This interview is the first one of my project of presenting young and talented people who make jewelry. It is bilingual what makes it unique here at my blog. First part is on Croatian and second on English.
Ovaj intervju je prvi u mom projektu predstavljanja talentiranih mladih ljudi koji izraฤuju nakit. Prvi dio je na hrvatskom, a drugi na engleskom.

Bok Rafaela! Kao prvo, reci nam neลกto viลกe o sebi i ฤime se baviลก?
Lijepi pozdrav svima. Studenica sam 5. godine na Muziฤkoj akademiji, smjer Glazbena pedagogija. U slobodno vrijeme se bavim izradom nakita u svim moguฤim tehnikama i od raznoraznih materijala, no nekako je moj zaลกtitni znak tkanina. Pogodna je za razna eksperimentiranja,โ frkanjaโ, slaganja โ a to je upravo ono ลกto volim kod nakita, da me veฤ na prvi pogled baci u svijet maลกte.

ล to je sve “Paradaro modni dodaci”?
Paradaro je zapravo sloลพenica nekoliko imena. Pa=Patricia – moja sestra, Ra=Rafaela โ moja malenkost, Da=Damjan โ moj brat, Ro=Romana – ย moja mama. Ime, kao ลกto vidite, ima veliko znaฤenje za mene jer se sastoji od gotovo svih meni najbitnijih ljudi u ลพivotu.
Ako priฤamo o tome koji proizvodi sve ฤine Paradaro modne dodatke, lista je podugaฤka. Nakit od tkanine u obliku ogrlica, nauลกnica, narukvica, ลกpangica, prstenฤiฤa, broลกiฤa โ izraฤenih na milijun i jedan naฤin, zatim viseฤe nauลกnice od raznih materijala, isto tako zanimljive ogrlice od konopa, konca, perla, lanaca, oslikane tenisice za bebe i odrasle, oslikane majice, poseban boลพiฤni program u obliku vjenaca za vrata, adventskih vjenฤiฤa, unikatnih kuglicaโฆ Na mojem profilu na Facebook-u takoฤer objavljujem i radove svoje druge kreativne polovice, mojeg deฤka, koji izraฤuje kutije po ลพeljama te ลกtrikane i heklane ljepote moje mame. Svi smo kreativni i obiteljski uลพivamo u svijetu maลกte.
Kako si skupila hrabrost staviti svoje ime iza svojih radova? Mnogi kreativci i kreativke izraฤuju i stvaraju pod pseudonimom…
Moje ime je zapravo dobro sakriveno unutar imena Paradaro โ mislim da je zvuฤno i lako pamtljivo, iako je i moje osobno ime meni osobno jako lijepo i zvuฤno โ hvala mami na tome. Moram priznati da me ljudi ponekad nasmiju kad recimo imam nagradnu igru na svojem profilu, pa se tu naฤe svega, iako mi je najdraลพe PARADORO i pobjednik bez premca, PANDORIN modni nakit.
ล to je bila PRVA stvar koju si napravila i koja je priฤa iza toga, za ลกto je bila?
Prva stvar koju sam ikad napravila je bio broลก koji je zapravo trebao biti cvijet koji bih nosila u kosi prilikom nastupa sa zborom. Prvotno sam cvijet iลกla traลพiti po duฤanima, no kad sam shvatila koliko je otuลพna i skupa ponuda, odluฤila sam napraviti svoj prvi cvijet. On je joลก uvijek doma i ima svoje poฤasno mjesto โ ลกto u kutiji s nakitom, ลกto u mome srcu jer je on preteฤa svega ovoga ลกto je danas Paradaro. Sjeฤam se da sam ga radila satima i zaista je lijepo ispao, neลกto za ลกto bi i danas rekla da je stvarno lijepo, ลกto nije sluฤaj sa svim mojim poฤetniฤkim radovima.
Kako si odluฤila izraฤivanje proลกiriti i napraviti posao od toga? Gdje (ili kako) dobivaลก inspiraciju za nove radove?
Moram priznati da su se ideje raฤale same po sebi, bez nekog pritiska i sliฤnoga, jednostavno sam postepeno dolazila do potpuno novih i svjeลพih ideja โ to je ono najljepลกe u kreativnosti i maลกti, nikada ne znaลก gdje ฤe te odvesti. Trenutno sam uฤlanjena u Udrugu Ruลพin Krug iz Vrbovca te na taj naฤin dobivam razne korisne informacije i posjeฤujem sajmove. ย Inspiraciju pronalazim u raznim zanimljivim materijalima, a ponajviลกe u mojim izrazito maลกtovitim kupilicama koje mi uvijek predstave svoje zanimljive ลพelje i ideje. Nemali broj puta baลก iz njihovih ideja nastane kolekcija koja se dodatno razvija kako ju radim. Naravno, uvijek imenujem koja je to toฤno kupilica zasluลพna za pojedinu ideju ili kolekciju jer se takve stvari moraju poลกtovati. Zahvalna sam ลกto moje ลพene tako vjeruju u mene i svaki put mi predstave novi, joลก zanimljiviji zadatak ili ideju.
Vidjela sam tvoje vijence za Boลพiฤ, izgledaju kao da treba puno vremena i posla oko njih. Koliko ti vremena treba za izraditi jedan?ย
Uuuuuuufโฆ Vjenฤiฤi su prvotno zaลพivjeli u mojoj glavi kao ideja, koju nisam ostvarila sve dok mi jednom prilikom moja buduฤa svekrva nije rekla da napravim neลกto takvo. Dakle, moลพe se reฤi da smo obje doลกle do te ideje te da me ona potaknula. Izrada takvih vjenฤiฤa je dugotrajna i osjetiljiva โ pitajte moje prste kako se osjeฤaju kada ih zalijem finom koliฤinom vruฤeg ljepila โ ali zavrลกni produkt je zaista predivan. Malo boli kad znaลก da je to baลก izvorno tvoja ideja i kad po Facebook-u poฤnu nicati pokuลกaji neฤeg sliฤnog, ali naลพalost tako je to uvijek bilo i bit ฤe. Teลกko se s tim mirim, ali ลกto je tu je.

