What's Going On?

A few things, my friends.

1 - Did you see the post about our Puzzler Program? It's our way of saying thank you just for being a part of our Village.

2 - Did you know there is a giveaway going on right now? You can find all sorts of freebies from some of my great business associates. Check it out while you can because the page is going down after July 9th.

3 - The blog is moving. I'm not sure when precisely, but the work is under way and we'll keep you in the loop!

In the meanwhile, go get your cool, free stuff! We'll talk soon!

A Letter to Friends, Followers, Fans and Guests

Dear Friend, Follower, Fan or Guest -

I can't tell you how much we are enjoying meeting you and talking to you on Twitter and Facebook, and via our blog too. We are honored that you chose to follow or fan or friend us. Maybe you're a guest who quietly peeps out what's going on and says not a word, just because you want to be in the loop. That's fine too! So many of you have openly supported us and bought from us and told others about us. And when we meet you, it's a thrill to learn that while many of you are mum online, you are quite vocal in person! It makes us feel good, like we aren't just speaking into a black hole.

So why the letter?

Well, if you don't already subscribe to our newsletter, then you may not have heard yet. (That's one of the perks of subscribing. You hear first!) We just wanted to let you know that we value your very presence. And to prove it, we want to give this greeting card jigsaw puzzle to the first 10 people to comment on this post telling us they want it. It says, "Best Wishes on Your Special Day!" You can write your own message on the back and it come with an envelope.
This way you get to test the product for yourself and IF YOU WANT, you can pop back online and review it for all the world to see. (Maybe you'll even subscribe to the newsletter to keep up with us? It's right over there to the right.)

*Honesty in your review is appreciated, but you know. Let's respect each other too, if you don't mind. ;-)

A Few Changes

As part of our continued effort to show you we appreciate you, we have been making a few changes. Well, maybe not changes, but it's all an extension of our growth. Many of you have been with us too long not to get perks for that. We had to think long and hard about how to do this because we want to make sure EVERYONE knows they are valued here. We also want to make sure you understand the different levels of value that we appreciate and want to give back to you for that. So just because you have taken the first step to follow us/subscribe to our newsletter and simply lend us your ear, you now graduate to a new level of relationship with us!

Congratulations, Bronze Puzzlers!

Our Twitter followers, Facebook fans, blog readers and newsletter subscribers are now instantly part of our Bronze Puzzler group. What does that mean to you? Just because you give us the time of day, we will give you something too. See? You don't have to do a thing more than you are already doing! But to find out what it is, you have to click here.

Congratulations, Silver Puzzlers!

Now some of you do more than follow us. Some of you have bought from us! We LOVE that because this is how you get the nitty gritty of what we do and when you buy, the wow factor really comes into play. You have something concrete that makes you wanna do more with it! Honest. We've had plenty of people tell us this. If you want to see some of them, just look here.

In dating terms, if following us is giving us the time of day, buying is like giving us your phone number - your REAL one - :-D - and for that we again say thanks. So what do we have for you?

Well, you too have to check it out!

Congratulations, VIP Gold Puzzlers!

Now last, but nowhere near least, are our VIPs - Very Important Puzzlers! You are a
really elite group because you decided dating us wasn't enough. You wanted a commitment, almost from the start! Wow! So you bought, and bought, and bought A LOT and/or often. You tell people about us. You support us and we KNOW it. We can FEEL it. For you? Well, I can't even say all of what we have for you because that's part of being a VIP - only YOU will find out all that you get! We can say that some of the stuff is so much fun and as we came across these items, we had to decide do we share this with the group or the elite? In some cases we decided to do smaller versions for the group. In some cases, it's part of being the elite, baby! Go see what it is!

And why are we doing this?

BECAUSE THESE PUZZLES ARE JUST TOO DARN COOL! Ramona and I love them. We have fun with every new creation we get to make for someone. Every time we find a new way to do something, we get so excited and the recent discovery of some new stuff led us to doing what we are doing right now - making sure you all know YOU ARE APPRECIATED.

So if you want that free Special Day puzzle from above, you gotta leave your comment here saying so and make sure you give me a way to contact you. Doesn't have to be email. It can be your Twitter name so I can DM you, or your Facebook profile or to REALLY make it easy, if you haven't already, subscribe to the newsletter so the mailing info can go there and then just let me know you did that. The sign-up box is near the top of the blog in the righthand rail.

Thanks for hanging out with us. Without you, we'd fall to pieces!

