Month: January 2025
Inflating Balloon by Benh Lieu Song, Snowflake
Fabulous image by photographer Benh Lieu Song (mediawiki user:Benh, flickr blieusong — it’s capped Benh LIEU SONG; is that the preferred captioning? or just a way to tell people LIEU SONG is the surname?) captioned on Wikipedia as “A hot air balloon being inflated before air trip over Cappadocia, central Turkey, as seen from inside“, […]
English Balloon by Ryan Snarr (Boardwalk)
Hoefnagel sent me a pack including an 83-piece puzzle by Boardwalk Puzzles, “English Balloon” by Ryan Snarr, which I knocked off in short order. The puzzle description: ENGLISH VINTAGE BALLOON Join an air-born treasure hunt across the English countryside in search of Staffordshire gold. Mr. Green, Jane Air, Coxwell the bird, and Henry the dog navigate […]
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Dancing with the Stars, Alfredo Arreguín, Clementoni 500
I loved this image, titled “Dancing with the Stars” — a 500-piece puzzle by Clementoni. Sadly they didn’t list a credit, but google image search turned up very similar images, by the recently passed artist Alfredo Arreguín (1935-2023). I am always mesmerized by Arreguín’s work — the jaguar puzzle by Artifact is one of my […]
Granny’s Attic by Kaaren Biglands, handcut by BCB Brookie Biglands
A fun snuggle-style (BCB / Brookie Biglands calls them “Bamboozle Puzzles”) puzzle, via Hoefnagel. The frame was actually a reasonably challenging jigsaw, and the snuggle part was quite doable — I was actually able to do it without “cheating” or using any kind of solved image. I love that Biglands uses her mom’s art! And […]
Garden Magic 2 by Christine Reichow, Starz
I got to try a Starz puzzle, thanks to the Hoefnagel club. “Garden Magic 2” by Christine Reichow, a Florida based artist. Starz is a laser cutter based in Illinois. The wood is not plywood, but a solid maple hardwood — the pieces felt really light, which was a little surprising to me, but maybe […]
Canvas, Cloudberries
My first Cloudberries. I’ll admit, I don’t get it — I had the impression that Cloudberries was sort of a cut above, but it feels like basically any reputable cardboard puzzle company. There were actually more than one or two false fits in this cut. Plus, at least half a dozen pieces where a cardboard […]
Lead Shot Stars by Jacob Van Loon, Soonness
Loved, loved, loved this 1000-piece puzzle by Soonness — “Lead Shot Stars” by Texas-based Jacob Van Loon.
The Fall by Victor Zaretsky, Dreamton 400
I finally did this lovely painting by Ukrainian artist Victor Zaretsky (maybe Viktor with a “k”? not sure which version is preferred) (1925-1990), “The Fall”, from the Ukrainian laser cutter, Ihor Reshetnikov (Dreamton, via Etsy). (Puzzle available at etsy.) I found this painting discussed on Reddit, under the title “Autumn Wind” — you can see […]
