Pebbles and Pomegranates Seeds is all about fun.  It is about the things that I love or love doing – indulgences, moments savoured and memories created. Add to that a splash of whimsy, a dash passion, bubbles of love and a pinch of pie-in-the-sky craziness, throw it all into one big chocolate melting pot and gently stir…

The result is this… Pebbles + Pomegranate Seeds, which I hope will keep you amused and entertained, and occasionally informed, or possibly even inspired… one can only hope.

Why Pebbles + Pomegranate Seeds? I was once told, that you make the name… it doesn’t make you, so a name is really irrelevant… so why not? But to shed just a little light… ‘pebbles’ has been my nickname for as long as I can remember (my name Petra, is Greek for ‘rock’, and so ‘Pebbles’ was born).

As for the rest, it goes like this…

A Pebble of an Idea…
Well, you need to start somewhere.  Ideas are free; it is what you do with them that makes the difference.

Planting the Seed…
OK, so you have the idea, now it’s time to plant the seed.  If you don’t plant it, how on earth is it going to grow?  So in it goes, and time to nurture the dream.

The Dream Tree…
Boom… make it happen.  Idea seeded, seed planted, now watch the dream tree grow…

My Dream Tree?
Well, it just happens to be a pomegranate tree, and this website… are its seeds… have you ever seen a pomegranate? It literally has hundreds of seeds… reputably, some as many as 1400 seeds… that’s a lot of ideas!!!

So that is about all of the justification I need.  Add to that a fascination with all things food and fashion and the chocolate melting pot expands…

In recent years, my life has been all about food, but it didn’t start off that way.  I was always one of those strange kids.  I am not sure what I mean by that exactly, other than life has always been far from the ordinary for me. My parents are German, so the weird things in my lunch box lay the foundations to a lifetime of being that little bit different right from the onset.

So… it began with food oddities, add to that a name that if people didn’t have difficulty pronouncing it, then they sure as hell had difficulty spelling it.., then of course there was the shoe obsession… I think I was four when this first became apparent – they were cerise and ivory with one inch heels… I can now comfortably strut in six…

Pippi Langstrumpf (or Pippi Longstocking as she is commonly known), the girl who could lift a horse, wore striped socks and donned ginger pigtails that jutted out unmanageably, was my idol… can you see the parallels yet? She epitomised everything that I wanted to be, and inturn I did my best to emulate her rather unusual… let’s say, slightly eccentric, characteristics. I think this may even possibly be where I first developed my penchant for striped socks.

Then there was the food…

Food, for me, is as much about the experience as it is about the pleasure of actually eating.  It calls into play all of the senses; sight, sound, taste, touch and smell and added to the mix is the environment in which it all takes place.

Somewhere along the way, I became this great indulger of all things food, something I am very passionate about – I could do worse!

I love to dine in, I love to eat out.  I love to cook, I love to be cooked for. I love to read about food and foodies and everything within the realm of food.  I love the smell, the taste, the textures – there is not a thing about food that does not in some way capture my imagination. It’s also as much about the imagery. That is how I came to be a food photographer, creator and passionate consumer. I find the whole foodie thing visually awe inspiring. Whether it is the produce itself, or the producers, I find the entire food connection fascinating and moreover, a load of fun.

However, while food and every aspect thereof, has pretty much consumed the latter part of my career, it was the fashion world that first captivated me, seeing me express my creativity, both in the millinery and fashion design.  Hats, handbags, clothes, jewellery, perfume… you name it, there was an incarnation there somewhere, that was until food took over, but the passion and appreciation of beautiful design and craftsmanship has never left me.

Many people have often asked me how I came to get involved in the industry in the way I have, and the truth of it is, I just fell into doing the things that I do by following my passions, even from a very young age…

So if you are interested in reading more, here is my story…

(if you are not… maybe flick back to the home page and find something to read about that you are interested in…)

And here, just for posterity, here are some of the things that have made it on to my brag list in the last few years…