Chilkat Valley News - Haines, Alaska

We look at more than 10,000 different photographs every year to find the 300 or so that we will put on our jigsaw puzzles. It is an exhaustive search. We want to make sure we are finding the best images possible for our puzzles.

When we are looking at these photos, we rarely concern ourselves with where the picture is from or even much about what the subject of the photo is. We are looking for photographs that are colorful, fun, sharp, clear, bright and busy. We look for certain themes like castles and hot air balloons, but we try not to limit ourselves too much. And we are willing to try subjects that meet our colorful, fun, sharp, clear, bright and busy criteria even if they are subjects most puzzle companies do not have in their collections. In someways, we like those images even better.

So it was pretty neat when the editor of the Chilkat Valley News in Alaska contacted me recently. He had seen a puzzle of ours that featured a building located on their main street. The puzzle was a panoramic puzzle that we had sold back in 2008 and 2009. The editor wanted to know why we had selected that particular picture. The town is located in Alaska between moutain and the ocean. It is a very scenic location. If one were to visit the town, the last thing they might notice is a rustic building on main street. But that is the image we picked.

The Editor and I traded e-mails and he wrote a small article about the puzzle and the building. Although, we traded e-mails, they missed his deadline, so the last line is technically correct, but I did respond.

Below, I reprint his article with his permission. I found it very interesting to know some of the history and detail behind an image we selected. I hope you will too.

Written by Tom Morphet - editor Chilkat Valley News. Originally printed in the Chilkat Valley New on December 8, 2011.

A popular flower garden on Main Street has been immortalized on a jigsaw puzzle sold nationwide.
Fuzzy von Stauffenberg’s arrangement of lobelias, pansies, salvia, alyssum and tiger lilies along a white, picket fence is part of a series of panoramic puzzles that includes ones of scenes in Venice, Italy, Trafalgar Square, London and St. Basil’s Cathedral, Moscow.
“I’m immortalized in a puzzle, or my flowers are,” Von Stauffenberg said this week.
The garden scene puzzle, including as backdrop, a weathered, one-room shack at 314 Main Street, is titled “American Home, Main Street, Haines, Alaska.” It was created by the LaFayette Puzzle Factory in LaFayette, Indiana.
Von Stauffenberg said the photo used for the puzzle appears to have been taken the early 1990s. There’s no telling who shot it, she said. “We always had people taking pictures of the garden with Cortez, my cat. Somebody who came through took a picture and sent it off to somebody.”
Although she’s been keeping a garden there since 1984, Von Stauffenberg said she recognized the arrangement featured on the puzzle. “That was probably the most beautiful of the flower boxes we ever did. Everything came together that summer for a perfect garden.”
The building featured in the photo hasn’t been a home for at least 30 years and may have been moved from near the Canada border, she said. It operated as a store selling trinkets and Native crafts before her family bought it in 1984 and started using it as a storage shed.
Von Stauffenberg said her late husband Eric von Stauffenberg, hung a small American flag in the window, and put a metal fuel jug, wicker basket and bicycle rack on the sill because he thought they were eye-catching. The couple operated a restaurant next door for several years.
Rod Hinson, who operates a variety store at Second and Main, has about 10 copies of the 350-piece puzzle for sale. He said he purchased 14 of them through an Ebay seller in California and his mom found and sent him another six.
“When tourists are coming through and they want something from Haines, it’s something we can offer them,” Hinson said. “It doesn’t really show anything about Haines. It’s just a neat backdrop with flowers, but it gets your attention.”
A co-worker brought Von Stauffenberg a copy of the puzzle last spring, but it’s still in the box, she said. “I may get around to doing it when I’m no longer doing flower gardens in my old age,” she said.
Calls and e-mail messages to LaFayette Puzzle Co. this week went unanswered.

Pretty neat! Do not be surprised if we go looking for images from Haines Alaska in the future!

JP

QVC

The e-mail that I was going to be on QVC's Great Gifts show during the early morning hours of black friday (the day after Thanksgiving) came on Friday Nov. 18 around 7pm. I had 24 hours to confirm I could be there. I confirmed within 20 minutes. And then I had a panic attack.

I had first met the QVC buyer more than 2 years ago. I had gone to on-air guest training 15 months ago. I passed the class and the forgot everything they told me. I had lost weight and put it back on thinking I would never go on the air. Suddenly the thing that I thought would never happen was happening. The panic attack continued.

I had a lot to do in less than 7 days. I had to get to Philadelphia. I was going to miss Thanksgiving. I had to lose some weight. I had to stop biting my nails. I had to start washing my face better so that I did not have a break out. I needed a haircut (but not too short of a haircut). I needed to make sure I scheduled time at the QVC salon for make up. And I needed to find those QVC on-air guest notes I took. I needed to think about what I was going to say.

But it all worked out. I found my notes. I got a great haircut. I made my appointment with the QVC salon. I stopped biting my nails (still good 4 weeks later!). I found a cheap airfare (Thanksgiving day is a great day to fly. They even have turkey in the airport). And it was easy to know what I wanted to say on air. The puzzle I was showing it one of my favorites.

