Disney Villains 2

Brand: Ceaco
Pieces: 1500
Size: 81cm x 61cm
Product Code: 3402-6

How's everyone's self-isolation (if you're doing it) going? Mine has been a partial isolation because I'm still working two days a week. And despite being home the rest of the time, I haven't gotten as many puzzles completed as I would have liked- I blame my husband for that! He would prefer me to do other things like tidy the house and work on fixing up some of the rooms than spend time puzzling. But I'm still getting a few sneaky ones in there! 

I don't know what you do with your puzzles after you've completed them but I usually sell most of mine on eBay. It's been absolutely crazy over the last few weeks- I sold over 40 puzzles! Some of which had been listed for a little while but people are snapping them up cos they're bored at home. Thanks to whoever told people that jigsaw puzzles are a great boredom buster- business is booming! 

The above is one that I also sold, even though there was a knob missing on one of the pieces (don't worry, I made it very clear in my listing so the buyer was aware!) Besides that little issue, this was a fantastic puzzle. Even though I love the wholesome Disney characters, I'm glad the villains are starting to get their time in the spotlight. There's been a few great puzzles released recently of Disney's naughtier characters and I'm looking forward to one day getting my hands on them. 

The colours in the above puzzle were so vibrant and the puzzle was actually trickier to do than I anticipated due to the border but I persevered and I'm so glad I did. I love the Ceaco brand and their unique designs. I look forward to doing some more soon!

The Tower Bridge Over Thames River

Brand: Trefl
Pieces: 1500
Size: 85cm x 58cm
Product Code: 26140

With the spread of Corona Virus worldwide, the travel industry is really feeling the strain. So many people are being forced to cancel their holidays for fear of the pandemic, especially with so much uncertainty about how long this will be going on for. We have booked  to visit the USA next month and hopefully that will still go ahead. A couple of my colleagues have booked for the UK in July and they're just as hopeful. But time will tell...

In the meantime, the only way that many people will be travelling is by staying at home and viewing pictures of the places that they want to visit! I suppose that's where jigsaw puzzles of travel scenes come in handy! 
The above puzzle features one of London's key landmarks, The Tower Bridge. Although I have never been there I would love to visit it one day. In the meantime, I will have to settle for the puzzle image.

This puzzle was from Trefl and was very good quality. I haven't done many from this brand before, as they are not readily available to me. However, I was very pleased with the ease of putting it together. Some parts of the sky were a little bit difficult due to similar blue shades, but I got there in the end! Overall, it was very satisfying to complete it!

Oberhofen Castle, Switzerland

Brand: Trefl
Pieces: 1500
Size: 85cm x 58cm
Product Code:  26102

Well, I'm happy to say that my recovery is going well and that I have only missed one week in my posting on this blog (and my Instagram). 

I got home from hospital last Sunday and while I could have put up a post, I decided to remain consistent and wait till Saturday to put something up (as I usually do).

In the last week, between resting and reading, I have had the opportunity to do several puzzles, which I will post over the coming weeks. Unfortunately, I am also running out of boards to do them on! I'll have to take photos and break up the puzzles as soon as I get the chance so that I can get started on the next one!

In the meantime, I have decided to post up the above puzzle. 

My husband and I have been trying to work out where we want to go on our next overseas holiday and we're trying to decide between the US and Europe. If we were to go to Europe, I would love to visit Oberhofen Castle in Switzerland. Doesn't it look amazing?!

This is the first puzzle by Trefl I have ever done. The quality was great, but the sky just about killed me! I had to use the process of elimination in the end to get it finished and the amount of time it took to do the sky almost outweighed the time taken to put the rest of the puzzle together! But the end result is wonderful and I'm pleased I persisted. I'll more than likely do some more puzzles from this brand over time, as they have some lovely scenic designs. 

Broadway, NYC

Brand: Colorluxe
Pieces: 1500
Size: 58cm x 84cm
Product Code:  -

The winter months are fast approaching in Australia, and that means more and more people are travelling internationally to get away from the winter blues. Although I visited America several years ago on a Contiki tour, I never got the opportunity to visit New York City. 

This is one of the places I would love to see in real life one day. 

I love musicals and to visit Broadway and see a show or two would be a dream!

Instead, I will have to settle for imagery of the place through jigsaw puzzles! This puzzle from Colorluxe is 1500 pieces and captures the bustle of the busy Broadway streets. 

