Etsy Euroweek 2011 - An Icelandic shop

 As part of Euroweek 2011 I am attempting to promote as many of the european countries as possible through these blog postings. 

Today I start with a shop from Iceland - Maggadora - http://www.etsy.com/shop/Maggadora

My name is Margret St. Hafsteinsdottir and the name on my shop Maggadora, is the name my grandfather called me. That name is put together from my first name and middle name. My middle name is Steindora. Too long name to write it all :-) I use Maggadora as my artist name, but many people call me that, but some call me Margret or Magga.

If you find my name strange in some way, it is because I´m from Iceland. I live in the capital city Reykjavik and I have lived in Iceland since I was born, but have done a lot of travelling to other countries over the years. I have two sons who are both very artistic. They are 21 and 25 years old, and they are what I love the most in this world.

        

I have been creating since I was a little girl. I learned to knit when I was five and haven´t stopped since then. I also learned to crochet and sew very young. I just could not take my hands of the items my mother or my grandmother were making, so they just had to teach me. I hardly ever use any patterns when I´m knitting or crocheting, I design most things myself. My grandmother on my mother side was very talented knitter. She was blind the last years she lived, but she kept on knitting, and knitted socks and mittens for her great grandchildren. Like me, she loved to blend yarn and colors, and she often made her own patterns. She passed away several years ago, when she was 92 and I still miss her. She left me all her knitting tools and crochet hooks :-)

I have a degree in music and I have taken some courses in art, but mostly I´m self tought. I love to paint, specially with watercolors and mixed media. Perhaps I will add some prints of my painting to my on growing shop later.

In my country there are only 330,000 people living. Most of the people live in the South/West side of the country. Iceland is a quite big island, and is famous for its raw and unique nature and beauty. We have our own language, Icelandic, that is a very ancient language and only spoken by Icelanders. Most Icelandic people also speak English and many other Scandinavian languages.

I opened my Etsy shop 2 years ago, but I just started being active here last fall. I love Etsy. It is fun being here and meeting all these great people I have meet and brows through the pages, to look at all these wonderful artists and crafters who are here.

I´m also a fan of vintage and I have great collection of vintage stuff, that I just recently started offering in my shop.

My interests other than art and craft are human rights, welfare of children all over the world, science, knowledge, music and great movies.