The Interview

I don't blog or create furniture because I am looking for fame or success. I blog as an outlet to share creations and creative ideas with others as a way to get the word out on my quest to help find a cure for Ovarian Cancer. As you know, 100% of the proceeds of any furniture piece I do goes directly to The Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. I am hoping to be be able to donate $10,000 this year. Um, so please go buy my furniture! ;-) (Which can be found at Cashmere and Coco in Vail, CO, or if you are in the area, you can come see what I am working on and I can custom fit it to your needs).

I've spoken about my way cool, gal pal, Reyne Hirsch before. Reyne truly is a one woman power house! She can be seen on multiple seasons of Antique Roadshow, and now can be seen on episodes of Treasure Detectives. I love that show! That and Rehab Addict. I just know Nicole and I would be pals if we ever hung out. Anyway, Reyne can be found everywhere...and I mean everywhere. I get tired just thinking about all the stuff she does: Huffington Post, book author, antique appraiser on a huge scale, fine art dealer, production company owner...you name it. So Reyne hooked me up with this gal, also a cancer survivor, Robin McCoy who blogs at www.inspiredbysavannah.com Robin interviews Moms (and Dads) and chose me to interview. Wow! I am so blessed to a) still be walking this Earth, b) have friends who know people, and c) get the word out on what I am doing and hoping to achieve.  So, without further ado, here is the interview:  http://www.inspiredbysavannah.com/2013/03/spotlight-on-mom-holly-quinn-of.html

Spotlight on Mom: Holly Quinn of Quinnspirations

When I heard about Holly Quinn and the reason for starting her business. Quinnspirations, it struck a cord and made me want to share her story.  Like me, Holly, battled cancer and beat it -- Yeah!.  Upon being diagnosed, she, like many others who receive this scary, life changing diagnosis, decided that she wanted to spend her time not in an office, but with family.  So, she stopped working, to stay home and raise her children.  Bored while they were in school, Holly began refinishing furniture to keep busy.  She takes gently used and vintage furniture and repurposes it, or refurbishes it. Many items she sources via Craigslist, Goodwill or garage sales. With a bit of creative ingenuity, and elbow grease, Holly turns cast off's into showroom beauties. Her furniture can be found in the brick and mortar store, Cashmere and Coco in Vail Colorado. The store is owned by Jesse and Ann Csincsak, former reality stars from the shows The Bachelor and Bachelorette. Holly turns a few hundreds into several thousands and is always being asked to create more.

But, the best part about Holly's story is that she donated 100% off all profits to the Ovarian Cancer Research fun, in hopes that a cure will be found, and lives will be saved.  How great is that?  :-)  I am so glad I found out about Holly, and that she took time out of her busy schedule to respond to my Spotlight on Mom feature.  Below is my interview with Holly, as she shares more about her new business, Quinnspirations and person journey as a mom entrepreneur.  Enjoy!


Name: Holly Quinn
Company Name/Product/Service: Quinnspirations
Company Location: In my house at the moment, but looking for the right location to open our retail location
Company Website: http://www.quinnspirations.com/ (under construction)
Facebook URL: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Quinnspirations/426554690744574
Age of Company: one year
Favorite Inspirational Quotes: "You can get busy living, or you can get busy dying". Shawshank Redemption 
Favorite Book: "To Kill a Mockingbird"




 

Tell us a little bit about yourself. How many children do you have? What are their ages? Your hobbies? Etc. 

I have four children: 25, 22, 16 and 14. I enjoy running, painting, sewing, refinishing furniture, making all natural body scrubs, cleaning supplies and body products

Briefly explain your business. How did it come about? 

I was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer and decided being a corporate woman was taking too much time from my family. Cancer is really a wake-up call to what is important in life. I needed activities to keep me occupied, but that I could do in 15 minute increments (That's about all the energy I had) so I started making all natural products. Then my sister told me I should refinish a table we owned...so I thought, "why not". This has evolved into taking cast-off furniture and making them beautiful with fun colors and whimsical designs. Next up? I am taking an upholstery classes and learning to make my own furniture from reclaimed wood.

What is a typical work day like? 

