Fun Flair

Brand: Galison

Pieces: 500
Size:  50.8cm x 50.8cm

Product Code: -

Happy New Year! Can you believe that 2025 is now here? I haven't really got much planned for today's post- I barely even knew which puzzle I was going to put up! That's why I settled on the above one. It was bright, fun, and relatively quick to do. 

I'm going to try and put up more relevant images to the times of the year in future (I know I've said that before but I'm going to try harder this time round). If you have any suggestions for puzzle designs you would like to see, please shoot me a message and I'll see what I can do.

In the meantime, enjoy your holidays (if you're lucky enough to still be on them) and I'll look forward to posting more puzzle images throughout the new year.

Rockefeller Christmas

Brand: Ravensburger

Pieces: 500
Size:  36cm x 49cm

Product Code: 164240

I said I was going to post Christmas-themed puzzles for the month of December, and it seems somewhat weird to do that after the fact, but here is the last one anyway. 

It's been a great puzzling year! I have competed in two charity puzzle competitions, the Victorian state comp and the Nationals. My times weren't amazing (there's always room for improvement) but I gave them my best shot and I'm keen to improve on them next year when I compete again. 

I spent waaayyyyyy too much on new puzzles and have a lot that I need to move on within the new year, and I encouraged/ created new puzzlers at work with all my puzzle talk haha

I'm only 7 puzzles off beating the amount of puzzles done last year and I aim to smash out a few smaller ones in the next few days to finish out the year. 

I hope you've had an amazing year too, and have enjoyed following my puzzling journey. It's not as exciting as some, but I've enjoyed posting up photos of the beautiful puzzles I have pieced together.

Looking forward to continuing this through 2025 and beyond... until then, stay safe and keep on puzzling!

xo

Colorful Yarn

Brand: Puzzlebug

Pieces: 500
Size:  46cm x 28cm

Product Code: -

If you've been following this blog for a while (or even if you haven't), you'd probably be aware that I have many other hobbies besides building puzzles, such as crafting, reading, collecting (and much more). Because of this, I don't s[end as much time as I'd like doing puzzles, but it also means that my interest in certain themes of puzzles is vast.

The above puzzle was a cheap quality one that appealed because of its subject matter- I love crafts and am an avid cross stitcher. Although the image depicts wool or yarn rather than threads, I was still drawn to it, and have decided to post it today because I am currently stitching madly to complete something for my local show. This is just a short reprieve until I pick up my needle again in a few minutes!

Despite the price of the Puzzlebug puzzles (and the cheaper quality) they still have designs that appeal to me and the above one was no exception. You can usually find a random design to suit the mood you're in.

Well, back to it. After all this show business is over, I'll be jumping right back into puzzling... Until then... 

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! 

Night Dancer

Brand: Okay Lady

Pieces: 400
Size: 52cm x 52cm

Product Code:  -

Happy New Year!

I'm going to keep it short but sweet for today because the new year- 2022- has begun and I have much I want to do, but I hope this is a great puzzling year for you, and if you're doing the World Puzzle Days event, I'll discuss it next week! 

Enjoy the start of a hopefully wonderful year!

Pattern 4

Brand: Cardinal
Pieces: 500
Size: 27.9cm x 35.6cm
Product Code:  -

I felt like putting up a colourful patchwork-style puzzle today. 

The colours in this puzzle were just so vibrant and I love the mandala-style artwork. 

I haven't got a lot of time to post today so you won't have to endure my rambling this time round- just enjoy the photo! Hopefully I'll have more time to write next week.

Until then...

Mermaid

Brand: Re-Marks
Pieces: 250
Size: 27.9cm x 35.6cm
Product Code:  -

I've always been fascinated by illustrated artworks, whether they be adaptations of familiar characters or something completely unique. That's why I enjoy doing puzzles like the one above. Although I don't know who the artist is for this puzzle (I have also done several other designs by the same illustrator), I really love the style. The colours are so vibrant and the people (or mermaid in this case) who are featured are just so pretty. 

