Workman Publishing - They're Owl About Great Puzzles

Hello out there in puzzle land! It's been a hot minute since my last puzzle musing, but I'm back and ready to talk dissectology!

On the board today is a new to me brand, Workman Publishing. This company was founded in 1968 and is now the largest trade book publisher in the US! Thankfully for us, they don't just publish books, Workman puts out a pretty fantastic puzzle as well. Today's puzzle is called "The Illustrated Herbiary: California Poppy".

This 750 piece puzzle is actually part of a trilogy that also consists of "The Illustrated Bestiary: Monarch Butterfly" and "The Illustrated Crystallary Puzzle: Garden Quartz". Fun fact, these puzzles are a sort of companion series for books of the same by Maia Toll. Make sure you zoom in on this one, or you'll miss those gorgeous details inside each crystal.

The box measures 10.75 x 7.75 x 2.25. On the front is an image of the art by Kate O’Hara and on the back is more information on her and the books by Maia Toll. Inside, the puzzle is sealed in a non reusable plastic bag and a small poster is also provided. The pieces are a standard ribbon cut with a slight gloss to them. They run about 1.8mm thick and are very well constructed. There's also a secret surprise on the back of them, but you have to read to the end to find out what it is!

Anyone want to guess how I started? All together now….with the edges! I know, I know, but I'm an old dog with zero new tricks. After the border, I got started on the moon and the owl, which was surprisingly easy. I thought it would be hard, but the feathers all go in one direction, so I was able to orient the pieces fairly quickly. After that, I did the branches and then the light blue diamond border. Now, this is where it DID get tricky. The stars and curved lines were a little harder for me to orientate, so I had to sort by shape. Yeah, not my favorite thing to do, but really my only choice in order to keep track of which pieces I tried.

Now, before I show you the neat surprise, I think it's important that you know how much blood, sweat and tears go into these articles! Gaze upon the horror that befell me when I tried to flip this puzzle over!

Y'all. That was rough. I just stood there and stared at it for a bit. Luckily, the fit is pretty amazing and it was easy to repair. But look! How awesome is the back of this puzzle?! I love when puzzle companies include little extras like this. It's such a fun and beautiful design. Now, I'm not sure if it's standard on all their puzzles or just limited to this series.

But do you see that fit? Forget about it! Like I've said before, I wish my fitted sheets were this easy to fold.

I'm really impressed with the variety of puzzles that Workman has to offer. They really have something for everyone! They have puzzles in the 300, 500, 750 and 1000 range, which is pretty fantastic. It's nice when a company considers all levels of puzzlers.

I really adore this one, Everything is Made Out of Magic by Dutch artist Valesca van Waveren. The art is so cute and I love all the different patterns!

Another amazing one is this 500 piece puzzle, Ocean Anatomy, by artist Julia Rothman. This puzzle is also one that utilizes art from a book of the same name. I really do like puzzles like this. I'm a very visual person, so labeled illustrations really are my jam.

For all you Sandra Boynton fans, remember this blast from the past? This puzzle features an image from a Boynton birthday card that's been in circulation since 1975! I kid you not, my mom and her siblings have been passing around that Hippo Birdie birthday card for as long as I can remember. I don't even know how they keep it in one piece! That card has been changing hands 3 times a year since at least 1980! And on top of that, everytime my mom calls me for my birthday, she starts singing "hippo birdie, two ewes"... I may have to buy this puzzle for her.