What You May Not Know About VWE

It's not your fault. We are a small business run by 2 busy moms and even with the fantastic help of friends and family and soon a virtual assistant, we are still a small business run by 2 busy moms. So we don't always get everything out there the way we want to. Now when we are vending and we have the chance to talk to people face to face, the info really comes out and people start to imagine all the things they can do with a jigsaw puzzle. Really, there are just so many ways to use them and, amazingly, people never tire of them.

But I digress.

Recently I've been thinking about what I know about us that YOU all may not know or realize or even remember. So I thought I'd take a moment to let you get to know us as a business and get to know our motivations.

Some simple things you probably didn't know until we posted a few of these recently on our Facebook fan page:

1 - Our puzzles were first made in Canada as we looked for ways to get quality puzzles at a great price. That was a blessing because we made a friend there who we still count as a friend today. But now, we are proud to say that our puzzles are 100% MADE IN THE USA. That means the artists are here, the dies are created here and the puzzles are cut here. And oh yeah, VWE is here too. We intend to stay homegrown.

2 - We offer free shipping for purchases over $75 (that does not include shipping and tax). No, it's not on the site yet. But it will be.

3 - We currently have over 35 different stock puzzle designs as well as over 20 frame designs for your photo puzzles. We also offer 8 different puzzle sizes in 14 different piece counts and 2 different medium - traditional and magnetic. We will be adding 2 new sizes, 3 more piece counts and a new medium soon. Now, why can't you see all these on the site? Because some sizes we can't offer in small quantity. That's why if you don't immediately see what you want, you should contact us. We can do more than we are able to say. That new medium on the horizon is something I can't share yet, but our newsletter subscribers got a hint as to what it is.

FYI, Do YOU subscribe to our newsletter? Subscribers learn everything first. I'm telling you. Jigsaw puzzles are a fun, affordable product. You will want to know what we're doing first so get on the newsletter mailing list. Back to the current list!

4 -If you are a small business owner or event planner, we have separate pricing for you. You should contact us at shop@vwepuzzles.com to get the link to it.

5 - Our very first designer was my brother who did 4 greeting card puzzle designs for us and a 5th one he did in conjunction with a friend. All those designd remain popular today.

6 - We work with 7 artists and graphic designers and you'll meet some of them in time.

7 - Our name, Village Works Enterprises, is based on the African proverb that it takes a village to not only raise a child, but to help others achieve what they want to achieve. We seek to help smaller artists get their work out via our puzzles. We aspire to have a nonprofit one day that enables us to help others looking to accomplish some great, maybe even personal artist feat like publishing a book. We also want to help people get the educations they need t make their dreams come true, in whatever form that education comes.

8 - We are 100% woman owned and Christian. That means we do not produce or reproduce anything our children cannot see. After all, children are the heart of what we do. And speaking of children...

Our Mission

Maybe you know the story. Maybe you don't. But the long and the short of it is this:

In 1999, Ramona and I went looking for jigsaw puzzles to buy for the summer literacy program that was being held at our church and for which we volunteered (we were single and childless at the time). We saw lots of puzzles with animals and Disney characters and such, but none that actually built caracter the way we wanted for the kids in our program; nothing that spoke to their culture and heritage.

Ramona went down one aisle, I went down the other and yelled over to each other that we weren't finding anything. We got to the end of the aisle and said practically simultaneously - to this day we don't know who uttered the first syllable first - "We should make them!" Our idea was born.

We were excited by the notion of creating something the program could use. We realized that we had loved puzzles as children but darn if we knew what went into making them? So we called around and looked for local manufacturers. We discovered this would not be quick and easy, nor would it be cheap to order in the quantities they wanted.

Ramona attended a business workshop to begin to learn the ins and outs of running a business. It was during our time talking about her homework that I thought we should literally start small. That was when we created our first 5 greeting card jigsaw puzzles with the help of my graphic designing brother, such as the one at the right here.

One marriage and 3 childeren later, I too took the workshop as our concept grew and we perfected our manufacturing moving from the Canadian company that first manufactured our puzzles to the American company that still manufactures them today along with a few other American companies. In 2005 Village Works Enterprises becaame a Village Works Enterprises LLC and we've been growing ever since.