I only work during school hours. My day often starts with looking for materials and furniture. I only do the physical work a couple hours a day.

What has been a struggle while starting up your company? 

Trial and error of figuring out what products work and what products don't. By the time I have finished a piece, I might have 80- hours into it because I want it to be a one of a kind, work of art.

What did you do in your past work life? 

I was an insurance agent.

What have been some of your major successes? 

Having a boutique owner ask to showcase my furniture in Vail, Co!

What have been some of your major challenges? 

Trying to transport large pieces of furniture!

On those impossible days, what motivates you to keep going? 

100% of the proceeds from my furniture painting goes to The Ovarian Cancer Research Fund so we can kick cancer's butt!

What is your balancing secret in managing a business and family? 

My family always comes first, and I do not compromise. My husband is a rock! So, when I need to make a delivery to the mountains, he is more than happy to get kids where they need to be.

What is next for your business? 

I have found a business partner and we are in the process of finding just the right property to open our own retail store where we will specialize in up-cycling.

Do you have any advice for other mom entrepreneurs that are starting out and struggling, or are on the fence about starting a business? 

Go for it! Sometimes, we don't try new things for fear of failure. But, I think we don't try new things for fear of success.

National News

Hi everyone! I just wanted to brag a bit. One of my tables is in this weeks issue of Star Magazine (Page 22). Yeah!!!! Here is the photo: 

Le French Buffet

It's been awhile since my last post. I've been working on something pretty cool. I took this boring, blah buffet and worked on it, and worked on it, and worked on it.

I had a special request from a client to make it turquoise and fabulous! Now, making something fabulous is a tall order, but I felt up to the challenge.  

The great thing about what I do, is I set my own schedule and paint at my home. So, if I find myself awake at 4:30 A.M., (which sadly happens frequently thanks to hot flashes) I can go and paint.  And, paint I did, and paint, and paint, and paint. Did I mention I painted?

It called for just the right shade of paint and it took about 10 different blends of colors to get just the right shade of turquoise. Then, the color was perfect, but it just needed a little something. I played with some free hand painting and it wasn't quite right.

In the middle of the night, it suddenly came to me. This piece was going in Cashmere and Coco (Vail, CO) and Coco is Chanel's first name, and Coco Chanel was French....this little western American looking piece, needs some oh la la! It needed some Parisian....But, how does one go about oh la la ing? Why, French poetry of course! Oui!

My favorite Annie Sloan stockist has some UH MAZE ING stencils. Now, these are not your ordinary stencils. They cost mega bucks (read...husband will freak out when the credit card comes) stencils. But, it is what this piece needed! A lovely spring-time French poem about flowers stenciled on the top in cream color.
My friend, Shawn, who only ever tells me the truth about my work...including when she doesn't like things, told me this is her favorite piece I have ever done. Not ever one to be humble, this is my favorite piece too. Something about it speaks to my soul. Look how good it looks in Cashmere and Coco!

photo by Jesse Csincsak

The cabin kitchen re-do

We bought this great little cabin up in the mountains a while back and ultimately, we hope to live here full time in our Golden years. Well, there and Italy, but that's just a dream. I mean wouldn't want to hear someone say "ciao bella" every time you leave a shop or trattoria? (insert sigh here), Anyway.....we bought this cabin and the kitchen was so circa 1980s! Truly, the only things missing were shoulder pads and Aquanet! It had builders grade stock oak cabinets in a golden oak finish and teal laminate counter tops. Teal, people? Really? What were you thinking? I suppose not every choice I made in the 80's was great either....you should see my Brooke Shields uni-brow I was sporting and man, did I have some shoulder pads.

Here is the dilemma No money for a costly kitchen renovation, and big desire to bring the kitchen into at least something that looks not so dated and hideous. So, I did some research. I looked high and low and far and wide for any product I could use to upcycle what we already had. Rustoleum makes some great products to re-face your cabinets and counters, but at a cost of over $200 per kit, I figured my makeover would cost about $1,200. And that, my friends, was not in the budget! Secretly, I am hoping if I save my pennies I can totally redo a few things in the house anyway and didn't want to spend too much at this point in time.

