French Fries

Brand: Typo

Pieces: 200
Size:  30cm x 30cm

Product Code: -

On Tuesday (14th July) it will be Bastille Day - France's national celebration day.

I thought I'd get in slightly earlier and put up a French-themed puzzle to mark the occasion. I've done so many puzzles that fit this theme over the years but surprisingly (or maybe not so surprising when you consider that it's me) I was unable to find as many as I would have liked. So I've put this one up instead. 

Fits the theme, is a bit quirky and was a quick and fun one to do. Do you celebrate the national days of different countries? Is it because you have the family background? Or just because any excuse for a celebration is a good excuse? Let me know what you think!

Cheese Cake

Brand: Typo

Pieces: 200
Size:  30cm x 30cm

Product Code: -

My birthday has always been around the Mother's Day weekend. Last year it was actually on the day (which was verrrryyy busy) but today it is the day after, so it won't be quite as full on. Because of this, I have decided to put up the only 'cake' puzzle I could find in my photo collection.

This puzzle was part of a set released from Typo (from the Cotton On brand) that featured a play on words for a few different things - including the above 'cheese cake'. The quality wasn't really the best, as expected from this brand - a lot of false fits - but the imagery was still cool and appealing so I couldn't help but buy and complete them. 

Luckily my birthday usually yields much better options when it comes to jigsaw puzzles - if my people buy me some, that is!

Hot Dog

Brand: Typo

Pieces: 200
Size:  30cm x 30cm

Product Code: -

Today is AFL Grand Final Day and it's a match between the Geelong Cats (my home team) and the Brisbane Lions. 

I was scouring my puzzle photos, trying to find something that would be relevant to the day but unfortunately couldn't find anything that would be a good representation. So instead, we're going with a lunch snack (sort of?) that might be associated with a footy game - a hot dog!

This puzzle was from a range that Typo put out which made a play on different food names. Generally I try to avoid buying puzzles from this brand - although they have some awesome designs, they are renowned for being poor quality. Their pieces are usually all cut the same, which means a lot of false fits and sometimes the print job can be blurry. I have done a couple but they have not been the best ones to do, and I've seen reviews on social media from a lot of people who absolutely refuse to purchase them. 

That said, this puzzle wasn't as bad as some of them and I do still like the image. It's just a matter of 'buy at your own risk' when purchasing from them. They might need to stick solely to what they're best at, which is quirky homewares and stationery...

Disney Double Sided

Brand: Typo (Cotton On)

Pieces: 1000
Size: 80cm x 50cm

Product Code: -

I said I'd try and do a 'love-themed' puzzle today because it was Valentine's Day during the week but of course, I never got around to it. So I had to search through some previously completed images and find something. The above was the most 'romantic' one I could find in my quick search and so here it is!

I did this double-sided puzzle a few years ago, but it was not as great as I expected unfortunately. The Sleeping Beauty image was so pixellated and poor quality. It was almost as if they took the image, enlarged it and printed it, without a further thought! The other side wasn't quite as bad, but it also wasn't too great. Typo is a stationery store (an offshoot from the Cotton On clothing brand) so it was somewhat expected that it wouldn't be the best puzzle but still disappointing regardless. 

But enough said about that! I'll make sure I find a better image for next week! Besides, my photos of it aren't too bad and sometimes it's good to feature images that are a little less perfect...

Wonder Woman

Brand: GameOn! Novelty Games (Typo)
Pieces: 1000
Size: 50cm x 80cm
Product Code:  -

In Australia, we have a retail chain which you may have heard of- Cotton On. They have several stores which cater to different markets- their Cotton On clothing stores (for women and men), Cotton On Kids, Rubi (shoes and accessories), Cotton On Body (lingerie, swimwear and activewear), and Typo (stationery and homewares). 

Founded and based in my hometown of Geelong, Victoria, these stores are fantastic for affordable and fashionable clothing and accessories. The Cotton On Group are also making themselves known across the country for their ethically-produced clothing, their charity work in Bangladesh and Kenya (among others) and their Fun Runs which raise money for local childrens' health services.

With such a strong and ethically-motivated business model, why wouldn't you support such an awesome chain? 

To add further to their cred, Cotton On's Typo stores often feature a different theme every month or so, where they sell products which relate to that theme. So far this year, we have seen pugs, unicorns and zombies overrun their stores, and at one point they were even celebrating superheroes. 

Which is where we tie in with today's puzzle- Wonder Woman. 

As part of their range, Typo were selling a few different jigsaw puzzles relating to Marvel and DC Comics, and one of those was the aforementioned Wonder Woman puzzle. Not usually seeing jigsaw puzzles for sale in their stores, I decided to snap them up. 

This puzzle was more of a challenge than I expected. Because of the graphic novel style of flat colour patches and ink lines, it was sometimes difficult to determine which piece went where in some of the sections. There was little colour shading to differentiate between, and many of the pieces were the same shape and colour (meaning that they could fit in multiple places). I'm ashamed to admit that I may have tried to force a few pieces to fit in, when I couldn't work out where they were meant to go. Besides this little setback, the puzzle turned out alright and reminded me that the new Wonder Woman film is due to come out some time in 2017- something I am quite excited about after seeing her performance in the Batman vs Superman film this year. 

Perfect for fans of the DC Comics franchise, this puzzle was challenging, and a little frustrating, but still a pleasure to do.