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“, […]
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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 […]
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Dowdle Brooklyn Bridge, Elms

Finished this 121-piece Elms hand-cut puzzle of an Eric Dowdle image, “Brooklyn Bridge“, cut by “Kristin”. It was part of a Hoefnagel pack, both of which were fun fast solves.
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Bloomington Gothic, Press Puzzles

“Bloomington Gothic“, based on “American Gothic” by Grant Wood, derivative work by Joe Lee, in Indiana. Hand-cut by Press Puzzles, and in a puzzle pack from Hoefnagel. This was a speedy solve, with a nice hand-feel.
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Stave, Purrsian Rug

Beautiful cat and Persian rug puzzle from Stave, via Hoefnagel — “Purrsian Rug” (art by Candy Thun), 100-piece trick puzzle. Not the typical puzzle — you can’t solve from the image, because there are multiple identical connectors, and if you assemble to make a continuous image, you can’t assemble the pieces into a single continuous […]
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Cats and Birds, Miko, BCB

Brookie Biglands (BCB) hand-cut this puzzle, with art by Miko, “Cats and Birds”, and I got it via Hoefnagel. Beautiful wood, beautifully cut, and with fun art. A pleasant solve!
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Chestnut & Hemlock, tree snuggle

This was a beautiful birthday gift from Michele …. Ash did it. (-:
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Chestnut & Hemlock pocket owl

My partner got me a couple of very sweet handcut puzzles from Chestnut & Hemlock, in Alabama. Ash and I did the “pocket owl”, which was beautiful.
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Mandala Effect, Loubud

My second Loubud Puzzle, “Mandala Effect” (labeled Mandela on the box). A fast, pleasant solve. Such a beautiful image! We loved the cattiness of the mandala, and the multi-piece dog and unicorn whimsies. (Plus the little seahorse.)
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Brawlin’ Betties from LouBud Puzzles

I learned about LouBud from Rebecca Tushnet, of course, and was immediately drawn to this “Brawlin’ Betties” benefit puzzle — benefiting the Brawlin’ Betties, a Santa Barbara-area roller derby team. LOVED this puzzle — so cute with the cut-outs for the roller skate eyelets, and the quite elegant “BB” logo. A keeper! Not hard, at […]
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Stave, A Lasting Impression

In a recent pack from Hoefnagel, I had two fun hand-cut puzzles — one from Carol Ottenberg (aka Ledgewood Puzzles), and this one from Stave. Both were delightful. It was a fun & thematically connected pack, because Carol’s puzzle was a Monet image, and this one was … inspired by? depicting? well, at least referencing […]
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Monet’s Poppy Fields, cut by Carol Ottenberg

In a recent pack from Hoefnagel, I had two fun hand-cut puzzles — one from Stave, and this one from Carol Ottenberg (aka Ledgewood Puzzles), who I was happy to meet at Puzzle Parley 2024. Look at those fabulous whimsies — hand-cut! The image is cited as Claude Monet’s “Poppy Fields at Vetheuil” (1879), and […]
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Happily Ever Aftering, David Galchutt, Elms

Really lovely hand-cut puzzle via Hoefnagel, cut by “Lisa” at Elms. “Happily Ever Aftering”, by David Galchutt. Gosh, this was beautiful and fun to do.
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Miko’s Jazz Frog Choir, cut by BCB

I have loved all the BCB (Brookie Biglands) puzzles I’ve done, and this one is no exception. The cutting is so lovely & well-fitting, the puzzle hangs together vertically by one hand, and the image (by “Miko“) was cute. This was one of a Hoefnagel pack, and I did both of them on Sunday, recovering […]
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Chris Yates Baffler 4949, Warp and Woof, Orange

August 4 – Hard! We started to make some progress but there’s a lot to go. August 7 – Finished! Chris Yates’ posts on flickr (or was it instagram?) about this puzzle — indispensable, honestly.
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Branching Out, Stave

I haven’t fallen in love with Stave “teasers” — puzzles where you assemble a frame, then snuggle various whimsical shapes into place. But I really liked this one! There was lots of significant puzzling in assembling the “frame”, which was really its own shape — a tree — with various little holes where creatures were […]
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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 […]
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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. (-:
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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.
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