As a mum, makeup artist, and PIXI creator, my life is bursting at the seams with inspirations & impressions. I live my life by the motto “live love & laugh” and whether I am working or focusing on my family, I try to infuse passion and creativity into everything I do. Here I hope to share with you some of my ideas of all things beautiful.
With love, Petra


Thursday, July 14, 2011

Summer Strawberry

I woke up this morning with these thoughts in my head…
Grow my own herbs for the kitchen
Buy somebody a coffee
Be a little crazy! (that shouldn’t be too hard!)
Treasure things until they fall apart
Take some time off
Love my husband

And most of all, EAT STRAWBERRIES!!!

I’m Swedish and nothing screams summer in Sweden like sun-ripened strawberries, preferably picked and eaten right in the strawberry field.

My sister sent me the photo below – this is her strawberry “field” right now at her cottage in the Swedish countryside. So delicious!


And did you know – I didn’t – that strawberries are a real super food? They have higher levels of vitamin C, fiber, folate and potassium than most other fruits like bananas, apples and even oranges…



Grandma’s Homemade Strawberry Cordial

What you need:
8.5 cups strawberries
1.5 cups water
2.5 cups sugar
The juice of 4 fresh lemons
0.5 cup elderflower cordial (optional sometimes hard to find)

How to:
Boil strawberries for 15 minutes. Squash them against the edge of the pan as they boil.
Tie a muslin cloth over a large bowl. Pour strawberry & water mixture on top and let the liquid strain through. 
Discard strawberry solids.
Bring the liquid back to boil for another 15-20 minutes.
Add lemon juice, sugar, and elderflower cordial.
For a lighter version, just leave out the sugar.
Let cool and mix with water at a ratio of 1 part syrup to 5 parts water this recipe makes approximately 4 cups of syrup (bottle this and keep in refrigerator). 
Enjoy! 

Although the homemade kind is the best, you can buy strawberry cordial from IKEA’s Swedish food department – you can get Swedish cinnamon buns there as well!

Well, moving swiftly on from all of this eating and drinking! Phew must have been hungry this morning!…

My life and work has always been filled with colour – I’m obsessed with it and one of my favorites is strawberry red. It’s such a great, happy colour – it just screams confidence, joy & flirtatiousness.
Although it can be a hard hue to wear from head to toe, it’s the perfect accent colour.


  
I found this vintage handbag in one of my favorite antique stores in Carpenteria – it was just too pretty to resist, classic '50s design in red croc embossed leather.

The ballet shoes I bought in Nordstrom a few summers ago so stylish and comfortable in red patent leather – LOVE!

A very easy way to accessorize & play with strawberry red is to try red-tinted lips.
I created this look for a shoot we did, using strawberry red lips as the focal point for a stunning effect. 



Above, I teamed the strawberry lip with an illuminating tinted moisturizer, gold-beige eye shadow, very natural lashes – more like a lash tint – and a honey-hued blush colour on the cheekbones.

It’s the prettiest summer makeup every year!  

More juicy reds...



The marker pen above was used on the model. It’s the perfect red and, since you can apply it very sheerly or layer to your desired intensity, it suits everybody. It also stays on and on – and will not leave a mark on your strawberry cordial glass!

And for you girls out there still saying “I can’t wear red lips” just take a look at these lovely ladies…


Ok, so they are unusually gorgeous BUT they show that red lips look gorgeous on all colorings and brighten up the whole face. 

I like to dab on the colour, pushing it into lips with my finger - this way it looks stained, tinted and more natural. Then blend whatever is left on your finger onto the apples of the cheeks.

Now that we have the lips sorted out – it’s time to liven up the footsies with a great luminous red nail colour...


This nail polish was inspired in texture and colour by this amazingly cute VW in the perfect strawberry hue any girl’s dream car!

I also just bought the dream makeup bag & organizer. 

I love that this one has lots of transparent pockets and the colour is perfect for my strawberry red summer mood!