100 Aussie Icons

100 Aussie Icons by Jim Tsinganos – Mr. Bob Puzzles – 40 pieces

While getting posts ready for when I’d be out of commission I realized I needed a few more completed puzzles, so I took this one off the shelf and put it together quickly – while I was finishing a cup of coffee. Truly a one coffee puzzle!

I put together this same image for a review over 3.5 years ago (as a much larger 515 piece puzzle), you can see it here if you’re interested. I remember having to ask Mr. Bob who all the icons were, being an uninformed American I had absolutely no clue. It’s a great image by Jim Tsinganos, and really fun to put together – whether it’s over 500 pieces or only 40.

These are the whimsy pieces. For my friend Kazza and any Aussie readers out there I made sure to put the country the right way up this time. My apologies for getting it wrong previously. I didn’t even think about it, just turned all the pieces over so you could see the extra lines in the figures and didn’t for one moment think about making sure it was right side up! So sorry guys, please forgive an aging Yank – it won’t happen again.

Bliss & Flowers in a Bad Vase

Bliss & Flowers in a Bad Vase by Jim Tsinganos – Mr. Bob Puzzles – 40 pieces

This beauty has been sitting in the drafts folder for quite a long time – even before I took my break. Mr. Bob sent this to me to review but asked me to wait to post until the launch of the entire line of acrylic puzzles was ready to go. It looks as if they’ve decided not to continue with this type of puzzle, so I’m posting about it anyway and just not doing a formal review of it.

This is a double-sided acrylic puzzle, twice the puzzle – twice the fun! I didn’t photograph the whimsy pieces for some reason that I cannot remember, but you can see some of them in the puzzle. The assembly was more difficult than anticipated, but still super entertaining.

If memory serves me correctly, Mr. Bob Puzzles started working on this new line of puzzles before the pandemic. Once that happened acrylic became both difficult to obtain and much more expensive. Many businesses were using it as shields for their workers, and it became very hard to get and too costly.

It’s a shame, it’s a great idea (just my opinion). You can put two different images inside and there won’t be any image lift – ever. Plus you wouldn’t have to worry about pieces breaking. But alas, these puzzles aren’t in production or available for purchase on their site. What a bummer. 😢


This is the last of the puzzles assembled in the last year or so. From now on all the puzzles I post will be from THIS year and I will definitely remember the assemblies – promise.

Noongar Six Seasons Collage

Noongar Six Seasons Collage by Kevin Bynder – Mr. Bob Puzzles – 40 pieces

Absolutely my kind of image – the colors and patterns make for such an interesting image – much more fun for me than a cottage, landscape, or kittens. And it’s always so nice to work with a beautifully made wooden puzzle, even if it’s only a small one like this that doesn’t take much time at all to assemble.

This image is based on the Noongar people of Australia and their six seasons of the year whose time frame is defined by changes to the environment and the movements of the people to different habitats depending on the seasons. It’s a beautiful representation of the seasons – at least I think so. I’m a little disappointed in myself that I didn’t get this image in a larger size. It’s absolutely stunning artwork!

I’m not sure what the kettle is doing in this set of whimsies, but I don’t always have the depth of information I would like about these things. That’s ok though, it was a fun little puzzle to assemble – that’s what matters.

Fairytale Cottage

Fairytale Cottage by Valentine Rekunenko – Artifact (Ecru) – 280 pieces

Isn’t this GORGEOUS? I think it is anyway. It’s been about a year since I completed this puzzle, so honestly there isn’t much I remember about it, but it’s still a beautiful image.

It was a very entertaining assembly according to my completed puzzles page from May of 2022 – apparently as soon as it was completed I was ready to assemble it again! Don’t you just love a puzzle that’s that much fun to put together?

Such great whimsies – as usual. From the genie and his magic lamp, prince charming, an elf, three bears (one of them didn’t make it to the photo shoot, but he’s in the puzzle, I swear), to Alice from Wonderland and more – fabulous fairytale whimsy pieces that fit this image perfectly!

The image is so wonderfully detailed, and the colors are fantastic.💜

I love to look at a well cut wooden puzzle from the back, it gives me a better appreciation for the craftsmanship that goes into making them – plus it makes for a very cool picture. 📸

Animal Designs

Animal Designs by Awa Tsireh – Artifact Puzzles – 105 pieces

Isn’t this an interesting puzzle? It’s certainly not the usual image that I go for, but there was something compelling about it, and I kept going back to it on the website. You know me, I hate for a puzzle to be without a home. 😉 It was by no means an easy puzzle, but I loved falling into that wonderful headspace where all you can think about is the image and the shapes – it’s meditative and lovely.

Wonderful quality Ecru puzzle from Artifact; their Ecru line of puzzles has a closer cut (less obvious piece shapes in the finished image) and a matte finish to reduce glare. Artifact Puzzles have a special place in my heart, my very first wooden puzzle was one of theirs and I still take it out and assemble it every now and again – it was and still is perfectly lovely!

There were only three whimsy pieces in this puzzle, they’re reminiscent of the animal designs in the image. It’s the perfect place to start working, as the pieces that surround them are the easiest to find. There weren’t many colors in this image, and the ones they used were repeated all throughout; but at only 105 pieces it wasn’t too terrible or time-consuming.

I did enjoy the challenge though, and the mini-hexagon pieces made it even more interesting to put together. An excellent puzzle all around, and I’m looking forward to assembling it again. 💗