It wasn't very difficult to do, but I did get frustrated with the colour-sorting on the back. This is meant to make the puzzle easier for beginners by allowing them to sort the sections of the puzzle by colour and therefore helping them to work out where each piece goes. But I find the double-sided colour part tedious and annoying- I prefer to simply work from the image! 

Regardless, the puzzle turned out well and the pieces fit together nicely.

These are great and cheap puzzles if you want a slightly different design.

Our Days Turn Round And Round

Brand: Epoch
Pieces: 1500
Size: 50cm x 75cm
Product Code:  15-079

If you're looking for a Japanese puzzle that is bright, fun and unique, you need look no further than offerings such as these by Epoch puzzles. This puzzle features small pieces (which I love) and a vibrant design (created by renowned Japanese illustrator Kayo Horaguchi). The attention to detail is incredible and as you do the puzzle, you will come across more and more different details that may have escaped your attention the previous time around. So far, I have done two of her puzzle designs and I hope to eventually do more. 
They're definitely stand-outs in my collection!

Disney's Magical Storybook

Brand: Ravensburger
Pieces: 1500
Size: 80cm x 60cm
Product Code: 163182

Time for another Disney puzzle- and a larger one at that! This was a Ravensburger 1500 piece puzzle which I discovered one day, and, as it features a majority of the most popular Disney characters, was just one I had to do! 

As with most Disney puzzles, it didn't take me a terribly long time to piece together, as I often recognise parts of each of the characters and am able to put together each one quite quickly. 

This one brought together my loves for books and for Disney and if you know a like-minded person, this would make a perfect gift for them. 

Dubai On The Persian Gulf

Brand: Ravensburger
Pieces: 1500
Size: 80cm x 60cm
Product Code: 163557

Travel scene puzzle time! 

I've been fascinated with Dubai ever since once of my closest friends stopped over there on a holiday several years ago. 

My husband has also been there with his family (although before we were married) and learnt to ski there. Ski! In the desert! Because they have a ski slope in one of their shopping centres! Amazing! 

The wealth of the city is beyond incredible, and I find it fascinating how they have used their money to create a place that most can only dream about. 

I would love the opportunity to go there one day but for now will have to make do with forming together puzzle designs.

This puzzle from Ravensburger was a pleasure to do and great quality as expected.  

African Sunset

Brand: Ravensburger
Pieces: 1500
Size: 60cm x 80cm
Product Code: 162987

Time for another animal scene I reckon...

I did this puzzle for the Global Jigsaw Puzzle Jubilee from the stash of puzzles that I had in my cupboard. I can't remember exactly when I bought this one- it's quite old- and I haven't seen it available for sale in a long time (although I'm actually selling mine now on eBay if anyone's interested?!)

This puzzle took me a lot longer to do than I anticipated- it may have something to do with all the oranges, reds and yellows in the Saharan landscape! That said, it was also a pleasure to do, with its beautiful design and exceptional Ravensburger quality. Once I had the trees and solid background done, the zebras and giraffes became a little easier to manage. 

This is a beautiful puzzle and a worthy addition to any collection. 

Candy Factory Fairground Concession Stand

Brand: Colorluxe
Pieces: 1500
Size: 58cm x 84cm
Product Code: -

Yesterday was National Donut Day, and I'm sad to say that I did not celebrate it in the way it was intended! 

I didn't eat any donuts, and I couldn't find any donut designs in my collection of puzzles that I could do and post for the day. I hope to remedy this for next year's event.

In the meantime, I have put up a Colorluxe puzzle of Candy Factory Fairground Concession Stand- the closest puzzle link to sweet foods that I could find in my collection of completed puzzles. 

This is one of those puzzles that has the coloured backs for 'easier' sorting, although I find them mildly annoying (particularly if the design is already bright because you may think you've found the piece you're looking for but it's actually just the back of the design). 

That said, the puzzle was quite quick to do, with the text surprisingly being the hardest part to piece together. 

I also completed this puzzle for the Global Jigsaw Jubilee, as it has a count of 1500 pieces. While it's not that pretty a design, it was good enough for a spur-of-the-moment purchase to continue the Jubilee while I waited for a pre-ordered puzzle to arrive!

Disney Villains

Brand: Ceaco
Pieces: 1500
Size: 81cm x 61cm
Product Code: 3402-2

Well I'm back from Japan and I had an absolute blast! 

