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#NaPoWriMo Day 21: International Love with Wordplay
Starry Art Deco Arabian Nights (2020) collage and photo by Maria L. Berg
When Maya and I first started Artifact Puzzles, she had the idea of creating a series of smaller puzzles that went together into a large puzzle. She made prints of these beautiful illustrations to Arabian Nights, but even as small puzzles, the dpi of the images wasn’t high enough, so we moved on to other ideas.
As a person…
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I’m a sucker for a good mystery. It piques my curiosity and I just can’t seem to help myself! When Artifact Puzzles announced that they were debuting a new line of wooden puzzles I knew I wanted to try them out. Then Artifact upped the ante and announced that the new Ecru puzzles would include Mystery Puzzles. I was doomed!!
The Ecru puzzles are different from the main Artifact line in that they are made with a closer cut and a matte finish. The Mystery Puzzles are made to be ephemeral, they are only made for a few months at a time, then they are “revealed” and added to the main Ecru lineup.
I love this. I was sent Mystery Puzzle #1, and it arrived in a plain gray box.
Like all Artifact puzzles, the box and contents are curated for maximum sustainability. The box has a magnet closure in the lid and as you can see, you are given an envelope of resealing stickers so that you can be sure no pieces have escaped while in storage.
These pieces look fiendish! I’ve never worked with anything quite like these. The pieces look like interconnected hexagons or simple chemical formulae. In fact, while assembling, I swear I saw a piece that looked like a sugar molecule!!
What? you thought I’d reveal the secret that easily?? I had to work my way there, you can be patient.
Artifact is known for their excellent whimsies (shaped pieces that tie into the puzzle’s theme), but I’ll admit that these stumped me for a bit. Fruit I could understand, but a car??
Okay, I have a blue bowl and fruits, maybe my car isn’t a car, but a van?? Oooh! Van Gogh!?!?
I have to admit, they weren’t kidding about the closer fit on the pieces! once in their proper place, the pieces cling together so well that you can’t fit anything between them. In some places, the lines become invisible!
Big Reveal Time!
Minus the whimsies, of course. I’m not done, gang.
Under the pieces in the box, I spied this little note.
Once you’ve assembled the puzzle, it isn’t a mystery anymore, is it? That depends. If you have a large extended family like mine, you could loan out the puzzle and share the fun, or if you love the revealed image, you can use the provided stickers to decorate the top and sides of the puzzle box before shelving it for later use.
So not a Van Gogh, but a Jacob van Hulsdonck! This lovely mystery puzzle was his Still Life with Lemons, Oranges and Pomegranate.
PUZZLE SPECS
Company: Artifact Puzzles
Title: Ecru Puzzles – Mystery Puzzle #1
Artist: Jacob van Hulsdonck
Designer: Jef Bambas
Year released: 2019
Pieces: 232
Cut-Style: Random
Finished size: 10″ by 10″ inches
Bonus poster: Yes
Made in USA
QUALITY:
Box: 10.5″ by 9″ by 2″ inches
Board: Thick and sturdy wooden pieces
Cut: Laser-cut
Image Quality: Excellent, great color saturation
Finish: Matte, with great color saturation
Puzzle Dust: Nonexistent!
Piece shapes: Irregular with plenty of themed whimsies
Piece Fit: Nice and tight!
Disability Notes: Other than the obvious issues with fine motor control with separating pieces that do no belong together, I found this puzzle to be both easy on my eyes and hands. The pieces are sturdy and can be worked with mild to moderately arthritic hands. While there are some dark sections to this particular puzzle, a bright lift was all I needed to see my pieces.
Where to buy: Ecru Puzzles – Mystery Puzzle #1 is no longer available, but Mystery Puzzle #9 is on the Artifact Puzzles website for $60 USD. New Mystery Puzzles are being added soon! No sticker shock, here guys! These are high quality, artisan puzzles that will last for decades if well cared for.
Artifact Puzzles : Website / FaceBook
Disclosure: I received a complimentary puzzle from the manufacturer in exchange for review. The opinions are my own.
Thanks for reading, and please click the Follow Button under my profile on the right side of the page. To support posts like this in the future, consider joining my Patreon!
