To the Moon and Back
Happy Lunar New Year! The Lunar New Year celebrates the first new moon in the lunisolar calendar, which is based on the phases of the moon and the position of the Sun. We have explored the Lunar New Year on the blog before, so I wanted to take a slightly different approach and focus on, well, the moon!
It seemed fitting to start with a more realistic depiction of the moon, so I puzzled Moon Flower Portable Puzzle in 500 pieces with art by Katie Daisy from Chronicle Books.The puzzle comes in an adorable cloth pouch, and the pieces are stored in a paper bag inside the pouch.
Moon Flower by Chronicle Books
The background of this puzzle was absolutely delightful, as it had a large variety of flowers and leaves to work with. The moon itself was quite a bit trickier, in part because it was completely gray in color. Additionally, most of the pieces fit in most spots, so I had to carefully check to see if my placement was correct. The moon’s craters and lines helped guide me to the end of this puzzle.
13 Moons by Indigenous Collection by CAP
I also recently puzzled 13 Moons in 1000 pieces from the Indigenous Collection by CAP. I absolutely love the artwork by indigenous artist Betty Albert. This was my first puzzle from this collection, and I really like that the back of the box contains information about the artist. The pieces are a fairly typical white board, and the puzzle came together nicely without any issues. Another beautiful moon-focused image from this collection is Raven Moon in 500 pieces by artist Mark Preston.
Next, I puzzled Cats on the Roof with art by Iryna Pustovar in 1000 pieces from Magnolia. This was also a new brand for me, and I really enjoyed the matte, linen pieces–they have such a pleasant texture! I started with the colorful buildings, chimney, and outlines of the cats. Then I finished up the moon before digging into the tricker sky and red roof. I enjoyed this puzzle, and look forward to doing more from this brand!
While the previous puzzles prominently feature the moon itself, I couldn’t resist doing a few of the many beautiful puzzles that depict people in the moonlight. First in this category is Ten Wishes by Mélanie Delon in 1000 pieces from Cobble Hill.
I’ve actually had this puzzle in my collection for years, but was a little intimidated by the dark background! I decided this blog post was the perfect reason to actually do it, but I admit I had some regrets when I first started sorting the pieces. Fortunately, it wasn’t quite as bad as I thought it would be, and I was able to confidently put together the woman, the ripples in the water, and even the stairs and rocks. The tree and teal sky was a bit trickier, and I did have to sort by shape in order to finish up the rest of the black in the trees and water. This one definitely took some persistence and good lighting, but I am very pleased with the outcome!
Another puzzle that has been in my to-do pile for too long was Swans with art by Chris Ortega in 1000 pieces from Heye. I started with the sky, lantern, and birds on this one, then did the woman’s skin and the interesting parts of the boat. I finished up the water and green before digging into the more challenging boat and red dress. I made a poor choice by doing this puzzle from my couch, where the lighting wasn’t very good, but, as with the last puzzle, I think the end result is lovely! Another puzzle from Heye that has a captivating moonlit atmosphere is Worlds Apart with art by Andy Kehoe in 1000 pieces.
Some honorable mentions of puzzles featuring people and animals enjoying the moonlight (pictured below) are Moon Garden Workers with art by Rae Ritchie in 500 pieces from Buffalo Games, Moonlight Journey in 300 pieces from Buffalo, and Moon Dance with art by Uta Krogmann in 500 pieces from Eeboo. All three have gorgeous and compelling artwork, and all are most assuredly on my wishlist.
Moon Garden Workers by Buffalo Games
Moonlight Journey by Buffalo Games
Moon Dance by Eeboo
Lastly, I wanted to wrap up with a puzzle that was more a tribute to the moon than anything: To the Moon with art by Aimee Stewart in 1000 pieces from Buffalo.
Like many Aimee Stewart puzzles, this one is chock full of vibrant colors and fun details. I enjoyed studying the moon paraphernalia, including images and patches from the moon missions, vintage futuristic comics and toys, and so much more. But I admit I started this one with the less-busy sky!
The moon and moonlight are such beautiful elements of so many puzzles, and this post only scratched the surface. Do you have a favorite moon-themed puzzle? If you’re itching to explore more cosmic objects through puzzles, check out my space-themed blog post, and of course the huge space category on the Puzzle Warehouse site!
- Gail, @jiggies_and_gems
So many gorgeous Lunar puzzles!! The 500-piece counts that I want are out of stock:( - now I am waiting for PW restocking. Thanks for sharing your puzzles.
