About Irina
Irina Kovalenko is the founder of Irina Designs and the designer behind all the jewellery pieces and boxes displayed on this website. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and a Masters degree in Business Administration and works as a Marketing Manager but her true passion lies in arts and design.
Irina has tried her hand at a variety of arts and crafts including painting, pottery, stained glass, needle crafts, scrapbooking, flower arrangement, gift baskets, cosmetics and cake decorating. Currently, Irina also studies Graphic Design and Interior Decorating at Seneca College.
Irina started designing jewellery in 2006 when she took some jewellery-making classes at Michael’s Art Store and that was just the beginning. At first, Irina designed some jewellery pieces just for herself and some close friends and family. Then, her designs became a great hit and she began selling her jewellery to some of the exclusive fashion boutiques in Toronto and participating in Arts and Crafts Shows in Ontario.
Irina gets her inspiration from international travels, nature and different art and design styles. She specializes in necklaces but also likes to create matching earrings and bracelets to compliment the necklaces. Different colours, shapes, textures and unique pendants help Irina design unique jewellery pieces. She likes to create jewellery designs for different occasions – daytime casual pieces as well as elegant evening pieces. She also likes to work with different media and colours. Her designs are fashion-forward, yet classic and elegant.
Irina uses high-quality semi-precious stones, glass and crystal beads to create unique and versatile designs. She creates every piece by hand with patience, precision and great attention to detail. Irina rarely repeats any designs twice. Even if some designs are repeated, they won’t look exactly the same, there will be some variance in size, colour and/or bead selection.
Irina also creates jewellery boxes as a great complimentary product to her jewellery. She decorates jewellery boxes by hand and loves to create them as they allow her to work with different craft media and express a more fun and whimsical design style. Irina finds inspiration for her box designs in everyday life and things she likes such as holidays, seasons, fashion, nature and favourite passtimes.