Koji tvoj rad ima titulu tebi najdraลพeg? I zaลกto?
Oboลพavam raditi nakit za posebne trenutke, kao ลกto su vjenฤanja, maturalne, krstitke โ za ลกto imam poseban program trakica za curiceโฆ Opฤenito jako volim raditi stvarฤice za djecu jer onda mogu totalno otpustiti dijete u sebi i raditi ลกareno, veselo i razigrano. Moram priznati, i sama rado nosim trakice koje bi obiฤno trebale biti namijenjene za curice. ๐


I za kraj, koja je najbolja stvar u vezi izraฤivanja i prodavanja svojih radova, a koja najgora?
Najbolja stvar su moji divni, prekrasni kupci, poznanstva koja zavrลกe prijateljstvom โ recimo, jednoj posebnoj ลพeni sam radila revere za vjenฤanjaย pa sam tako zavrลกila kod nje na svadbi, pjevala joj Ave Maria u crkvi, a kasnije smo se svi jako dobro zabavili. ลฝivot je uistinu nepredvidljiv i moลพe biti prekrasan, a upravo zato sam sretna ลกto se bavim ovakvim poslom, koji zapravo nije posao veฤ ฤisti uลพitak, jer uvijek naiฤeลก na divne ljude koji su ti spremni pruลพiti toplu rijeฤ kad god trebaลก. No, kako medalja uvijek ima dvije strane, ima i onih dana i ljudi zbog kojih privremeno zaboraviลก sve ono lijepo. Od onih koji ne uplate naruฤen nakit, onih koji te zavlaฤe danima pa sve do onih koji te besramno kopiraju, a prave ti se velikim prijateljima. Kako god da bilo, na kraju dana uvijek budem sretna i zahvalna na ovom daru kojeg imam, koji plaฤa moje raฤune, hrani me i oblaฤi i zbog kojeg sam bogatija za bezbroj divnih iskustava. Zahvalna sam na svakoj divnoj poruci koju mi moji kupci upute u inbox, na svakoj rijeฤi podrลกke, na svakoj kupnji. Zahvalna sam i Tebi jer si me zasad jedina odluฤila intervjuirati i dati mi ลกansu da se predstavim ลกiroj publici.
Hvala tebi Rafaela i ลพelim ti puno sreฤe u daljnjem radu!
Rafaelu i PARADARO moลพete naฤi na Facebooku – klikniย OVDJE
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Hi Rafaela! First, tell us who are you and what are you creating?
Hello everyone. I am a student of Music Academy, currently on the fifth year, direction Musical pedagogy. In my frww time I am creating jewelry in all sorts of techniques and with different materials, with fabric being my trademark. It suits well for experimenting, twisting and folding โ and that is what I like about making jewelry, that it throws me in the world of imagination.

