Sour and sweet

Sour and sweet is the taste of life

Some street art from Italy - just impressions i caught, while walking the little streets of the ancient town called Albenga, situated at the Ligurian coast.  The combination of zesty yellow, sweet pink and mellow grey is something i want to use in one of the next paintings. Yellow and pink is my happy combination, and the grey and creamy white ads a touch of softness to the mix.

It's grey outside here and soft rain is falling. Am preparing for a weekend visit by two close friends of mine, and look forward to an exciting film-premiere on sunday, featuring the work of some people very dear to me -more about it in the next post!

Looking at those lemons, i'm thinking about making lemon spaghetti for lunch today, so easy and delicious! Find the recipe here!

DIY Citrus Body Scrub

Beauty, to me, is about being comfortable in your own skin.  

Gwyneth Paltrow

 Gestern habe ich Frühjahrsklamotten anprobiert und dabei gedacht, dass es höchste Zeit wäre, mal wieder etwas für meine Haut zu tun! Vor allem für Arme und Beine, die nach dem langen Winter - um es milde auszudrücken - nicht so richtig gut aussehen. Ein schönes Peeling schleift alte Hautschüppchen ab, fördert die Durchblutung und vitalisiert den ganzen Körper. 

Dieses einfache Rezept habe ich schon mal getestet - es ist super-easy, 100% natürlich und tut richtig gut. Durch das Traubenkernöl in der Mischung ist es auch sehr pflegend. Ich habe die Anwendung von Traubenkernöl mal in dem wunderschönen Wellness-Hotel Bollants im Park kennengelernt - es enthält besonders viel Vitamin E und Polyphenole und ist somit ein super Anti-Ageing Mittel.

Ihr bracht für das Peeling nur:

1 Bio-Zitrone

250g naturreines grobes Meersalz

75ml kaltgepresstes Traubenkernöl

Zubereitung

Meersalz in ein Schälchen geben und mit dem Öl vermischen. die Zitrone auspressne und die Schale abreibem. Beides mit der Öl Salz Mischung gut vermengen - fertig! Jetzt nur noch in ein hübsches Glas abfüllen und den zitronigen Duft genießen!

Remember the body scrub DIY i posted about a while back? Meanwhile i got around making it, and it turned out great! You simply mix a cup of good, extra vergine vegetable oil - i used grapeseed-oil oil, since it's supposed to be very good for your skin - with a cup of pure sea salt and 2 teaspoons of grind lemon rind. That's it! Fill it in a pretty jar and use it on wet skin. You gently rub it in and shower it of.  Try it - and step into the week as the pretty and sparkling superstar you really are!

Photos: Martina Voigt-Schmid

Yes Monday!

Summer is ...

where girls go barefoot and their hearts are just as free as their toes!

A new portrait i did for a beautiful woman called Anna. Let's get into this tiny yellow car with her and take a ride along the Italian Riviera. We'll have espresso and biscotti in this tiny caf'e on the market place. Shop for some fruits and a new bikini in shady arcades, head over to the beach and walk along the shores, barefoot, before going for a swim in turquoise waters ... are you with me still?

Thanks for all  the wonderful comments i got on the Italian Riviera post last week, for all the new friends that showed up - i so enjoyed meeting you! Cheers to a FUNtastic week my lovelies - will come visit you soon! 

Allora, let's go!

Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important. 
Janet Lane 

This is a new illustration i did for my dear friend Anne-Claire. She's a fabulous Lady who has lived through some hard times lately. Now, after a bad depression, she's getting into full swing again and i just saw her riding this vanilla scooter, wearing a pink dress and a fancy, handmade bag. This is a Look from Kate Spade - and it fits her so well,. She's  a talented needleworker and knits and crochets the sweetest things, But she also is a great writer and just started her very own blog to tell her story. If you'd like to laugh and cry at the same time, have a look at it here.

Have a sweet weekend my dear ones - can't wait to have a good blog-hop and come visit you all!

The Golden Lemon

Spice it up!

A new little lemon collage painting, mixed media and vintage paper, scribbled over by my artistic grandmother.. I called it the Golden Lemon, because - the background here is golden.

 I discovered this metallic paint and went a little crazy with it, covering several canvases with its subtle, golden glow. I love it, because i paint in layers and the gold is a little transparent to let shine through, what is underneath, yet it adds a certain structure and "body" to the painting. And i think yellow and gold is a great combination anyway. 

"The Golden Lemon" here in germany is something not so nice - a prize for the worst piece of architecture - tee her, please forget about this, while looking at my post!

Hope your week starts out lovely - sometimes a little bit of lemon is all you need to spice it up!

Painting: Martina Voigt-Schmid, Stillife-photo via Poppytalk

DIY lemon boat - i'm sailing away ...

to take a trip with little lemon boat - to see, where the lemons grow - to Italy!

And so lovelies, i'll be taking a little break from blogging until ... we all go to France together soon. More about that at the end of this post.

Have been very busy making little boat  - along with other things - for a new project of our magazine KidsLife, called "GreenKidsLife", which is meant to encourage a greener, sustainable lifestyle in kids and families. But these would also make a very cute table decoration for a kids party - or even an adult party, why not?

 I've used cocktail stickers and a bit of paper to make the sail. And that is basically all you need, except for lemons you cut in half lengthwise. Give it a try. You can also write names on the sails, if you like. 