QVC is a very professional organization. Incredibly accomodating and helpful to the on-air guest. My show was going to run from 1am - 4am eastern time. I was to arrive at 1opm. I arrived at 9:45. There was a nice waiting area with coffee, pop, snack foods, cupcakes and water. The seats were comfortable. There were a couple of dressing rooms the on-air guests shared. And everyone was friendly. I was the only rookie going on and the rest of the guests could not have been nicer. They all had encouraging words. They put me at ease.

I will admit to being nervous. But the most nervous I got was when I was checking in with the security guard at the front desk. I have no idea why, but I actually started hyperventilating a bit and had trouble telling him my name. It was so strange. It was the only time the whole evening that happened. Sure I was nervous, but the most physically nervous moment was at the security desk.

So I arrived at 9:45pm and after a few minutes of introductions and a quick tour, I was given a beeper so the producers could find me. Not that I was going anywhere, but everyone gets one. As I walked in the guest waiting area a funny thing happened. There was a woman sitting there that I knew. It was one of those moments where you see someone and your mind says you know them. They are a familiar face. And you just need a moment to place them. Then I realized I did know her. I had watched her almost every night on QVC talking about bed linens. I knew her, but she did not know me.

From 10pm to midnight I just sat around. I put together my puzzle and watched QVC. I watched the difference guests to get a feel for what words they used and how they acted on the air. At midnight things started to happen quickly. I went to make up at midnight. A very nice make up artist made me look not too shiny and not too pale. I was quite pleased. He even helped me fix my hair so it was not sticking up in back like it has done for the last 40 years Dennis the Menace style. Then I met with the host for my show, Amy. Amy and I spent about 10 minutes together talking about the puzzle, its key features, the type of person who might like the puzzle. She loved that it was my first time on the air and said she was going to mention it.

My time slot was 2:25am. I was going to be on the air for between 5 and 7 minutes. The final timing would depend on how the show was running and my success at generating phone calls and sales. I was on set by 1:45 getting set up. I was a bit nervous and I set up really early.

I can not tell you how talented the QVC hosts are. Amy was unbelievable. She never took a break. And she made it sound like she was just hanging out with friends who had brought in the most incredible items. It did not matter if it was a touch pad computer, a flashlight, or a tin of candy. She sounded knowledgable and convincing about each product. The QVC hosts are incredibly talented.

My segment started and the rest is a blur. I was nervous for the first few seconds and then I was off and talking. I think the host had a lot to do with making me relax. Our segment ended up being over 7 minutes long. It felt much shorter at the time. The sales were strong and I was really quite pleased. QVC was too.

I was done by 2:40. I was pretty hyper and did not leave the studio until 3:30. I returned to my hotel and took a shower. I watched my segment on a computer in the lobby, but there was no sound. I did not actually see and hear the segment until almost two days later. I took a 7:30am flight home and slept all the way on the airplane.

To watch my segment, visit the QVC website - www.QVC.com. Search Sphere puzzles. My puzzle is the Royce McClure puzzles.

JP

We had a good laugh in the office this week.

A puzzler had called this week because her puzzle was missing a piece. She was really upset that she could not complete her puzzle. Missing pieces are a rare occurrence, but they do happen. We put something like 5 billion puzzle pieces into boxes each year. One or two is bound to bounce out despite our best efforts.

By the way, no puzzle company likes to talk about missing pieces. But every puzzle company hears from consumers who have missing pieces. We usually ask the folks to try and complete the puzzle first. Often folks are convinced a piece is missing because they can not "find" it while assembling the puzzle. The piece is there. The colors or shape are just different than what they are expecting. As they get to the end of the puzzle they "find" the piece they were looking for.

Anyway, we spoke to the puzzler in the morning and reassured her we would help her out.

Later in the afternoon she called us back. She said she had told her husband about calling us and how happy she was with our customer service. Her husband was quiet for a few minutes and then said he said he needed to admit to something. He had vacuumed up the piece earlier in the week. He saw it go in and decided not to say anything. Our puzzler was calling to say she had gotten the vacuum cleaner and opened the bag. She found the piece (slightly bent, a little dusty, but still usable) and her puzzle was complete.

We all had a good laugh imagining the scene at this house. And we all agreed we too would have cut open the vacuum cleaner bag to retrieve the piece.

I was glad her husband came clean (pun intended) and she was able to finish the puzzle.

JP

This place has become a dismal place of death like silence.

I just read that on another blog I like and follow. I do not want this place to be like that. So today I write.

A really neat thing happened in the last couple of months.

We have a new product being introduced this fall. It is a series of Origami titles. Now, origami kits have been around forever. I never really did them because I thought the activity was difficult and the instructions impossible to decifer. But we came up with some neat incremental innovations that really improved the experience of making the pieces.

Among other things:
We rewrote the instructions with the novice in mind.
We added little dash marks on the paper indicating where to fold and crease the paper.
We printed on the paper so that when you are finished, the flower (or dolphin, or horse, or fish or whatever) looks like the object.
We used paper that was meant to be folded and creased.
We included a background that stood up in front of your origami projects.

