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 […]
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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.
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Artifact Puzzles Abu al-Hasan Squirrels

From Artifact Puzzles, via Hoefnagel, public domain art by Abu al-Hasan (1589-1630) or possibly Ustad Mansur. Squirrels in a plane tree by Abu al-Hasan (1589 – c. 1630) , Mughal India. Ash and I liked this one – the geometric shape to the “square” pieces, the whimsies, the border …. Artifact says: Here is a […]
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CraftHub Parrot

Another little CraftHub puzzle, one of the last of a batch. Exceedingly push-fitty. A family affair – Laura, Ash, Michele.
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Woodbests Puzzles Yin Yang

A beautiful black and white yin-yang, from Woodbests Puzzles, a laser cutter I was not familiar with; the puzzle was part of a pack from Hoefnagel. Honestly kind of labor intensive, but I really enjoyed the martial artist whimsies. Ash and I started it, then I wrapped it up.
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Crafthub Guitar

Ash and I did this one. Ash pointed out that this image appears to have been AI generated, noting the number of tuning pegs ….
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Crocotile, The Queen of Gentle Dreams

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Seaglass, from Zen Puzzles

A small but satisfying puzzle from Zen Puzzles, via Hoefnagel Puzzle Club — seaglass! A few cute whimsies. Ash and I were able to put it together handily, with Ash assembling the frame, me assembling the pieces around the whimsies, and then some color matching to pull it all together.
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II Ravens – Claude Monet Bridge At Argenteuil

Another puzzle from Hoefnagel, this one by hand-cutter II Ravens — a Claude Monet painting, “Le Pont d’Argenteuil”. The Monet original is at the d’Orsay.
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BellArt Angel Maze Fish

Weird story. I got this BellArt puzzle from Hoefnagel, and then Ash and I did it — part of it — and then apparently I put the box on the top of the car? and it fell out? and someone found all the pieces (but two) and the box and put the puzzle together, and […]
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Liminal, United Aloha

A travel poster from United Airlines, featuring Hawaii, and a lot of delightful Hawaiian themed whimsies, including some with etchings on the back. A nice pairing with the Hello Fairytale “Five O’Clock Somewhere” puzzle, in the Hoefnagel pack. Ash, Michele, and I all worked on it, so a family affair. Probably public domain art ….
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Hello Fairytale, Five O’Clock Somewhere

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Tree Tales, 5 assorted puzzles

Five small tray puzzles, unpainted, snuggle-style — each one with a theme. Snails (that one was hard!), elephants, birds (two different puzzles), ocean …. The tag on the back links to https://skazkidereva.ru/ , a Russian children’s wood toy store.
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Puzzlapy, Green Cat

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Puzzlapy, Fish Bowl

One of two cute cat puzzles from Puzzlapy, via Hoefnagel.
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DaVici mini puzzle assortment

Via Hoefnagel, a double pack of multiple mini puzzles. There were 6 DaVici mini puzzles: two shaped blue cats, and three “scenes” (there’s a second copy of one of them, for a total of four). Two little shaped cats (blue) plus three unique square puzzles — one a rotund cat laying on a flowerbed, a […]
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CraftHub owl

Another CraftHub puzzle, this one an owl, which we all enjoyed!
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Par Puzzle, Starbucks

Ash and I started this one (April 21), but didn’t have quite enough time to finish! We were so close — just a lot of little white pieces to assemble. Finished it today, April 24. With a lot of help from Pablo! Par Puzzles, a special “Starbucks” themed puzzle, available in New York from Starbucks, […]
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BCB, Hat Shoppe snuggle puzzle

Boy, I am terrible at these puzzles where you just snuggle a bunch of pieces together, and they sort of ambiguously fit together, in the subtlest of ways …. Hoefnagel sent me a pack with the Chris Yates puzzle and this BCB “Hat Shoppe” puzzle. I was able to (correctly) assemble quite a few sets […]
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Chris Yates, Remote Archipelago

Courtesy of a Hoefnagel pack, a little wooden semi-representational puzzle of islands by Chris Yates. Hoefnagel says: 61 pieces, hand-cut, there is no picture on the box, but we can tell you this little puzzle was inspired by the idea of a remote archipelago, and the puzzle does not have a printed image, rather the […]
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