About my ratings

Perhaps because of my day job, I'm a tough rater. Everything 3/5 and above I consider worth the time and money. If I purchase on Etsy or a similar platform and the puzzle is as expected, I will give a top rating on the platform because of how seller ratings work, but here "as expected" is probably a 3/5 in most cases.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Picking Flowers

Stave, 115 pieces. Nice small Stave, some personalization, including a harpist playing a harp.  5/10




White Goose

Wild Poppies/Poppiewood, 198 pieces. Hand cut with an irregular edge--nicely done and pretty difficult for its size.  4/5


Thursday, August 29, 2019

Michael Whelan, Peek a Boo Fuzzies

Scrollsaw Charlie, 225 pieces. Strip-cut, so not much of a challenge, but it's nice to have a Whelan image.  3/5



Van Gogh after Hiroshige, Plum Tree in Bloom

Hammcrafted, 541 pieces.  Beautifully crafted hand-cut puzzle, with solid wood and lovely curves on the pieces. The standout whimsy for me was the multi-piece elephant. 5/5


earlet connector created by intersection of two pieces--clever!

couple embracing under umbrella


jump rope created by cutting lines

elephant


Something's Fishy

Stave, 135 pieces.  Nice, cleverly done Teaser puzzle.  I could've made it even harder by trying to assemble each fish within a fish separately ... but I didn't. 7/10.



Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Nina Surel, The Mirror of Venus

Puzzlewood, 523 pieces.  Incredibly elaborate with multiple thicknesses of wood to frame the piece and highlight elements in it, which contributed to the difficulty (as did a lot of color line cutting).  I'm not super enamored of the picture itself, but I can't deny what a fantastic puzzle it made.  5/5

Update: complete and partially complete picture removed because artist objected; the remaining pictures focus on the cut.

some of the extra thick pieces



closeup on how the extra thickness worked

Savannah Coming to Life

Stave, 425 pieces. My favorite of the ones I did at Twin Farms--a lot of visual interest and variation, but near color-line cutting still kept it quite a challenge. I am also fond of animal whimsies, and the book cutouts running across the top were an excellent grace note.  8/10 Stave scale.



multi piece elephant



Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Crimson Comet

Stave, 420 pieces. Another one with a lot of darkness around the edges, increasing the difficulty. The best piece was the cleverly cut robot!  6/10

robot and moon

figure at telescope

horn turned trombone

rocket ship with flame


hot air balloon


Church at Auvers

Stave, 350 pieces. This one was super hard because the colors were all mushy--those Impressionists, right?  Highlights included a smiling moon carved into the sky.  6/10





mini church spire in the spire

Bible


Monday, August 26, 2019

September 28, 1968 (New Yorker cover)

Stave, 175 pieces. Assembled entirely by my daughter!

sun!

girl at easel

boy playing with dog




Hong Kong Celebration

Stave, 325 pieces. Made for a specific family but somehow ended up at Twin Farms. The sea-and-sky combo works well to give both complexity and color to the image. Lots of shooting stars in the border/interior. 6/10

teapot
multipiece helicopter
steaming rice bowl