The item is really nice.

A few weeks before we went into our first printing, Cora in our office suggested we do video instructions too. I loved the idea, but worried about our ability to execute. In my head video instructions meant writing scripts, renting film studios, hiring actors, editing and more. We have over 20 different designs in our first run and that sounded like a lot of work. And expensive. Mostly I thought the idea sounded expensive. I made the executive decision not to include anything about video instructions on our packaging until the videos were done.

I did this assuming that it would take months and months to make the videos (if we ever got to doing them).

Then I forgot about video instructions.

Until a few weeks later when Cora and her team e-mail me some links to videos on YouTube.

The videos were up. And they were really good. I mean REALLY REALLY good.

The joke is that they were filmed in our conference room. And they were filmed using a cell phone camera. The script was Cora or Vivian or Sujata just making the piece. They had written the instructions and had made the items a ton of times, so they knew exactly what they were doing. They knew the confusing parts and how to explain them clearly.

Take a look at this link to the LPF YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/LPFPuzzle

What I really love about this project is that Cora and the team knew how good these would be and went ahead and did it. The cost was mimimal. All our other projects are moving along right on schedule. I worried about costs and execution. They worried about just making a great video. And it worked.

I am mad at myself that I did not make a bigger deal about the video instructions on our first packaging. I should have trusted the team when they said the instructions would be easy and cheap. I have learned my lesson. We are redoing the packaging right now to catch our next manufacturing run.

And here is a little insiders tip. Check out the Horse Origami video. Around the 6:25 mark there is a neat little trick you can do with the horse.

JPC

Our family has been putting together puzzles alot lately. The last two were from our Colorluxe 500pc and 750pc Panoramic lines. These puzzles are on sale at Target, but their quantities are limited. We put together a really fun image of Hawaiian Sarongs on sale at a shack in Hawaii. This puzzle was pretty easy, but a lot of fun. There are a ton of different colors and patterns making lots of different zones to complete. There are very few "dead" areas in the puzzle (almost no blue sky, just some shadows scattered about). It took us less than 2 hours to put together. I am sure others can complete them faster, but we try not to make it a race. I like puzzle time to be about talking and working together. Next we tackled an image of two adorable cats. I had lower expectations for this puzzle, but I loved the cats. I am a cat person and this is why this image made the cut. I was worried the background would be difficult since there was a lot of green. But I discovered (happily), that the background greens are made up of many different shades of green. And there are a variety of textures in the leaves and plants. This made the background challenging, but not impossible. I am not the type of puzzler that likes the super duper difficult puzzles that are all one color. I want to do puzzles that are challenging and fun. Not unfinishable. Doing our puzzles makes me really proud. I am pround at how nicely the pieces fit together. I was able to put areas together and then move the section of puzzle into the area is belongs without the puzzle pieces coming apart. I had to be gentle, but they basically stayed together. More and more, I find that other puzzles I buy from competitors do not hold together well enough for me to move sections around like that. I like that ours do hold together. I am always curious if other consumer goods companies presidents use and work with their products like I do. I like that I can discuss with a puzzler a puzzle LPF produced and we both have assembled. I did that today and it prompted me to write this entry. If you have not tried a Colorluxe puzzle, get yourself over to Target and find one. I think you will be pleasantly surprised. JP

I am up late tonight. I am working on quote sheets, samples and presentation materials.

It is getting late in the selling cycle to get our products on shelf for this coming 4th quarter. By now, most retailers have made their decisions on what they will carry for the the holiday seasons. In a few weeks, we will actually begin shipping for the Fall retail selling season.

But this week, we received a request to meet with someone who had seen our puzzles in other retailers. They liked what they saw and they want to see if we fit into their puzzle set.

This is very exciting. And very rushed. The retailer thought they had made all their decisions. But seeing our Spring line in stores has made them curious. The funny part is we have been trying to meet with them for months.

Being the new guy on the block, we will jump at any opportunity. So I am up late putting together a presentation for them. I have been in their stores a lot this winter and I was back today to make sure I had not missed anything. I can tell from visiting the store so many times what sells well and what does not. When you go look at the puzzle aisle of a retailer every week for months, you can see what is new on the shelf and what is gathering dust. I will use this investigation to make recommendations.

But first I am taking a break to write a blog post. I am going to try and write one blog post a week from now until the end of the year. It did not seem so hard when I decided to commit to writing more frequently. But now that week three is dawning, I am feeling a little pressure to keep up. I do have a back up plan if I can not think of anything to write. I might just post pictures of cute babies I see. Other blogs do this and it is very effective. Everyone likes to look at cute babies.

My next post might be about the puzzle our family put together this weekend. It was one of our Colorluxe 500 piece puzzles on sale at Target right now ($3.99 for a limited time!). It was really fun and I am not just saying that. The colors were great. I rarely tell you to go buy one of our puzzles, but you really should check out our Colorluxe puzzles at Target. I am so proud of them.

