Have you ever been in the following situation: you don't have enough time or energy for your favorite hobby? This month we interviewed a woman which is living proof that you can find time, money and support if you want to. Tatyana Belozerova from the northern city of Kovdor has five children. However, she succeeded in making papier-mache dolls, and each of them is so unique and fabulous, that's amazing! You will learn firsthand the secrets of time management in the conditions of a large family, how love takes its own path to creativity, avoiding obstacles, and how many hours you need to sleep in order to have enough energy. Welcome to the backstage of these two amazing worlds, harmoniously existing side by side.

— Tatiana, once you said: "I always wanted to make a job of my hobby, and that's the way it happened." How did this dream come in your heart? What did you do before the "handmade" life?
— When I was 16 I was fortunate to work in the cinema as a graphic designer and projectionist at the same time. I wistfully recall those times, I was very fond of this work. Then the theater was closed. When I was eighteen, my grandmother found a job for me at a phlogopite factory which processed mica. I worked there for many years as a crusher, then I left this job, the salary was paid unstably. I have had the love for art since my childhood, and when I was twenty I wanted to make my living with it, but then I was still in search of my own technique and style. At the time I had a lot of work orders.
— You opened a shop at the Livemaster almost nine years ago. At what point did the dream begin to become a reality, and your hobby win its ground? Do you remember what you felt when you sold you first work? What was it?
— My dream began to come true when the Internet appeared in my house :) That's when I began to study everything. I was very fascinated by felting, first dry felting, then wet felting. Yes, the sale began with it. Of course, after I sold the first work I was happy and had a desire to go further. I began to felt different toys that started to become popular, I also made wool ornaments. I felted hats, even made coats for myself, I still have one :)

— You are not only a wonderful artisan, but also a mother of four little boys and pretty girls. Have your family obligations ever interfered in your way to success? Do your husband and children help you?
— My older children are already students, they are independent. One of them is close to creativity, he draws. The youngest also love to participate in the process. The whole family and my husband help me to make big holidays orders. He is also a creative person, a musician and a biker.
— Do you plant a love for creativity in your family? Are they captivated by this wonderful world? What, in your opinion, do people lack when they become older, what should they learn from children?
— Unfortunately, in our time, children are dependent on gadgets and computers, it is difficult now to make children interested in something. They are not much interested in my works, they just grew up with it and got used to it :) Everyone has their own interests.

— Tatiana, you somehow miraculously manage to find time for crafts and for children — will you share with our readers the secrets of time management? How many hours do you sleep? :)
— Unfortunately or maybe fortunately, I don't have a fixed working schedule. But I have decided a long time ago that I need to get enough sleep. So we go to bed at ten o'clock and wake up at seven in the morning. So I get enough sleep. And then I work all day long — with breaks for walks, cleaning and cooking.

— Your characters are charming, quirky, they are from fairy tales... Have you ever had a desire to write your own story?
— Yes, there was such a desire, but there is no time for it. There are little stories about my dolls, little fairy tales :) But they are not born often, that requires a special mood and inspiration.
— It's hard to imagine how you can place a big friendly family and a studio in the same house. Where and how did you organize your workspace, does it intersect with the routes and trails of the household?
— We live in a fairly big apartment and I have my own little space in the pantry. But still, my works travel with me all over the apartment. I dream about a large individual room, and I hope this dream will soon come true.

— The process of making your dolls is quite complex, you use several techniques. How much material and tools do you have?
— Yes, the creation of dolls includes many processes, you should be able to sculpt and sew, make shoes, and to be a hairdresser. I have a huge inventory of different fabrics, scraps. Absolutely nothing is wasted, even a tiny piece of tissue can be put in the work. And there are a lot of materials and tools, I can't remember all of them.
— How much time do you spend on making one doll? What is the most difficult and the most magical in this process?
— Usually one doll takes from three to seven days, I am already skilled :) Very often I make a few dolls at the same time. I don't really like to sculpt the hands, but I have already learned to do it automatically. The most magical thing is when the doll has a face, and her eyes come to life, and then there is the overall image. After the doll is finished I admire it and wear in my hands for a long time, and then I part with it without regret. I'm glad when they find a new home. I get pleasure from the process of creation and that the work brings happiness to others. My dolls live all over the world, and I'm so glad with this fact.

— Have you ever made a fatal error in the creative process? What do you do with such works?
— I do not remember such cases. All works have their life :) And if something didn't come out how I wanted, I put it in a box, but they rarely come back from there and live in a boxed world.
— Does it happen that you are free of creativity and family at the same time? What do you do when you have a spare minute?
— My spare time is my creativity, I'm happy with it :) I usually work when children are at school or at daycare.

— If you were offered to travel the world, what place would you like to visit?
— I often think about that, but I haven't found the place. I want to travel across Russia.
— You are not afraid of anything new and unknown. But are there peaks that you would like to conquer on you horizon? Share your plans for the future.
— Oh, yes. I dream of a muffle oven. I really want to make ceramics in its original style. To make some unusual things for my dolls. I hope this dream will come true :)