A Portrait of The Versatile Blogger

Yesterday I had the honor of being awarded the versatile blogger award by Melinda of Inspiration Earth. If you consider yourself earth-friendly and you are still not following Melinda, you definitely should be! She is one of the most peaceful and eco conscious bloggers I have "met", plus she won my very first giveaway and now has one of my felted bracelets, which means she is totally lucky as well! So go check out her green musings, I am sure you will find something that suits you.

Because of that award, today I am giving you a self-portrait.  I will not be answering my handmade interview questions, instead I will follow the rules of the Versatile Blogger Award, which are:

• Thank and link back to the person who nominated you.
• Share seven random facts about yourself.
• Pass the award along to five deserving bloggy buddies.
• Contact those buddies to congratulate them.

Photo: kanelstrand

1. I love to read. When I was kid, the only presents I wanted from Santa Claus were books. Of course, he always brought me more than that but still, he is responsible for more than half of my home library. I somehow grew up on books, I went to bed and woke up literally under books and I could very often swear that the pictures I saw on their pages were in fact part of my own life, and in a sense they really were: I lived in Wonderland with Alice, I flew to the rooftop with Karlsson, I went to fetch bee hunny with Winnie-the-Pooh and made pancakes with Pippi Longstocking... 

Nowadays I listen to the books because it allows me to do something else in the meantime and as you know, we women are very good at multi tasking. So I peacefully knit or crochet, or cook while listening to a lovely book.

Photo: kanelstrand

2. Speaking about knitting and crocheting, I must admit that my daughter brought the actual knowledge of knitting at home from school (one thing I like about Scandinavian schools is that they still teach children to knit and cook). At the time, my husband was discovering the harmonica and somehow his excitement of new knowledge got me.

After overcoming my initial fears and prejudices, I set on the path of creating with yarn. There followed months and years of extreme joy, however strange it may sound. Two of the major things I love about knitting are the fact that I can always start over and the meditation-like experience I get out of it.

Photo: kanelstrand

3. I never go out of the house without my camera. I see life in frames always, all the time everywhere. We are a photo family, take it as you will. My husband and I are always documenting and have found out that keeping a visual diary is not only less time consuming but very appealing. In this way we can easily keep our extended family in track with our adventures. Our friends have already learned and accepted the ritual of placing the tripod in front of the festive table and the process of first taking the pictures and then eating! You can view some of my photography here.

Photo: kanelstrand

4. Actually, I am a poet as well. I wrote my first poem at the age of 6 and ever since I have been sleeping with a notebook and a pen by my bed, so that I can write down the verses that come to me while dreaming. My mother, once she became aware of my talent, signed me on a poetry course and I spent 2 years of learning the theory behind writing poetry. All the knowledge I acquired at the course has become a part of me and I have been able to create freely and theoretically correctly ever since. I take extreme pleasure in reading Emily Dickinson.

Photo: kanelstrand

5. I used to have an extremely stressful life in the big city, basically hardly making through the day for about 10 years. Working as a manager of a major private school I had to overcome a lot of weaknesses and fears of mine but thankfully, the work with children is extremely rewarding and charging. I am glad that I moved on to a peaceful and stress-free lifestyle which helped me remember the artistic and creative sides of myself and hear my thoughts more clearly.

Photo: kanelstrand

6. For the past 6 years, thanks to my husband I have lived between 3 Scandinavian countries - Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and I feel very much enriched and changed. Of course, it is a childhood dream of mine to travel and get to know the world but I have never imagined that I will get headaches from the intense beauty I see around.

Photo: kanelstrand

7. I am a sports person and I am crazy about skiing. It is the closest experience I have had to flying. I love to experiment and work on my style, I love how the snow squeaks and glistens under my skis and I love the fresh cold air and the sun in the mountains. Luckily for me I am now living in the land of skiing, where they say people are born with skis on their feet.

So, these were 7 random facts about me. The award goes from me to: 

Melissa from Bubby and Bean

Alessandra from Lala's Tribal Times

Renathe from Renathe's Blog

Ariana from Crow Roosters Crow

Annette from So Many Memories