We love what we do. We love doing it for individuals, school, businesses, nonprofits...any group who want too do something in a unique way. Jigsaw puzzles are a great way to preserve memories. They connect people to each other just by merely luring them to come and put the pieces together. We haven't had a customer yet who has not loved them and gotten raves from the people who received them. So if you've been thinking about them, what's stopping you from trying them out? Read what one of our recent customers had to say about the photo puzzle he had us create for his fiancee:

When I first saw the puzzle, I said, "Wow, what's that?" "How did you do that? Can I have one?... It was around Mother's Day and I thought, "what a nice gift for my daughter to give her mother." When I saw the puzzle, my daughter and I had to give it to her right away. She really loved it! Then I was in my office, staring at our first date picture and I asked Ramona if she can make a puzzle out of that picture. She took the picture, scanned it and came back to me right away with extras, showing me frames and stuff. I ordered another puzzle of that picture. When I received it, I was so excited that I had to give that puzzle to her right away too. I went to her job. When I gave it to her, she had the biggest smile. One of her co-workers was very interested, asked for the information and said that she is going to order one too. The process is quick (less than 2 weeks), service was great and the puzzle is good quality. Now I'm thinking about doing another one."

- Bryant J., Bridgeport, CT

This could be you. Contact us today and let us get started creating for you.

Now That's Dedication

Want to know what really commitement looks like? Take a look at this article I found on a news site called One India. The picture came from a different, but less interesting, article written by Richard Smith of Mirror.com.uk. Take a read:

London, May 19 (ANI): A pensioner, who found that the 5,000 piece jigsaw puzzle he had been working on for 7-years could not be completed because of one missing, was elated when the maker decided to provide the part.

Jack Harris, 86, was able to fit the final piece into the huge puzzle after its manufacturer Falcon Games LTD, the puzzle's manufacturer, decided to come to his rescue by having a replacement piece sent to his home.

The puzzle is no longer made but the firm agreed to find the original design and make the one missing piece.

"I was delighted to be able to finish the puzzle at last after all. It was such a disappointment that there was one piece missing," the Telegraph quoted Harris as saying after the piece was delivered to his home in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, by courier.

"The manufacturer has been very kind in supplying the final piece and it was a joyous moment for all of us," he said.

Eve, who is married to Jack's son Trevor, said it was a "joyous" moment for the family to finally see the monster jigsaw completed.

"Jack is very proud of the finished jigsaw. He is now either going to have it framed or we'll varnish it for him and put it on the side of the house," she said.

Gray Richmond, managing director at Jumbo Games, which manufactures the Falcon range, said they had also sent Jack some new jigsaws.

"It is a real challenge to complete a 5,000 piece puzzle. It requires a great deal of dedication and is a fantastic achievement that Mr Harris has finished the jigsaw after seven years," he said.

"When we heard that one piece was missing we wanted to do all we could to help put in place the final piece of the puzzle.

"As this jigsaw is no longer produced, we had the piece individually made by our expert puzzle designers.

"We are also sending Mr Harris a load of new puzzles from the range - although at 1,000 pieces some of these are slightly smaller," he added

I love how the company was as committed to making their customer happy as he was to completing the puzzle.

And so are we. We are continuing to grow in the variety of sizes we offer. We're faster than ever before and once you get a puzzle, you'll wonder how many more ways you can use them and for whom. So check us out! www.vwepuzzles.com

And the Winner Is...

Our April Jigsaw Puzzle Memory Contest netted us some interesting memories and even an epiphany or two for us as a company. (I can't share those but you'll see evidence of them soon enough.)

So who won? Why it was...

Theresa Foran!

Want to know what she said? Here it is:

As a young teen, going on vacation with my family and meeting up with other families that we knew was always exciting at first. Then, as the second week began, the excitement would wear off a bit. And if it began to rain, teenage angst would takeover. I remember many times sitting in a common livingroom with other vacationers and joining them in a jigsaw puzzle. Soon, all my friends would come and join. We would laugh and tell funny stories and a rainy day with nothing to do would turn out to be the best memory of the vacation.

Thank you, Theresa, and everyone who played along in our first annual contest. It was so much fun reading everyone's memories and recalling our own as we did so.

If you have a jigsaw puzzle memory, we'd still love to hear it and you can put your here. Or save it for next year wen we do this again!

Five Truths About Children Who Drown

I am all over the Internet looking for interesting things to learn about for myself and others. Did you know May features National Safe Kids Week. (At the moment, I dare you figure out exactly WHEN the week is. I will let you know when I find out, though.) So this discovery led me to the Safe Kids website and all sorts of interesting stats. Children were our inspiration for starting the business so we want you and us to always be in the know when it comes to them. It's getting warm and school will be over in another month. Now is a great time to think about swimming since now you can do something about any area you are falling short in before the swim suits come out. The Safe Kids site had this to say about drowning. Read on and make sure your little people are safe this summer.