This puzzle was one of the first I ever did from this brand and I really enjoyed it. The pieces fit well together and there was a great collection of designs available.I'm hoping to purchase and complete more over time, but it's all dependent on the exchange rate, as I've only ever seen this brand available in the USA. 

If you get the chance to try Re-Marks out, however, I highly recommend it!

Lounging Around

Brand: Puzzlebug
Pieces: 100
Size: 22cm x 28cm
Product Code:  -

You know how sometimes you just don't feel like doing anything productive? 

That was me this week. 

Sure, there were a lot of things that I wanted to get done but I had absolutely no motivation (and it didn't help that I was feeling sick for a few days). 

The above image pays homage to my week. I felt like lounging around, much like the cute kitten above. 

This is a Puzzlebug puzzle (only 100 pieces) and took all of 5 minutes to complete. Like I mentioned, I wasn't in the mood to do much, so a quick and easy puzzle was the best thing for me at this time!

This was bright, colourful, cute and fun to do, but hopefully I can put up a puzzle of more substance next week!

Colorful Houses, Burano, Venice Italy

Brand: Puzzlebug
Pieces: 500
Size: 46cm x 28cm
Product Code: -

I'm not sure if you've seen the extraordinary footage or photos of Venice at the moment, but if you haven't, it's well-worth checking out! 

I know that they're used to the occasional sinking of their city into the water, but the way they just accept that it's happening and adapt to suit the situation is so bizarre to me! 

I saw a video on Facebook last night of people in a restaurant just wading through at least 10cm of water- dressed in their ordinary outfits and with the addition of gumboots (or bootie-type things to cover their shoes). They didn't let a little bit of water sloshing on the floor stop them from living their lives! I guess Venezians are just used to it...

I have decided to put up a photo of a Venetian scene which I found in the Puzzlebug range. Although the puzzle was cheap to buy, the vibrant colours and attractive image were a drawcard. It was quite easy to do if you sorted the pieces by colour (for the buildings), and the pieces fit together adequately (as expected for the price). 

Colorful Beach Huts, Maldives

Brand: Puzzlebug
Pieces: 500
Size: 46cm x 28cm
Product Code: -

Once again, we're facing a freezing cold day here in Victoria, Australia. I guess that's to be expected when it's mid-winter but it's still not terribly pleasant!

To try and make the day seem less dreary I have put up a picture of a tropical paradise- a scene from the Maldives. How lovely would it be to rest on the deckchairs in the sunshine and listen to the ocean waves lap against the shore? 

This puzzle design was attractive to me because of the bright colours and clear image, however the quality of the pieces wasn't as good as I have experienced in the past- they didn't seem to fit together as well as they have in previous times. That said, I don't usually expect superior quality from this 'budget' brand anyway, so any good one in previous times has always been a bonus. 

At least the finished picture is pretty. 

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!

Colorful Boats On The Lake

Brand: Puzzlebug
Pieces: 500
Size: 46cm x 28cm
Product Code:   -


How was your Christmas? I hope you had a fabulous day with your family and friends, and were able to fully enjoy the festivities!

Now, if you're a regular reader of this blog, you will know that this is not my usual posting day. I usually post up each Saturday morning (at the moment it's Friday night), but I'm going to be a bit out of the ordinary this week and put up my weekly post now. I'm heading off camping with friends for New Year's and we're leaving bright and early tomorrow morning. Hence, the reason I'm posting now- there's no way I can get up early enough to write something and still be ready in time to leave! And there is likely to be little by way of phone reception or internet access where we're going...

For my last puzzle post of the year, I have decided to put up a picture of Puzzlebug's Colorful Boats On The Lake. I was hoping to get a puzzle I have of fireworks done in time to celebrate the new year, but wasn't able to complete it in time. Maybe next year! 

I decided to put this one up because we're going to be near a lake (while camping) and it still has a summer- type of vibe for our southern-hemisphere new year celebrations.  

I hope you have a safe and happy new year and look forward to the adventures and puzzling that 2018 will bring!! 

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.