I transform Bulgarian patterns into everyday jewelry: Anastasia, Si-Art

“A while ago I accidentally came across an online tutorial for polymeric clay I decided to give a try. When I started I was still a student. Initially I made jewelry only for myself and I would post the pictures on my Facebook wall. My friends liked what I made and started ordering, then their friends and the friends of their friends. Gradually I made a long list of customers and later I was able to open my own atelier. A fresh upgrade from my parents’ kitchen, where I used to work for the first 2 years.

I’ve made all kinds of crazy stuff from polymeric clay – from popcorn earrings to laptop keypad. But I’m especially proud of my “Patterns” collection. Its story started a few years ago when I found a illustration book with Facebook. Every one with a story. I got so interested that in the following 2 years I would gather every book I could find on the subject matter. I learnt so much that I got inspired to create a jewelry collection similar to these national patterns – from the regions of Blagoevgrad, Samokov, Rodopi and many others. The most detailed piece I’ve ever dome is a tile with a pattern like that. It has 328 elements and it took me 28 working hours to finish it. It’s my masterpiece.”

“What has been most challenging to you business-wise?”

“To educate myself on finance and start asking the real price for my creations. This is a common problem for all authors. You gradually overcome it but it takes time. I would say to all authors own there – don’t devalue your work.”