My name is Marina Nasyrova, I live in the city of Bugulma, Russia. I am 34 years old; I have two beautiful children and beloved husband. By education I am a business analyst and work for an oil company. So if you have just discovered oil field, you can ask me for advice and I will tell you in more details where and how much and how deep to drill, how to get a good return of the equipment, how to deliver oil, how much taxes to pay, etc. That's a joke but it's my everyday's routine what I'm doing at work - no magic at all!

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But when I get home in the evening and when the entire house goes to sleep then the magic begins! Irresistible force draws me to where the boxes and jars are full of my jewels - beads, gemstones, crystals, bronze elements, pearls, bohemian glass beads and so on. It seems to me that my stuff lives its own life and do not want to be inanimate objects. They jingle and rustle, make friends and quarrel and already in boxes agree who with whom goes into one ornament.

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I often repeat the phase, "I'm just a humble servant of stones and beads. I'm just weaving and embroidering, they all come up by themselves!" Beads and stones are my everything: my hobby, my nirvana, my song, my story, and my love!

As I came to the beads - or how they came to me - it's hard to say. They have always been in my life, at first were kept in a small box (the baubles I have created were given to my friends on their birthdays), and then they were scattered on the floor of my college apartment (at that time I surprised my parents with beaded Easter eggs), were carried in parcels from the post office in my kid's stroller (relatives' apartments were adorned by beaded dolls and amulets created then).

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One day, coming to work from my maternity leave, I picked up a pair of beaded dolls to show to my colleagues, and they asked me, "Marina, why do not you make any jewelry?" Then I discovered bead art of Sherry Serafini and the entire universe of woven and embroidered beauty and splendor! Opportunities of beading hit me - they were endless!

Contrary to all the "laws" stated by beadweaving gurus, I never draw sketches. In the realm of my gemstones, I like a predictor of the future: I look at each one of them and immediately see the "image" of a piece of jewelry where this gem will live. Exactly like that all my jewelry is created: first somewhere in an online shop the Star, Prima appears and immediately a picture in my head is formed: shape, color, length, width; and I know all further transformations and buy this gem.

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Yet Her Majesty the Star is on the way to me from the shop, I pick up her "entourage" favorites, affiliates, servants (read - other gemstones, crystals, beads, pendants, findings). Since I live in a small town, I make all purchases via Internet. I love druzes and gemstones with rough surfaces, this is my weakness! And no matter how much they cost, I can even buy the finished jewelry (a ring, a pendant in a silver frame) only in order to take possession of the gemstone, which I fell in love with.

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I don't believe in healing properties of gemstones tied with zodiac signs. I think they are carriers of information. I believe everything affects gem "character" - the place where it was found, the events that occurred there at that time, the people who were holding it... So when I work I'm always in good shape and mood!

I use only Japanese seed beads - because to make a delicious candy chocolate is always needed! Last time I began experimenting with other materials. So along with beads, gems and traditional Swarovski elements copper plated dried leaves of birch, felted and clay elements, painted shells, hemp rope, feathers, leather flowers, carved stone figurines, metal stampings, fur appear in my jewelry.

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Unfortunately, I have little time for my favorite hobby and beadwork didn't become a profession for me. Beading is just an outlet for me and the window into the world of beauty. Although, maybe it's for the better? After all, I can give all my spare time to realization of my ideas and fantasies!

Perhaps for these reasons I have not really thought about participation in competitions and exhibitions, although last year I took part in the Fashion Colorworks Beading Contest and in the International Bead Award Contest by Perlen Poesie (IBA 2011) where my beadwork won the Second Place in the Embroidery Category. In general, the main thing for me is creativity, free from any limits!

My gallery on MyLovelyBeads.com

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