It was such an awesome trip, and I managed to pick up a few puzzles along the way (although not too many cos hubby wouldn't have been too pleased if I'd filled our suitcase with puzzles to bring back).

I did manage to buy a few before he capped my spending, however, and as a belated birthday present, he did buy me a holographic 1000 piece puzzle that is exclusive to Disney Resort Tokyo and celebrates their 35th Anniversary. At 2000 yen (approximately $60 Australian), it wasn't cheap, but I can't wait to do it! It'll be a lovely reminder of our holiday. 

While in Tokyo, I visited a few places that sold jigsaw puzzles, including an amazing multilevel toy store in Ginza called Hakuhinkan Toy Park. Unlike my other favourite Japanese toy store (Kiddy Land), this one has a floor that actually has a dedicated puzzle section- with framed puzzles lining the stairs on the way up, and displayed on the walls of the actual section. I couldn't help but take a few photos, and I will post them up some time in the near future once I get myself organised. 

In the meantime, I suppose I should explain about the puzzle I have chosen to post for today. 

The above puzzle, by Ceaco, is called Disney Villains, and was the first puzzle I did for the 2018 Global Jigsaw Jubilee (on Facebook this year). I had never done a puzzle by Ceaco before but was very impressed with the results. The pieces fit well together, the design was vibrant, unique and colourful, and best of all, it showcased a different aspect to Disney than the usual princesses, animals, etc.

You should definitely check out this brand if you ever get the chance.

Well that's all for now. I'll go back to my weekly Saturday postings from now on, considering I have no more international holidays planned in the near future... 

Variety Of Colorful Ice Cream

Brand: Colorluxe
Pieces: 1500
Size: 58cm x 84cm
Product Code:   -

As I have mentioned previously in my posts, I live in the state of Victoria in Australia.

Over the last few days, we have experienced extremely hot weather (moving from spring into summer) with about 3-4 days in a row of of temperatures over 30 degrees Celsius. 
A few days ago, the Bureau of Meteorology issued an extreme weather warning for Melbourne and most of Victoria, saying that we were going to be hit with a storm that would deliver major floods and damage- the worst we've seen in over 20 years apparently! 
At time of writing, we are yet to see much evidence of it, but we've been told it's on its way, and if the scattered showers and radar images on the internet are to be believed, it's not too far off. 
Many events in the area have been cancelled already (Geelong's Carols by the Bay and the 2017 Food Truck Festival, sadly), so that's put a 'dampener' on the start of summer (see, what I did there? 'Dampener'? That's pun-tastic!)

Because I don't have any puzzles of storms or rainy scenes (wouldn't a lightning strike puzzle look incredible?), I have decided to post an image instead of a puzzle that was relevant a few days ago, when it was stinking hot. Who doesn't love a variety of ice cream flavours? The above puzzle celebrates all things ice cream, with many different flavours and colours in cups and cones. 
This puzzle took me longer to do than I expected. I thought it would be easy to work by colours for each ice cream flavour but there were actually a lot of similar colours, which made this task a bit more difficult. The backs of these puzzle pieces are coloured to make sorting easier, and I actually had to refer to this a few times to work out what went where! 
Besides that, the pieces fit well together and the image was quite pleasant to create. 

Coffee

Brand: Colorluxe
Pieces: 1500
Size: 58cm x 84cm
Product Code:  3911

During the week I had to travel to Melbourne for some blood tests at St Vincent's Hospital. 

My test was an early 8.30am one (which I had to fast before), but this meant that I had to leave my house at 5.25am to catch the 5.54am train, in order to get there in time.

And because I was fasting, that meant no coffee. 

Now, I don't usually rely on coffee to wake me up in the mornings. I just like the taste. But not being able to drink any, while walking the streets of Melbourne to get to the hospital, was a more difficult task than I had anticipated! The smell of freshly brewing coffee was everywhere! 

Luckily I was able to get my fix (no, I'm not addicted) not long after the tests were concluded, but as a homage to coffee-lovers everywhere, I have decided to put up this puzzle.

This puzzle was unique, in that the back of the puzzle was colour-coded in sections. This was meant to aid in the sorting of pieces so that the puzzle could be completed more easily. Although I mostly ignored this, it did help on occasions when there were similar colours (like browns and tans) that could be situated almost anywhere in the design. It could also be a tad frustrating though, especially when you thought you had found a particular colour (like blue for example), and it was actually a blue-backed piece, rather than part of the design background. 