Keep on puzzling!

JP

It was my turn to answer the phone. We are still small enough the president has to answer the phone when it rings.

"Hello" I said warmly. "Thank you for calling the Lafayette Puzzle Factory. How may I help you?"

"There is a pea in my puzzle"

Uh-oh. My mind raced. I have answered the phone for 3 years. I have talked to hundreds of puzzlers. I thought I had heard it all.

I said the first thing I could think of "Huh?"

"There is a pea in my puzzle and I want to know why".

My mind was in full swoon. A pea. In the the puzzle? How did a pea get in her puzzle. We do not allow food near the puzzles. No drinks, no food allowed in the production area. A pea.

"The pea is bright green and it stands out against the puzzle. And I want to know why."

Bright green? A pea in the puzzle? I have never heard of such a thing.

I asked "What puzzle are you trying to assemble and are you sure the pea was in the box?"

The caller answered "The pea is in the upper right hand corner."

Upper right hand corner? What does that mean? Why is she telling me what corner the pea is in. Wait. Wait. Does she mean that pea is in the picture.

Gathering my composure "Do you mean the pea is in the picture? In the image?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "Why is it there?"

"What puzzle are you assemblying?"

At this point the caller explained that she was assemblying a picture of licorice candy we have in the line this winter. The licorice is basically pink, white, and brown. It is a neat puzzle and I remember looking at proofs of the candy. But I did not remember any peas in the picture.

The caller went on to describe her theory for why the pea was in the image. While she described her theory, I went scrambling to find the image on our servers.

"The Cherokee Indians (jp note: it might have been another tribe, but I know how to spell Cherokee, so Cherokee it is. If you know what tribe was described, let me know and I will correct this sentence) had a belief that you can never have all of a like thing together. When they wove a blanket of wool, they would be sure to include one thread of straw so that the blanket was not all wool. Did you add the pea so that the image would not be all candy? Like the Cherokees"

I love this theory. And I found the image. There is a green pea in the upper right hand corner. How it got there? I have no idea. But I like the theory. We put the pea in the upper right hand corner so that the image would not be all of one like thing. What a great idea. Maybe we should hide a pea in every image we do. It would sort of go with my name, JP. It might be the hook we have been looking for.

But that is not why the pea is there. As a matter of fact, until this phone call, not a single person had noticed the pea in the image. Now, we all notice it. Our eyes are drawn to it. Its all we can see when we look at the image.

It was a fun phone call and we talked for quite some time about puzzles and the types of images the caller liked. She was an expert when it came to puzzles and I enjoyed listening.

Here is the image:

Do you see the pea? I do.

Keep on puzzling!

JP

I have written in the past about why folks like to assemble puzzles.

• Its an affordable, relaxing activity.
• There is a sense of challenge while putting the pieces together and a sense of accomplishment when the last piece goes in.
• It can be a shared activity with the whole family gathered around or a solitary activity.

I hear from folks who have their favorite images and they put them together over and over. Others glue the puzzle and save it. Or display it on the wall. Others do a puzzle once and give it to some one else to assemble. Or they just put it away in a closet.

But why do we make puzzles? Why do we sell them. Why do we look at thousands and thousands of images to find the perfect puzzle image?

Like the reason why folks assemble puzzles, the reasons and motivations are many.

I have always liked puzzles. I grew up in a house that assembled puzzles. I can distinctly remember a 500pc puzzle of a hamburger that we put together as a family many times. I still pull that puzzle out of the closet and assemble it. It brings back wonderful memories. When I had a chance to work for a company that manufactured puzzles, I knew I had found a home. And then later when I decided to start my own company, puzzles were something I knew about and had a passion for.

Puzzles allow me to earn a living and provide employment for others. Everyone works to earn a living. I am blessed that I am able to have a career that I enjoy and can earn a living. No one ever got rich making and selling puzzles, but it allows me to provide for my kids and family. And we employ other people and companies. In addition to the obvious people like artists, photographers, graphic designers, accountants, shipping experts, and quality control people, we do business with a wide array of companies including the US Postal Service, Fed Ex, UPS, Office Max, trucking companies and more. That is satisfying.

We provide affordable entertainment to people. I never realized how much this would mean to me. To be honest, when I started the Lafayette Puzzle Factory, the money reasons were what I thought about most. But as folks have written me letters and e-mails, I realize how many families are positively impacted by our puzzles. Some of the letters are sad. Puzzles remind them of places they traveled with loved ones no longer with us. I heard from a person recently who loved an image we have of Niagara Falls because they had honeymooned there 50+ years ago. Another letter told us about a man who has been diagnosised with Ahlzheimer's disease. This is a disease that hits home for me in a very personal way. The man described in the letter found peace in assemblying puzzles of places he had visited in his life. While many of his memories were fading, puzzles were triggering something. This person and their spouse could do puzzles together and still connect. Puzzles take peoples mind off of hard economic times, illness and loneliness.

