Birthday Puzzle Treats - Cobble Hill

 As I mentioned in the last monthly puzzle adventures post, I was given 3 puzzles for my birthday recently. And to say that I was pleased to receive these is an under statement. I was delighted...and started on the first one immediately.

These were purchased from a local retailer who always has a shelves packed with delicious looking puzzles, including lots of Cobble Hill ones!

I could not wait to start this one...all those delicious details and the beautiful saturated colours! What is not to love about that?

I thoroughly enjoyed discovering all the little items in the collage. After all I am very fond of 'I spy' type books, 'Where's Waldo' etc. I also love postage stamps - miniature works of art, and this puzzle is full of them!

Just some of the little dolls in the collage...

An absolute delight to make. I was ready to start it all over again as soon as I had broken it up.

Next up I did this one...love birds, love details, like the idea of seasonal images. And I really did enjoy this one. I was not sure how it would be as the art work really leaves much to be desired. Images of mostly birds super-imposed over a background of questionably computer generated art work...that was a disappointment. I hope Cobble Hill is going to maintain a high standard of quality of art in their puzzles. This does not fit the criteria. A buildable puzzle yes, enjoyable yes, but good pleasing art? Nope! 

I did enjoy discovering all the different birds, insects and animals, and doing the puzzle was not a bad experience. I will do it again for sure.

Must love this little nuthatch!

I've commented on art in a Cobble Hill puzzle before - in this post, however that was a matter of personal preference. The art work in that puzzle -Mountain Cascade - is beautiful, I just did not enjoy doing it as a puzzle. 

I recently borrowed a puzzle, from a puzzler locally...another new Cobble Hill called  'Parisian Flowers' and the art work was so bad I could not bring myself to do it. I was appalled at the quality. Please Cobble Hill, don't let us down! I have always assumed the art work you use is of the highest quality, seems I may be wrong when it comes to some of the newer items!

As always though, the puzzles are high quality - I like the thickness of the pieces and the random cut that fits snugly. The matt linen finish feels luxurious to the touch and the smell when you cut that bag open for the first time...oh my, oh my!

Smells better than chocolate...

And finally - this beauty. Adirondack Birds, by artist Greg Giordano.

I like snowy puzzles and this one is no exception.

It was a joy, start to finish. Lots of variety in the snowy areas, so none of that 'solid blue sky' syndrome LOL

Cute little chipmunk detail...

...and a birdhouse. Another favourite motif of mine. I also really like the reds in this painting. I think it works really well for the puzzle.

Another puzzle from another friend joined the gift line-up, but I have not had the chance to do it, as I only got it last week...covid rearranging everything this year, including regular lunch dates with friends.

I'll be back with December puzzles in a couple weeks, and then I will be doing World Puzzle Days again, so I'm collecting a pile of 6-8 puzzles to do over January and February.

Puzzle Adventures - November 2020

 Puzzling started with the alphabet challenge over at 'Puzzling Together'

D is for Dogs, Deer and Dessert. Well I had puzzles neatly fitting in all the categories, but decided to stick with this oldie that dates from the 60's, I think...

'In The Orchard' by Tower Press from the UK. It is such a lovely puzzle and still is good condition for it's age and the amount of times it was built by us while still young!

For the second half of the month the alphabet letter was 'U' for Unicorn or United or 'Ugly' (in the title)

I opted for this puzzle. A composite of images of the Isle of Wight (United Kingdom). It brings back good memories of a lovely holiday with family.

Next I did this world map, which I enjoyed more than I had expected to. It looked a little boring, but was nothing of the kind. If anything some of the larger ocean areas were a little challenging. It was my first Eurographics puzzle and I like the quality. Am looking forward to doing the 2 more Eurographics that I have on my shelf.

I've had this Wysocki puzzle, 'Melodramas in the Mist' for a while and decided to do it, in anticipation of using it to trade with. I must say though that I really enjoyed it and am in no huge hurry to trade it just as yet! I should like to do it at least one more time

I also received 3 puzzles as gifts this month and I've done these 2 so far. Look for another post coming soon with more pictures, details and comments.

Puzzle Adventures - October 2020

 This was a a quick month. Did yours also only have 2 weeks?

At least that is how it felt!

This month I kicked my puzzle adventures off with the Alphabet challenge over at the 'Puzzling Together' Facebook group. 

W is for Windows - and this delightful image by Larry Jones for Bits and Pieces. It is currently not available though...I really enjoy his images. So many details and always something to make me smile...

I timed building this to coincide with our Thanksgiving here in Canada, seeing as this looks very much like a turkey to me...YUM!

Next up a Wasgij. Traded locally. We have quite a number of Wasgij fans in our group and the puzzles circulate freely. It is great to access to so many different ones. I enjoy making them!

Finally - P is for Peacocks. Another Bits and Pieces puzzle currently not available.

