Peaceful Puzzles, Peacock in the Woods and Embrace

Peacock in the Woods by Thayer, Embrace by Kinnally, both 442 pieces.  These are laser-cut puzzles, very close to Liberty and well worth trying out. However, fair warning: there is apparently only one cut per style. That is, I chose puzzles without whimsies since I wasn't particularly interested in random (snowflakes, etc.) or religiously themed (not my religion!).  But all the puzzles in each size are cut exactly the same, which makes me a bit sad even though the individual pieces are quirky enough that this fact doesn't give me much help on the next puzzle.  3/5

starting out

Getting there...

Complete

starting out

... I got into this one enough that I didn't take any intermediate pictures, which is a good sign

Bibliodame, Wentworth

500 pieces.  I got this mostly for the picture--books!--and there were some cute book-related whimsies, but it was pretty easy to assemble.  2.5/5

starting out

on the way

finished

Optimago flower puzzles

400 pieces each; this is from a series of monthly puzzles from which I got seven.  Doing them in succession, I decided that Optimago benefits from good picture selection.  The pinholes in the edges and looseness of the cuts indicates they've been produced as cheaply as it's possible to produce hand-cut wooden jigsaw puzzles, but they're still better than cardboard.  3/5

February

December

August

July

October

June

November

during assembly

Mr. Gogo, Flower Teaser

210 pieces. This one has the beautiful, bold colors I've come to associate with Mr. Gogo. The teaser aspect is fun, creating a 5-layer puzzle. Not quite as hard as the other multi-layer Mr. Gogo puzzle I've done. 4/5

Starting out. Also the box was intact!

Mostly assembled

Fully assembled, side view

Fully assembled, from top

Landscape, Penelope

1000 pieces. I just love how squiggly they are. This was a real challenge; the only other 1000-piece Penelope I've seen looks like it is push-fit, and that doesn't excite me. 5/5

Starting out

sky progress: look at all those squiggles

More progress

very close

done!

La Libre Esthetique, Liberty

Gilbert Combaz, 1898, 528 pieces.  I love peacock puzzles, and this one was very satisfying, with internal color line cutting that accentuated the puzzle nicely.  4/5

starting out

progress

done!

Spring in Dunes by South Shore Line, Liberty

510 pieces.  I wasn't sure about this when I started, but then I did it straight through, which says something about how it held my interest.  4/5

That's all I have

Landscape with House and Plowman by Van Gogh 1889, artistry

500 pieces.  Another fun one--the colors ran into each other in ways that made putting it together a pleasant challenge.  3/5

starting out

whimsies: many many birds and some boats

different chunks of color

coming along

whoops I had it upside down; note flock of ducks at bottom

done!

Haeckel, Botanical Illustration 1904, Artistry

350 pieces.  The image made this one fun to do--just complicated enough to keep me intrigued.  3/5

starting out

whimsies--birds, mushrooms, snakes (snakes worked particularly well in the puzzle)

progress

finished

Landscape, Gustav de Marchen

Approx. 700 pieces. This is a lovely hand-cut puzzle, though it's got such thin wood that pieces broke easily. Its previous owner mostly dealt with that by gluing the small broken piece to its nearest neighbor, producing slightly differently shaped pieces; that worked pretty well, though I tried to fix one to back the way it was.  The curves are like those on Penelope puzzles. Even though I'm not a huge fan of landscapes, the piece shapes were enough to keep me happy.  4/5

starting out

Slow progress

Rearranging

I'm beginning to see how this goes

Hours later ...

Victory is mine

Sunset at Sea by Childe Hassam, Artistry

500 pieces.  Multipiece boat whimsies!  A pleasant challenge.  3/5

starting out

lots of boat pieces and fish, also otters, beavers(?) and birds

Getting there

Almost done

Finished