The letters and notes keep coming. I read some of them recently to our team to remind them that the puzzles we sell are not just numbers on shipping reports. Each one goes into a home. Each one is used and enjoyed by real people in their homes.

So when we are looking for new images and thinking up new formats, we remember this. And it motivates us to take a few extra minutes to look a little deeper for that great image. We debate a few minutes longer to make sure the images that make it into our lines are the best we can find. And even when we think we have found all the greatest images, we know that we need to keep looking. And we do.

Keep on puzzling!

JP

So many things to keep me busy and away from this blog.

But I am making time tonight. I am making time because I enjoy writing here. Not many folks start a business and I have always felt like this blog could be a small window into the first few years of a new company.

I attended my 3rd Toy Preview Show in Dallas last month. Our booth space keeps improving (the first year we were the last booth on a deadend aisle in an overflow hall). People found us then, but it is easier when you are on the main floor like we are now.

It is a good show for a company of our size. The big toy companies (Hasbro, Jakks Pacific, Mattel to name a few), do not attend. But most of the major retailers do attend. Without the big companies dominating the retail buyers time, we find that we get quality face time with major retailers. Anytime we can tell the story of the Lafayette Puzzle Factory it helps. We are different and we have a compelling line up of puzzles and activities.

I got to thinking about all of this because of an e-mail I received this week. The father of my oldest friend sent a note. In the note he re-introduced me to a woman who grew up in our neighborhood. She has started a new business and he thought it might be interesting to reconnect.

Her business is really interesting and her web site is great. She is selling doll clothes. But not just any doll clothes. She sells used doll clothes, some of the pieces date back decades. I am not a doll collector, but I admit I loved looking through her website and seeing the way she presents the clothes and the company. The advice I was given before I started the Lafayette Puzzle Factory is to only do it if you really love it. Looking at her website, you can tell she really loves this niche fashion business.

I am not sure how many of your might need doll clothes, but I know a lot of folks who collect also assemble jigsaw puzzles, so I thought there might be some folks who would be interested in this company.

Check out the company, enjoy the dresses and keep on puzzling!

http://www.tinyfrockshop.com/

Thanks!


JP

Hopefully you are starting to find our Fall collection in stores. By mid-October, our goods will be in almost 20,000 retail outlets all over North America. And a few more in Australia, New Zealand and other countries. It is exciting. And hard to believe that this is only our second holiday season in stores. Quite a ride.

If you are having trouble finding our puzzles, take a look at our web site: www.lpfpuzzle.com. On the right hand side of the home pages are links to various on-line stores where you can find LPF puzzles. Take a look.

In less than 2 weeks, I will be in Dallas, TX for the Toy Preview Show. It is a chance for retailers to get a sneak peak at our 2011 puzzle line. It is a great line and I can not wait to show it off.

But today, I want to write about a neat little restaurant I tried. It just opened and I read about it in the newspaper here in Lafayette. It is called Jarocho's. Its at 404 N. Earl. And it is a hidden gem.

The restaurant is run by a mom and son. The mom cooks all the food from scratch when you order. So do not go hungry or without some time to kill. But if you have the time for a delicious leisurely lunch, this is the place. Isabel is the chef. The menu is limited. I had Chicken Enchilladas with mole sauce. Isabel makes the mole from scratch. I am a mole expert and this mole was amazing. She also let us sample one of her famouse tamales. It too was unbelievable.

Service is slow. Isabels son is the waiter for the whole restaurant. The mom is the only cook. When you order, she makes your meal completely. It takes time. I suggest getting there early.

Why am I writing about a new restaurant? When I walked into the small dining room today, it reminded me of starting LPF. Here are two people who believe there is a hole in the market for a good mexican restaurant. To be honest, Lafayette has tons of mexican restaurants. It is hard to believe we need another one. But these two saw an opening. They would cook each meal individually. They know the ingrediants for mole and a couple of other sauces, so that is all they concentrate on. They do no have a burrito on the menu. Mexican food could be a commodity. A taco is a taco. Taco bell is cheaper. Little Mexico down the street is faster and has more selection. But the food is not as good as at Jerocho's. The attention to detail is not the same. And the prices at Jerocho's are the same or even cheaper than Little Mexico.

LPF was founded on the same principles. There are a lot of puzzle companies in the USA. A lot. Some people see puzzles as a commodity. A puzzle is a puzzle is a puzzle. Heck, I think some puzzle makers think puzzles are just a commodity. But retailers and puzzlers know differently. They know that a box full of pieces is not enough. There are lots of pretty pictures in the world. But most of them would make a terrible puzzle. At the Lafayette Puzzle Factory, we know what separates a great puzzle image from a good picture. We know the importance of using the right types of papers. The better the paper, the more enjoyable the puzzle will be. And the more times you can put it together. I love making jigsaw puzzles. I love hearing from puzzlers who put together our puzzles.

This was the same love that I felt at Jerocho's today. Isabel loves making good food. She loves watching the folks try her cooking. I saw her peaking out of the kitchen when we ate the tamales. She makes her food because she knows what it takes to make good food and she loves to watch others enjoy the food.

