The beginning of the adventure

Alina Elena Murariu was born in Pașcani and is the creator of the brand I WOOD BE, which emphasizes the cultural side through diaries made of beech wood and recycled paper sheets, wooden bookmarks and necklaces with fragments of local poetry. All creations have been on the market for a year and are made in her own workshop.

Alina Elena Murariu is 26 years old and at first she drew because she didn't like to cry when she was angry. She listened to Parasites and sketched in notebooks everything that came to her mind at the moment. She realized that she had an inclination for art and decided to find something in this field, even though she finished college and a master's degree in tourism. The idea came because she really liked reading. She never had a stable bookmark, so she decided to glue several cardboards from hair dye boxes and make one. She liked the whole process, which is why she decided to make a stock of 30 bookmarks and participate in Iași, at her first handmade products fair. She still has about two or three of them left.

After a while, she moved to Bucharest. She started making diaries along the way, and at first she would fix the spine with leather material and cut the wood herself, in the yard, with a pendulum. Before she had a workshop, she would make them at home, even though there was chaos and disorder most of the time.

Interacting with people at fairs was very difficult for her at first, sometimes even a little intimidating. She was more withdrawn and did not trust people's reaction to the concept she wanted to bring. However, those around her were receptive, and Alina gained confidence in herself and in her desire to create more. Now she laughs and is friendly with everyone, talking and making jokes every time: "They don't necessarily have to buy, I don't know why they run away so scared when I start talking."

Three months ago, she managed to find a colleague, because she needed to share the tasks in the workshop, and the requests were getting bigger and bigger: "There are so many ideas, I don't have much hands." The time it takes to make diaries varies depending on the model. There are days when she manages to limit herself to 20 minutes, there are days when it takes her over two or three hours. Sometimes she chooses the models, other times the person who places the order suggests them or, in the case of a gift, she provides some features about the person in question and personalizes them. Usually, she makes a sketch before working on the model and then prints it on wood, engraves or paints it.

She is in the studio from 11:00 to 18:00, Monday to Friday, but there are days when she stays until 22:00. Sometimes she works on weekends. She made the furniture in her office herself, from the table on which a computer rests, a wooden plaque with "I wood be", her mascot and an aquarium without fish, to the cabinets on which finished diaries or those that are drying up are displayed. This is because she also likes the architecture and furniture part. The studio where she works now is not just hers. For now, she shares the space with two other companies, but she wants to find her own place, and one of her solutions could be European projects.

She usually attends fairs alone, because she wants to be focused strictly on what she is doing. She finds them most of the time or is contacted by the organizers. In addition to diaries and bookmarks, she also makes photo albums, flower boxes and brooches with her favorite quotes, sometimes written by her, sometimes taken from poems. Now she wants to use wood in wallets or envelopes and has a few designs in mind.

If it weren't for this passion for design and drawing, she would have focused on furniture. She dreamed of something of her own, something made by her own hands, something she would like: "I wanted to have something of my own, I didn't want to work for someone else. I can't imagine not doing it. One of my desires is to open something that combines tourism with the workshop. But I will never leave my agendas."

Currently, Alina is trying to establish a fixed schedule, because a little rest would help her. She likes to wear colorful clothes and apply red lipstick, and sometimes her straight bangs annoy her because she can't arrange them when taking pictures. She wants to read, because she has started to like history, and to focus on the drawing and sketching part more. And she is determined to take her mother on a trip to Poland. Just them, a backpack and maybe a diary.