned as Queen for my whole lifetime, and that of my parents too!

I have two puzzles in my stash that feature her and unfortunately, I haven't gotten around to doing them yet, despite having owned one of them for years! I have the Eurographics one that features a younger Queen sitting on her throne, and I have the more recent Winning Moves one, which is a montage of lots of different images throughout the years. I was going to buy a few that celebrate her jubilee but they may be harder to come by now, unless they re-release them as a commemorative thing. Anyway, because I have not yet done those puzzles, I have decided to put up this one of Aladdin's Princess Jasmine instead. I realise there's no way that they can really compare, but Jasmine is one of my favourite Disney Princesses, and that's the closest to royalty that I could find in my completed stash at such short notice!

This puzzle is only 100 extremely large pieces, but I loved the image and couldn't resist purchasing it. I've listed it for sale, but if no one buys it, I'd be happy to keep it for my daughter if she one day decides she wants it.

Now I'll have to fast-track my Queen Elizabeth II puzzle-doing. 

Rest peacefully beautiful soul xo

Matilda (Roald Dahl)

Brand: Aquarius

Pieces: 500
Size: 35cm x 48cm

Product Code: 62-155

Matilda has always been one of my favourite books (and films). 

So much so, that when the musical (featuring Tim Minchin's music) was shown in musical theatres, I went to Melbourne solo to watch it! 

I recently found out that they're reproducing the musical as a recorded film and I'm not sure how I feel about it. But, that said, I'm also very likely to watch it when it comes out. In the meantime, you can see what you think about the puzzle that I have put up today. 

Featuring the classic illustrations of Quentin Blake, this puzzle highlights the best parts of the story. It was a quick and fun one to do and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

There are more puzzles like this that cover some of Roald Dahl's other iconic and popular stories, like James And The Giant Peach and The BFG, but this was the one for me! 

The only thing I'm really disappointed about is that my photo is not as clear as it could have been- Oh well, it was the best I could do at the time!

Aprés All Day

Brand: Ravensburger

Pieces: 500
Size: 70cm x 50cm

Product Code: 164424

Yesterday (August 26th) was International Dog Day, so I was scanning through my completed puzzle images to find something appropriate. 

While I did have a few that feature pups and canines, I decided to settle on this one instead. 

Not only does it feature a beautiful St Bernard dog and her pup, but it also signifies a winter wonderland, skiing, a snow lodge, warm fires and cold nights. Although we don't get snow in our part of Australia, it can get quite cold, and I chose this puzzle to both celebrate the pups, and recognise that the end of winter is nearing.

This was one of Ravensburger's larger format puzzles. 

I have done a few of them and they have always carried that same exceptional high quality as others from the brand. As a personal choice, I usually prefer the normal sized 500 piece puzzles from most brands (rather than the larger format ones) because they take up much less room on my puzzle board, but the design on this one was too enticing so I ended up buying it anyway. 

Isn't it amazing that the size of this puzzle is the same as one of their regular 1000 piece puzzles? I suppose they're good value for people who prefer the larger pieces but I only really buy them if the image appeals to me.