My team and I love to make a great puzzle. I love when I am in a store and I see someone buy a Lafayette Puzzle Factory puzzle instead of another puzzle (it happens and I am not kidding that it is the biggest thrill!!!!). I love when I get letters asking where to buy more puzzles. And I love when retailers recognize our expertise and find extra space for all our wonderful puzzles.

So go support Isabel if you are in Lafayette. And suppor the Lafayette Puzzle Factory by buying our puzzles and telling your friends all about us.

JP

The response to our Crayola Chalkboard Puzzle continues to be great. Attached is a link to a review from a mom with 2 kids. She included pictures of her kids putting the puzzle together and then playing with the puzzle.

I also had a chance to visit a friend of mine who has 2 boys aged 6 and 3 (maybe 4). I took one of the puzzles with me to their house. I assembled the puzzle with them. Then we all played with it. We had many spirited games of tic-tac-toe. And here is the neat part. As we played the boys decided instead of x's and o'x we should have to draw body parts (ears and elbows) or foods. The puzzle was a vehicle for them to use their creativity. To make jokes. To be silly. They loved it. It was so fun to watch. The 6 year old even told us a story about how he knew to always start in the middle box. A girl in his pre-school class kept beating him. She finally broke down and told him the great secret of tic-tac-toe strategy. His mom and dad had never heard the story. They loved that the puzzle had given him the opportunity to tell them this little fact.

I also had a chance to see why chalk is so great for kids. We left the room for a few minutes. When we came back the 6 year old was very proud. He had drawn a perfect rectangle on the wall and colored it in with the chalk. Now, I do not recommend this as it did give me and the parents a bit of a scare. But the chalk washed off with just a damp rag from the kitchen. No evidence that a little extra creativity had made it to the wall.

I tell this part of the story as an example that I have kids and I am around kids. They do things we wish they would not. So as a person who makes products for kids, I try and recognize these things. That is why I knew chalk was the perfect fit with a childrens puzzle. It would allow them to show off and explore their creative side. And it would give the parents a bit of a safety net if that creativity made it onto a wall. Or a little brother.

Check out the review: http://jamericanspice.blogspot.com/2010/08/its-game-time-lafayette-puzzle-factory.html

And then, if you want to buy the puzzle, visit your local Toys R Us or go on line at Toys R Us:
http://www.toysrus.com/search/index.jsp?kw=chalkboard+puzzle&f=Taxonomy%2FTRUS%2F2254197&s=A-UnitRank-TRUS&f=Taxonomy%2FTRUS%2F2255960&fbc=1&fbn=TaxonomyArts+%26+Crafts+Supplies

In the meantime, keep on puzzlin'!

JP

Very often folks send me pictures of their completed Lafayette Puzzle Factory puzzles.

I love getting these notes. I really do.

I understand the sense of accomplishment they feel once the puzzle is fully assembled. I feel it when I finish a puzzle. I love the satisfaction of putting in the last piece (thus the name of this blog).

So if you feel that same pride, do not be afraid to send me a picture of your puzzle. I love seeing it and I totally understand. I might have to start posting a few of my own finished puzzles.

JP

We are in the process of finalizing our 2011 product line up. This will be our 3rd year. We will be introducing our 4th catalog. We have come so far from our first catalog. Our first catalog had 6 puzzle lines and was 12 pages with lots of room between products. I still love looking at that catalog. The 6 lines were the basics (50pc, 100pc, 500pc, 1000pc, panoramic puzzles and a sphere shape). There were a few artists, but mainly photographic puzzles. I love that first catalog. It was small, but it was proof we existed and were ready to be judged by folks who put together puzzles. The first catalog did not last long. We quickly introduced a second catalog 6 months later that had more artists, unique formats (Chalkboard, Fuzzle, Cling, etc), and even new packaging.

Last week, the whole LPF team was together finalizing our 2011 line. We will introduce the line in Dallas in October. It was hard not to remenisce a little as we went through the process. We laughed about previous years. We remembered who had good ideas and joked about others that never got off the ground.

It feels like we are getting ready for our junior year in high school (with a child going to be a sophomore in high school, I spend time thinking about transitions). Freshman year (our first year) we were unsure exactly what to expect from retailers and puzzlers. We were hopeful, knew that we had been well prepared, and above all hoped we would survive. As that first year went on, we grew more confident. We realized that we could play and survive against the bigger "seniors". We were accepted by folks and started to find our niche.

This last year has been our sophomore year. We were no longer green behind the ears and knew what to expect. We were more comfortable and stepped out of our comfort zone a bit more. People knew our names and actually sought us out. The seniors did not seem so scary and we realized they were just like us, only older. As sophomores we were hungry and not afraid to be a little pushy. It has paid off well.

And so now, during this summer, we prepare for our junior year. We feel comfortable. We have a few scars, but overall we are ready for the coming year and beyond. We now talk about longer range plans. We are ready to take on more responsibility and leadership. We have proven to ourselves and to others we belong.

