How hard is it?
It’s always our goal to provide loads of puzzling pleasure in each and every puzzle we craft, be it 75 pieces or 750 pieces. How do we do it? You’ve heard of magic fairy dust, haven’t you? Well, we have magic sawdust!

It’s tough, as a cutter, to know just how difficult to make a Traditional puzzle. There are puzzlers who like to be teased and those who like to be tortured so just how much trickery do we put into each puzzle?

It’s always best to know what level puzzler we’re working with so if you’re a great puzzler let us know and we’ll pull out all the stops!. If you’re giving the puzzle as a gift and you don’t have a feel for the skill level of the recipient, tell us that, too, so we don’t put too many zingers in their puzzle.

With small puzzles we know we better use a variety of tricks to keep you puzzled. If it’s loaded with lots of personalized pieces then we may not be able to get much color-line cutting in so that’s when we’ll load it up with lots of whammies. And it’s always fun to throw some phony corners in, especially in the irregular edged puzzles!

Larger prints allow us to Go Crazy! You might see sculpts (slivers of wood removed to reveal an image when the puzzle is complete), lots of color-line cutting and we’ll throw in plenty of whammies , phony corners, irregular edges and maybe even some drop-out silhouettes or a window treatment. No matter your skill level, we want to puzzle you.

Help us drive you crazy! Jennifer

Tricks of the Trade- Puzzling 101
Here’s a quick lesson in puzzle treatments so the next time you call you’ll know just what to ask for in your puzzle. We can help you choose just the right type of print for the difficulty level you seek and the best type of design features for your puzzle. We’re always happy to chat. Especially Tammy!

© Stave Puzzles, Inc., Norwich, Vermont. Stave Puzzles, Inc. owns the copyrights in the puzzle designs, Silhouette designs,and Custom Edge designs of the puzzles appearing on this web site and blog. Trick, Monkey Fist, Crazy Claw, Teaser, Twister, Tumbler, TroubleMaker, the Clown and Stave are trademarks of Stave Puzzles, Inc.

New Beginnings
I am so excited! 2010 has barely begun and we’re already dreaming up great new stuff. I’m anxious to finish the final details so we can show you what’s coming! We’ve got some fun Snowflakes almost ready and I can’t wait for you to see them.
I began working with artist Debra Kramer last year and we’re just now cutting the first puzzles. Be ready- they’re not your regular snowflakes! You’ll see hearts and leaves, moons and people. What?! People? Yep! That’s my favorite. It’s called Feel the Noise and when I look at it I see people with their hands raised in the air, swaying to the music. You can just hear and feel this puzzle! It’s full of color, almost like a tie-dye effect and you can’t help but smile when you look at it. I just LOVE these new snowflakes and hope you will, too.
Want More?
You know we’ve scheduled puzzle parties at The Point and Blackberry Farm. We’re also cooking up a gathering at Twin Farms for the Spring. But have you heard the BIG n e w s ? It’s our 35th anniversary and we’re having a PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!!
You’re Invited We want to celebrate this happy occasion and what better way to do it than with you, our loyal puzzlers. We don’t have a set date yet but it’s looking like July may work. We want each and every one of you here to help us blow out those candles so keep your calendar open!
Can’t wait to see you! Jennifer

New Faces
We’ve had some great new additions to Stave in the past year and I think you’ll agree they’re both a perfect fit. In early 2009, we were looking for someone to join our cutting crew. We put the word out on the street and kept our fingers crossed. Luckily, we didn’t have to look far to find what we needed. Megan, our new addition from 2008, knew just the right person.

Megan grew up here in the small town of Wilder. Her mom was a Girl Scout leader and she befriended a fellow leader, a mom of two girls, one a year younger than Megan and one a year older. You can guess how the story goes… moms become friends, girls become friends, blah blah blah. And yes, the younger girl was Samara! Both Megan and Samara graduated from the nearby high school and while Megan attended the University of Vt., Samara ventured a bit further to the Rhode Island School of Design.

Samara has been a quick study, already cutting beautiful puzzles. She said she feels being an artist has really helped her in learning to craft puzzles. And best of all, she says she’s never liked a job so much! In addition to puzzle cutting, Samara enjoys photography, jewelry making and painting portraits of pets and people. As a matter of fact, our Christmas gift to Steve and Martha is a portrait of their grandson, Simon, painted by our very own Samara!