The New Ecru - Mystery Puzzles No image, just pieces! Can you solve the puzzle? @artifactpuzzles #woodenpuzzle #woodenjigsaw #mysterypuzzle #puzzlereview #puzzle #jigsaw #disabledpuzzler #puzzler #review I'm a sucker for a good mystery. It piques my curiosity and I just can't seem to help myself!
SC says I’m stubborn. I claim it’s more being so determined that I ignore my limits. The end result is usually the same. I push too hard, and end up in bed staring at the ceiling. Not this time! Well….sort of this time. I spent the day in bed, but thanks to my incredible stubbornness/determination; I had this awesome puzzle to do.
I really love this box. Artifact Puzzles boxes are sturdy, covered in a ribbed blue cloth that helped my grip and has a little magnet in the lip of the lid for reusability.
Artifact Puzzles are made with environmentally friendly plywood and soy-based inks. The pieces are thick, about 1/2cm, which is great because unlike chipboard puzzles, these will last a really long time if you take care of them. SC still has the wooden puzzle his grandfather made back in the 1950s! (SC Edit: I can’t remember what it looks like, it has no reference image!)
Because the pieces are laser-cut, there is a wide range in shapes available. This includes the themed whimsies! I’m not sure who liked the puzzle more, myself or SC!
Hurricane really wanted to help with this one! She smelled all the pieces and hid under the lap desk while I assembled.
This is one of the most delightful puzzles I’ve ever had the pleasure of assembling! Engagingly tricky to assemble, but not so much that it is disheartening; this puzzle brightened an otherwise deary day. I loved the interplay of whimsies and computer technician jokes! I found myself laughing so loudly I woke Hurricane when I found the ID10T ERROR!
Problem exists between keyboard and chair!
Also giggle-worthy were the computer bugs, test tubes of viruses and random mice!
Then there was this guy, my favorite of the whimsies, a three-part dragon.
All in all, it was a productive afternoon! I got to work this fantastic puzzle, SC got to keep me in bed and resting. CFS is no fun, but I hope that my blogging will help others see that not only are they not alone, but there are tons of fun things to do working around the fatigue.
PUZZLE SPECS
Company: Artifact Puzzles
Title: Computer Catastrophes
Artist: Randal Spangler
Designer: Jef Bambas
Year released: 2018
Pieces: 182
Cut-Style: Random
Finished size: 10″ by 10″ inches
Bonus poster: No
Made in USA
QUALITY:
Box: 6.5″ by 8.75″ by 1.75″ inches
Board: Thick and sturdy wooden pieces
Cut: Laser-cut
Image Quality: Excellent, great color saturation
Finish: Semi-gloss, with great color saturation
Puzzle Dust: Nonexistent!
Piece shapes: Irregular with plenty of themed whimsies
Piece Fit: Loose, but the addition of certain pieces will “lock” a section so that they can be moved in small and medium blocks
Disability Notes: Honestly, I think the review speaks for itself. I managed to assemble this on a lap desk in bed without losing any pieces! I did rely on the advice I’d received that to place the pieces together, they had to be put in from above and not the usual sideways motion.
Where to buy: Computer Catastrophes is available on the Artifact Puzzles website for $40 USD. No sticker shock, here guys! These are high quality, artisan puzzles that will last for decades if well cared for. These puzzles are a definite birthday/Christmas/Yule/I-messed-up present!
Artifact Puzzles : Website / FaceBook
Disclosure: I received a complimentary puzzle from the manufacturer in exchange for review. The opinions are my own.
Thanks for reading, and please click the Follow Button under my profile on the right side of the page. To support posts like this in the future, consider joining my Patreon!
Laughter and Wooden Puzzles: A Computer Catastrophe Review @artifactpuzzles #randalspangler #woodenpuzzle #CFS #bedrestunderprotest #catsofinstgram #HurricaneEnlil #puzzlepaws SC says I'm stubborn. I claim it's more being so determined that I ignore my limits. The end result is usually the same.
I was writing my morning pages at the end of September (hard to believe that wasn’t even a week ago) and started thinking about things that go together with Halloween movies and books. I remembered an October when I manufactured artifact puzzles when I would put on scary movies while I separated the puzzle pieces and boxed them up.
