What does being a puzzle community influencer mean to you personally?

To me, being a puzzle community influencer means having the privilege of channeling my energy into a hobby I truly love. Discovering #speedpuzzling has connected me with a vibrant, growing puzzle community, and I feel incredibly lucky to be part of its evolution. I believe puzzling has enormous potential to grow its social side, which is why I’ve chosen to invest time in creating opportunities for puzzlers to meet, connect, and feel part of something meaningful. As a natural connector, I love helping puzzlers find their place, building connections, fostering a sense of belonging, and supporting other puzzlers as they discover their role within the community.

Seeing the community flourish and knowing I’ve contributed to that gives me a tremendous amount of energy in return.

What’s your favorite part of being a puzzle community influencer?

My favorite part of being a puzzle community influencer is the incredible amount of interaction it brings. I get to connect with people from so many different backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives, all united by the same hobby. It’s inspiring to see how puzzling creates common ground between people who might otherwise never cross paths, and being part of those connections is genuinely one of the most rewarding aspects of what I do.

What’s a fun puzzle moment that made you smile recently?

Definitely getting sold out in Teams competition of the Dutch Jigsaw Nationals 2026 in just after 28 minutes of opening the registrations!

You’re involved in so many amazing initiatives— Speedpuzzling The Netherlands (Dutch Jigsaw Puzzle Association), International Puzzle Day, and Guinness World Record attempts. Can you tell us more about all of these?

I am a co‑founder of Speedpuzzling The Netherlands (Dutch Jigsaw Puzzle Association), a foundation I helped establish after I was fortunate enough to meet my now friend, the wonderfull Mieneke Boots (@mieneke_puzzles) in the puzzle world. We started very small, with an informal, 20 in-person competition (see competition highlights), thanks to Ou La La Puzzles for being there as a sponsor. In just about a year and a half, we have grown into an officially registered organization with a board of seven wonderful people, a clear mission and vision, and a rapidly expanding community. In this short time, we’ve celebrated major milestones such as the Dutch team winning Best Team at the World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship 2025, organizing national competitions with around 400 participants, and with the intention of hopefully becoming the host the European Jigsaw puzzle Championship in 2028/2029. 

Regarding International Puzzle Day, at the end of 2024 I had the idea to celebrate it in January 2025 in a way that would bring puzzlers around the world together to experience true #socialpuzzling. Because coordinating something global is a huge task, I reached out to puzzle associations worldwide so they could mobilize their own communities. Together, we all built the “International Puzzle Day Puzzle,” the same puzzle distributed globally thanks to our sponsor EDUCA (@educaborras), who has been an incredible partner. Associations created their own local activities while I ran an online giveaway, and the response was so positive that participation grew from 27 associations in 2025 to 36 in 2026.

International Puzzle Day requires a lot of energy to run, but the joy and connection it creates make every effort worth it. 

For the Guinness World Record attempt at the WJPC 2025, I volunteered to organize it on behalf of the Netherlands. It was a complex challenge, but by applying design engineering principles (clear processes, defined roles, and solid logistics) we made it happen. More than 400 puzzlers came together to complete a 42 320 piece puzzle in just 25 minutes and 55 seconds. This achievement meant a lot to me, not only because it was the largest business process I’ve ever designed and coordinated in terms of people working at the same time, but also because it fulfilled a childhood dream of being part of Guinness World Record history. I’m deeply grateful to everyone involved, especially Charlie Kendall for the ideas, collaboration, and support that helped make it possible.

You’ve also celebrated amazing milestones of pieces rented with Ou La La Puzzles! How does it feel?

I feel great full for having meeting Sanger and joining her adventure with Ou La La Puzzles. Therefore the magnet gifts of the 10k and 25k rented pieces are more than tokens for me, it's proof of seeing how Sanger's entrepreneurship is blooming!

What types of puzzles are you into at the moment?

I am into trying new brands more than looking on a specific puzzle type. I made a personal goal of experiencing at least 20 different new puzzle brands to me during 2026. This will expand my knowledge on puzzles, quality signs, etc.

You also do puzzle mashup challenges. What are they, and what inspired you to start them?

A puzzle mashup is when you combine two puzzles with the same cut to create a completely new image. It’s only possible when the pieces from different puzzles fit together perfectly, which makes the result both surprising and visually fascinating. The idea started when my husband noticed that two puzzles I had on the table shared the same cut. From that moment on, I stopped breaking puzzles immediately after finishing them and began checking them against others to see if they matched.

Whenever I find two good candidates, I get genuinely excited and jump straight into creating a mashup, usually in stop‑motion, because I absolutely love making those videos.

Mashups take a lot of time and effort, but the process is incredibly fun and boosts my creativity every single time.

What's a fun fact about you?

A giraffe "kissed" me when I was around 15 years old! LOL

What exciting projects or puzzle activities are you working on next?

My main focus right now is continuing to strengthen and grow the Dutch Puzzle Foundation, making it more structured and sustainable as our community expands. In parallel, I’m part of the European Committee for Jigsaw Puzzling, representing the Netherlands, where I’m helping develop the procedures needed to formalize the annual European Jigsaw Puzzle Championship. And of course, on a more creative note, I have several puzzles waiting to be explored... each one a potential mashup or stop‑motion idea that I can turn into a fun Instagram video to bring a bit of joy to the community.

What kinds of community involvement would you love to see between you and Ou La La Puzzles in the future?

We could work together in a kind of open puzzle mashup challenge gallery, were all participants get the same 2 puzzles and are free to mix them and send their own creation.

#socialpuzzling  #puzzlemashupchallenge   #the_purple_puzzler