Category: Dortmund

BVB-Mini-Puzzle, 2019-10-20

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Before the game yesterday I went into the fan shop at the stadium, and found a puzzle 🙂 It’s an 80 piece mini puzzle, and the image shows the stadium shortly before kick-off. From the way people are holding their scarves high, I’m pretty sure they’re singing You’ll Never Walk Alone, which happens 7 minutes before kick-off. There was no brand beyond Borussia Dortmund, or any indication where it was manufactured, or by whom.

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BVB-Mini-Puzzle, 80 pieces. Completed on October 20th, 2019.

The game was very exciting, and it ended in a 1-0 win for us. We had two goals disallowed, at least one of which should have stood, and the opponent probably should have had a penalty that wasn’t given, either.

Here’s a bonus photo with the tube the puzzle came in, with a filter from the BVB app (Heimsieg = Home Win).

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BVB-Mini-Puzzle, 80 pieces. Completed on October 20th, 2019.

Oceania, 2017-09-02

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This was my second project in Dortmund. I love the image, but it turned out to be more difficult than I had expected. Story of my life 😀 I was especially happy to see Hokusai’s Wave in there – I’ve always wanted to do it, but I think it’s too difficult as an entire puzzle. Worked well in this collage, though.

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Oceania, Ravensburger, 3000 pieces. Completed on September 2nd, 2017.
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After juggling pieces of cardboard for years, it was great having a large table to puzzle on. The balloon was easy, but it went downhill from there 🙂
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The beer is there just for the photo op, otherwise, it belongs on the windowsill.
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At this point I have all the pieces on the table, originally some were spread out on sheets of cardboard.

Rio de Janeiro, 2018-01-23

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A colourful collage with touristy images of Brazil. I think this was the first 3000-piece puzzle that was in two bags for me. I felt a bit of a cheat, but I  didn’t mix the bags. That way, the table was enough and I didn’t have to use auxiliary pieces of cardboard. It was an enjoyable puzzle, I especially appreciated the colours.

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Rio de Janeiro, Schmidt, 3000 pieces. Completed on January 23rd, 2018.

Epanouissement coloré, In Progress

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So, I haven’t got much further with this. I finished the edges, and I’ve sorted the remaining pieces according to shape, but there are more than 500 of the red pieces…

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Also, I managed to lose a piece. There’s no way there’s a black piece with some green still on the table, and I did an extensive search, including an unpleasant autopsy of a dustbag from my vacuum. That piece is gone for good.

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Puzzle Board Review

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I got a Ravensburger Puzzle Board for Dortmund, thinking it would be good when the table is occupied with a large puzzle, and I feel like doing a smaller one in between. I tried it out for the first time, and of course, started out the wrong way around…

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… with predictable results. Yeah, that batten on top should probably be below, to stop what’s happened here 🙂

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After I turned it around things got a bit easier. You can adjust the angle of the board, but even with the lowest setting, it was a bit steep for me. The blue velvet will mostly keep pieces in place, but there was a bit of slipping as well. When you place pieces on the board, you have to do it carefully, it’s difficult to spread out many pieces at once, except of course, if you lay the board flat first. This time, I had the pieces spread out on a piece of cardboard, but next time I will lay the board flat, spread out the pieces, and only then raise the board. A 1000 piece puzzle would be more difficult, you would need to spread out pieces somewhere else. Or, you could have more than one board 🙂

I enjoyed working at an angle, I’m pretty sure it’s more ergonomic, although it made no difference with regard to glare (I thought it might).

I also had to move the board before the puzzle was finished, and it was relatively easy: lay it flat and lift. You need to make sure you grab the tilting mechanism as well, you can’t just lift by the edges of the board.

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The board from behind:

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I have tried many, many puzzle boards and other puzzle paraphernalia over the years, and most of the time I end up thinking they’re not much use compared to much cheaper alternatives. I favour pieces of cardboard 🙂 Puzzle boards are, of course, heavier, but in this case, the ability to tilt the board makes it worthwhile. I will use it again.

Colorful Cupcakes, 2019-09-29

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I’ve been in Dortmund for the weekend but didn’t feel like working on Epanouissement coloré right now, so I pulled out a fun and easy 500-piece puzzle instead. This was just what I needed, nice colours and not too challenging.

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Colorful Cupcakes, Clementoni, 500 pieces. Completed on September 29th, 2019.

Cake Shop, 2018-01-27

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I love this image. I can never resist painted or real cakes (photos of cakes, however, are often less appealing). It’s an Educa, so I did have some trouble with pieces fitting in the wrong places, but overall I still liked it. Would have been better as a Ravensburger, of course.

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Cake Shop, Educa, 1500 pieces. Completed on January 27th, 2018.

Santorini Lights, 2018-04-25

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So, I’ve had many horrible photos on this blog, but this is quite possibly the worst. I snapped the photo and didn’t look at the result, and by the time I noticed, I’d already taken the puzzle apart. Oh, well.  I’m not doing it again to get a better photo, it was quite difficult.

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Santorini Lights, Castorland, 1000 pieces. Completed on April 25th, 2018.