Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas from the Peppermint Creek Collective!!!
Hope you all have a beautiful day with your friends and families.

Cant view it? Click here...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ae9PradipHg

Brenda Weiler and Peppermint Creek Collective - Winter 2015

Brenda Weiler has been one of my favorite musicians since I was in film school in the 90s. I'm so excited to bring her music and the talented women of Peppermint Creek Collective together in this video to wish you a beautiful winter.

After the loss of her sister ten years ago to suicide, Brenda has been a supporter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Please check out their website at http://www.afsp.org to learn more about suicide prevention or donate.

And as always, please consider supporting a woman in the arts this year and adding a little more beauty to your life.

Brendas music can be purchased on her website www.brendaweiler.com or itunes.
Check out the Peppermint Creek Collective team on etsy here: https://www.etsy.com/teams/20750/peppermint-creek-collective/members

Have a Beautiful Winter!
Tiffany Dawn Smith
Peppermint Creek Collective

Soleil by Design

Terri Rodriguez, Stained Glass Artist

PCC: Tell us a little about yourself:

Pink Swirly Heart

SBD: My name is Terri Rodriguez. I am the mother of three beautiful, talented daughters and two wonderfully gifted step sons. I've lived my whole life in a small alpine town in Northern California, at the base of a beautiful, snow covered volcano. It was the perfect place to raise my daughters and inspire my artistic side...the gorgeous view of the mountain always within sight. Although I did move from there, (a little farther south), a few years ago, my heart and inspiration will always be found in that picturesque little town...my home town. 

PCC: What do you create? 
SBD: I create stained glass panels, 3D candle holders and other 3D items, favors (for weddings and other occasions), and ornaments. 


PCC: What made you want to become an artist/fall in love with your craft? 

Blue Lavender Butterfly

SBD: As long as I can remember, I have had a love of art and color, often doodling or drawing in my spare time. 
For the most part, I have taught myself to paint with oils on canvas, create gumpaste flowers, folk art painting, wood cut outs, and stained glass. It is with stained glass that I found a love creating my own designs, and the way sunlight (or any light) plays through the different textures and many beautiful colors of the glass. 

PCC: What is your process? What materials do you use? 
SBD: To create my pieces, I begin with an idea. I turn that idea into a design and that design becomes pattern pieces. I use the pattern pieces to cut out each piece of glass, then grind the edges of the glass. Next, I use copper foil to wrap each edge, burnish the foil onto the glass, and assemble the item by soldering the patterns pieces together. Before soldering, a chemical called flux is brushed along the edges of the copper foil. The flux allows the solder to adhere to the foil, essentially joining each piece together with solder. Finally, I clean and polish each piece before it is ready for sale. Every item is handmade, individually. 

Wedding Dress Favor

PCC: What are you passionate about outside of your art?
SBD: I am very passionate about my family. My children and my husband are my greatest passions. Family is most important to me, and friends who are family. I also love animals and nature and I am happiest when I am in the sunshine, out in nature. Specifically, I love hiking, long walks, riding bikes, and watching Gilmore Girls marathons with my daughters.

PCC: Anything else we should know? 
SBD: I am so very thankful to Etsy, fellow Etsy artists, and Etsy teams for the opportunities and education to help promote and sell my art.

PCC: How do we find you?
www.etsy.com/shop/SoleilByDesign

Other designs from Terri that we love:

Candle Holder

Candle Holder

Wedding Dress

Wedding Dress Favor

Coffee Cup

Blue Lavender Butterfly

Red Heart

Deep Red Heart

Deep Red Heart

Blue Heart

Pink Swirly Heart

Soleil By Design Shop

Merry Christmas/My Grown Up Christmas List

Merry Christmas everyone!  Thanks for supporting our great group of women in the arts at the Peppermint Creek Collective.

(if you can not see video, click here)

O Holy Night

Pitch Perfect. The young Jackie Evancho sings O Holy Night. 

Always go for your dreams, no matter your age.  

Merry Christmas everyone!

(If you can not view video, please click here)

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

In the spirit of the season, I thought we'd look at one of our beloved songs. "Baby, It's Cold Outside" was written in 1944 by Frank Loesser and performed with his wife at a party.  Four years later, MGM aquired the rights to the song and it appeared in the 1949 romantic comedy called "Neptunes Daughter" starring Esther Williams.  The film has two performances of the song, the first by Esther Williams and  Ricardo Montalbán  and the second by Red Skelton and Betty Garrett, in which the roles are reversed.