These first years have flown by. We do not spend much time thinking about the past. My focus is on the future. I am motivated by the kind letters, e-mails and phone calls we receive. Words of thanks from families who have tried our puzzles and like them. They want to buy more. They want us to sell them in stores closer to their homes. We hear the calls and we use them as motivation to push harder.

I have said it before, starting the Lafayette Puzzle Factory is the hardest thing I have ever done. And it is the most fun thing I have ever done.

Keep checking back to the blog. I promise to be better about updates. We have some neat things coming up and I can not wait share these with you in the next few weeks and months. I might even post a few more embarassing pictures of me at different events.

JP

So much has been going on since my last blog post.

The team and I have been busy shipping our Fall products to stores. New puzzles are starting to show up on shelves now. But most will not be in stores until August or so. Keep your eyes open. They are coming. In the mean time, keep visiting Toys R Us for our Crayola Floor Puzzles. We have been getting some really nice positive reviews for the product. It was a 2009 Toy of the Year winner. If you have kids, this is the puzzle for you.

We have also been visiting with retailers about adding new puzzles to their Spring 2011 puzzle departments. I do not think that folks realize how far in advance the stores plan their merchandise. So I have been out visiting retailers since mid May. Other than the travel, I really like meeting with the retail buyers face to face. I learn tons. And that in turn helps us make better puzzles (and other products!).

We are also attending a few trade shows. These are shows where we find and buy the art to put on puzzles. I was in NYC at the Surtex show and then a few weeks later in Las Vegas at the Licensing Show. Both were great and I could have used more time at both. There is so much great art out there.

Las Vegas was fun because it was 106 degrees! As soon as I got to my hotel, I put on shorts and walking shoes and took a stroll. It was like walking with someone blowing a hair dryer at your face. It was hot, but the hot wind made it just feel hot. Not humid/sticky like when it is hot in Indiana. Anyway, now I can say I have been in 106 degree heat.

All the major TV and movie studios have booths at the Las Vegas licensing show. I like getting my picture taken with the different characters. This year I took some with darth vadar and his friends. A women came up and asked if she could take the picture for me (the person I was with was not doing it right in this persons opinion). Before I knew it she had me acting out being arrested by darth and the gang. I went along with and before I knew it a crowd had gathered to watch me make a fool of myself. But I must admit, I do like the pictures. And my boys thought they were great! So I guess, this mystery person knew what she was doing. Here I share my embarassing pictures. And remind you that I was the perfect age when the original movie came out. I believe I saw it 12 times in the movie theater! What a nerd. :-)

JP

Thank you to everyone who has helped our launch of the Crayola Chalkboard Floor puzzle at Toys R Us. It is a top seller early in its time on shelf. Keep spreading the word about his unique new twist to floor puzzles.

I received a neat note recently from one of the owners of a horse we feature in our Heavenly Horses line of puzzles. I am not sure how she found us, but she was so happy to see her prized horse featured in the line. The horse in question is the one title Forest Enchantment. The horses name is Cavu Paragon. He is a beautiful horse and the picture by Bob Langrish is stunning and one of the favorites in the office. I am so happy the owners are pleased with the puzzle.

If you are interested in buying this particular image (or others from the line) visit our web site - www.lpfpuzzle.com. On the right side of the home page are links to our on-line partners. If you are a retailers with a web site that features our puzzles, let me know and I will link to your site as well.

Lots more going on behind the scenes. We are in production for our fall line and will have more about our listings later in the summer. Also, we are getting ready for our annual trip to licensing show. This is a big show and I am looking forward to seeing the new art and entertainment licenses available.

The weather is getting nicer, but I know true puzzlers still keep a puzzle out on the table to refresh their mind and soul. We are working hard to keep new images coming. Keep spreading the word about the Lafayette Puzzle Factory.

JP

More Lafayette Puzzle Products are available on-line.

Our award winnng Crayola Chalkboard Floor Puzzle has been available in stores since the beginning of the year. But now Toys R Us has added it to its web site (and its stores). Free shipping and the same price as in stores. A great value and very convenient.


http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3997359

There are 2 other titles available too, but I do not see them on their web site yet. The other two titles are a USA Map and our original Playground image.

If you are not familiar with this puzzle, let me tell you about it. We have created a special surface coating that lets the puzzle act like a chalkboard. On the Space image at the link above, you can write or draw with chalk (which we include for free!) on all the black outer space areas. The magic is watching kids draw their own aliens and spaceships on the image. The puzzle is new and fresh every time kids put it together. The pieces are big and sturdy. The puzzle is 2ft by 3ft when assembled. And the box is really nice with a handle and zip strip opening. It makes a great gift.

Follow the link and check it out.

JP

Just about 1 year ago we sold and shipped our first puzzles . It was an exciting day that I will never forget. But today might be the 2nd most exciting.

Almost from the beginning, folks have sent me letters, e-mails and phone calls asking how they can buy other puzzles they see on our web site. As a new company, our distribution is always growing, but never fast enough. If I had my way, every puzzle would be available in every store across the nation. And while I spend just about every waking hour trying to make that happen, it may take me a few years to accomplish.

