Rosina Wachtmeister: All Together

Brand: Heye
Pieces: 2000
Size: 97cm x 69cm
Product Code: 29132

A few days ago it was International Cat Day (August 8). 

Now, I'm not a huge fan of felines, and I don't quite understand how they can have a day dedicated to them, but I had this puzzle in my collection and thought it would be fitting to put it up regardless. 

Despite my slight aversion to the creatures, I was still drawn into this design by Rosina Wachtmeister- a popular and talented Austrian artist. You've probably seen her distinctive cat artworks before- Heye  have produced quite a few puzzles from her designs. 

The quality of the pieces was excellent and I was particularly interested in the gold foil sections of the design, which really added some 'oomph' to the overall look of the finished puzzle (I tried my best to get a good photo that highlights these gold parts but sometimes it was difficult with the reflecting). 

This is one of the bigger puzzles that I have done to date, and I wish I could do more. If space wasn't an issue, I totally would! 

Seljalandsfoss Waterfall, Southern Iceland

Brand: Heye Puzzle
Pieces: 1000
Size: 70cm x 50cm
Product Code: 29769

Today I thought I'd put up a scenic puzzle for a change- here is a lovely scene from Southern Iceland, brought to you in puzzle form from Heye Puzzles. Part of the Alexander Von Humboldt collection, this puzzle was given to me for Christmas from my brother-in-law. I think he expected me to take longer to do it than I actually did! Despite all the details in the rocks, sky, land and water, it only took me a few days (with large gaps of time in between) to complete. 

This image is absolutely stunning, and made me wish I could see it in person- if the photo looks this good, imagine how it would look in real life! The quality of the pieces was outstanding (as expected for Heye) and the colours are vibrant (as you can see from the photo taken).

Another top puzzle from this puzzle powerhouse!

Favole series by Victoria Francés

Brand: Heye Puzzles
Pieces: 75
Size: 10.5cm x 29.7cm
Product Code:  Tree (29368), Portrait (29365), Curly (29363), Snowflake (29366), Shoulder (29364), Leaves (29367)

Until recently in Australia, the Halloween holidays were not a big deal. 

It was considered more of an international event, celebrated in America and some European countries. 

But over the last few years, more and more Australian retail stores have begun to seize the day- selling costumes, house decorations and other Halloween-themed paraphernalia. 

To embrace this theme, I decided to scour my collection to find a suitably spooky puzzle to do, but it turns out that my collection doesn't really extend to ghosts, witches and vampires at this point! 

Instead, I found these six mini vertical puzzles from Heye, which feature the gothic illustrations of Victoria Francés. Taken from her Favole collection, the women in these pictures are all gorgeously supernatural-looking, which I think lends to the spooky Halloween theme perfectly.

Curly

Leaves

Portrait

Shoulder

Snowflake

Tree

Each puzzle has 75 pieces, which means that they're relatively quick to do. While many of the colours are similar, it is easy enough to work out where each piece goes, and as I mentioned before, the illustrations are quite pretty, if not a little eerie. Victoria Francés, a Spanish artist, specializes in gothic romance illustrations, and these puzzles certainly fit the bill.