maker: puzzle designers
Malédiction by Julien Deval (Stumpcraft 472)
Really challenging, because of the subtle color palette. And, kind of a puzzle break for me …. Stumpcraft description: Artist: Julien DelvalPuzzle Designer: Jasen RobillardDimensions: 43 cm x 30 cmPiece Count: 480Difficulty: 4 out of 5 Julien Delval is perhaps most well known for his beautiful and exquisitely detailed illustrations that appear on many fantasy book covers for adults and […]
Tom Thomson, Soft Maple in Autumn
Lovely puzzle from Stumpcraft, Tom Thomson’s “Soft Maple in Autumn” — sneaky puzzle cutting from Jasen Robillard, too; lots of little “fishies” cut out that made shapes look like they would take a convex instead of a concave (or vice versa). I particularly liked the unusual canoe cutout of a person carrying a canoe on […]
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This Is It by Cecile Albi
“This Is It” by Cecile Albi, mini-puzzle, puzzle design by Jasen Robillard. A really beautiful little 62-piece puzzle from StumpCraft. Ash and I knocked it off very quickly today. But, we didn’t notice this cool feature! That some of the pieces can be reversed to make a little back/front mini-whimsy scene.
Outsider Insider
Artifact Puzzles “Outsider Insider” by Patricio Betteo. 409 pieces, puzzle design by Jim Muller and Kathryn Flocken. Hoefnagel! Really colorful and fun. Harder than I would have thought, due to the geometric cuts and the geometric lines, or maybe due to covid brain. Anyway, fun!
Ochiai Rofu, “Kyoto Four Scenes”
Thanks to the Hoefnagel Club, I got this challenging quadriptych (I had to look that up) of “Kyoto Four Scenes“, from Artifact Puzzles (Ecru line). Puzzling: The individual puzzles hang together pretty well once assembled, but until all the pieces are in, there’s lots of slipping and sliding and holding together. The colors are distinguishable, […]
The Skyline Was Beautiful on Fire
Finished Stumpcraft puzzle “The Skyline Was Beautiful on Fire” by Steve Driscoll. Fun and requiring a reasonable amount of attention to detail of color and shape. The picture online has more brilliant colors / contrasts than the printed puzzle, and two pieces had tiny wood dings, which made me sad. Otherwise, quite enjoyable, and wholly […]
Bumfuzzled 3 – 34 Keys
I really enjoyed the key theme. And, like the other Bumfuzzled, the puzzle was a bit more challenging than it looked like it was going to be — not really hard, but a fun way to focus attention. (Including the different shades of wood.) Minor critiques! The little drop-outs had not always been disconnected fully […]
Greenwood Burg Bumfuzzled 2
Enjoyed the colors and patterns of Bumfuzzled #2, “Greenwood Burg”. Michele really got into it, too.
Life Magazine Butterfly Flapper
Another puzzle from Victory, more difficult than the San Francisco TWA travel poster I did previously … I really enjoyed the Art Deco / jazz age style cuttings. Unfortunately, a couple of the whimsies were so fragile that they had been snapped before they even got to me from Hoefnagel. 250 wooden pieces / 340x265x5mm (approx. […]
San Francisco via TWA poster
Victory Puzzles: “San Francisco via TWA” vintage poster. Okay, this was my first Victory puzzle. The pieces were thinner than with other wooden puzzles I have done (Artifact, Liberty, Bewilderness, Stumpcraft, Nautilus…) — and the thinness made me feel a bit more they were game pieces, maybe, which was kind of fun. The puzzle had […]
Comin’ Round the Mountain
Mini puzzle from StumpCraft – part of a “flight” of 3 mini puzzles, this was rated 2 out of 5 in difficulty. A quick fun puzzle for me & Ash. Artist: Julie deBoerPuzzle Designer: Jasen RobillardDimensions: 12 cm x 12 cmPiece Count: 73Difficulty: 2 out of 5 Julie deBoer carefully lays out all colours of the rainbow in this mountain […]
Knight Watch by Kari Lehr
This Stumpcraft mini was quick & fun for me and Ash. It was rated 1 out of 5 difficulty, and that was about right. Cute whimsies in a small puzzle. Artist: Kari LehrPuzzle Designer: Jasen RobillardDimensions: 12 cm x 12 cmPiece Count: 57Difficulty: 1 out of 5 After a 20-year career illustrating for various agencies, studios and corporations around […]
Nadiezda “Night Ship”
Artifact Puzzles: Nadiezda’s “Night Ship” Ash and I did this one today, finishing it up after starting it last week. Lots of beautiful whimsies! This is a 283 piece wooden jigsaw puzzle of a gorgeous image by Mexican artist Nadiezda. The puzzle design is by Kathryn Flocken, and includes numerous sea whimsy pieces with shapes […]
25-Year Journey by Janet MacKay
Loved this puzzle — so satisfying. The subject was lovely and right up my alley (and called to me after doing the National Parks puzzle). The puzzle design was also extraordinarily pleasing. The intricate curvey pieces that could often be recognized only by a little divot or odd corner …. The whimsies, of course — […]
Valentin Rekunenko “Swordfight”
This one was reasonably challenging — took a bit to get one’s eyes used to the contrasts between the puzzle pieces and the different frames, some parallel and some at angles with each other. The basic puzzle shape was a variation of the standard puzzle piece design, but with little tweaks — rounder and squarer […]
Tomasz Pietrzyk “Clocks”
Jan. 21, 2023 So pretty! Hard to choose which side to work on because they’re both really lovely to look at. Luckily, you don’t have to — you can work on a chunk, and then flip it if necessary. Ash and I did this one together, in about 90 minutes or less. Not very difficult, […]
Diego Mazzeo “Mechanical Griffin”
Ash and moms did this in Spring/Summer 2022. Really fun, with a fun extra-whimsical whimsy.207-pieces, Artifact Puzzles. Artifact: “This is a cool 207 piece wooden jigsaw puzzle of Argentinian artist Diego Mazzeo’s steampunk digital artwork. Our puzzle pieces are themed to the artwork with steampunk whimsy pieces and an irregular gear-shaped edge (which cuts out […]
Dragon Moon
This description is absolutely correct — the baying-wolf cut pieces are crazy! But it was fun and intricate. Completed some time in late spring, early summer 2022. Artifact 258-piece puzzle: 11″x15″ “This is a 258 wooden jigsaw puzzle of “Dragon Moon” by Methane Studios. The stark beauty of the art is paired with a puzzle […]
Bruce Riley, Stem Cell
Another June 5 puzzle that A and I did together. Artifact Puzzles, “Stem Cell” by Bruce Riley. Pretty image! Artifact description: This is a 191 piece wooden jigsaw puzzle of Bruce Riley’s painting “Stem Cell”. Designed by Tara Flannery, the themed whimsies and miniature hexagonal connectors coupled with psychedelic colors and abstract shapes make for […]