What is a girl to do? Why grab her can of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint of course! I removed the hinges and laid the cabinet doors on drop cloth on the floor. Be careful to leave them in the order they were hung, or you will regret it when trying to re-hang them. I did three layers of ASCP in Old Ochre and two layers of clear wax. You could experimenter with the dark wax, or even use different colors for upper and lower cabinets. My original plan was to use Old Ochre on the uppers and Coco on the lowers, but when I got there, it made the kitchen too dark, so went with all Old Ochre.

How much better does this look? This photo was taken at night and the place looks tons brighter, don't you think?New aged bronze hinges! This entire project took two days, and most of that was waiting for the paint and wax to dry. To help the waxing go faster, I bought an orbital buffer. What an arm saver!

Now, anyone who knows me knows projects are never truly finished and merely works in progress, so up next I had to tackle the elephant in the room..or rather the shoulder pads...aka...the counter tops. 

The four younger folks who I spawned will tell you that I talk to anyone, um, and everyone....and so......

I went to pick up my totally awesome Thomasville Georgian style sofas off Craigslist and I spy a can of ASCP in the lady's garage. So I had to talk about it! We talked at length and she invited me into her lovely home to see her latest project; she had painted the tile surround on her fireplace, and it looked great! But, the real prize was seeing her kitchen, which she had chalk painted! Then, this amazing woman, went on to tell me about Giani Granite! Oh lady from Craigslist, how I love thee! (Insert cautionary warning here...please be careful when shopping Craigslist, there are some truly weird and bad people out there).

I researched Giani Granite (http://gianigranite.com/) and it had really good reviews! The best part? It costs about $65 and one kit is enough to do a small kitchen! Yippee ki yay!!!! If you can use tape and a roller brush, you can use this stuff! You can order it online, but I found a local place that stocked it...so check it out!

This entire project took me less than two hours. In fact, since I was alone at the cabin, I put on the movie Jerry Maguire and paused it every time I was done with a step and it took me to the line, "You had me at hello",  to finish the entire thing!

Step one, tape anything you don't want to get black primer on. Especially your appliances!

Step two, roll the primer on and let is sit several hours.

Step three, four and five. Take the three colors and apply one at a time, with the enclosed sponge. It looks pretty bad at first, but you can see the colors starting to meld together. 

Giani Granite chocolate brown, primed with first color.

all three colors added

close up of the three colors. 

Then you put on the enclosed sealer, which really and truly makes it look like granite! I am not kidding you! It is a bit tricky to apply the top coat. Just watch the Giani videos and it will be a snap!

And here, my friends, is the final look. The entire project cost me roughly $200! So, what are you waiting for?

Where to score the good deals?

I am asked, quite frequently, where do I get furniture to upcycle? I look in a multitude of places and I look frequently. 

1. Craigslist. Craigslist is  like going to a potluck, you never know what you'll find, or where you'll find it. And, if you are looking for something specific, you need to look often. If I am in search of something specific like the funky buffet I am working on, I might look two or three times a day. It helps to also expand your search. For instance, I like to take old, broken down antiques and fix them up but if I search "antiques" on CL, I usually find higher end things. So, I might look under the furniture tab, but type in "antique" or "old" in the search engine. That tactic usually brings more hits. 
Also, when shopping CL, you have to go with an open mind, cash on hand and an adventurous state of mind. Once, I was looking for an antique sled (see older post). When I get to the address, every stick of furniture that is normally INSIDE the house was now OUTSIDE the house, sitting on the lawn...and it looked like it had been there for quite a while. I was a little scared I might get bit by a rat, so I called the person and asked them to bring the sled out. I was quite surprised when the seller steps out of his RV (parked in the drive way) and brings me the sled. That was an interesting day to say the least!

I have scored off Craigslist" Two BRAND NEW Thomasville sofas (in my living room) for $100 each. They were used to stage a million dollar home. Ethan Allen sofa and side tables, lots of antiques and a few pieces of junk. 