I quite enjoyed doing this puzzle. The collage-style was engaging and there were many points of interest within the design. It certainly helped cheer me up after my coffee deprivation!

Indian Princess

Brand: Clementoni (High Quality Collection) (Fantasy)
Pieces: 1500
Size: 84.3cm x 59.2cm
Product Code:  31965

This is one of those puzzles that just struck a chord with me. 

I'm not sure why- perhaps it's the gorgeous design or the intense detail- but when I first saw it, I couldn't get it out of my mind. 

I left the store I saw it in and kept thinking about how much I would love to do it. But despite my interest, there were just as many reasons why I shouldn't.  

I already had such a large stash of puzzles at home, and, being a 1500 piece puzzle, it cost a little bit more than I usually try to spend. But it was calling to me...

Luckily, in the following days (as I ummed and ahhed and tried to justify buying the puzzle), the store decided to have a sale. Let's just say that I was a goner!

The white Clementoni box found itself in my possession and I was the proud and excited owner of yet another jigsaw puzzle. 

I was not left disappointed.

This puzzle, as mentioned above, features an absolutely gorgeous design of an Indian princess and her two tiger companions. They rest on luxurious fabrics in front of a scenic garden, with the iconic Taj Mahal visible in the background. 

The quality of the pieces was fantastic, as expected for the brand, and slotted together nicely. While some of the colours were similar, it was still relatively easy to differentiate each section. 

With a few little challenges (in the tigers' fur and the pink background), this puzzle is perfect for someone wanting a pretty design that might test their ability. 

My Paris

Brand: Ravensburger
Pieces: 1500
Size: 80cm x 60cm
Product Code:  162963

On Tuesday it was Valentine's Day, and suprisingly, I couldn't find any puzzles in my collection that featured hearts or any other love-themed designs! So I figured the next best thing would be to do a puzzle that featured a place known as 'the city of love'- Paris!

This 1500 piece puzzle from Ravensburger was quite a challenge, with only two dominant colours on a gray, black and white design. Thus, there was an interesting process involved in completing it!

After doing the border outline, the obvious thing to do was separate the bright colours from the greys, blacks and whites. That done, I was able to complete the street signs. But surprisingly, the pink letters of 'Paris' were quite difficult to piece together. Instead, I ended up finding and separating the patterns within the Eiffel tower from the other pieces and put that part together. I then worked on the Arc De Triomphe parts, working through each of the 'textures' on the building design. Having finally completed that, I switched between piecing together the word 'Paris', and the branches of the tree, before finally moving onto the white background pieces.

I have to admit that towards the end, I used the very systematic 'elimination' process, trying each similar-shaped piece in a spot and eliminating the ones that didn't fit as I went. Although it takes a while to do it this way, I was able to finally complete the puzzle about 5 or 6 days after I started it!

Although it was challenging, this was a great puzzle to get my mind working, and the gorgeous completed design speaks for itself!

Happy Holiday

Brand: Ravensburger
Pieces: 1500
Size: 80 x 60cm
Product Code:  163076

With the approach of the Christmas season comes yet another 'event' that many people look forward to- the start of the holidays! 

While some of us only get a few days off between Christmas and New Year, for many, it is just the rejuvenation that one needs to keep going until their allocated annual leave or holiday time. 

If you're lucky enough to have planned your holiday time for this period, then you can enjoy some blissful time away from the hectic struggles of the workplace (or school, if you're studying), and relax away your days. If not, then it is easy enough to enjoy the few days you have and look forward to a longer rest a little further in the future. 

Regardless of your situation, there's no doubt that any holiday is a good holiday, which is why I thought this puzzle- Happy Holiday- would be quite appropriate. The imagery in this puzzle brings to mind sunny beach holidays and relaxing ocean views (probably quite hard to imagine if you live in the Northern Hemisphere at this time of year!), and evokes memories of salt, sun and sand. 

This puzzle, despite its size, was quite quick to do, especially when done in sections. You would think that some of the sections would be difficult (with like colours in many of the sand and sky images) but the varying shades made this less of a challenge than you'd expect.

The design is vibrant, fun and inspiring (especially if you're planning an upcoming beach holiday!)

I hope you enjoy your holidays- beachside or otherwise!