Fledgling business has engraved a niche

By Lori Fischer Thorp

Correspondent

Family and community ties run deep for the personal energy behind Evergreen Creations & Gifts.

Stephanie Quade King and her husband, Kyle “Buzzy” King, “were high school sweethearts,” she said. “We went to prom three years in a row, and then we got married after I graduated.”

He was in the Frazee High School Class of 2005, she rotated her tassel in 2006, they married in 2007, and their son Aiden, born in 2008, will be a 2026 grad. The family calls Evergreen Township “home.” 

“Actually, I just moved across the field from where I grew up,” King said. “My parents are my neighbors…I’ve lived in Evergreen basically my whole childhood, and I knew I didn’t want to go anywhere else when I grew up.”

Her husband “grew up in Frazee. I brought him out to the country,” she said. He is owner of Evergreen Outdoor Services, a wood processing business, but transitioned the majority of his time when COVID hit to employment with Accessories Unlimited, and “loves it,” King said.

Following Aiden’s birth, King earned her Bachelor’s degree, which led to her 10-hour daily focus as a corporate Human Resources manager. The Kings feel fortunate to carpool to their outside work every day.

When they’re back in Evergreen, “My stress relief is engraving and crafting,” she said. “That’s what I do to kind of decompress.”

Back in the couple’s early days, she wouldn’t have envisioned that. 

“I was not an art fan in high school . . . I couldn’t draw, I couldn’t do anything,” she said. As an adult, she discovered “paint-and-sip classes. I figured out I liked painting.”

From there she “got into work with a Cricut” brand cutting machine which combines standard designs with customization, and “that’s where it all started.”

She honed ideas as she learned. 

“Everybody gets homemade gifts from me,” King said. One family favorite she made was reproducing a wedding photo of her husbands’ grandparents, George and Darlene King, on acrylic.

“People knew I had a Cricut and they would ask if I would do things for them, and it just went from there,” King said. 

She received so many requests that it made sense to upgrade equipment and launch a business, Evergreen Creations & Gifts.

“I bought my laser (engraving machine) in November, and I officially started (the business) in December 2022,” she said. 

“That’s why I went with the laser, because I wanted to do more,” King said. “Once I knew I was going to invest in a laser, I wanted to get some return on that, and it just went from there.”

Work with the machine has “definitely been a learning curve, but I had a Cricut Maker,” one of the top models which allows work on acrylic or leather, “before, so it was somewhat familiar,” King said.

The new laser is an 80-watt unit, with a working area of 20×26 inches. To accommodate that, as well as a garment printer added in the last month and all the necessary work and storage space, King said “we’re building an extra work area in our shop.”

Her husband is King’s “finisher” on projects. “He’s my carpenter, doing sanding and putting hangars on pieces.” 

“We paused during the winter,” on the shop project, she said. 

During the winter and early spring, the family’s schedule was especially full with involvement in FHS’s Robotics program, where Aiden has been a freshman participant and his parents serve as mentors.

“It’s helpful for those students who aren’t interested in athletics,” she said. “My son would rather do stuff on the technology side. He did the technology for the play. That’s his world. He’s my go-to person if I’m having technology issues.”

The Robotics spring fund-raiser occurred the same day as the FHS musical. “We actually had quite a few students that were in both the musical and Robotics, so it really helped both,” King said. 

What also boosts activities is the community-mindedness of individuals and businesses. 

For the Robotics event, Evergreen Creations crafted and donated 20 unique items ranging from a bean bag toss set to tumblers, cutting boards, coasters and grill tools sets.

“As a small business owner, I love donating things,” King said. Other activities seeing that generosity have included FHS Post-Prom, and Stacy Moe’s benefit.

“I’ve tried to get my name out there,” with donations, King said, and the experience helps further her skills. 

“Every time I try something new, that becomes my favorite,” she said. “I haven’t tried anything new that I haven’t loved doing.”

Some of her latest adventures include leather dog collars and wallets. “I’ve actually taken somebody’s steam engine that I turned into an image and engraved on a wallet,” she said.

“A lot of my ideas come from Pinterest,” King said. “People see what I put out there” on the business’s FaceBook page, and contact her with their ideas. She also invests hours on Pinterest, Etsy, and design websites. “Those give me a lot of ideas as well,” she said.

Those become fresh personalizations on media which arrives regularly. “I normally get a shipment once a week or every two weeks, even if I’m not working on a project, just for the learning.” King said. 

“I’m learning what-all it’s capable of,” she said of the laser machine. She has implemented it on slate, and one of her next goals is to work with granite. 

“I know it’s possible,” she said regarding granite engraving, and added, “I’m looking for a supplier. If somebody wanted a granite sign outside, that’s something I’d love to offer.”

The garment printer was a logical expansion to the business.

“I have added customized apparel to the services that I provide,” King said. She’s currently taking orders of up to 24 garments per design.

Pouring creativity into the rapidly-growing business has taken a lot of focus, King said. “I finally feel like there’s a little bit of normalcy.”

Looking forward, the Kings are excited for their new enterprise as well as summer pastimes and Aiden’s upcoming academic steps. 

“He actually just got accepted to go to post-secondary next year,” King said. As an incoming FHS sophomore, “he has been accepted to Alexandria Tech. He’s looking at computer or engineering…he’ll get his generals, and it’s all online,” she said.

Also on the Kings’ horizon are more work with Robotics, which will host some small fundraisers this summer and another big event in October.

To renew their family’s energy during these sunshine-filled evenings and weekends, the Kings “like hunting, fishing, outdoors, and rides outside. We are very much outdoor people…I’m excited to get into the boat and go fishing.”

When she does, King takes a hand-crafted reminder that links some of the joys of her life. “I even have a tumbler,” she said, “that says ‘Girls Fish Too.’”

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