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Through blogging and Instagramming, I’ve been introduced to an amazing Virtual Sisterhood of Creative Ladies.
The Oh Creative Lady series is your chance to meet these incredible, kind-hearted, inspiring <insert ALL the happy, positive adjectives HERE> women.
Hej! Today’s Creative Lady hails from Sweden via The Cotswolds. Cherie’s Instagram feed often takes my breath away. It is infused with thoughtful captions, calming images and gives me a serious wanderlust. Cherie creates multi-touch eBooks… what are these, you ask? Read on and let the lady herself explain. Grab a cuppa and settle in- Cherie has many wise words to share.
I am… Cherie, the creator behind CheriEbooks, a new generation of educational multi-touch eBooks for kids and parents.
I suppose you could call me a British Swede and you will understand why as you read on. I was born and grew up in the picturesque Cotswold village of Edge in Painswick, England where I enjoyed spending days wandering around in the countryside, riding horses and painting. In my early 20’s I met and married my Swedish love in the very same place that I grew up, and just a few days after our marriage we moved to live in Stockholm. Today we live on the isle of Ingarö situated in the Stockholm Archepelago. We are also frequent visitors to the beautiful state of Utah, USA where we enjoy spending time with our son and his family.
Memories from my childhood are happy ones, though my experience of school in the early years was pretty miserable. It all got off to a bad start from day one when my Mum left me struggling with a teacher who was trying to restrain me from making an escape. In my desperation to get away from her grasp, I grabbed a fork that was on a close by table, launched it into her leg and made a run for it! Yes, I know…I haven’t been able to live that one down.
When I became a Mum, I wanted a different school experience for my child (and for his teachers – ha ha), and when I learned more about the Montessori method of education it sparked off something inside me that eventually led to me acquiring Montessori teaching qualifications.
After working for some years as a teacher and later as a school directress, I went back to school to study IT and after completing my studies, I was employed as an IT-consultant for some years. I later got involved in e-learning productions where I really enjoyed using a wide range of previous experience and creativity. One thing led to another and about 10 years ago I moved into corporate learning & development management with focus on digital solutions.
I don’t consider myself to be a great risk taker, though I have often been impelled to embrace challenges and step out into the unknown.
Becoming a grandparent six years ago was the beginning of a brilliant new phase in life, and also led me to look into creating a working situation that would make it easier to visit our son and his family in the USA more frequently. So three years ago, I made the decision to leave my corporate position and take the plunge into developing educational eBooks. My little grandchildren have been some of the most avid fans of CheriEbooks and if nothing else they make it all worthwhile.
On the subject of traditional books versus digital books, for me one does not rule out the other, but instead they complement one another based on the function they fulfill in a person’s life and how efficiently they fulfill that function.
I love the sensorial experience of fingering through the pages of a traditional printed book, the smell of the pages with pictures and texts that move me, that communicate what I care about, what I find interesting and what I value in every area of life. However, my eyes have also been opened to the benefits that quality eBooks can offer. I like the thought that I can easily carry hundreds of books in my pocket and have accessibility “right here, right now”.
Multi-touch interactive digital books can also enhance a message, engage the reader and unlock the learning experience for children and adults by stimulating multiple senses with audio, illustrations, animations, film and interactivity.
This being said, it is quite a challenge to promote my books as the concept is still fairly new.Everyone knows what an app is right?! …but what’s a multi-touch eBook?? Traditionally eBooks are unanimated electronic versions of a print book and many aren’t aware that they can also be engaging, interactive and app-like in character. This is a really tough barrier for me to overcome, and a major challenge that I am working on!
I can’t express how grateful I am to the great community of wonderful creatives on Instagram for the inspiration and hope you fill me with, and for your generous support and willingness to help test and get the word out about CheriEbooks.
What inspires me…. I find inspiration in many of life’s situations, in fact almost everywhere that I look. It is as if there is an inherent observer sitting on my shoulder always on the lookout for inspiration and perceiving every day things with a critical eye.
I have always found profound beauty and inspiration in nature. Nature and the outdoors is the place where I fill my reserves and experience deep flow. Years of practicing so-called extreme sports and ‘friluftsliv’ has taught me a lot about myself and helped me understand that I am always capable of so much more than I might first believe.
Making the space in life to create in all it’s forms is a great inspiration and driving force for me too, and having free reins to create feeds my creativity and is such a delight.
Another great source of inspiration for me is facilitating and inspiring learning in children and adults. Guiding someone forward and helping them realize their potential is one of the most fulfilling and rewarding experiences that I have encountered.
Inspiration flows to me when I work to achieve a mindset that puts me in tune with my inner compass. When I follow the direction that comes from within, I experience sense of peace and empowerment that leads me to make decisions that I trust in. With this in mind, I try to make time most days to peacefully seek, reflect and listen to my inner voice.
Last but not least my family inspires me more than I can say. The love and encouragement I receive from them fires inspiration and courage to follow the path that I choose to follow.
When I’m in a creative slump… I simply get out into nature that somehow always has a special way of restoring and balancing me.
I am excited about… Those of you who follow me on IG may have noticed that I post Montessori practical life activities once a week. The response I have received has been so positive, and some of you have even requested that I put the ideas together in a book. So I am looking forward to creating and delivering a book for you this year and I hope it will inspire you to guide your little ones on their road to independence.
What am I proud of… I can think of accomplishments and personal achievements that I am really proud of… but one of the greatest ongoing achievements I am proud of in my life is parenthood. I am so proud to be mother to our sweet son and grandmother to his children. Motherhood is the greatest blessing and I am so grateful to be able to experience it.
Someone once told me… My husband and I share a love of being active in the outdoors. When he first introduced me to ski mountaineering I remember him saying “You might think that mountain looks very high and extremely far away, but it just takes one little step at a time to make it to the top”. The experience of making it to the top of mountains by focusing on taking one step at a time has taught me that even the most difficult challenges in life can be tackled and overcome if I have the faith to put one foot in front of the other, one simple step at a time.
My advice to you is… Love the ones you are with and practice being mindful and present in the moments you spend together with them. Try to make the most of each day that is gifted to you. Notice the simple pleasures and be thankful for the good that is present in your life.
You can find me…
At my website where there is information about my eBooks available for download from Amazon/Kindle and the iBooks Store/iTunes.
On Instagram where I share a little bit of all sorts that I hold dear including peeks into CheriEbooks.
On YouTube where I am starting to add small educational productions inspired by my eBooks. I hope that this will make a lot of the educational content from my books more accessible for those of you who aren’t able to download the eBooks.
On Facebook where I share the latest news and releases of new CheriEbooks.
Occasionally on Twitter.