Month: July 2024
King Dasaratha, Inside Out
From Inside Adventure (via Etsy), this beautiful painting of King Dasaratha, from a scene in the Ramayana. Inside Adventure says: This puzzle contains dozens of hand-drawn whimsy pieces, intricately cut into the shapes of different characters, animals and plants. They are works of art within the puzzle. … Our whimsies are carefully crafted and designed […]
Koi Pond, Whimsy Wood Puzzles
Ash and I enjoyed this one! Kind of a simple grid cut, but a really pretty image. Held together well! Thick pieces.
Mr Bob, Italy
Courtesy of Hoefnagel, a puzzle from Mr. Bob (“Burano, Italy”) with photography by Australian photographer Garry Schlatter — I finished it Friday July 26, but one piece is missing! Agh. Will keep looking …. Update: Whew! It turns out the piece was taped to the inside of the shipping box — I guess it was […]
Massachusetts, Galison
Ash and Michele did this one the other day.
Stave, Edith Bingham Give Me a Buzz
This Stave puzzle, via Hoefnagel, was a lot of fun — and not too hard for me, either, which was good. I appreciated the ways that many of the bees had definitive homes, and only had to fiddle with some of them. Also, the way that the bees’ wings made a little flower on the […]
Whimsy Puzzles, Singing Fish
A really beautiful image, from “Whimsy Wood Puzzles“, which is now retiring. This is the “Tree of Life” cut, or actually some variation thereof, on the “Singing Fish” large-piece puzzle. Thanks, Hoefnagel! The cutting style of this puzzle — some of the whimsies in particular — really reminded me of a puzzle by “Corgi” I […]
Cat in the Flowers (owlqueue 1)
I made a puzzle! I tried to do line-cutting and boy was that hard. I did a cat, for Ash, and here Ash is, doing my puzzle!
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puzzling at Puzzle Parley
Some of the puzzling at Puzzle Parley 2024! For my record. (-:
Curiosi double-sided geometric
Puzzle Double “Q-Flower” from Curiosi. Double-sided, black/white, very hard! This was owned by one of the fellow attendees at the Puzzle Parley, kindly sharing her puzzle in the casual puzzling room.
Blooming Hope, Stumpcraft
Very sweet 34-piece mini-puzzle from StumpCraft, “Blooming Hope”, art by Michelle Austin, 2024. We did
Birds and Bees, Stumpcraft
Some group puzzling at Puzzle Parley! I did the bee, and a lot of the flower bed on the right …. This was a sweet StumpCraft, “Birds and Bees”: Artist: Pam WeberPuzzle Designer: Jasen RobillardDimensions: 27.5 cm x 27.5 cmPiece Count: 284Difficulty: 3 out of 5 The air is a buzz with the flutter of wings […]
Talitha the Baby Owl, Puzzly
From Puzzly, a UK laser-cutter, a challenging owl puzzle. It was shaped, very push-fit, lots of false edges, and a black and white image — so fairly challenging. Very thin wood (MDF?), 166 pieces. Lots of fun whimsies (owls, obviously); my favorite was an “owl and pussycat” in a boat, on waves ….
Puzzlapy Deer Family
Another lovely cut puzzle from Isabella Rouillard, Puzzlapy, via Hoefnagel — this one is a vintage image of a “deer family”, which led me to ponder this particular patriarchal wildlife myth and do some reading about deer mating.
Sewing Girl by Carl Larsson, Sr B
Loved this puzzle, cut by Sr B, with “Sewing Girl”, a 1911 painting by Carl Larsson. Ash and I assembled it handily …. It also came with a very cute little side picture, too!
Parrots and Parakeets by Conrad Armstrong
A fun puzzle via Hoefnagel. Hand-cut by Conrad Armstrong,
Whiskered Woods, Rebel Puzzles
I tried out two puzzles from Rebel Puzzles, a laser cutter, and the first (“Whiskered Woods“) was great fun! A tesselation of cat pieces — two main styles with minor differences among some of the pieces. Required close attention to color, pattern, and the minor detailed differences. Ash is going to love this one, I […]
Mona Lisa, Ronald W. Butler puzzles
This puzzle (Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa”, was courtesy of Hoefnagel. I ordinarily steer clear of the “old masters” because (a) the images are often too familiar to be interesting and (b) the colors often reproduce in a muted and muddy way. And that was true with this puzzle, as well as strip-cut pieces, and […]
Piecezz Cat Party
A mini-puzzle from Piecezz, a laser cutter that Michele found. This one (“Cat Party“) was cat-themed, 40 pieces.
Raeburn’s The Skating Minister
Via Hoefnagel, a Wentworth puzzle, “Reverend Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch“, painted by Henry Raeburn, circa 1795; the original work is held by the National Galleries of Scotland. There were a bunch of themed, etched whimsies — mittens, steaming cup of something (I imagine chocolate), a wreath, skates, a skier …. I had imagined […]
BCB “Smellin’ Good” Bamboozled
Another fun “snuggle” piece style puzzle, from BCB Puzzles, via Hoefnagel — this one was very doable; the frame was actually more challenging than the snuggle pieces.
