Puzzle: Catherine Palace, Pushkin, Russia


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 51.12cm x 66.52cm
Producer: MB Puzzles, Big Ben
Notes: The Catherine Palace (Russian: Екатерининский дворец) was the Rococo summer residence of the Russian tsars, located in the town of Tsarskoye Selo (Pushkin), 25 km south-east of St. Petersburg, Russia.

The residence originated in 1717, when Catherine I of Russia engaged the German architect Johann-Friedrich Braunstein to construct a summer palace for her pleasure. In 1733, Empress Anna commissioned Mikhail …

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Puzzle: Le passage by Vadik Suljakov

Le passage, med
Size: 750 pieces
Dimensions: 59.70cm x 39.37cm
Producer: Sure-Lox
Painting: photo
Notes: Since arriving in the United States over a decade ago, master Russian artist Vadik Suljakov (pronounced Shul-ya-kov) has established himself as one of the most distinguished young impressionists in the country. Suljakov, born in the cultural center of Moscow in 1960, comes from an intellectual family with many generations of artists and writers. [ Read more

Puzzle: Tuscany, Italy


Size: 750 pieces
Dimensions: 39cm x 60cm
Producer: Impressions, Sure-lox
Notes: Winemaking, or vinification, is the production of wine, starting with selection of the grapes  or other produce and ending with bottling the finished wine. Although most wine is made from grapes, it may also be made from other fruit or non-toxic plant material. Mead is a wine that is made with honey being the primary ingredient after water.

Winemaking can be divided into two …

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Puzzle: Garden Bluebird


Size: 300 pieces (oversized)
Dimensions: 38cm x 54cm
Producer: Buffalo Games
Artist: Joe Hautman
Notes: The bluebirds are a group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the genus Sialia of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas. They have blue, or blue and red, plumage. Female birds are less brightly colored than males, although color patterns are similar and there …

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Puzzle: Bremen, Germany


Size: 500 pieces, 3 missing
Dimensions: 35cm x 48cm
Producer: Canada Games, Windsor
Location: The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area (2.4 million people). Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.

Bremen is connected with a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, …

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Puzzle: Mooney Falls, Havasu Canyon, Arizona


Size: 500 pieces
Producer: Kodacolor
Notes: Mooney Falls is named after James Mooney, who died here while attempting to rescue an injured friend by climbing back to the top with his friend tied onto his back.

Mooney Falls is about 1 mile past Havasu Falls, just past the campground. It is a towering and breathtaking waterfall of about 200 ft. in height. There is a really nice view of the falls from the top, looking down …

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Puzzle: Maroon Park, Colorado, USA


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 51.12cm x 66.52cm
Producer: Big Ben, MB Puzzles
Notes: This is a very beautiful park above Aspen. The bell shaped mountains in the background glow a reddish colour in the sunlight & they are reflected on the lake, hence the mountains called Maroon Bells and the lake Maroon Lake. [TravelPod site]

Maroon is a dark red color. Maroon is derived from French marron (“chestnut”). The first recorded …

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Puzzle: Alabama Hills, California, USA

Alabama Hills, California, USA, med
Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 51.12cm x 66.52cm
Producer: Big Ben, MB Puzzles
Notes: Alabama Hills are a “range of hills” and rock formations near the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the Owens Valley, west of Lone Pine in Inyo County, California.

Though geographically considered a range of hills, geologically they are a part of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

The Alabama Hills were named …

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Puzzle: Chambord Château


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 73cm x 48.5cm
Producer: Sure-Lox
Notes: The royal Château de Chambord at Chambord, Loir-et-Cher, France is one of the most recognizable châteaux in the world because of its very distinct French Renaissance architecture that blends traditional French medieval forms with classical Italian structures.

The building, which was never completed, was constructed by King François I in part to be near to his mistress the Comtesse de Thoury, Claude Rohan, wife of …

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Puzzle: Machu Picchu, Peru


Size: 750 pieces
Dimensions: 86.36 cm x 30.48 cm
Producer: Panorific, Sure-Lox
Box: photo
Notes: Machu Picchu is a pre-Columbian 15th-century Inca site located 2,430 metres  above sea level. It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, which is 80 kilometres northwest of Cusco and through which the Urubamba River flows. Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti …

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Puzzle: Tropical Meditation Garden


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 51.12cm x 66.52cm
Producer: MB Puzzles, Big Ben
Box: photo
Notes: A tropical garden features tropical plants and requires good rainfall or a decent irrigation or sprinkler system for watering. These gardens typically need fertilizer and heavy mulching.

Tropical gardens are no longer exclusive to tropical areas. Many gardeners in colder climates are adopting the tropical garden design, which is possible through careful choice of plants …

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Puzzle: Hidden Cottage II by Thomas Kinkade


Size: 300 pieces
Dimensions: 46cm x 36cm
Producer:  Ceaco
Artist: Thomas Kinkade (born January 19, 1958 in Sacramento, California) is an American painter of realistic, bucolic, and idyllic subjects. He is notable for the mass marketing of his work as printed reproductions and other licensed products via The Thomas Kinkade Company. He characterizes himself as “Thomas Kinkade, Painter of Light” (a trademarked phrase), and as “America’s most-collected living artist”. Media Arts, …

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Puzzle: Hour of Prayer by Thomas Kinkade


Size: 300 pieces (oversized)
Dimensions: 46cm x 61cm
Producer:  Ceaco
Artist: Thomas Kinkade
Painting: “The Hour of Prayer anticipates the dawning of a Peaceful Kingdom when time will be no more and prayer will be a direct communion with the divine. Until then, we must content ourselves with such glimpses of immortality as can be found in the Garden of Prayer, which exists in the hearts of the faithful.” [ Read more

Puzzle: Twilight in the Park by Rod Chase


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.26cm x 35.56cm
Producer:  The Canadian Group, Sure-Lox
Artist: Rod Chase, Photorealist
Painting: Twilight in Central Park
Notes: Rod Chase is known to his collectors for producing photo-realism at its finest. The talented artist says, “Being a photorealist, I am dependent on finding accurate reference material for each painting.” Chase works with acrylics on canvas, spending hundreds of hours on each painting with the ultimate goal of …

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Puzzle: The Concert Room, by John O’Brien


Size: 500 pieces
Producer:  Parlor Puzzles, Soft-touch velvet backing
Artist: John O’Brien – John’s artwork conveys a series of mystery and romance seldom found in contemporary art. With exquisite craftsmanship, poetic ideals, and a modern awareness, he created a unique style, which has come to be known as “contemporary romantic realism”. His passion for France, Italy and Ireland can be seen in the romantic settings of elegant interiors, European street scenes, and neighborhood cafes and pubs. …

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Puzzle: Daughter of the Deep, by Josephine Wall


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 33.02cm x 48.26cm
Producer:  Rose Art, Jewel Scapes series
Artist: Josephine Wall is an English born artist who currently resides in the seaside community of Dorset, England. She specializes in mystical, surreal-like, fantasy paintings. [Bio on Josephine Wall site]

Notes: Mortals hold seashells to their ears to hear the sounds of the seas and imagine life in the deep waters below. Perhaps a mermaid would look into …

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