- Title: Ukraine's ladybug fan breaks her own Guinness record
- Date: 9th June 2021
- Summary: DNIPRO, UKRAINE (JUNE 4, 2021) (REUTERS) SIGN ON FRONT DOOR READING (Russian): "LADYBUG LIVES HERE" / LADYBUG-THEMED ITEMS IN NADIIA KOMAROVA'S APARTMENT / KOMAROVA SITTING IN ROOM KOMAROVA SQUEEZING PAST SHELVES WITH ITEMS FROM HER COLLECTION KOMAROVA STROKING LADYBUG-SHAPED SOFT TOY ROOM STORING KOMAROVA'S COLLECTION (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) HOLDER OF GUINNESS RECORD FOR BIGGEST COLLECTION OF LADYBUG-THEMED ITEMS, NADIIA KOMAROVA, SAYING: "I find ladybug-themed items everywhere, but they also find me. (I find some) on the internet, friends give them as presents. But there were also funny stories. For instance, I was walking one evening, there was heavy rain, it was dark and I stepped on something. If I tell this story, people will think it is a joke. I bent down and picked it up. And it was a plastic package with a wooden ladybug inside. The stick to which the ladybug was attached was broken, but the ladybug was in good condition. God literally threw it to my feet. It seems ladybugs find me." LADYBUG-THEMED BAG VARIOUS OF KOMAROVA SHOWING ITEM FROM HER COLLECTION CURTAINS ADORNED WITH LADYBUG-THEMED DECORATIONS VARIOUS OF KOMAROVA PLAYING WITH CAT, USING LADYBUG-THEMED TOY KITCHEN FILLED WITH LADY-BUG THEMED ITEMS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) HOLDER OF GUINNESS RECORD FOR BIGGEST COLLECTION OF LADYBUG-THEMED ITEMS, NADIIA KOMAROVA, SAYING: "There are many interesting exhibits in the collection. For instance, here is my favourite timer (SHOWING TIMER) my mobile phone, my favourite clutch. People ask if my collection is complete. No, it is not complete yet. I have a dream. I was shown a red Volkswagen Beetle. And I think if I could style it as a ladybug, then my collection would be complete." KOMAROVA STROKING LADYBUG-SHAPED SOFT TOY VARIOUS OF KOMAROVA REMOVING DUST FROM COLLECTION CEILING IN ROOM PAINTED WITH LADYBUGS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) HOLDER OF GUINNESS RECORD FOR BIGGEST COLLECTION OF LADYBUG-THEMED ITEMS, NADIIA KOMAROVA, SAYING: "Once a little girl wearing a headband with ladybug came to me, took it off, and told me: "M'am, can you please bend down?" I bent down and she said: "Ladybug lady, you need it more than I do." It is cool when a child shares her things with me, it is touching. Sometimes I receive very unexpected parcels. These items are the most precious for me. I started to gather the collection, it was mentioned somewhere on Facebook, and an orphanage from the Donetsk region sent me three huge parcels. When I was unpacking them, I was crying my heart out. There were drawings by children, some things handmade by children with so much love." LADYBUG-THEMED KETTLE AND OTHER KITCHEN UTENSILS
- Embargoed: 23rd June 2021 10:31
- Keywords: Dnipro Nadiia Komarova ladybug-themed items world's biggest collection
- Location: DNIPRO, UKRAINE
- City: DNIPRO, UKRAINE
- Country: Ukraine
- Topics: Europe,Human Interest/Brights/Odd News,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA001EGOIRLL
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A sign reading "Ladybug lives here" on the front door of an apartment in Ukraine's Dnipro gives a hint of what lies inside.
Its inhabitant is Nadiia Komarova, well-known for her Guinness World Record for the world's biggest collection of ladybug-themed items.
Komarova wears a scarf with a ladybug pattern: black dots on a red background. Two ladybug-shaped pendants adorn her neck and a massive bracelet with a gold-coloured ladybug is on her wrist.
In November 2019, Komarova's collection of 5,555 items was included in that year's Guinness World Records. Since then, it expanded to more than 20,000 unique items, Komarova said.
Every wall, shelf or sofa in Komarova's apartment is occupied with different collectibles - from mass-market soft toys and handmade dolls to kitchen utensils, including a kettle, glass jars, and salt and pepper containers.
Paintings featuring ladybugs of various sizes and forms decorate the walls, and her fridge is fully covered with ladybug-themed magnets.
Komarova's collection started in 2009 when a friend gifted her a ladybug-shaped brooch and said the items with the greatest financial value are silver jewellery and figurines and coins.
But the most treasured things are those given to her by other people, Komarova said, relating a story of when a little girl personally gave her a ladybug-themed headband or when she was sent drawings by children in an orphanage in Donetsk.
Despite the interest in her collection, Komarova does not want to allow members of the public into the home she shares with her children and cat.
But "it is silly to store this beautiful collection behind closed doors," Komarova said, adding that she had a dream to turn the collection into an exhibition or a museum.
(Production: Gleb Garanich, Margaryta Chornokondratenko) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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