Merry Christmas from A Piece of Lisa!

God Jul and Merry Christmas dear friends! I hope you all have a wonderful time with your loved ones!

Sponsor A Piece of Lisa in 2012

I am now accepting sponsors for 2012!

A Piece of Lisa keeps on growing, we now have over 25.000 page views per month! Recent exposure on sites such as Poppytalk, Craftgawker and Pinterest has resulted in over 900 subscribers and a record visit of 1261 in one day.

Email me at lisaedoff [at] gmail [dot] com for rates or check out my sponsorship info here.

Thank you for your interest in sponsoring A Piece of Lisa!

Cuddly Mini Christmas

Last weekend James and I celebrated pre-christmas with his family since we'll be in Sweden on the actual day. We got to cuddle and play with James gorgeous niece and nephews, so much cuteness!

Here's me helping little Rachel opening her gift...

she was more interested in the wrapping paper than the actual gift, bless!

James' cheeky nephew Sam with James' mum, aka Grandma Gloria.

I was so pleased with myself because I came up with the idea for the perfect present for James' dad Mike, a book that he absolutely loved and was so excited about reading. It felt like such an achievement because dads are impossible to buy for!

James with his littlest nephew Ben, such a cutie!

I made a chocolate cake that's gooey in the middle ("kladdkaka" in Swedish). I tried to decorate it like a snowflake, it didn't really work since I forgot that the pattern would be reversed, but at least it tasted delicious!

Mint Kisses {Homemade Gift Idea}

These sweet little treats are fun to make and so moreish! Wrap them in a cute box and they make a lovely homemade gift.

Ingredients:

• 2, 5 cups [4 dl] icing sugar
• 1/2 cup [1 dl] cold water
• A few drops of vinegar
• 10 drops of peppermint oil
• 100 g dark chocolate

Mix icing sugar, water and vinegar in a pot, bring to boil and let it simmer for about 10 minutes.

Check if it's ready by cooling a little bit of the mix in a glass of cold water, and then "roll" it between your fingers. If the mix becomes like a thread between your fingers it's done. Otherwise boil for a little longer.

When the mix is "thready" add the peppermint oil while stirring. Then let it cool down a little while continuing to stir. The mix should now be a white opaque colour.

Using two spoons, form small, round pastils on a sheet of baking paper. When the pastils have set, melt the chocolate and pour into a plastic bag. Cut a small hole in the bag and decorate each pastil. Let the chocolate set, and enjoy!

Awesome Vintage/Lomography Effect Software

I wanted to tell you about this really cool software I've found, it's called Toycamera AnalogColour. It's a cheap and fun software that instantly gives your photos a sweet vintage effect. You can make your photos look like they've been taken with a Polaroid or Diana camera, or just give them a soft retro look. You could probably achieve the same effects with Photoshop, but this program is just so much quicker and easier!

Here you can see what I mean, the first one of each photo is the original, second one is after I put it through the software.

The software costs $12 and you can download it here.

Back From the Dead

Photograph by Carlos R. Photography

Today I feel fantastic because I have finally recovered from 48 horrible hours of food poisoning. James and I both got sick after eating some chicken that must have been bad, and damn, it was painful! The first night was the worst, we each had maybe an hour of sleep in total, and to make things even worse, there was a terrible storm outside that made our windows sound like they were about to break any second!

But after every storm comes sunshine, and today when I finally feel like myself again I realise just how great it is to be healthy, and we don't fully appreciate it until we get sick. Therefore I would like to wish you all a happy and healthy Thursday!

Happy Lucia's Day!

Today we celebrate St. Lucia's Day in Sweden, so Happy Lucia everyone!

If you are curious as to find out what it's about, check out my guest post about Lucia here. I hope you all have a lovely day!

Recipe: Parmesan Créme and Fig Canapés

Last weekend we had some friends over for wine and nibbles. These canapés were a huge hit with everybody, and so easy to make!

Ingredients:

• 1 bag of grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tub of philadelphia cream cheese
• half a loaf of dark rye bread
• 4-5 figs
• salt and pepper

Mix the cream cheese and grated parmesan in a bowl. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Cut the bread into small squares. With a small spoon or knife, spread the parmesan créme on top of each bread square, then add a piece of fig. Done!

We also enjoyed this cheese board, and I got the opportunity to use my beautiful serving plate for the first time! It was an engagement gift from my parents, it's designed by Klaus Haapaniemi for Iittala.

10 x New Year's Eve Dresses

Happy Friday pumpkins!

Have you started planning your New Year's Eve outfit yet? I think it's time (planning is half the fun anyway!), and personally I think New Year's calls for a lovely dress! So I've put together a little inspiration board for you; My 10 favourite party dresses at the moment. One of these I will be wearing on New Year's Eve, can you guess which one?

1. Beautiful Blue Lace from Coast

2. Fun and Quirky by Topshop

3. Cool Shoulders from Oasis

4. Romantic Winter Pink by Coast

5. Elegant Black from Oasis

6. Super Sparkly from Topshop

7. Pink and Black by Modcloth

8. Blue Sequins by French Connection

9. Classic LBD from French Connection

10. Cherry Pink Lace by Oasis

Christmas Sumos

Here is my take on Christmas pattern design, what do you think?

The company I met with a couple of months ago thought it was too daring/crazy, but I think my sumos are fun! My inspiration was Andy Warhol, pop art and (obviosuly) Japanese sumo culture. It would make a cool gift wrap I think, something a bit different for when you're fed up with the usual trees and holly perhaps :)