I no longer work with the day to day of the business, but I still love the puzzles and recently designed the pieces for The Scream by Edvard Munch. So for my first October Pairing, I want to talk about which movies I think go well with my artifact puzzle designs. If you are a puzzle lover, like me, or are having a gathering for The Holiday, you should have enough time to order a puzzle for Halloween.
Artifact Puzzles – Van Gogh Starry Night
Everyone knows this image. It’s a poster in a dorm room. So I tried to give it a twist. I swirled and whirled all of the signs of the zodiac into this puzzle then added the symbols, too.
If puzzling with the kids, I would pair this with Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas and once the kids have fallen asleep I would put on Zodiac and Suspect Zero.
Artifact Puzzles – Garden of Death
I love this image. This puzzle was one of my early designs. It includes a multi-piece monster plant and a Jack-o-Lantern. It’s a perfect pairing with Little Shop Of Horrors.
My mom gave me a great Halloween noises CD that came with a DVD of the 1960’s version of Little Shop of Horrors (1960) and I was happily surprised by a young Jack Nicholson (as pictured in the lead image).
Artifact Puzzles – Justin Hillgrove Creature Ladder
This image makes me smile. It’s fun. It’s whimsical. And monsters. I designed some of my pieces to represent these monsters, then their neighbors became their own monsters, and so on . . . The puzzle is a monsterfest!
This is a shorter puzzle, so the first time, during family fun-time, I would pair it with the monster squad
then after the kidlets have gone to bed, how about going full Cryptid with laughably horrible films like: Loch Ness Terror and Abominable
Or a Bigfoot comedy like Strange Wilderness
Artifact Puzzles – Waterhouse Lady of Shalott
The Lady of Shalott is a ballad by the English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Like his other early poems – “Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere”, and “Galahad” – the poem recasts Arthurian subject matter loosely based on medieval sources.
I find this image haunting. So while working this puzzle, after the kids have gone to bed, I recommend: An American Haunting and my mate’s personal favorite The Exorcism of Emily Rose
And of course, The Scream – you can sign up to get an email when it’s in stock!
It’s not available yet, but I worked hard on it because I love it!
At first the movie pairing is obvious: Scream Scream 2 Scream 3 Scream 4
But then you’ll notice the symbolism and want to watch TrollHunter.
#OctPairs
There you have it. My first offering of October Pairings. I hope you find the same joy in movies and puzzles as I do. When I started making these puzzles, I was surprised how they became the center of every family gathering. They bring people together, and they’re fun to do alone.
What fun things do you think pair up well? Let me know at #OctPairs on Twitter. Or here in the comments.
October Pairings (#OctPairs): Wooden Jigsaw Puzzles and Spooky Movies. I was writing my morning pages at the end of September (hard to believe that wasn't even a week ago) and started thinking about things that go together with Halloween movies and books.
These 20 Contemporary Art Jigsaw Puzzles Will Rock Your World.
I have a new obsession: Artifact wooden jigsaw puzzles. I wasn’t a “puzzle person” until I saw these. Gorgeously crafted artisanal laser cut wooden jigsaw puzzles that feature the work of some of today’s hippest contemporary artists. Are you ready to see the coolest puzzles ever? (more…)
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Putting the jigsaw into wooden jigsaw puzzles
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Completing a jigsaw puzzle feels fantastic! The sense of accomplishment when that last puzzle piece snaps into place is not only great for your mood – it’s even great for keeping your brain sharp as can be. So, why not preserve all that hard work by gluing and framing your jigsaw puzzle to turn it into a hanging work of art! There are lots of ways to preserve a jigsaw puzzle so that you can…
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Jigsaw Puzzles - Order Artifact Puzzles - Joe Vaux Fishing Village Wooden Jigsaw Puzzle Big SALE
Order Artifact Puzzles - Joe Vaux Fishing Village Wooden Jigsaw Puzzle Big SALE
Our Review: Beautiful puzzle!This product shipped very quickly and as described. The art itself is beautiful, and the puzzle pieces add a layer of beauty on top of that. It didn’t take very long to complete this puzzle (a handful of hours), but it was fun to put together and definitely...
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