About Us
ABOUT PEPPERMINT
Peppermint is an Australian print magazine and digital platform focused on style, sustainability, sewing and substance.
Calling all future-forward fashion minds, curious creatives and sustainability stans: Peppermint is for you! We champion many things – environmental sustainability, ethical fashion, diversity, inclusion, climate action, slow living, sewing and DIY, social justice, First Nations voices and so much more. Founded by Kelley Sheenan in 2008, Meanjin/Brisbane-based Peppermint has proven the power of positive media, authenticity and hope. We’re a small team passionate about all things craft, creativity and community, and we care deeply about not just elevating others making change, but making a difference ourselves. And we couldn’t do this without you. As a community, in our own individual ways, we can stitch together a better future.
MEET OUR MAGAZINE
Our biannual print and digital magazine is filled with hopeful content, thoughtful stories and clever DIYs, designed to empower you to live a more meaningful, mindful and me-made life.
In this fast-paced world, Peppermint features slow, timeless content that endures – so you can take inspiration from each issue for many years to come. Among our pages you’ll find stories of hope, connection, creative folk, thoughtful fashion, diversity, businesses building better futures and people doing good in the world. And of course – sewing and DIY! Each issue comes with a free digital sewing pattern to help you stitch some sustainability (and individuality) into your style.
Australian Made • Size Inclusive • Resale or Buyback Scheme • Organic • Fair Trade • Rentals • LGBTIQA+ Owned • Socially Responsible • Packaging Initiatives • Climate Neutral • Preloved or Vintage • First Nations • Women-Led or Owned • Gender Neutral • Handmade • Vegan • Recycled Materials • Upcycled Materials • Sustainable Materials •
Handmade • Vegan • Recycled Materials • Upcycled Materials • Sustainable Materials • Australian Made • Size Inclusive • Resale or Buyback Scheme • Organic • Fair Trade • Rentals • LGBTIQA+ Owned • Socially Responsible • Packaging Initiatives • Climate Neutral • Preloved or Vintage • First Nations • Women-Led or Owned • Gender Neutral •
LGBTIQA+ Owned • Socially Responsible • Packaging Initiatives • Climate Neutral • Preloved or Vintage • First Nations • Women-Led or Owned • Gender Neutral • Handmade • Vegan • Recycled Materials • Upcycled Materials • Sustainable Materials • Australian Made • Size Inclusive • Resale or Buyback Scheme • Organic• Fair Trade • Rentals •
SEWING AND DIY
Sewing is a big part of Peppermint’s DNA – our stories and content have had tales of stitching woven through them since the beginning, helping to inspire your makes in a mindful way.
Peppermint is fast becoming a global go-to source for all things sewing, having built our incredible maker community over years of offering much-loved patterns and creative content. We’ve poured our hearts and resources into these patterns, and we’re proud of the work we’ve done – alongside many talented indie patternmakers – to bring these patterns to life. We have an extensive back catalogue of fabulous patterns, from beginner to advanced, to help you build your me-made wardrobe. We champion sewing and making content across all our platforms, bringing to life the colourful, creative, clever stories of the makers in our midst. Our digital magazine Sew&Tell is designed to further satisfy your itch to stitch – bringing together sewing stories and DIYs from the pages of Peppermint alongside a treasure trove of new content, crafty ideas and projects.
RECOGNITION AND AWARDS
Sure, awards aren’t everything, but as a small business it means a lot to be recognised for our work within a huge media industry.
We’ve won several awards since launching in 2008. Our founder Kelley received Best Designer (Consumer Magazines) and Graphic Designer of the Year and Best Sustainability Program for Publishing at the 2009 Bell Publishers Australia Excellence Awards. Peppermint went on to receive many more over the years: Consumer Magazine of the Year (under 20,000 circ) at the 2015 Publish Awards, and in 2021, we won the Mumbrella Award for Sustainable Practices. In 2018 Kelley was selected by the Queensland University of Technology’s creative tech hub Creative Enterprise Australia (CEA) to attend Richard Branson’s Virgin StartUp program in London. The 2022 Mumbrella Publish Awards gave us a Highly Commended for Cover of the Year and Lauren, our Editor at the time, was shortlisted for Young Writer of the Year. In 2023 we were thrilled to take out the Mumbrella Publish Award for Event of The Year for PepTalks, while Peppermint was shortlisted for Magazine of the Year. We also received an Australian Good Design Award for Communication Design in Print. In 2024 we received a Meta Digital Innovation Fund as part of the Meta Australian News Fund administered by The Walkley Foundation. The result is this beautiful website you’re looking at now, thanks to Crumpet Club!