You think that it could never happen to your family, but each year more than 800 children drown. These incidents are not only preventable but predictable. Here are the five truths about children who drown and what you can do to help keep your children safe around water.

TRUTH 1 - Weak or No Supervision
Children drown quickly and silently—in a matter of seconds. Adults who were present when a child drowns were often distracted in some way, by talking on the phone, chatting with other adults around the pool, or reading.

What you can do about it:

Actively supervise your children around water, and have a phone nearby to call for help in an emergency.

When there are several adults present and children are swimming, use a Water Watcher card to designate an adult as the Water Watcher to prevent gaps in supervision.

Download the Water Watcher Card.

TRUTH 2 - No Barriers
Curious children, especially those younger than 4 years old, can easily find and fall in to bodies of water like pools, tubs and buckets. Often they are discovered too late to save.

What you can do about it:

Never leave a child alone when in or near a body of water—even if it’s less than a few inches.

For pool owners, make sure your pool has four-sided fencing and a self-closing, self-latching gate.

Hot tubs should be covered and locked when not in use.

TRUTH 3 - Weak or no CPR skills
Drowning victims who are rescued from the water need CPR immediately—before the paramedics arrive. It can prevent brain damage and be the difference between life and death.

What you can do about it:

Get certified. There are plenty of CPR classes available to meet busy schedules.

Contact your local health department, hospital or visit their Web site to locate a local American Red Cross Chapter that offers courses year-round.

TRUTH 4 - Weak or No Swimming Ability
Children from non-swimming households are eight times more likely to be at-risk of drowning. Minority children have especially low rates of swimming ability and high rates of drowning.

What you can do about it:

Enroll your child in swimming lessons. If you do not how to swim either, enroll in a parent-child learn-to-swim class.

To find swimming lessons, contact your local parks and recreation department, an aquatics center or visit the YMCA Web site to find a YMCA near you.

TRUTH 5 - Lack of Life Jacket Use
Nearly 5,000 boating accidents occur each year in open waters (lakes, rivers and oceans) and more than 700 people drown. Of those who drown, nine out of 10 are not wearing a life jacket. Also, alcohol use is involved in up to one in five reported boating fatalities.

What you can do about it:

Have your child wear a life jacket every time you go boating or are on a dock.

Avoid or moderate your alcohol consumption when boating.

If you and your family boat frequently, consider taking a boating safety class through the U.S. Coast Guard.

This information is provided by Safe Kids USA. Visit their website, http://www.safekids.org/, for more information.

*********************************************************************************

Do you run an organization that focuses on children? We can help you make it more fun and/or educational with custom jigsaw puzzles! Use pictures of your group or educational materials to create something that can be used as a takeaway to remind parents and children of all you have taught them. Create a special shape (yes, we can do shapes too!) and make a fundraiser to solicit the needed money to keep your group going. Don't be limited by your imagination. We aren't! Contact us today to do something special for your group.

For Us, It's About Others

Reaching Out to You
It has been a hectic couple of weeks because we have been looking into some great opportunities and I have been preparing for a networking conference this week - Wednesday and Thursday to be precise.

It has been more and more important that we be as accessible as possible to all of our customers and fans. So we have been showing up more on Facebook and Twitter and in your mail boxes too. We have been loving the responses and we want more! More! More! We want to know what you like. We want to know what you don't like. If you've bought from us, we want to know what you thought. If you thought about buying from us and did not, we want to know why not. Hearing from you is important to us, so please know that you can do that however you like:

Via our Facebook page
Via out Twitter page
Via the blog comments on this page
Via our website
Via email - shop@vwepuzzles.com
Via phone call - 1-866-746-7893

Reaching Out to Others
When we started Village Works, we had kids in mind even though we didn't have kids of our own at the time. It was important that we encourage children, inspire them to reach beyond what society dictates that children of color or of a certain social standing should aspire to. We want to show them different aspects of their people, thus themselves.

If you don't know our beginnings, take a read right quick. That beginning yesterday is still our focus today - and then some. We are looking deeper into schools and organizations that have the same mission to enhance a child's cultural awareness. While we will continue to create fun puzzles anyone can use for all sorts of occasions, we are looking even more to explore the mission and to have it advance to helping all sorts of people to pursue the creative purposes they are unclear how to pursue for a variety of reasons. We want to help them clear the hurdles where we can.

Encouraging, inspiring, helping - it's been our heart from the start. We're looking forward to letting you know how it goes.