What is โParadaro Fashion Accessoriesโ?
Paradaro is actually made from few names. Pa=Patricia – my sister, Ra=Rafaela โme, Da=Damjan – my brother and Ro=Romana โ my mother. You see, the name has a great meaning to me because it is made up from almost all the people I care deeply about in my life.
If we’re talking about which products are Paradaro Fashion Accessories, then the list is long. Jewelry from fabric as necklaces, earrings, bracelets, pins, rings and brooch โ made in a million different ways, then earrings from other materials, interesting necklaces from ropes, treads, pearls, painted shoes for babies and grown-ups, painted shirts, specail Christmas assortment with wreaths for front doors, unique Christmas decorations… On my profile on Facebook I also publish the work of my boyfriend, my other creative half. He makes boxes by requests. And I share knitting and crocheted work my mum makes. We are all creative and we enjoy in the world of imagination.
Was it hard to put your name behind your work? Many of jewelry makers have pseudonyms…
My name is actually well hidden inside the Paradaro name โ I think it sounds good and easy to remember, althought my name is also very pretty to me โ thanks mum on that. I have to admit that people sometimes make me laugh when for example I have a giveaway on my profile, so you can find everything… My favorite is PARADORO and the winner, PANDORA’s fashion accessories.
What was the very first thing you made and for what?
The very first thing I have ever made was a brooch which was supposed to be a flower for me to wear in my hair on the performance with my quire. Originally, I went searching for the flower in the stores, but dissapointed with their offer I have decided to make my own first flower. It is still at home and it has a special place โ in a jewelry box and in my heart because it is where everything started and the creation of Paradaro. I remember that I was making it for hours and it really turned out nice, something that is not the case with all my work at the beggining.
When did you decided to make something out of it? How (or where) do you get inspiration for new pieces?
I have to admit that the ideas were born by themselves, without any pressure. I just simply and gradually got to fresh and new ideas โ that is the beautiful thing about being creative and imaginative, you never know where will you end up. I am currently in the Ruลพin Krug from Vrbovec and I get lots of interesting and usefull information from them. Also, i visit fairs. I find my inspiration in all sorts of interesting materials, and mostly in my incredibly imaginative buyers who always come to me with their whishes and ideas. Many times their ideas are the thing that starts a new collection which developes as I am working on it. Of course, I always name the buyer who gave me the idea for a piece or a collection because you have to respect that. I am grateful that my women (buyers) believe in me like they do and each time present me with new, even more interesting task or idea.
I have seen your Christmas wreaths , they look majestic and like a lot of work. How much time do you need to make one?
Uuuuuuuuf… Wreaths ย with flowers from fabric first came to life in my head as an idea, but I didn’t go throught with it until my future mother in law suggested that i should try to make something like that. So, you can say we both got the idea and she encouraged me. Making of this type of wreaths is long and sensitive โ ask my fingers how they feel when I pour hot glue all over them โ but the finished product is beautiful. It hurts a little when you know that the idea is originally yours and see something other people on Facebook doing something similar, but that will always happen. I have hard time dealing with it, but really can’t help it.

Which one of your pieces has the title of your favorite? Why?
I just love making jewelry for special occassions like weddings, proms and baptisms โ for which I have special pieces for girls… In general, I just love making stuff for kids because then I can completely let go of the child in me and work colorful, happy and playful. I have to admit, I myself love to wear pieces like hair bands meant for little girls. ๐


And the last question, can you tell me what is the best thing about making and selling your own accessories, and what is the worst?
The best thing are my beautiful buyers, acquaintances which end up as friendships โ for example, I was making wedding pieces for a lovely lady and end up on her wedding singing Ave Maria in the church, and had fun later. Life is truly unpredictable and it can be beautiful, and that is the reason I am happy for doing this job which actually is not a job but pure pleasure, because I always come across amazing people who are willing to give you a kind word whenever you need. But there are days and people who make you forget the good stuff. From people who don’t pay what they have ordered, to the ones that stall you for days up to the ones who are shamelessly copying you, and they present themselves as big friends. Anyway, at the end of a day I am always happy and grateful on this gift I have, which is paying my bills, feed me and cloth me and beacuse of which I am richer for numberless wonderful experiences. I am grateful for every wonderful message that my buyers send in my inbox, on every word of support, on every sell. I am grateful to you too because for now, you are the only one who decided to interview me and give me the oportunity to present myself to a wider audience.
Thank you Rafaela and I wish you luck in your future work!
Copyright ยฉ 2014ย
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