Briana is another lucky find. We needed some help in our Graphics Department and ran an ad in our local paper. Lo and behold, a member of the paper’s advertising staff was looking to make a change. We had a good feeling about Bri during the interview process and it only got better when she started her new career with us. She began in July and it feels like she’s been here forever. Bri has offered up some terrific ideas for edge designs on our Traditional prints and she has a great eye for color. In fact, it was Bri’s idea to go with the cool color scheme for the new snowflake, Feel the Noise. And guess what? Bri grew up right here in town and attended the same high school as Megan and Samara!

Samara is single and lives nearby with 2 roommates. Bri lives here in town, too, with her husband, Jason, and their Yorkie, Gus. So, what’s new with you???
Jennifer

Hi Everyone,
I’m so excited about our new Snowflake designs I thought I’d give you a sneak peek. I love the bright colors and patterns and the names… well, they just seemed to be calling out to me. Except for the gold one. I had trouble with that one so need to give credit to K.T. of MA. She and her husband stopped by for a tour last week and suggested just the right thing… Gold Leaf! Why don’t YOU stop by for a tour sometime?

I just got done booking my flight to Knoxville, TN, for our puzzling weekend at Blackberry Farm in Walland. Carol and I will be there with our husbands and LOADS of puzzles. Will you be there??? The dates are February 19,20,21. Check out the Blackberry Farm website for more info. Join us!! You’ll be so happy you did!

It just occurred to me… Some of you may not know about our exciting “Will You Marry Me?” contest. Sorry about that! Being the romantic bunch that we are (24 women and 1 man) we thought it would be fun to offer up 14 ‘Will You Marry Me?’ puzzles in a contest for those who are ready to pop the question. You have til the end of the month to tell us why you deserve to have one of our puzzles to (re)propose to your Sweetie. Send us your funny, sappy and romantic stories and you could end up with one of the best proposals in history! Here’s the link again, and a photo of what you might win. (With your names cut in, of course!) Hmmm, if we happen to have a Sam, proposing to a Claire, he’ll be a sure winner!

Tuesday morning, WCAX, out of Burlington, VT came to film the action going on here at Stave Puzzles. We showed off our puzzles and gave a tour of the shop and they also spent some time talking with several of us. On their 6pm news last night they did a story featuring our “Will You Marry Me?” contest. Here’s the link for that if you or someone you know is getting ready to pop the question: http://www.stavepuzzles.com/index.php?p=proposal

And on Friday night, WCAX will be featuring Stave in their segment, “Made in Vermont.”
Check out the WCAX link to see last night’s story.

Hey Everyone, Happy New Year! We survived the holiday season in great shape (all fingers here and accounted for) and we’re ready for whatever 2010 has in store.

Just before we left the shop on the 23rd to head over to our holiday luncheon, a delicious treat was delivered to Stave. Cheryl Johnson, Stave artist from Maine, cut and baked a holiday cookie for us! Isn’t she the best? She always whips out something spectacular and we’re thoroughly spoiled. We love her! Watch for Cheryl’s new Alice in Wonderland puzzle series, coming soon!

Mary Ann from CA comes through each Holiday season with boxes of Sees chocolates and this huge cake… what’s it called? hmmmm, Pannetone? Yes, I think that’s it…. it’s DELICIOUS!

THANK YOU John, Karen, Katie and Jack from Virginia Beach. 25 small bags of “Home Cooked” Virginia peanuts, one for each Staver ….. AND one big tin of peanuts for The Chief Tormentor…. love those crunchy, salty peanuts!

And THANK YOU Peter and Barbara from MA. Hand-crafted 7-layer bars lovingly made by Barbara!! YUM!

This is the time of year when we are running on vapors, working 7 days a week to craft so many beautiful puzzles for Christmas delivery.  What keeps us going are the sweet-treats from sweet customers that arrive almost daily. WOW! we really appreciate them.

The top photo shows a ‘ton’ of M&M’s from John P. in Summit, New Jersey…. THANKS, John!

The bottom photo shows a big box of Enstrom’s Almond Toffee from Patsy in Chicago. Talk about Wicked… yes, both Patsy and the chocolate. THANKS, Patsy!