Purple Pulse, Anthology

After the fun orange puzzle, I knocked off a purple mini-puzzle from Anthology — “Purple Pulse“, art by Lori Anne McKague.
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Tangerine Tapestry, Artistry

This image looks really cool & quite distinct — in a small size. But in the large size of the actual puzzle, there was a lot more muddiness & difficulty seeing things. It wasn’t pixellated, but it was a lot harder to see things — however, it all did come together ultimately. Also, I noted […]
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Moonlit Serenade, Fathom Puzzles

“Moonlit Serenade” — another amazing puzzle from Fathom Puzzles in Vermont — this one a complex, shaped wolf-themed puzzle, with cut-outs and some non-unique connections, requiring very careful attention to the grey-scale patterning — and a few times I flipped pieces over to verify a match based on the wood grain. I really loved the […]
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Poohsticks, by Iwona Lifsches, from Artifact

“Poohsticks” (image by Iwona Lifsches, cut design by Ashley Boyd, puzzle by Artifact) was the second in a Hoefnagel pack (with a BCB puzzle) that I knocked off while recovering from a bug. This one was interesting — the majority of the pieces had one of three standard interlocking shapes, a tulip, a fish fin, […]
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Diego Rivera Detroit Industry, Nautilus

Hello to my friend Art Keene! Who lent me this beautiful wood puzzle version of Diego Rivera‘s “Detroit Industry” (actually, one of Rivera’s numerous Detroit Industry murals). Hard! And already the cats have tipped it over. Well, one cat — Bastet — and also, it was my fault for putting it in a tippable place. […]
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Forest Fables, Trippy Puzzles

“Trippy Puzzle Co.” is a laser cutter, listed on Etsy, that says “designed in the US, made in China.” The box is very similar to another puzzle I got recently — can’t remember which — and includes “display feet” like a CraftHub puzzle. So I take it there is a laser wood cutter in China […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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.
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Blooming Hope, Stumpcraft

Very sweet 34-piece mini-puzzle from StumpCraft, “Blooming Hope”, art by Michelle Austin, 2024. We did
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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 […]
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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 ….
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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 […]
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Mona Lisa, Ronald W. Butler puzzles

This puzzle (Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa”, from Ronald W. Butler Puzzles), 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 […]
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Piecezz Cat Party

A mini-puzzle from Piecezz, a laser cutter that Michele found. This one (“Cat Party“) was cat-themed, 40 pieces.
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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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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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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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