feature: whimsies
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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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 […]
Canoeing by Tim Zeitner, Boardwalk mini
Ash and I knocked off this little mini “fun size” puzzle from Boardwalk, which is a new puzzle company to me, affiliated with Dowdle.
Butlin’s Clacton-on-Sea, Victory
A 250-piece puzzle from Victory in England, a vintage puzzle of swimmers / divers from a train company’s travel poster, “Butlin’s Clacton-on-Sea“. (Which, according to Wikipedia, was a holiday camp operating from 1938-1983.) This is probably a public domain image; it is available here and listed as from 1938 — the Clacton-on-Sea resort’s opening year. […]
Octo-Love, Are You Game?
I enjoyed this 331-piece (15″ x 11.25″ landscape rectangular) laser-cut wooden puzzle, from AreYouGame — “Octo-Love”, art by Karrie Evenson. (Apropos of nothing, Evenson’s photo in the “about the artist” insert reminds me of Ann Miller in “Kiss Me, Kate”.) The cut was quite tentacular.
Mushrooms & Beetles, Mosaic 100
I enjoyed this small 100-piece version of “Mushrooms and Beetles“, from Mosaic; it was a fast solve, and the cut was enjoyable beetle-esque. Mosaic was weirdly cagey about the artist, so I’m going to guess this is AI-generated art. Disappointing.
Frosted Fir Tree, Wentworth
I got a few new puzzles from Wentworth, and in need of a relatively short solve, I pulled out the 240-piece “Frosted Fir Tree”, with artwork credited to “Alexandru Davidenco”. When I went to see more about this artist, I figured out this is actually AI-generated art. See the licensing shop, where this user has […]
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.
Autumn Tea Time, Meredith Dillman, Mosaic
Mosaic, “Autumn Tea Time“, art by Meredith Dillman, 500 piece. First, I loved the art by Meredith Dillman. Tea! Kitsune! Like Disney’s animated Maid Marian in a kimono. So I enjoyed spending time with this image. A few little criticisms of the puzzle itself, though. The print, directly onto wood, sadly had already begun to […]
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 […]
Vibrant Village, CraftHub
I ordered a bunch of puzzles from “PuzzlesUp”, which was closing, and it turned out they were all labeled “CraftHub”. Hmm. Anyway, I liked the image. The pieces were pretty interlocking. This puzzle is called “Vibrant Village”.
River Otter, Adolfo Valle, Lighthouse Puzzles
“River Otter” by Adolfo Valle, a 62-piece puzzle, 5.6″ x 6.25″, from Lighthouse Puzzles.
Falling by Mandy Budan, Stumpcraft
460 pieces, puzzle design by Jasen Robillard of Stumpcraft, artwork “Falling” by Mandy Budan. Rental from Hoefnagel. There is a “deep dive” blog post discussing the puzzle and its cut. Like all Stumpcraft puzzles, this one was beautifully cut, and based on beautiful art. I pulled out the whimsies for the photo, and flipping them […]
Ravensburger wooden, “Mysterious Owl” wooden owl
Ash and I did a little wooden puzzle from Ravensburger — “Mysterious Owl” — 150 pieces, “Have a hoot of a good time piecing together our 150-piece “Owl” Shaped Wooden puzzle and watch the hours fly by!” – 6.3″ x 8.7″ x 1.8″ I loved that it came in a paper bag. The whimsies were […]
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.)
Sprung by Coral Bourgeois, from AreYouGame
“Sprung” was one of two puzzles in a pack from AreYouGame — both by Coral Bourgeois. I really liked this image!
Shroom Town, Kristian Adam (Artifact)
When I saw this puzzle, “Shroom Town” (art by Kristian Adam), it reminded me so much of Ash’s little sculptural mushroom villages, that I had to get it. We had fun assembling it today — I was more challenging than one would expect from a 211-piece puzzle. The irregular edge really added to the challenge! […]
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Coral Bourgeois, “Elephants”, from AreYouGame
Ash and I enjoyed this — it was a little more challenging than you would think from a grid image — but it was beautiful, a nice laser-cut feel. And elephants! Coral Bourgeois is the artist — I wonder if she’s a relation to Louise Bourgeois? and the puzzle maker is “Are You Game“, which […]
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