So the next best thing is to partner with retailers that have a good, safe and efficient web sites. I am happy to say we have found our first partner. Calendars.com

http://www.calendars.com/LPF-Limited/cat330064/

Calendars.com is a neat company that carries just about every puzzle line we have. Maybe not every image, but at least a few from every catagory. I think you will find their web site easy to use and their selection of LPF puzzles to be outstanding. And the good news is, they are adding more of our puzzles to the site all the time.

Click on the link above and let me know what you think. I am eager to hear how folks find the buying experience on the web site.

And while you are there, check out some of the various calendars they carry. Here is a company I found that I like particularly: http://www.calendars.com/Some-Publishing/cat330002/

I can not wait to hear your thoughts on the web site. And I hope to announce more on-line partners soon.

JP

I have been waiting for awhile for this post. I love when we get our first order from a new retailer. It is so exciting. So much work goes into meeting and working with a retailer that when that order finally comes in and we ship out our puzzles, we really celebrate. It does not matter how big or small the order we get is. It just feels good to add to our constantly expanding distribution.

This week Toys R Us is our newest retail partner. They are carrying our Crayola Chalkboard Floor puzzle line. We have 3 titles in the series and Toys R Us is carrying all 3 (Playground Fun, Space Race, and USA Map).

The puzzles are great. Each comes with Crayola Sidewalk chalk. The chalk can be used on the puzzle and wipes off mess free like a real chalkboard. The Space Race and Playground Fun images are great for kids to use their imagination and join the fun in the picture. Kids can draw on the USA Map anything they desire. It is the perfect free form puzzle. And since kids can draw on the puzzle, the puzzle never gets boring.

Anyway, we are all really excited to have our Crayola puzzle at Toys R Us. I do not see it on their web site yet and it is not at my store here in Lafayette (due next week the manager tells me). But I have gotten reports of the puzzle on shelf in California and Illinois.

So keep your eyes open and let me know if you see it in your local store.

JP

Everything always seems to take longer than I expect. I was hoping by now to be bragging about our new website and our new on-line puzzle stores. But, we have been slammed with new orders. Getting these orders organized and into production has taken up tons of time. Most of the orders are for our new items. We have been working on these lines for months, but the first order means that we have to make final decisions on packaging and artwork. And with over 60 new pieces of art in one of the orders, there are a lot of final decisions.

I do not think most people realize how much work goes into making a puzzle. Actually, making a puzzle is not difficult. They will tell you technically it is simple. Take a picture, put it on some cardboard and cut it into a predetermined number of pieces. But making a nice quality puzzle and then repeating that over and over it not easy. The difference between a really good image and a just ok image is subtle. We look at 10,000 or more images every year just to find the few hundred we make into puzzles. We reject some really great pictures that just are not great puzzles. And then we have to do all over again the next year.

The images on the puzzles we are putting into production right now were found a year ago. Last April I bought a lot of the images. They will not be in stores for another 6 - 8 weeks. Over 1 year from the first time we saw the image until it is in a store. And since then, I have looked at thousands of additional images.

I think one of the qualifications for picking images is that the person needs experience putting together puzzles. Only by putting together a puzzle do you realize the small things within a puzzle that are important. The importance of colors and shapes. The importance of the feel of the puzzle pieces. The importance of the label on the box that you use to help put together the pieces. These are all important. Not to mention having the right picture.

At the Lafayette Puzzle Factory we have that experience. We have put together puzzles. We have bought bad images in the past. We have used cheap materials and seen the results (not pretty). These experiences are what make our puzzles different from other companies. It is why after only being in business for a little over a year we have growing reputation as a company that knows puzzlers. And whose puzzles sell to a consumer who knows puzzles.

Anyway, all this has kept us busy and for that we are thankful. Keep an eye out. New puzzles will be in stores in the next few weeks and months. I can not wait to hear how we did.

JP

Spring is finally starting to show itself. Yesterday was a day that we have needed for quite some time. The sun was out in full force. It was a day to drive around with the windows down in the car (and the heat on inside the car just a bit). The kids had their first practices outside. Baseball for my sons and soccer for my daughter. Everyone was in a good mood as the day came to an end.

Spring also means the Lafayette Puzzle Factory is making its first shipments of our new items. Seems like I have been getting a lot of feedback that folks are looking for puzzles. A lot of retailers cut back on their puzzle sections in the Spring and Summer. The industry collectively believes that puzzles are a winter activity. There is no doubt that sales are the highest in the fall and winter. But retailers that keep a fresh selection of puzzles year round tell me they see good sales even in the "off" months.

If you are a person who loves puzzles year round, do not be afraid to tell the manager in your local store that you shop for puzzles year round and find their selection less than you would like. Also, if you like our LPF puzzles, let the store know (politely, of course). Or send an e-mail to their headquarters on their website. They do listen to feedback. And feel free to tell them how much you like LPF puzzles.

Happy St. Patricks Day!

JP