Welcome Marida Design

November’s showcased designer joins us from beautiful Bari, Italy, a port city of more than 300,000 located on the Adriatic Sea in Italy’s Puglia region.

 From this idyllic place, Marida Riefolo Nardelli, owner of Marida Design, has been beading since childhood, apparently inspired by a schoolmate’s colourful bead box! Marida continues to see seed beads as full of surprises – so small and yet so capable of creating wonders!

From humble beginnings, Marida now has a FB business page, Instagram, and Etsy shop – you’ll find links at the end of this blog.

"I was pleasantly surprised when some magazines published my work: Perlen Poesie, Digital Beading Australia and Bead Art. Even Vogue Accessory posted one of my creations on their popular FB page,” Marida shared.

Many requests for patterns followed, and Marida took advantage of the interest to open her Esty shop in 2014. At first her shop stocked only finished pieces, but two years later she added her first tutorial…fast forward to the present, and Marida’s Etsy shop has 31 tutorials, 1000+ admirers, and more than 2000 sales!

Marida uses mainly Toho and Miyuki beads, and Czech and Swarovski crystals, and now incorporates many of the shaped beads, which allow for the creation of “distinct and delightful pieces."

Her go-to threads are Fireline and KO by Sonoko Nozue thread.

Lately, Marida has been drawn to creating bridal jewelry. She loves combining white or ivory with gold, and she adores pearls!

Marida gathers inspiration from different places. Her Dream bridal necklace was inspired by the many lace patterns her grandmother collected.

She is also inspired by the Panamanian “mosqueta jewellery” inspired her Contadora necklace, photo at left. This beautiful piece takes its name from the Peral Island archipelago in Panama.
 

 Another favourite colour combo is turquoise with blue, and gold or silver – it’s simply always a stylish combo. 

Marida has many tutorials for intermediate or experienced beaders to learn from. With a passion for computer graphics, Marida creates graphic tutorials that users appreciate.In fact, she also takes her own product photos, using a light box and a photo editing program (Photoshop). From creating the design to posting tutorials, and even making gift boxes (with Sizzix Big Shot) – Marida does it all! To make sure that she has family time, Marida enjoys beading in their midst rather than in a dedicated studio.

"I worked really hard to build and develop my business, and gain customers' trust. and now I'm very happy and proud of the goals I've reached so far. I hope to always improve."