Our Story
Paperflower Puzzles was formed by Deborah Waltman, collage artist and avid jigsaw puzzler based in Georgetown, Ontario, Canada.Deborah is a lifelong artist...from drawing on her legs with marker and crafting paper food for Barbie, to studying design in university, to teaching middle school art and always having a piece in her brain or on the go. Although she loves dabbling in all 2-D media, in recent years she found herself returning time and time again to collage. She loves it for its use of patterns and paper (two of her favourite things), its portability, and how it allows her to break objects into fragments and then revel in the quiet, satisfying magic of stitching those pieces back together into something whole again.As a somewhat picky puzzler, she searches out puzzles that tick all of her wish list boxes: bright, colourful, and busy, sturdy pieces with a matte finish, and variety of piece shapes to keep things interesting (no two-by-twos allowed!). Feeling like she had exhausted all the brands that satisfied her requirements, she started making art specifically with puzzles in mind, particularly collage puzzles which are her favourite.She then set out on the journey to turn her puzzle designs into reality. She had previously run a small sublimation business, creating custom puzzles largely of family photos, and while she learned a lot about what images do or don't make good puzzles, she knew that this isn't the route for manufacturing quality puzzles at a large scale. She did much (much) research and much (much) connecting with experts: other puzzle companies, artists who have had success with Kickstarting their puzzle and other ideas, many (many) manufacturers, and most importantly, the vast jigsaw puzzle community that lives on social media who were outrageously insightful...puzzle people are the best people! She landed on a manufacturer who she is confident can produce the quality she seeks, and has selected her first three designs for her inaugural Kickstarter.Please visit Kickstarter to learn more about the project and pledge your support!
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