We'll have a family celebration in Rome next week, where my brother and his family are living. and i so hope to catch some sun there! As i get back, my friend Anita, from Castles, Crowns and Cottages will be hosting this:

which will be surely great fun. Check out more by clicking on the picture 

 Let's make the most of may, such a gorgeous month! I'm in love with all the crisp, bright green around and am sending you greetings from our garden. Hope you'll all have a splendid time - see you back soon!

New lemon painting

If life gives you lemons ...

make gin & tonic!

OR make a painting! Hubby and i start each day with a dose of lemon in our tea. And, since he always says he can't live without lemons and gets really cranky if we don't have them in the house, i thought it might be a good idea to paint him some for his birthday.  Besides that i like painting them anyway. Have combined the yellow with caribbean kind of blues, some collaged in specks of gold and added a black background for a male accent in the picture - do you like it?

In the second photo, i've put the painting in a setting from Oyoy, so you can see how big it is in reality.

Hope your week get's off to a super start. Will come round and visit you all this evening!

Painting: Martina Voigt-Schmid

touches of lemon

When life gives you lemons and for some reason you can’t make lemonade, find a recipe for a lemon cake. The secret is to turn bitter into sweet and darkness into light. 

And anyhow, happiness is in the right mix, i think. A dose of lemon, or, at least some bright yellow color, adds instant brightmess and cheer - to a wall, a day, an outfit, a drink, a mood - especially in winter! 

Photos/paintings: 1, 3 Martina Voigt-Schmid, 2 Atlantic-Pacifik

Make it: Citrus Salt Body Scrub

Let yourself shine!

Are you ready for some extra pampering this weekend? Ready to bring out extra soft and shiny summer skin? Why not quickly use your kitchen to prepare some pure and delicious body scrub for yourself!

You know how i adore all things lemon - and the combined smell of citrus and orange along with the crunchy texture of sea salt just spells SUMMER! Hint: This would also make a lovely present for your mum - since mothers day is coming close. Find the complete DIY here

Photo: Paula Deen

Lemon-almond cupcakes

Life is uncertain.  Eat dessert first. 

Ernestine Ulmer
 

 I'm a big fan of all things lemon and almond, so i thought, combining the two things in a cupcake might be wonderful! These are the sweeteies i was talking about in the other post and if you feel like baking this weekend - give it a try! 

The topping is invented by me and tastes very good on toasted bread as well. It's a mix of cream cheese, some whipped cream, lemon juice, a bit of sugar and a few spoonful of lemon curd.

As for the dough, you can use the recipe here.

I'm so glad the weekend is here for i've been tired all week! It's supposed to be a sunny one and we have planned: shopping at the farmers market, a barbecue with friends, some gardening ns maybe a lovely walk in the vineyards. What are you up to lovelies?

Photos: Martina Voigt-Schmid

P:S.: Does anyone know, where in the new blogger surface i can type in my tags for the posts? I just don't find it!

Daily dose of lemonade

If life gives you lemons, make lemonade! 

I was thinking about this saying lately, as this is a crazy week for me so far lovelies. Nothing works as planned, dates are being cancelled, things need to be rescheduled or being on hold and i just feel like being whirled around not knowing where to start or how to proceed. Time seems to be running so fast while at the same time i'm in slow motion ... I'm a big fan of lemons (and oranges) - and so, while i came across these gorgeous pix by Gordana for our magazine some time ago, i thought - yes, this might be the right remedy: A big lemonade and a green meadow to look at and soothe the mind!

How about you? I hope YOUR week is of to a fabulous start and am sending you lemony yellow happy vibes to whereever you are!

Photos: Gordana Lacovic Bulian

Monday Love: Sour sweetness

Do you love the taste of lemons?

I do! And somehow today, as if there weren't a 1000 other things on my mind, i find myself thinking about making lemon curd. It's yellow, it's sweet and it's special (at least over here in Germany) ... and easy to make. And there are so many fun ways to enjoy it: on joghurt, on toast, on scones, on cakes ... it just adds this lovely cheese-cake flavour to anything.  Have you ever tried making it? Here is the recipe!


Hope your week is getting off to a fabulous start girls - am seding a lot of lemony sunshine your way!

Photos: Goodlife Eats

Friday Pretties: Some art vitamins

Let Yourself Be Silently Drawn By the Stronger Pull Of That Which You Really Love.

Jalal-al-Din Rumi

Some small canvases i've worked on, using bits of vintage paper i'd stored in my drawer, and pages of an old book by french writer Colette.

Happy weekend dear ones! I can't believe how another week has just flewn by - time seems to be faster than me! At the moment i feel like time is a horse, and i don't really manage to ride it, but it gallops away with me - there, boom, friday again! Nevertheless of course, weekend is more than welcome and i can't wait to stop by at your places and have some tea!

Paintings/Collages: Martina Voigt-Schmid
More Friday Pretties to visit at Joyce's here! 

Spring is in the air!

Yellow mellow

A painting from last spring, celebrating the yellow things, that so belong to the beginning of spring - even if lemons don't really grow here ;) Everything is easier, when spring is in the air and the evenings get longer again ... Today, i've had my first Cappuccino sitting in a café outside - to good to be true!

Painting: Martina Voigt-Schmid