The Decoration Studio Owner | Nevena Rujevska
Colorful paper, ribbons, and tiny ornaments are all scattered on her desk. The studio’s shelves are filled with beautiful invitations, handmade Christmas toys, and crafty gift boxes that create the feeling of coziness and childish joy. She is focused, looking down at her desk, completely emerged in what she is doing.
Nevena Rujevska is 31 years old and owns a decoration studio. She makes all kinds of invitations, decoration for parties, toys, and many more handmade things. Her radiant smile and positive attitude are as inviting as her studio.
“It’s a good thing I did my hair today,” she says laughing.
Nevena has been doing handmade decorations for six years but has her own studio since last year.
“I was on a maternity leave and it all started when I did some Christmas cards. I really liked how they turned out. After my leave was over I started doing things for my sister’s bookstore. I started getting orders and now we do everything from invitations to decoration for restaurants,” she says.
As far as her education goes, Nevena is a fashion designer. However, before she discovered her passion for crafts she used to work as a cook. She shares that she doesn’t like routine and prefers when her life is colorful.
“I really like what I’m doing right now. I enjoy cooking as well but decorations are my passion for sure. It’s more satisfying and I meet a lot of positive people. It’s nice when people come because of something I made.”
She points out time as the only difficulty she has regarding her job. Sometimes she needs to stay after work to finish her orders on time. “When a person is good at his job and passionate about what he is doing, there are really no hardships.”
Nevena loves to make decorations for children’s birthday parties. “The whole mood my decorations bring makes me happy.”
She has been to some festivals where she met some of her regular customers. The hardest part, she says, about opening the studio was to fill the shelves because there needs to be merchandise that catches the eye of the customer.
Nevena says that even though Bulgarians are generally not in the best financial position, they still buy things that feed their soul.
“Money is never enough. However, what makes me happy is that people still spare money for things that bring joy and happiness into their lives,” she says.
Nevena is also a proud parent of a little girl that loves to help her mother.
“My child also has regular customers. She made some Christmas toys and money envelopes. I have this customer that goes in and immediately says she wants to buy the toys my little girl has made. My girl loves to help me and make her own decorations. I always support her. She’s a very artistic child,” Nevena says.
