Women Of The World

Brand: Hinkler

Pieces: 500
Size: 61cm x 45.7cm

Product Code: -

Yesterday was International Women's Day, a day when women are celebrated for their contribution to society and all that jazz. Honestly, I don't know how I feel about the day- it feels a bit like a farce to me. I mean, I'm all for celebrating this sort of thing, but dedicating a day (when it should be celebrated every day) seems a bit strange to me.

Regardless, I have put up a puzzle today that features women, in keeping with the theme. This puzzle was just a cheap one to purchase but the overall quality wasn't too bad. The colours were vibrant, the image stood out to me (you know how I love a pretty illustration) and the fit was decent. 

On a different topic, how's the weather at your place? We're about to go through a long weekend heat-wave. It will be interesting to see how I go with the warm weather- hope you stay cool this weekend and I'll see you next week with something fresh!

Snail Mail

Brand: Re-Marks

Pieces: 300
Size: 45.7cm x 61cm

Product Code: -

Well, it's a brand new year- we're already a week in!- yet everything feels very much the same for me. 

I'm still spending way too much on puzzles that I want to do, but probably won't have the chance to do! 

How good were some of the Boxing Day and End of Year sales? 

Once again, I bought way too many and now have over 300+ puzzles on my to-do list- all of which are currently sitting in my spare room which I was hoping to clear out sometime soon! 

I don't know how I'm going to get through them all (without the added pressure of completing ones that I'll no doubt continue to buy- I know I have a problem). Even if I complete one a day (unlikely), that's still gonna take me about a year to get through them... but hey, I'm willing to give it a shot! I'll just have to forgo other activities to get it done 😉

The puzzle I've chosen for today was one I completed a few years ago that features stamps from all around the world. I figured this one would be appropriate for the holidays, especially with all the travel that's taking place at the moment. This puzzle was bright and colourful, with lots of lovely stamp images. As someone who collects stamps, I enjoy looking at designs like this one. 

Do you collect anything other than puzzles?

World Of Travel

Brand: Willow Creek

Pieces: 1000
Size: 68.6cm x 50.8cm

Product Code:  -

Yesterday was a momentous day for many Victorians, with the easing of covid restrictions! We can now go to most places without having to wear a mask, can hit the dancefloor, and capping restrictions have ended so we can go to places and not be restricted on how many people can be there! I'm not sure how long this will last for, and I really hope that lockdowns are a thing of the past, but we'll have to see what happens. This is all because we've reached a benchmark in vaccination rates. Yay! 

This easing also means that travel is now becoming more of an option, which is why I have posted the above puzzle, designed by Lewis T. Johnson. The design drew my attention with all it's cool 'stickers' of travel destinations around the world. This was the first puzzle I had done by Willow Creek and it was different to put together odd-shaped pieces, after doing so many puzzles recently that have uniform shapes. But I still enjoyed the challenge. Some of the pieces were a bit scratched up though, which I was disappointed about considering I bought it new. Oh well, nothing can be done about that!

I'm really looking forward to travelling again, even if it's just around Australia. Have you got a travel destination in mind for the coming months?

Political World Map

Brand: Ravensburger
Pieces: 1000
Size: 70cm x 50cm
Product Code: 156528

Like a lot of people around the world, I have recently begun to stay at home during this corona-virus crisis. While our Government is still allowing my workplace to remain open (despite the fact that it really is not an essential business), I have decided it will be safer to stay home and avoid working in a shopping centre. With so many other stores closing, I hope that my boss will soon follow and allow my colleagues to also stay home. 

As for my other job, I think I will still continue to work there as long as they are able to remain open. They are technically an essential business (because they cater to the agricultural and dairy industries) and there are only five of us (including me) in a huge warehouse-type space. We're way more than the required distance apart and there's plenty of room! I also need the money, with one stream of income cut, so we'll see how that goes! 

In the meantime, I have dug out a really old puzzle that I remember purchasing while at university (over 10 years ago!) The population figures may no longer be correct along the bottom, but it was still a fun exercise to try and remember my geography while putting the puzzle together.

Hopefully we'll all get through this very soon. 

Stay home and stay safe.

Hello From Around The World

Brand: Mudpuppy
Pieces: 500
Size: 51cm x 51cm
Product Code: -

Time for another cute one! 

When I first saw this puzzle from Mudpuppy, I knew that I had to add it to my collection. The cute imagery, along with the pastel colours and the 'stamp design' made it absolutely perfect! It didn't even bother me that I had to import it from the USA, as it was not available (as far as I could tell) from any Australian suppliers. 

As you would expect, this one was quite quick to complete, but I absolutely loved every minute of it- the illustrations that represent each country's stamp are just too cute!

I really enjoy the designs from this brand and will continue to buy them if I come across them in the future.

Dolphin World

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

It's quite rare, but occasionally you come across a brand new puzzle that has a fault or two in it. 

Sometimes the pieces aren't cut correctly or they're cut so finely that a knob piece has snapped off in the packaging. 

Sometimes (although rarely) there is an extra piece in the box that has no place in the actual puzzle (or is a duplicate of a piece that has already been placed).