Loesser won an Academy Award for Best Original Song from the movie.

Neptunes Daughter was written by the legendary screenwriter Dorothy Kingsely, who is well known for Kiss Me Kate, Valley of the Dolls, Angels in the Outfield and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

Hope you enjoy!

(if you can not see the video, please go to this link.)

Lorri Allisen Designs

Lorri Allisen, Artist

PCC: Tell us about yourself.
LA: My Name is Lorri Allisen, and I live in Innisfail, Alberta, which is about an hour north of Calgary. I have 3 children and 3 grandchildren. I have been designing pattern packets since 2005. It was fellow artist Renee Mullins who encouraged me to do so. In November of 2004 I was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm that was at risk of rupture and I had surgery for the aneurysm on Dec. 15th, 2004, where they inserted tiny platinum coils into the aneurysm to harden the blood and prevent it from growing larger. As a result of the surgery I had brain swelling and vision problems. Up until then I had been selling my original painted pieces on eBay and found I could not see well enough to paint after the surgery.

Renee suggested I start a new venture until my eyesight returned and suggested I create

Frosty & Flakey

patterns for my previously painted pieces to sell to other artists. A couple of months and lots of typing later, Prairie Blessings Designs was born. Within a couple more months my eyesight returned to normal.

I was, and still am very grateful to Renee, as almost 10 years later I am still happily working at this new business. Thankfully the aneurysm is still solid and there are no new aneurysms. 




PCC: What do you create?

Winter Friends

LA: I create painting pattern packets for other artists. I sell some of the original pieces I paint for my pattern packets, and some end up as gifts for family members.

PCC: What made you want to become an artist/fall in love with your craft?
LA: I have loved to draw and paint since I was a very small child, and the passion for art just got stronger as the years went by. I have never taken professional art courses, but there have been art teachers throughout my elementary and high school years that were very influential and encouraging to me. I find drawing and painting to be very relaxing.

PCC: Tell us about your process. What materials do you use?
LA: I am a big fan of repurposing and recycling, so many of the designs I have painted throughout the years have been on items I have found in thrift stores. I also use wood and canvas...and when I can get my hands on old bed springs, do like to create Nodders.

I start by making a sketch, then transfering onto my surface. Once the item is painted, it is time to start the process of typing out and creating the pattern packet, adding colour photos, and listed the pattern on my web site and in my Etsy store.

Snow Day

I am a Helping Artist for DecoArt, and love using their Americana paints. The colours are wonderful. I also love many of their other painting products...chalky paint, Glamour Dust, etc.  I am also part of Terrye French's Painting With Friends family of artists, and have designed pattern packets for her. You can find the patterns Terrye and I designed on her blog.

PCC: Tell us what you’re passionate about outside of your art. 

LA: I am a big animal lover, and would have many as pets if was able to. I have two cats...both girls. Hannah is a snowshoe (Siamese and American Housecat mix), and Cola who is a black tabby. We have an amazing zoo in our little town, that is known worldwide (Discovery Wildlife Park), and I had the pleasure of working there last summer. DWP is known for their bears...kodiaks, and black bears. Their trainer Ruth LaBarge puts on bear shows daily, not only to show off the talents of these bears, but also to educate the visitors on bears and how to act safely in bear country. During these shows the guests can have their picture taken with the bears if they wish. My son Andrew and I had ours taken with a couple kodiaks (Betty and Whopper), and a large black bear named Bonkers who kisses visitors on the cheek during their photos.

 Betty, Whopper, and Bonkers are all actors and have been in many tv commercials and movies. Many of the other animals at DWP are also actors that have been in movies and commercials. The zoo also has tigers, jaguars, wolves, monkeys, a camel, elk, deer, a llama, raccoon, beaver, an alligator, ostrich, and many other animals. Visitors from all over the world come to visit this unique zoo. I worked mostly in the concession, but my favourite daily duty was going around the zoo in a golf cart to clean the railings, benches, and picnic tables because it allowed me the time to visit the animals.

PCC: How do we find you? 
LA:
www.prairieblessings.net
www.etsy.com/ca/shop/LorriAllisenDesigns 
www.facebook.com/pages/Prairie-Blessings-Designs/ 



Other Designs from Lorri Allisen that we love:

Pear Noel

Gingerbread Cookies

Gingerbread & Snowman

 

Dear Santa

Frosty Friends

Holiday Sweets

Heidi Shaulis

Heidi Shaulis, Artist

The Catland Way

PCC: Tell us a little about yourself
HS: I’m an artist living in North Jersey, right outside NYC. 

