Boxes and Booze 5/11/19 Boxes and Booze 5/11/19

Rose

Red roses have had the symbolic meaning of love for centuries, with the origins traced back to Greek mythology. Aphrodite is usually cited as the source, perhaps from her tears, and the red color from her blood or from the blood of her lover Adonis.

Boxes and Booze 5/4/19 Boxes and Booze 5/4/19

Little Game Hunter

Fancy going on an African safari, anyone? The allure of the classic game hunt is the stuff of novels by the likes of Isak Dinesen in my book, and the only shooting I’d be interested in is with my camera.

Boxes and Booze 4/27/19 Boxes and Booze 4/27/19

Hemlis Box

The “Hemlis Box” (a way of saying “secret” in Swedish) is the creation of Swedish carpenter and cabinet maker Gustav Nilsson.

Boxes and Booze 4/20/19 Boxes and Booze 4/20/19

The Donkey’s Tail

Haven’t we all felt like we are missing our tail, now and then? I suppose we have a choice in those situations, to see things like Eeyore, where everyone else is to blame, or like Pooh, who approaches life with a sunnier disposition.

Boxes and Booze 4/13/19 Boxes and Booze 4/13/19

Chubby Crocodile

When it comes right down to it, who really cares what the difference is between a crocodile and an alligator. I wouldn’t want to meet either one hiding in the water.

Boxes and Booze 4/6/19 Boxes and Booze 4/6/19

KO Box

The KOPA box (also known as the KO box) by Takeyuki Endo from Japan is actually meant to be a box. It says so in the name, it’s a box. But unlike most puzzle boxes, this one comes in pieces.

Boxes and Booze 3/30/19 Boxes and Booze 3/30/19

Brass Monkey

The burr, for the uninitiated, is an ancient mechanical puzzle likely dating back centuries. There is correlation with the classic six piece interlocked burr, a fusion of six sticks with internal notches that fit together in a specific way, and Chinese joinery techniques from the fourth century B.C.E.

Boxes and Booze 3/23/19 Boxes and Booze 3/23/19

Spade Case

It’s time for a little detective work. I suppose discovering the secrets of a puzzle box is actually nothing like solving a real mystery, but it’s a nice analogy at any rate.

Boxes and Booze 3/16/19 Boxes and Booze 3/16/19

Dwemer Construct (Stickman 34)

This is a tale of a puzzle box, however, one that references an ancient lost race of craftspeople who built the most incredible and complex objects.

Boxes and Booze 3/9/19 Boxes and Booze 3/9/19

Popplock T9

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Rainer Popp’s fabulous T9 puzzle lock, regarded by many as one of his very best.

Boxes and Booze 3/2/19 Boxes and Booze 3/2/19

Club Case

It’s getting clubby here at Boxes and Booze this week as we continue the card suit case series from Juno with the Club Case, his second in the series.

Boxes and Booze 2/23/19 Boxes and Booze 2/23/19

The TAO

Let’s take a walk. The path for this is a bit unclear, but I have been assured that if we keep an open mind we will find our way.

Boxes and Booze 2/16/19 Boxes and Booze 2/16/19

Heart Case

The idea for this puzzle was in Juno’s mind for more than twenty years, fully formed, but was far too difficult and time consuming to produce even as a prototype.

Boxes and Booze 2/9/19 Boxes and Booze 2/9/19

Diamond Case

Junichi Yananose is a well-known puzzle designer and crafter who for many years collaborated with Brian Young in Australia.

Boxes and Booze 2/2/19 Boxes and Booze 2/2/19

I’m Home

Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam

Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home – John Howard Payne

Boxes and Booze 1/26/19 Boxes and Booze 1/26/19

My Dog

Kakuda evokes the love felt for our fond companions and describes the scene of this dog jumping and prancing in anticipation as her dinner is set down.

Boxes and Booze 1/19/19 Boxes and Booze 1/19/19

Dovetail Jewel Box

The Dovetail Jewel Box is truly a puzzle jewel of a puzzle box, one that pays homage to so many great puzzle boxes that came before it.

Boxes and Booze 1/12/19 Boxes and Booze 1/12/19

Checkmate Box

This is no ordinary chess themed box. The Stickman No. 14 Puzzle Box, aka the Checkmate Box, represents the evolutionary development of a modern day renaissance artist in his chosen medium.

Boxes and Booze 1/5/19 Boxes and Booze 1/5/19

Walking with the Moon

I’m facing the new year with this sense of wonder, walking with the moon, if you will. Yoh Kakuda captures the sentiment beautifully in this piece, which is closer in style to his automaton work where the movement is the beginning and the end.

Boxes and Booze 12/29/18 Boxes and Booze 12/29/18

Pineapple Secret

Hiroshi Iwahara’s Pineapple Secret is one of the most strikingly beautiful pieces he has created and is an incredible achievement from this master of the Karakuri Creation Group.

A spirited journey through the world of collectible artisan puzzles