But this is the kicker- the real and very frustrating problem that some puzzlers face- a missing piece!

Sometimes it is the fault of the puzzler, having dropped a piece. Sometimes the missing piece is the result of a wayward pet who has decided that they would like a tasty cardboard snack. But sometimes it IS the manufacturers fault and the piece is simply not in the box. 

This was the case for the above puzzle. I didn't bother contacting the manufacturer or the place that I purchased the puzzle- it was not worth the trouble for the price that I paid for it- but it was extremely frustrating. 

Luckily it isn't terribly noticeable in the overall scale- can you see where the piece is missing in my above photo? But my point is that it does occasionally happen, and it can be a very annoying deal, especially if the piece count is high and you've been working on completing the puzzle for some time. 

That said, despite the missing piece, I quite enjoyed the above puzzle and was happy with the design. If it was fully complete it would have been a treat to do!

Disney's World Map

Brand: Ravensburger
Pieces: 1000
Size: 70cm x 50cm
Product Code:  157853

Last year I participated in the 2018 Global Jigsaw Jubilee on Facebook, where you complete as many puzzles over 1500 pieces that you can in approximately 3 months. It was a great experience, and one that I decided to do again this year. I was lucky enough last year to win a wooden cut puzzle of a unicorn (although I have not yet done it). I found the challenge of completing larger piece count puzzles fun and enjoyed seeing what the other participants were able to do. Some of the designs were truly drool-worthy and made me want to add to my shopping list! Haha, so maybe it wasn't entirely a good thing I participated!

Anyway, the puzzle above, while it doesn't qualify for the Jubilee, was fun to do and I think clearly represents the diversity of the participants for the Jubilee, who come from all over the world. As I'm sure you're aware, I love Disney designs, and this one shows where many of the more international characters come from. Produced by Ravensburger, the design is bright, and well-presented with your typical Ravensburger quality. 

In the meantime, I'll post up my Jubilee puzzles as I get to them so you can see my progress.

Flags Of The World

Brand: Eurographics
Pieces: 1000
Size: 48.89cm x 67.63cm
Product Code: 6000-0128

Over the last week, we in Australia have been lucky enough to have some English royalty gracing our shores- Prince Harry and his beautiful wife Meghan, who have travelled here to see some of the best that the country has to offer. 

They were also here for the Invictus Games- an international sporting event that was created by the Prince for wounded, injured or sick armed services personnel and veterans. This year the event was held in Sydney from 20-27 October. 

I decided to post this puzzle featuring the flags of the world to commemorate this inspiring event, While many of these countries didn't actually have representatives at the Games, some of them did, and some of them have fought alongside or for some of the countries whose flags appear in the above puzzle. 

Produced by Eurographics, this puzzle was fairly easy to do (although some of the flags were similar) and quite educational. Each country's name is listed under its flag, as well as the population, the size of the country in square kilometres and the capital city. 

For some reason, I've always been interested in flags, maps and the like, so this puzzle went down a treat, as it would for anyone else who likes this sort of thing.

World Map

Brand: Hinkler Puzzlebilities
Pieces: 500
Size: 91.4cm x 60.9cm
Product Code:  HB22-FEB16-08

With all the turmoil going on around the world at the moment, I thought I might put up a puzzle of the world map today, just to remind people that no matter what's happening thousands of kilometres away, we're all still living on the same planet. 

The last few weeks have seen so many unfortunate events- there have been natural disasters like the devastating earthquakes in Mexico, Hurricane Irma in Texas, and the imminent eruption of a volcano in Bali. There were also a few earthquakes in New Zealand but I don't think there were any casualties this time round. 

There has also been a lot of political unrest around the world, with the murder of hundreds of Muslims in Burma (which has sadly been under-reported in the media) and, of course, the tensions between North Korea and the rest of the world. In Australia, the government has posted out a ballot, asking people to vote on whether same-sex marriage should be legalised- there are staunch supporters for both sides, but hopefully commonsense will prevail, discrimination (in this case at least) will be stamped out and everyone will have the opportunity to marry the person that they love, regardless of their gender. 

Now, I've gotten through my little rant so I can talk about the above puzzle! 

The pieces in this puzzle were quite large (although that is mentioned on the box) and made from a thin, relatively low-quality cardboard. If you have a good grasp of geography, then the bright design will be simple to complete.

This would make a good educational resource for someone learning about world maps, as it provides an adequate amount of basic information. 

World In Words

Brand: Ravensburger
Pieces: 500
Size: 49cm x 36cm
Product Code: 143634

This is a cool take on the usual world map design, with text used to 'illustrate' each of the countries. The colours used are bright and cheerful and stand out nicely in front of the beige background. 

If you're familiar with where most places in the world are (or at least have some idea of, approximately, where they are near) then this puzzle shouldn't be too much of a challenge, and you probably won't need to use the box as a reference very much. If geography is not your forte, I suggest checking the box lid every now and then, but you shouldn't have too much trouble. 

Once you find similar colours and can piece together the names of the countries, the puzzle comes together pretty quickly.

This puzzle is fun, educational, and would look great framed on a wall.

Below is a close-up of Europe, and surrounding countries, just to show how each of the countries are 'represented' in the design.