About Kinney Laser Crafts & Woodworks
Hi Y'all! I'm Kellie Jo Kinney, Owner of Kinney Laser Crafts & Woodworks, formerly known as KJ's Art Venture. I started the business in March 2020 as a brick and mortar Paint Party Business. I opened the doors to my cute studio in our little town of Stayton, OR THREE DAYS before our governor shut the whole state down due to Covid. Well, that sure put a hitch in my get-along I'll tell ya! I was completely closed throughout that summer as the world stopped functioning. I took that time to do some upgrades on the studio and finally scheduled my first Paint Party for September 15th, 2020. Well, you know what they say about best-laid plans...On September 7, 2020 (Labor Day) we experienced the worst case scenario - tinder dry conditions, 70 mph winds, and a small forest fire some 50 miles away that had started in August - couple that with the fact that the power company didn't cut the power, and by 7pm that evening, the forest fire had blown up and started coming down our canyon and the downed power lines ignited 14 additional fires. We were evacuated for the next 10 days. The Beachie Creek Fire had fully engulfed our canyon and forced the evacuation of 6 towns and half of another one and we had many family members and friends who lost everything in the fires. Needless to say, that put a crimp in things for a while. I decided I needed to pivot my business if I wanted to actually stay in business since I couldn't have actual people in my studio. So, I bought a CO2 Laser and started making wooden DIY kits people could complete at home. I also focused on kids painting kits because everyone was pretty much forced to stay home and kids were bored! In that time, I also started making closing gifts for realtors and custom signs, ornaments, and home decor, like shelf sitters and tiered tray sets. As my (bad) luck would have it, 2-1/2 years into a 3 yr lease, the owner of my building decided to sell and leave the state. I really didn't want to deal with another landlord especially knowing my rent would go up significantly, so I got out of my lease when he sold, and decided to build my own woodworking shop on our farm. So, on August 30, 2022 the studio got packed away and stored on a shipping container and I went about getting the shop built. That's a whole novel in itself, but let's just say it took 6 months longer than I had planned due to unavailability of contractors in this area because of the continued fire rebuilding efforts, and it was thousands of dollars over budget due to the inflation we're experiencing right now. I finally got the county to sign off on it, and I moved in and got to work the first part of May 2023. I am no longer open to the public, and now everything is online. I am hoping to get my products in local craft malls and markets, but I will primarily be offering online sales. I hope you enjoy my products as much as I enjoy making them! Everything is cut, painted, assembled, packaged and shipped by me. I am excited to take my business online and be at home where I can be here for my son, manage our farm, cattle, and my 4 Australian Cattle Dogs! Happy Crafting!! KJ