Love Local: Northwestern Alberta Makers & Creators KikiRose Handmade | Grimshaw & Peace River, AB
Kiersten, 26, lives in Peace River and Rosemarie, 51, lives in Grimshaw. The mother-daughter duo moved to the Peace Region in 2007 from a small mountain town in Northern BC. Kiersten is a teacher at Grimshaw Public School and Rosemarie is a receptionist at Peace River Veterinary Services.
What’s your origin story? How did you get into making art?
Kiersten: When we lived in BC, Rosemarie had a small home-based studio where she made handcrafted gifts and décor.
She sold pieces through her studio, the local art gallery and markets in the surrounding areas. At the time, I was too young to help her create anything, but I often tagged along to help set up and sell at the local markets. It was the highlight of my holiday season.
Our family moved to Alberta in 2007 and we quickly became very busy between work and sports. Rosemarie then took a break from her business to focus on our busy family life.
We created KikiRose Handmade in 2019 when I graduated from university and moved back home. We were looking for a fun way to spend time together and couldn’t think of a better way than to start creating art together.
Our business name is a blend of my childhood nickname, Kiki, and the shortened version of Rosemarie’s name.
The products we make are continually evolving and we love trying new things!
What are a few of the products KikiRose Handmade makes?
Our wall art is created using reclaimed wood. We salvage the wood from various places around the Peace Region and in Northern BC. Having grown up in the mountains, we are mountain girls at heart so many of our wall art pieces are mountain landscapes. We also create geometric mosaic pieces that complement a wide variety of home décor styles.
Our prices vary based upon size and style, but they range anywhere from $18 for a small piece to $300 for our largest statement pieces.
Resin is a medium that we use to create many of our products. We started using resin to create custom tumblers. These tumblers are created by layering pigments, resin and artwork on a plain stainless steel tumbler, to create a one-of-a-kind piece of functional art. This is a multistep process that takes about a week to complete from start to finish. We take great care in sourcing out quality tumblers as a base, to ensure that they will keep drinks hot or cold for hours.
We have branched out to using resin on many of our other products, including charcuterie boards, coasters & earrings. Our charcuterie boards are handcrafted by Mikel (father/husband). He creates these fantastic boards out of hardwoods such as black walnut, olive and cherry. Some are accented with a resin pour or resin inlay.
Our resin pieces range anywhere from $6 for a pair of earring studs all the way to $150 for a large resin charcuterie board.
Could you tell us about the care and attention that goes into your work?
As each of our pieces are individually handcrafted, no two are ever the same. For our wall art, we intentionally select our materials to highlight the beauty of the reclaimed wood. The resin is a detail-oriented process where we carefully inspect each layer to ensure our customers are receiving the highest quality product. We use a variety of techniques to add depth and dimension to the resin giving it a life of its own. Our focus is on creating a product that our customers can be proud to own and display.
Are there specific items you could suggest as good Christmas gift ideas?
We have a gift for almost anyone on your list. Our online store carries a variety of items at many different price points. If you are looking for something small, we have earrings, candles, ornaments, keychains and coasters. In the mid-price range are our tumblers, small-medium wall art and small charcuterie boards. For a higher budget, we have our large statement pieces of wall art, large resin charcuterie boards and serving trays. Our most popular charcuterie board is a resin ocean pour which makes the board look like a wave has washed up onto it. One of our newest designs is a northern lights resin pour that we do on coasters, tumblers and charcuterie boards. We have a variety of earring styles including faux leather, genuine leather and resin dangles and studs.
Where can people purchase your products?
You can visit our online store at kikirosehandmade.square.site to shop our products. We will be at many of the local markets over the holiday season, so follow us on social media to stay updated on where you can find us: @KikiRoseHandmade on Facebook and Instagram.
Some of our products can also be found at Raediance Florist and Gift Shop in Grimshaw or Creative Goods and Co. in Slave Lake.
Is there anything you’d like to add?
This year has been a big year for us! We have recently finished renovating a 1979 vintage camper into our dream mobile shop. It is exciting to now have a space our customers can enter and immerse themselves in our creativity. Stay tuned next summer to see our mobile shop, Clementine, at a market near you!
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