Random Cut vs Ribbon Cut

Wackadoo! Quirky! Diabolic! Peculiar! Off the wall! Bizarre! Wacky... and the list goes on.

These are just a few of the adjectives that we have heard to describe Cobble Hill puzzle piece shapes. We like to think of our Random Cut puzzle pieces as pleasingly adventurous or fun(ky)!

So what are Random Cut puzzle pieces?  These are puzzle piece shapes that do not look alike.  Pieces can be short and fat, long and skinny, curved, square, small or big.  When assembled, they do not conform to standard grids creating neat little rows and columns. Nope. Random Cut puzzle pieces take you on an exciting adventure!

Random Cut pieces can curve and move in diagonal directions, there's no uniformity or pattern (More Ice Cream)

Over the years, we have found it interesting that there are two complete opposite schools of thought when it comes to Random Cut puzzles.  Some puzzlers find our Random Cut puzzle pieces shapes to be more challenging, while others find that it makes puzzling simpler.  Huh?  We haven't scientifically figured out what makes one seek out Random Cut puzzles, while others are repulsed by them. We do have some theories that we'll test out in another blog!

Ribbon Cut puzzles create a consistently predictable pattern. Each piece has a uniform squared off shape and the pieces line up in a strip, creating an even grid pattern.  These puzzles are quite common in the jigsaw world and popular with European brands like Ravensburger, Clementoni, and Heye. Traditional is a good adjective for these puzzles, and there is nothing wrong with traditions.

Ribbon cut puzzles line up in straight grids and rows.

Everyone has their own way of assembling puzzles. Some like to start with the frame. Others refused to look at the image. And some prefer to sort every piece before beginning.

While we think the difference in puzzle piece shapes is clearly obvious - the reason why puzzlers gravitate towards one style more than the other - is not.

Cobble Hill Creations - Truly Original Puzzles

It's quite nice that there are a lot of communities on the world wide web communing about puzzles.  Have you ever seen a conversation like this one on social media?

Sam: "I just finished this "Ice Cream" 1000 piece puzzle from Cobble Hill! It was so much fun to do with all the neat piece shapes and colours. Highly recommended!"

Pat: "Oh, I have that one too, but it was from Ravensburger! It is a fun one."

Conversations like this are real. However, what puzzlers may not realize is that a lot of Cobble Hill puzzles are "Truly Original Photo" (T.O.P.) puzzles.  This means that they were created in-house by our design team and photographed with our local studio partner. So it is not possible to have completed the puzzle in another brand. That is what makes some of our puzzles incredibly unique!

(When you do see an image in several different brands, it's because the artist or licensing company licensed the work to various companies either at the same time or in different years - all depending on the negotiations for exclusivity...now back to our T.O.P. puzzles)!

Our design team is daydreaming about inspiring puzzle themes as we speak...or as I write and you read. We're constantly processing feedback from puzzlers about themes they want to see for our collages and dreaming up the logistics of making them happen!

Let's look at our Ice Cream puzzle for an example. Our Creative Art Director, Allegra Vernon, learned how to make an ice cream dough.  Why a dough? Because if we tried to use real ice cream, it would melt at the photoshoot under the hot lights before we could even finish!  So, on photoshoot day, a few of us rolled up our sleeves at the studio and scooped dough making sure to create that desirable rippling affect.  

Allegra Vernon, Creative Art Director and dough maker - far left. Linda, me, the blogger. Photographer, JoAnne, far right.

                                       

                                           The strawberry ice cream dough and for stability sake, half-cut ice cream cones

                                   

                                   

                                          See the ice cream rim and ripples! Looks so real and delicious!

Testing the shot for composition and lighting

Checking the computer for the best images

With toppings!

The important part of the photoshoot was to get enough great images of the ice cream before adding toppings. This way, we had options to create a puzzle with or without toppings. We chose to do both, in different piece counts! Voila!