REPRESENTATION AND INCLUSION
We’re proud to remain at the forefront of diverse media through our innovative use of world-changing and inclusive stories, images and design.
Our mission is to provide information and inspiration through content that empowers, entertains and educates – with the aim of making the world, our environment and our communities more inclusive, hope-filled, fair and sustainable. Featuring – and celebrating – a diverse range of people encompassing the spectrum of gender, culture, abilities, queer folk and bodies has always been a central part of Peppermint’s ethos. Our issue 52 cover received a Highly Commended for Cover of the Year at the 2022 Mumbrella Publish Awards. We wanted to create something we felt was both rare and sorely needed: a shoot with a plus-size model that saw her as more than her body, centering and celebrating her form but also normalising it as exactly what it was – the body of a professional model doing great work. Our model reiterated our beliefs: “Representation saves lives. If fat people can see themselves just existing happily in the media, we can start just existing happily in our lives.” Issue 53 featured the work (and face!) of Ngarluma, Kariyarra, Nyulnyul and Yawuru photographer and illustrator Bobbi Lockyer – “Seeing my face on a magazine cover was a proud moment of representation I never had growing up”.
IMPACT AND CHARITY
Our care for people and planet goes beyond the printed page, grounded in sustainability and social enterprise. We’re committed to treading lightly, and proud to support charities and initiatives creating meaningful change.
Peppermint is printed at an ISO 14001 printer in Sydney using PEFC-certified paper from well-managed forests that comply with environmentally sustainable practices. Our subscriptions are sent plastic-free in paper envelopes, an initiative that took a lot of work to get right! All orders are sent in compostable mailers or paper envelopes. In 2021 we undertook an extensive audit through the Carbon Reduction Institute to measure our carbon footprint to have complete certainty of the emissions we are offsetting. We’re now offsetting beyond our emissions through Carbon Neutral on a wind power project in Western India that provides economic and social benefits for the community. We were one of the founding members of Groundswell, a giving circle that funds climate action. We’ve donated over $30,000 to social and environmental charities, we sponsor a granny in Cambodia from the Cambodian Children’s Fund and we were one of the founding members of Indigenous Fashion Projects – a grassroots community of changemakers created by the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair to build sustainable fashion futures that centre and empower the agency of First Nations voices.
FIRST NATIONS VOICES
Peppermint actively amplifies First Nations voices, showcasing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island artists, makers and stories, promoting allyship, cultural significance, social justice, identity – and great design.
We’ve consulted many times with Troy Casey and Amanda Hayman at Blaklash and Aboriginal Art Co to better understand how we can serve and represent First Nations communities, and to help shape our editorial approach to diversity and Indigenous content. Troy and Amanda have said: “Peppermint always works hard to include Indigenous businesses, artists, writers and contributors where possible and practical. Our ongoing collaboration helps to educate the wider public and offer unique perspectives directly from First Nations people. We honestly believe that Peppermint does a great job with their genuine and authentic approach to diversity and inclusion – their readership is in good hands.” We’re very proud of the feature we did on The Voice referendum with guest editor Teela Reid, a proud Wiradjuri and Wailwan woman, lawyer, storyteller and the co-founder of Blackfulla Bookclub, illustrated by Ngarabal and Torres Strait Islander artist Lauren Rogers. For many years we’ve supported many initiatives such as the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair and Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, and we will always strive to help bring Indigenous voices, talents and stories (nationally and internationally) to the fore.
nice words from the community
Hang out with us on Instagram
“Crafting is something that has come naturally since I was small and I just haven’t stopped. When I was smaller, I was interested in the end result. As I’ve gotten older, I realise it’s the process that keeps me coming back to craft. It’s a meditative state for me and I find the repetitive action of the stitching and felting quite therapeutic.”
Craving a world filled with warmth and whimsy? It’s all in a day’s work for textile artist @Cat_Rabbit, whose latest book, ‘Trinkets’, is bursting with felty food friends to make and cherish. Cat invited us into her universe, filled with cheeky characters, layered storytelling and loads of humour.
Plus: try the super sweet pattern for Cat’s Lucky Pickle, perfect to make as a stocking stuffer, extracted from Trinkets.
Read more from our ‘Just felt right’ feature in Issue 64, at newsagents and stockists now!
Photos: Tatanja Ross @On_JacksonStreet and Cat Rabbit
#PeppermintMagazine #CatRabbit #LuckyPickle #Craft #Crafting #Felting #FeltCrafts #Trinkets #ChristmasDecorations
Our hearts go out to everyone impacted by the Bondi Beach violence, especially the Jewish community. Also to the beachgoers, those who bravely helped and the first responders.
