I do wooden jigsaw puzzles and take pictures of them.
Bella Puzzles, 149 pieces. I was only able to order one Bella puzzle before she (?) ceased selling, and I've always regretted it. This is a beautifully colored image with substantial cutting along color lines but plenty of connectors, a lovely example of the form. 4/5
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| several of the whimsies including the signature monkey |
Custom Puzzle Craft/John S. Stokes III, 34 pieces. Wow! Small but exquisite--each piece is a work of art. I can see the influence on cutters like Thom Spencer/Jigsaw Art and even Artifact's Four-Color Map. 6/5 perfect, no notes
200 pieces, Pagey Elliott/Pagemark: Wow, a piece of puzzle history, or as my spouse would say, 200 pieces! A loaner with beautiful colors, some partial color line cutting, and whimsies--I can see why this would have been part of the modern hand-cutting renaissance. 5/5
for Anthropologie, 600 pieces. We all have our lines where something goes from "challenging" to "I'm not having any fun and won't be any time soon." I'm reluctant to abandon a puzzle, and this one was certainly doable--the piece size and angle changed because of the map projection, so that would have guided assembly, and there were slight color variations in the oceans that probably could have helped too--but I've got a lot to do and I really didn't see putting the oceans together becoming fun for me. So I stopped. Piece thickness: hefty, a bit thicker than Liberty I think; solid though some of the edge pieces were very sliver-y in part due to the conceit of following the projection.
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| And I'm done |
DaVici, 500 pieces (1 missing). Very elaborate puzzle that wasn't as hard as it initially looked--color variations emerged as I finished different sections. Lots of scenes on the back that apparently fit basically into three shield shapes; many different knights fighting different monsters that I assume come from Russian folktales. 3/5 good example of its type
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| I thought those ropes on the back might indicate an alternate solution but I couldn't figure anything out |
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| a good head on his shoulders? |
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| fighting a dragon |
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| did the tree need the skull to be creepy? see also the knights yelling in each other's faces at bottom |
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| another dragon |
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| fighting a witch |
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| another witch or something else? |
Snowflake, 350 pieces. A nice, standard Snowflake, with difficulty based in lots of areas of similar color. 3/5
Artifact, 242 pieces. Artifact with mostly geometric pieces, though some special edging at the top, and autumnal colors. 3/5
Puzzle: Lisa Graa Jensen, Morning Rays
Puzzlewood, 167 pieces. An old-fashioned dissected map! A few broken off tips, sadly, which is a vulnerability of the small Puzzlewood tips, but I greatly enjoyed brushing up on my geography. The color line cutting made it easy to see when a bit of ocean abutted land. 4/5
Zen, 159 pieces. One thing about Hoefnagel is that I get puzzles I wouldn't bother to get on their own if they're in a pack with others in which I have more interest. Zen is a perfectly fine brand that just doesn't much interest me. Small pieces; mostly strip-cut; a few highly detailed animal whimsies; mostly dark image meaning about half has to be assembled on fit alone (harder with strip-cut). 3/5
Artifact, 477 pieces. This is a pretty dark image with the kinds of details that often fit into one piece and are thus not incredibly helpful placing the piece--not that I didn't like it, but if you know that you don't like that then you could pass on this one. 3/5
Liberty, 630 pieces. Another lovely Pergola image with a lot of nautical whimsies in the water, as well as a nice window cat etc. 4/5
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| one of two of these light bulbs |
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| it's a kitty! |
Stave, 705 pieces. Totally beautiful work, as usual, with lots of garden/floral whimsies. 8/10
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| Spring back? Spring book? |
