creativity

Just because I had time to play around i Photoshop.

Hope you’re having an awesome start to the holiday season (if you’re into those kind of things). I must say, Liz and I have made it really cozy here at home with stars in the windows, a Christmas tree that is up and decorated, and last night we drank mulled wine and ate a typical Swedish Christmas saffron bun. When typing this, I’m also listening to Christmas music with candles lit around me; so in other words, the Christmas spirit has arrived, and I love every single bit of it.

We’re celebrating Christmas Eve (the Swedish way) at my parents’ place this year, but flying to the States on the 26th to spend some quality time with my in-laws and friends there. So pretty much the best of both worlds this holiday season, which is super fun!

We decided to film and make a YouTube video while decorating this year, so let’s check it out here below ♥ Happy First of Advent!!

Never forget September 11, 2001…

As a little love letter in motion digital format, I’ve put together a short video of our time in New York City this summer. Gaaah, love that freaking city so much. And when we’re at it, I would be deeply thankful if you would like to hit that subscribe button on our YouTube channel, liz+lina ♥ Thankyouthankyou

So why do I call this website LIER? It’s based on the first two letters of my first name (Lina) and the two first letters of my last name (Eriksson), so it’s totally based on my names. Therefore, the social media platforms are also based on LIER, along with another word, that refers to what kind of platform it is. Ok, let’s check it out a little bit closer.

Pinterest → lierlikes
Because I save pins I like.

Instagram → liersees
Because I post stuff I see.

Twitter → liersays
Because I say things.

Are you using any social media platforms? If so, where, and what’s your username(s)?

I thought we needed a little break from all the States pictures/blog updates, so let’s check out what my Saturday looked like instead. Come on & tag along!

Ok, so I have finally gotten to the point where I like Snapchat! Perhaps I didn’t really understand it earlier, but as of today, I’ve started liking it more. Oh, yes.
Soooo, if you would like to follow me there, add me >> lier84 

or

take a photo of my Snapchat code and add me!

I’ve been stuck lately with something called, Querkles. It’s simply a kind of coloring book based on circles you fill in, either in various shades of one color, different colors, or patterns. Each shade, color or pattern has its own number. So easy, and turns out pretty cool, I think. A tip for you who might be tired of regular coloring books. You’ll find it in a regular book store. Just a little Tuesday evening tip.

I love and have always loved pens and pencils! There’s something that’s just makes me excited when I see them. So colorful and so creative-focused. I do own a few various brands, which all have different uses. These are all of the different brands I have at home right now (actually, that’s not true, I realized I have some more, but I had already taken pictures of these and added them to this post when I realized that). Oh, well. Not a biggie.

First out are my beloved Stabile pens, which is a German brand established in the early 60’s. You can find these fibre-tip pens pretty much everywhere in the world. I have used these for school, for coloring, for general notes and letters, and to just make things I write down prettier. I have only the thinner ones, but they do exist in thicker tips as well. Check out the Stabile website here.

Second out is the Staedler fibre-tip pens which also have an ergonomic triangular shape, and they come, as the Stabile pens, from Germany. Germans are good when it comes to pens and other office stuff. When I spent summers in Germany as a kid and teenager, I loved checking out the fall school supplies that came out in stores there, since it was all so much, such variety, and also different from Sweden’s supplies.

Side story: One German tradition is to give the kids who’s starting first grade, a “Schultüte” (which is a big coned styled package, filled with school stuff and usually some candy). I google searched it and you can check it out some examples, here. I got one from our German friends when I started school, as did my siblings. And when I was living in Germany for a while and attended high school there, I got another one, (a smaller one, that was more symbolic since I was starting school for the first time in Germany), from the same family who I also stayed with then.

Sharpies are pretty famous in the States, but perhaps not as familiar in Europe. However, I do believe they’re more and more available here now. I know there are pen stores here in Sweden selling them, of course it’s like three times more than what you pay for them in the states. There are so many different ones but I have the Fine Points and the Ultra Fine Points. I also have the Retractable Fine Point Permanent Marker and some gold and silver ones. You can check them out more, here.

Pro markers were founded in London in late 1959 – I love the long history of all the pens! You can check them out more, here. The letterset website, linked here before, has also plenty of tutorials on their website, which can be good if you’re new to using Promarkers. I’ve done a few things with them, but then haven’t taken the time to really learn more about how they work, but I’m thinking that this fall, will be a great time for me to get into them again. The cool thing with Promarkers is that you use a blender, which, as it sounds like, blend the colors together so you can get various shade of a color, blending one color into another color or shade. This means that you can get a whole lot of different shades and colors with these ones. I have set 1, set 2, and skin tones 1, plus some blenders. Each pen has a thinner and a thicker side and each color has also its own name too, such as, Cinnamon, Sunkissed Pink, and Lemon, which will help you to separate the ones you have with the ones you might want to have.

This is what the different ones in the shade of blue, looks like.

Just wanted to share with you my little passion for pens! And give you some tips/info, in case you’re a pen and pencil nerd like me. How do you feel about office supplies? Do they get you all excited like they do me?!

So this past Thursday, the 24th to be exact, was Liz’s b-day. Let’s check out what we did!

We hung out at home, Face-timed a friend and family in the States. Colored Liz’s hair, fixed our nails, and so on. It was pretty gray and rainy but once it cleared up a bit, we headed downtown.

We hung out at a bar first, before it was time for Liz’s surprise. She knew something was coming up but not where, when, and with who. At 7pm I had reserved a table at this pretty new place in Uppsala, a wine bar.

We drank delicious wine, ate appetizers, and smørrebrød (fancier kind of sandwiches we decided to call it), and made plans to definitely come back, perhaps on a snowy day, and be all cozy inside, because it all felt really really cozy there. Sounds like a pretty good deal. It was, after all Thursday, a regular day, with work day for the majority of the crowd, the next day, so after some hours, we walked home, and I believe Liz was happy about her day.