My name is Albina Manning. I was born in Yoshkar-Ola, Russia, a small town not far from Volga River. In 2003 I moved in the USA

Once, a Russian friend living in Japan sent me a beautiful, red beaded rose as a Christmas gift. I thought, ‘is it possible to make something as lovely as Mother Nature creates? Probably not, but sometimes copies can be worth that of the original.’ That is when I fell in love with beads and wire. My first experience was to make a beaded Money Tree. In spite of the fact that it looks like an old untrimmed tree and has a lot of ‘technical’ mistakes, I still love it.

I then discovered The Bead Museum in Glendale, AZ where displays include the incredible beadwork of Lana May from Phoenix. Just ‘down-the-road’, I contacted Lana who inspired my jewelry making hobby (which was a perfect fit for the stay-home-mom).

Now I enjoy teaching at The Bead Museum, The Beaderie, and at the J.O.G.S Gem & Jewelry Show. My work Bonsai Shakkan has been used by Fire Mountain Gems both as a back cover advertisement and inside their catalog. In 2009 I won the 1st Place Gold Medal award with ‘Inca’s Gold Necklace’ in FMG’s wirework category. I have been published in ‘Art Bead Circle Magazine’ as well as in an new book ‘Mixed Media Jewelry Techniques’.