turrets, fairies and all

and that border that I mentioned?

you can see the detail more clearly

Part of the joy of starting a new puzzle, especially one from LibertyPuzzles, is opening the box and gazing at the heaped up pieces just waiting to be freed. I am not compulsive about jigsaw puzzles; I neither lay them all out, or start with the edge and work in. Rather I enjoy seeing what the whimsy pieces of this puzzle represent, which often coordinates extremely well with the puzzle picture or theme. If a few edge pieces happen to tumble into their own pile, that is also fine.

that first look

In the case of this puzzle, there is the easel (the painter showed up later), various people, sailing vessels and a pair of crossed swords.

some of the more interesting shapes

there is a kind of peace in fitting things together, not being in a hurry and knowing that – at the end – there is actually a reward – the view of Lugano.

right before that final piece

From Artifact Puzzles comes another delightful design from Justin Hillgrove. The box titles it “Overwhelming Odds” but I just adore the sense of humor. Perhaps you remember all of my go-rounds with rubber ducks? No? Never mind, just be aware there was a time when there were rubber ducks invading the hot tub, the shower and making cameo appearances in the kitchen.

this is the puzzle

and yes, it comes WITH its own little duck

Then there are Ecru puzzles – this one has pieces with a complicated structure, a definite trend toward cats

and looked like this when completed (note, this is one of those “mystery” type puzzles…)

the finished puzzle

the challenge here was two fold – first not knowing what the puzzle would look like when completed. The second was that 90% of the pieces are identical in shape. Even more fun to have to pull out a piece when you realize that the color isn’t exactly right for that location …..not

D+ too many to still be short on platelets or white blood cells, but there we are. (So yesterday, between running errands in the East Bay)

so, there was this lovely

smaller size, Artifact Puzzle. Less than 200 pieces so it went together fairly quickly.

which lead to –

also Artifact

just look at all those squiggly pieces

which meant I really didn’t spend any significant time trying to put together edges, but rather tackled a few of the objects before I needed to head back to San Francisco.

All of which has much more color than sitting here quietly talking, ignoring the TV and knitting while listening to audiobooks.

By now you should have figured out that I adore wooden puzzles. Not the kind with large pieces intended to be bashed and smashed by the under 3 crew, but those colorful ones characterized by whimsy pieces and interesting designs.

The three manufactures that I have tested so far include Liberty Puzzles, Artifact Puzzles, and Wentworth Puzzles. Liberty is based in Boulder, Colorado ; Artifact in Menlo Park (California) and Wentworth in the UK (Wiltshire). Obviously, in this case it is cheaper to buy US due to the shipping costs. I also noticed it is also cheaper to buy directly from the company (rather than Amazon which increases the base price – which is higher than paying for shipping).

Artifact has launched their Ecru Puzzle line characterized by mat finish and absent any picture on the box (hello? Mystery puzzle. So obviously I had to try one.

Various Hindu Gods

There were a few oddly shaped pieces, but over all, the rest were simply the wooden equivalent of your standard four sized puzzle pieces. The mat finish was nice as it cut down the light reflection, always an issue with a lamp for additional lighting.  Probably won’t be buying any more, at least not the mystery ones. There are a couple that I just might…..

piece by piece working my way through all the wierd

shapes and sizes of pieces

an Artifact Puzzle

No dragons, but a lot of fairies and walls and walls of books

from the same designers as Stem Cell

are all the fun pieces with which I am starting