• Çağla was a successful florist in Istanbul before she turned to making paper flower arrangements
• It was during the pandemic that she began creating paper flowers
• She values adding minute details derived from nature and her imagination

Çağla Yılmaz began her career in horticulture in 2016 and after working in her atelier at home, she opened a shop in 2018 working as a florist. However, during the pandemic, and after moving from Istanbul to the quiet seaside town of Ayvalık, she began to make paper flowers as a shared hobby with her 83-year-old neighbour. Quite quickly, it became a real passion and Çağla realised this would be her new profession. “At the beginning, we were making simple branch flowers and leaves using construction paper, tissue paper, and cardboard, without delving into fine details. During this process, my interest in making paper flowers increased, and I began to expand and diversify my practices,” she explains. Her creations include paper flower branches, paper flower arrangements and giant paper flowers with minute details. “Besides the joy they bring me while making them, I realised I wanted to bring paper flowers to more people after witnessing how happy they made those who saw and purchased them, and I chose it as my new path,” says Çağla.