PCC: What do you create?
HS: Oil paintings of cats as well as dogs and other animals. I also use my images to make prints, cards, and most recently, glass-tile jewelry.

We Wish You a Meowy Christmas

PCC: What made you want to become an artist/fall in love with your craft?
HS: I actually started out as an archaeologist and did that for many years. While I was in graduate school (UPenn) I started painting as a hobby, and loved it right from the start. I kept at it and years later, in 1999, when my sons were little, I decided to start trying to sell my artwork on the internet so I could work at home and be there for my children. It was 1999 and the internet was just starting to be a good place to sell…I couldn’t believe it when my paintings sold! To get to paint and make a living at it was a dream come true.

Hungry Silver Tabby

PCC: Tell us about your process. What materials do you use? 
HS: My materials are alkyd oil paints and walnut oils on stretched canvas. I’m self-taught and so have come up with my own style and techniques using trial and error. Jewel tones and a feeling of depth are my goal, which I achieve by glazing thin layers of color over another. It’s a time consuming process, since oils need time to dry…paintings usually take months to finish (working on several at a time helps!)

PCC: Tell us what you’re passionate about outside of your art 
HS: My loves: Cats, dogs, and all animals in general. Vintage things (can’t pass a thrift store without rummaging for a bit). Country living (I’ve spent a large portion of my life in Vermont). Hiking in the woods. Baking. Old houses. And of course, my family.

PCC: How do we find you?
www.heidishaulis.com
www.facebook.com/heidishaulispaintings
www.etsy.com/shop/heidishaulis
https://twitter.com/thepurrmeister
http://instagram.com/HeidiShaulis

Other Art from Heidi that we Love:

Red Tuxedo Cat

Pink Tuxedo

How to Train Your Human

Rodney Raccon

Paws II

2 Wishes

Milk for Two

2 Red Deer in the Snow

Little White Cat

Winter Siamese

Ginger Tabby

Winter Grey Tabby Cat  

Charlie's Christmas Tree

Black Cat Takes a Nap

Handy Happy Hearts

Lena Kriuchkova, Artist/Crafter

PCC: Tell us a little about yourself.

Christmas Birds

LK: I'm 35 years old, live in Ukraine and crafts are my full-time job. I can't say when I started, I just kept trying this and that as long as I remember myself. When I was 7 years old I loved making stuffed toys. When I was 11, I learned knitting. When I was 25, I fell in love with ceramics.
When I was 32, I opened my first shop at Etsy. I have a very active toddler son which is lots of fun, troubles and inspiration for me. 

Christmas Animals

Christmas Penguins

PCC: What do you create? 
LK: I make all kinds of hearts for my shop HandyHappyHearts. Within the brand HandyHappy I divide it into several branches like stuffed toys and artist bears, hearts, paintings, small houses, vintage fabrics. As I love taking photos and I love books, I also tried to run 2 other shops but realized it's too much for me for now. Although I keep planning to make more paintings and finally start making artist dolls one day. 



PCC: What made you want to become an artist/fall in love with your craft?

LK: I love rustic style and shabby looks as well as beautiful wedding photo-shoots. It's what brought me to the style I have with the hearts. I plan to keep developing rustic and shabby lines. 

Christmas Houses

PCC: Tell us about your process. What materials do you use? 

LK: I use salt dough which is very sturdy material and durable and also this is the only one which gives all this whimsical wrinkly look. Recently I started to use MDF for making more light looking hearts. I love MDF for being wood at the same time for keeping woods safe as in fact it's made of wooden destash. 

Santa Ornaments

PCC: Tell us what you’re passionate about outside of your art

LK: I'm an Irish dancer and I love travelling and taking photos. That's all what I have times for after my son and shops :-)

PCC: How do we find you?
www.etsy.com/shop/HandyHappyHearts
www.etsy.com/shop/HandyHappyTeddy
www.etsy.com/shop/HandyHappyVintage
www.etsy.com/shop/HandyHappy
www.facebook.com/pages/HandyHappy/1005461522804692



More Christmas Hearts from Handy Happy Hearts that make us swoon:
(check back around Valentines to see more from her)

Kids Ornaments

Girl with Deer

Christmas Animals

Penguins

Teddy Bear

Cottage

Vintage Christmas

Starry Night

Winter Night