2. Thrift stores. Shop frequently! If I am in the neighborhood of my local Goodwill or Salvation Army (or whatever local place), I'll pop in. I bypass all the clothing (um...usually, but there is a really good one that I go to that I always at least peruse the clothing because it is pretty high end...shhhhh, don't tell the kids) and head straight to the furniture. In the last couple of months I have found a full 9 piece mid-century modern dining room set for $125. I painted it in Arles from Annie Sloan and it is currently in Vail. I also found a beautiful Drexel Heritage easy chair for $25. Mint condition. Not sure what to do with it, so it is sitting in my garage...probably becoming a mouse nest.

3. Garage/Tag sales. Look online through your local newspaper or even the garage sale listings on Craigslist. Usually people will tell you what pieces of furniture they are selling. If you are super interested in something, get there a few minutes before advertised opening time and make an offer. If you are just our perusing for furniture, go later and haggle over price. Most people just want to get rid of stuff at that point.

Here is a photo montage of a few scores of Craigslist.

What are your favorite places for scoring good deals?

The $50 pillowcase

Since it is a new year and most people have some sort of resolution, who am I to go against the grain?

I really want to learn to upholster furniture, but am aware some modicum of sewing skills might be required. And, since I didn't even know what a seam ripper was, I figured I  better learn. Baby steps Holly, baby steps.

A couple of weeks ago there was a Groupon for two hours of beginning sewing classes for two people, so I signed me and the youngest Quinn up for the class. She'll thank me for it later, I am sure....so we tote our newly purchased machine and our bobbins, whatever they are, off to the sewing shop. We were pleased to find two other moms and daughters in attendance. Oh, what fun we were going to have! The anticipation of newly sewn projects were dancing in my head. 

In reality, after two hours of class, I had no more skills than when I went in as the instructor spent most of the time trying to figure out one of the other students sewing machine. But, girl child and I had fun learning(?) together and we went away with mostly completed tote bags, and directions on how to complete them on our own.

What is an inspired gal to do? All this creative energy surging through my veins and still no mad sewing skills. Sigh. I put on my big girl pants and went to one of the places that intimidates me the most....Joann Fabrics. I looked for the most senior employee in the store, justifying that surely if you are the oldest employee in a fabric/craft store you must have years and years of experience...and I was not disappointed! The lovely 70 something year old lady took me (literally) by the hand, showed me what projects beginners should work on (pajama pants, pillow cases and aprons), helped me pick out fabric (and a seam ripper), and then told me about classes! Oh Kate, how I love you! 

I immediately went and signed up for four classes (go big or go home) because they were all half off! Today Miss Ann (also 70 something years young) taught us how to thread a sewing machine, the importance of perfection and she made me rip out one seam and redo it three times. But the results were amazing! I have the most beautiful pillowcase ever! And it only cost me $50 including class and materials, but it is priceless!

Back to the grind

The two older kids have gone back to their homes, the husband is back to work after 17 days (and we are still married!). The two younger ones have two more days of break and then it's just me and the dogs at home. Sigh. What is a girl to do with so many hours to herself during the day? I have so many project ideas going on in my brain, it's hard to decide what to do first.

I need to finish my teal blue, funky buffet to get to Cashmere and Coco in Vail, CO.(http://www.cashmereandcoco.com/)...look for my furniture there. I mean, do I really need much encouragement to go hang out with Ann and Jesse (former Bachelor and Bachelorette show contestants) Who are, quite possibly one of the coolest couples I know. Hanging out with them makes me feel cool by association. Them, and my friend Reyne  (that's Reyne as in http://www.reynehaines.com/gallery owner, jewelry designer, Tiffany Glass dealer, author and as seen on TV multiple seasons of Antique Roadshow), coolest people I know. I told you, I am cool by association! 

The other furniture projects I need to get started/finished or whatever are: the way, way cool antique Asian rice bin that I am going to re-purpose into a ski holder for the cabin, finish the French, antique dresser, start the next dining room table, re-cover the dining room chairs, make new curtains for the homestead house (am thinking of using Miss Mustard Seed's idea of using drop cloth), and finally teach myself how to reupholster so I can re-cover the two Thomasville sofas I scored off Craigslist for $100.  

I am feeling a bit ADD today and can't quite figure out what project to do first. I mean after I finish the commissioned piece. I'll give myself tomorrow to get the Christmas decorations put away and start on Friday...or the day after.....