Family Pieces 350, with toppings

1000 piece, wihthout toppings

Now that's how one satisfies a #CobbleHillCraving. Thanks for reading our post. If you would like to see more Truly Original Photo puzzles, please check our website under Shop By Artist, "Cobble Hill Creations". Puzzle on!

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Shop Cobble Hill Creations in Canada

Puzzle Bloggers

There are many different bloggers out there talking about everything from chicken noodle soup to the latest tech gadget. But, there are also bloggers who focus on one main theme - like jigsaw puzzle bloggers.  They may have different reasons for why they do what they do, but they all love jigsaw puzzles, so they write about it. We're going to mention a few Cobble Hill favourites that we enjoy and why we recommend them.

Jigsaw Puzzle Hobby.  We enjoy this puzzle blog because the person who runs it, Linda Richard, is so rooted in the puzzle community and really has a passion for puzzles. But, she doesn't just enjoy puzzles for herself, she actually wants to connect puzzlers together so that they can all enjoy the hobby together. Her website is full of reviews for various brands with a lot of different themed puzzle images. You can get great honest reviews from her with wonderful photos of her process for assembling the puzzles. Not only does she review them, but as an enthusiast and entrepreneur, she has created a Puzzle Hobby Tracker that allows puzzlers to keep track of the brand, how they rated the puzzle, the picture of it, how many pieces, notes and more!  It's available on her website for sale as a download, so you can start keeping track of your memories right away!  Beyond reviews of puzzles, she'll give you information on accessories and things like how to preserve a puzzle with or without glue, boards, lighting, etc.. You can really gain a lot of knowledge from reading through all her links.  But, we also recommend joining her Jigsaw Puzzle Hobby group on Facebook. She'll often host fun closed group events, so if you join the main Facebook page, you'll stay up to date on other upcoming events that you can join for more fun with other puzzlers.  Linda is definitely an All-Star puzzler, so we hope you enjoy her website and Facebook groups.
Recommended if you are looking to get rooted into a puzzle community and learn more about puzzles.
Website: https://www.puzzlehobby.com

Jigsaw Junkies. This is probably one of the first puzzle blogs that we followed years ago. Jane does a great job of giving reviews for a lot of different puzzle brands and she'll point you to Puzzle Warehouse to purchase puzzles that you might enjoy after reading her review, so you're never lost on where to find the puzzle.  You'll also find puzzle deals, like Buy 2 Get 1 Free, which is always a great perk for a puzzle addict!  If you're the kind of person who enjoys lists, you'll appreciate her many Top Ten lists that may be by brand of puzzle or by season.  However, one of our favourite features about her website is the Brand Comparison chart and write-ups. She breaks down the puzzle brand into various scores for Box, Piece Thickness, Piect Fit, Image Variety, etc.. You can see a summary sheet as well as more details for each brand. The ratings include puzzles from Europe and North America, as well as a few from Asia. She'll also post about new puzzles that a company releases for the year, so if you're on the hunt for something you haven't yet seen, check those posts.
Recommended if you are looking for puzzle deals and an overview of puzzle brands.
Website: https://jigsawjunkies.com

My Jigsaw Journal. If you love puzzles or are just starting out in this "life in pieces", you'll love reading Stacey's posts. Her blog's headliner is, "A jigsaw puzzle blog for passionate puzzlers written by a puzzle geek". We like her blog because it's a no fuss website with down and dirty information about puzzles that she assembles each month. The top of her website lists completed puzzles for the year, if you want to get a snapshot of what she has done for the month. However, if you want more in depth information for puzzles, then be sure to check out her Archived Posts for more details. She does a great job of giving you the pleasantries, but she may also throw out some puzzler vocabulary that you have never heard of like, "ballerinas" (2 prong, 2 holes). One of her amazing feats is the completion of Ravensburger's 10 scene Disney puzzle with over 40,000 pieces! Yikes! And in 2018, she has already completed over 88,000 pieces and over 200 puzzles, which does not include the massive Disney puzzle. She's an accomplished puzzler and we think you'll enjoy her down to earth writing style.
Recommended if you are looking for a good read and variety of images.
Website: https://myjigsawjournal.com