It was a great build even if I started rather randomly. It is impossible to sort out the edge pieces as many of the interior ones also have straight edges. I do enjoy the random pieces though, and will simply store the edge pieces separately for next time!

Puzzle Adventures - September 2020

 What can I say? It's been a busy month, but I did get a few puzzles done in between all the other stuff.

Often I don't even take the time to get pictures taken of other projects before they head out the door, but I shall try to be more careful to record the projects I work on. I get carried away enjoying the process and clean forget to grab images to show you. Sorry about that!

BUT! On with the puzzles...it is almost time for the October posting! YIKES!

Let's hope I can recall which I did in September...sigh...

Continuing the alphabet series with 'Puzzling Together' on Facebook -

V is for Vehicle - I have this old puzzle that was given to me when I was much to small for it, back in the 60's, it took many years and many tries before I could do it by myself. 

It is getting rather fragile now and will probably not take too many more builds.

And then of course I had this beautiful Autumn one by Cobble Hill, from the 'Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady' series.

Like all the others in the series, it was a joy to complete. I love all the details in the beautifully water coloured sketches.

Y- is for Youngsters - 'Feeding Time' - another beautiful puzzle by Cobble Hill. Unfortunately this one is no longer available. I am so glad I got it. It was a delight to build. (I did find it on Amazon Canada though...)

And just for fun...this adorable image. I traded the puzzle locally. It is missing one piece, but that is just fine with me. It's a keeper! This series of cat puzzles by Buffalo would be fun to collect I think.

Just look at these fun details...

And bright saturated colours, surrounding this little squirrel hiding in the corner.

And finally a Van Haasteren...always many amusing bits to be found in these images!

I'll be back shortly with the line up for October. Right now I am looking at the alphabet selections for November and deciding which other ones I want to do. I've been trading quite a bit, so I have a nice 'new to me' pile to do!

But first I need to get some knitting done. Almost there!

Puzzle Adventures - August 2020

 This was not a very busy puzzling month. There is just so much else happening that for the most part I get round to puzzling only in the evening for an hour, maybe an hour and a half. I sure enjoy that little time of puzzling at the end of the day. Chatting, enjoying a drink of 'Bengal Tiger' spiced tea by Celestial Seasonings.  My all time favourite, and puzzling away.

For August, the 2 alphabet letters,over in the Puzzling Together FaceBook group,  were 'G' and 'X'

I chose this one 'Games We Played' by White Mountain Puzzles for the 'G' category. (Gradients, Groceries, Games) At 1000 pieces it is a nice build. Quite quick and interesting due to all the different bits and pieces in the collage. Due to the pieces being slightly bigger that usual, this one does not fit onto my regular board so I dug the felt covered one out for this.

And the second letter for the second half of the month was 'X' which meant featuring a puzzle with an item in the image that contains the letter 'x'

I had a puzzle featuring foxes, got it started and really did not like it. So I traded it for something more interesting....and hauled out this oldie but goodie of mine that features 'boxes'

It is 'The Potting Shed' a 500 piece puzzle by Gibsons, and made a wonderful gift to me, from my sister a few years ago.

In between time during the month I worked on a couple of Cobble Hill puzzles that were also gifts. Two very beautiful images and my favourite Cobble Hill quality. Great experience doing these both and the kind of gift that will keep giving as I do these repeatedly in the years to come. The owls were a purchase from a local store, the ravens we got from Outset Media (parent company to Cobble Hill) via Amazon.

Family Tree - I don't see it on the Cobble Hill website, so am not sure if it is still being produced.

I stared with the owls. They are so cute!

Which left me with several trays of mostly green pieces.They were however, easy enough to tell apart as to where they belong

All done and looking so pretty!

The pieces are random cut, but not as random as they can sometimes be.

Just look at that little face. Beautiful painting!

Stunning detail throughout the image.

Raven Randezvous - still listed on the website although currently out of stock.

Another super image. I was in two minds as to whether I really wanted to buy this one. Was concerned that it may too tedious with all that black in the ravens, but then I was given it and I'm not one to say no to such a beautiful challenge.

As it turned out, it was a great buy. Lots of colours in that black, and a nice level of challenge too. I did sort the pieces before I even got started on this one, and it paid off in the end.

 And finally I had traded for this puzzle and wanted to do it quickly and trade again. It was a fun Sunday afternoon over a cup of coffee build.

By The Bay - Cobble Hill - 500 pieces (out of stock but listed on the website)

It had a rather unusual piece - isn't that delightfully quirky?

That's it for August. I'm continuing with the Alphabet Challenge or 'Event' over at Puzzling Together on FaceBook, but I am thinking along the lines of doing a seasonal rotation with puzzles, starting in December with winter themed ones. Initially weaving that through the alphabet choices. We'll see how it goes and how life goes. After all, puzzling is a relatively small 'thing' in my life, however much I enjoy it!

Happy puzzling!