Books have been an integral part of her life ever since learning to read English after moving to the U.S. from Finland as a child. While working at UCLA as a junior reference librarian, she took her first bookbinding class with Margaret Leakey through UCLA Extension. In the late 1990's, Kaarina was able to return to the book arts, taking classes/workshops with numerous bookbinders including Tim Ely, Don Glaister, Daniel Kelm, Monique Lallier, Kitty Maryatt, Tini Miura, Priscilla Spitler and Laura Wait. She particularly enjoys creating one-of-a-kind artist's books, which frequently express emotions and feelings. Her creative process unfolds gradually, intuitively, with each step revealing the next. Her work has been in numerous exhibitions in the U.S. Kaarina holds a B.A. in German, Master of Library Science, and M.A. in Scandinavian Languages and Literatures from UCLA.