While it`s easy – and understandable – to get caught up in the horror of it all and direct anger at certain groups, remember this quote from teacher and author Erin Gruwell: "Don`t let the actions of a few determine the way you feel about an entire group."
“You don`t fight racism with racism. You fight racism with solidarity," said Bobby Seale of the Black Panthers. And solidarity is exactly what we need right now.
If you are feeling overwhelmed, you are not alone. Remember there is much more kindness in the world than hate. ❤️🩹
@LifelineAustralia has created a Bondi Beach Incident: Wellbeing support guide, where you’ll find information about common reactions, reassurance that what you’re feeling is valid, and ideas for taking care of your wellbeing.
https://lifeline.org.au/bondi-incident
You can also call Lifeline on 13 11 14, text on 0477 13 11 14 or chat at lifeline.org.au/crisis-chat anytime, no matter how this has impacted you.
@BeyondBlueOfficial is also available with free 24/7 support by phone on 1300 22 4636 or webchat at https://www.beyondblue.org.au/
Register.Find.Reunite. has been activated by @RedCrossAu to help people reconnect with family and friends. Visit redcross.org.au to access the service.
@NSWPolice Public Information and Inquiry Centre (PIIC) is operating 24/7 on 1800 227 228 for information relating to people impacted.
@LifeBloodAu is supporting Sydney hospitals. O- and O+ blood are always in high demand in emergencies. To donate (from anywhere in Australia – all states are welcome and helpful!) call 13 14 95 or use the Lifeblood app.
Just a reminder… from @SugarHouseCeramicCo
This holiday season be kind, patient and shop local!
#ShopSmall #ShopLocal #SupportSmallBusiness
✨️ Our website is getting a glow-up! ✨️
Sorry for the inconvenience but it will be offline for a few days. You can still purchase subscriptions (perfect for chrissy presents!) via the links on the holding page.
Last year we were extremely excited to receive funding from the Meta Australian News Fund, in partnership with the Walkley Foundation. The result of this is a fabulous new website, with a sustainable fashion and sewing directory that will follow early next year. We`ve worked with the lovely Amy and Jenny at @CrumpetClubHouse who have been making the magic happen – we can`t wait to show you the outcome! ✨️
In the meantime, please get in touch if you need help with anything – hello@peppermintmag.com
We`ll see you on the other side! 🌈
🎀 12 DAYS OF XMAS GIVEAWAYS 🎀
🎄On the 12th day of Christmas, we’re giving away… a GREENPAN FROST ICE CREAM & FROZEN DRINK MAKER! 🎄
Ice, ice, baby! Calling all kitchen magicians and dessert devotees: it’s time to churn, blend and devour your way to frozen heaven. It’s our final giveaway – and hoo girl, it’s a goodie! Thanks to the clever folks at @TheOriginalGreenPan.Anz, one reader will cool their mitts on the Frost Ice Cream & Frozen Drink Maker – perfect for conjuring up home-made gelato, sorbet, smoothies, slushies and more!
Valued at $599, the Frost Ice Cream & Frozen Drink Maker is designed with GreenPan’s signature Thermolon™ ceramic non-stick coating, so you can whip up summer-ready sweet treats free of PFAS, PFOA, lead and cadmium.
To snag this frosty prize, follow @TheOriginalGreenPan.Anz and tag a friend in the comments below before midday AEST 15 December! (Australian and New Zealand addresses only, please.) Good luck!
Update: The lucky winner of our final giveaway is @just__for__van - congrats! We`ll dm to get your details. Well done! 🎉
#PeppermintMagazine #12DaysOfChristmas #12DaysOfGiveaways #GreenPan
Oh hey 👋🏼 Just a little reminder that our subscriptions are sent in paper envelopes, which is a bit of a rarity in our industry. 💅🏼
If you need more reasons to subscribe, how about these:
💌 Enjoy a new issue arriving in your letterbox every six months.
💌 Subscribers exclusively receive FOUR digital sewing patterns per year!
💌 You’ll be the first to get your hands (and needles) on our patterns with early access.
💌 Get a 20% discount code on back issues of Peppermint so you can start your collection today!
💌 Automatically go in the draw to win amazing prizes each issue.
💌 Feel good about your subscription arriving in plastic-free postage.
💌 Support a small, women-led Australian business.
💌 Help us make the world a better place!
And... it`s a perfect Christmas present! We have a downloadable card you can print to go with your gift.
💌 Link in bio!
#PeppermintMagazine #SupportSmallBusiness #ShopLocal #ShopSustainable #PlasticFree
