Mr. Z’s Sugar Maples

update: Finished! Whew. I will admit that I enjoyed the last third, which went quickly, the best. This puzzle (from Hoefnagel) is kicking my ass, a little, which I wasn’t quite expecting. Although maybe I should have, given the artwork! There’s some color line cutting, but I’m not sure that’s it — it’s the artwork […]
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Magic Forest by Corgi

I found this “Magic Forest” (art by Frank Champine) puzzle by “Corgi” at PuzzleHouse.com, and as it was lovely tree art, I went for it. 500 pieces, 13″x19″. A colorful water color painting of a forest with trees reflecting in the river. The original art for these Corgi puzzles is printed on acid free 80# […]
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Birches in Bits, Leanne Poellinger

“Birches in Bits” by Leanne Poellinger, from Anthology Puzzles – 83 pieces, 4.5 x 5.7″.
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Fall Bloom by Chris Huang, Liberty

Fall Bloom by Chris Huang, from Liberty Puzzles. A relatively quick and easy solve. I liked the variety of patterns in the art, and the Liberty-style whimsies, both single-piece and multi-piece. I really liked how all the arachnid whimsies were in the soil …. On the art … are all these trees with their roots […]
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Palmaris Enchanted Forest

Very pretty forest photography, with a large whole-puzzle piece-figure of a tree, and incredibly detailed etchings with yet more tree themes. Quite doable, with only 222 pieces, but required some attention and both shape- and color-matching were helpful. Palmaris description: Story Excerpt: It’s been said that trees can talk to each other. They can send […]
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Internet Owl Cafe, Artifact

Coincidentally, just after doing the Paris Map, I got a Hoefnagel package with another VladStudio illustration! This also came with one of the lovely little Hoefnagel surprises — Mardi Gras beads from the previous puzzler! Awww…. Anyway, the black/white/blue color scheme made this puzzle a bit more challenging than one would expect. Plus, the protrusions […]
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Wentworth Japanese Maple mini

Such a pretty image, this “Japanese Maple” (art by Moises Levy) from Wentworth. Ash and I knocked off the 40-piece version in just a few minutes, and appreciated the tree-themed whimsies as well as the art. I wanted to find out more about the artist and these works — photograph, digitally manipulated, I guess? His […]
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Basis Wood “Tree”

Well, I was not expecting this! A layered, shaped tree …. Definitely required attention to the color gradation in each chunk of branches. Layers is probably not the right term. The puzzle is 3-dimensional, in that different sections have different thicknesses — four in total. The trunk and branches are all pretty thin, and the […]
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Mr Bob, Birds in a Tree by Rebecca Cool

Loved this art by Rebecca Cool, “Birds in a Tree” — Mr Bob puzzles from Australia, 525 piece version, via Hoefnagel Puzzles.
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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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Tannenwald by Klimt, by Liberty

Beautiful image by Klimt, and a fast & fun puzzle by Liberty. Weirdly, the whimsies in this cut were western-style figures … not tailored to this image. Still, a nice fast puzzle for me and Ash.
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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.
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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 […]
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tree-themed mini puzzles

Ash and I did two tree-themed mini wood puzzles today. The first was a mini (16-piece) tessellation from Bewilderness — 16 tree shapes, forming a large tree shape, and the picture was also a forest of trees. Ash enjoyed setting up the tree pieces as dominos …. …. We also really enjoyed this pin oak […]
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Autumn Aspen by Laura McElfresh

“Autumn Aspen”, puzzle from Bewilderness; 326 piece version, with geometric pieces; 11×16″. Art by Laura McElfresh. So pretty! Fairly challenging given the low-key color palette, with a good bit of repetition of color blocks. Started with the large block teal in the middle bottom and the right. The squared pieces are fun for me; you […]
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