2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2006
2005
2004
2003
By Topic
June, 2012
Dear MaryJane ...
I am one of three sisters who grew up in Texas and moved to Arizona during our teenage years. Being from a family of educators, both sides of the family were gifted in music, art, cooking, or gardening, so we grew up with the appreciation of everything around us having beauty and worth. We didn’t have financial wealth, but we always had all that we needed for health and happiness, love and joy.
A few years ago, my younger sister gave me a subscription to your magazine. Since then, I’ve shared the magazine with my daughter and bought your books for my 86-year-old mother, who reads each one from cover to cover. I look forward to crawling into bed at night, picking up any edition of MaryJanesFarm magazine, and rereading whatever catches my interest.
My younger sister is from a rural area, where she is very involved with community, gardening, and housekeeping. I am from Phoenix with a totally different lifestyle, but try to garden, work full-time, and housekeep. I recently retired from teaching, and I passionately love cooking, sewing, and trying new ideas that I never had time to try while working and caring for a family.
My sisters and I saw the article about making homemade vanilla extract in your “Imagine a Place” Oct/Nov 2011 issue, and thought we would like to try it, as well as expand on the idea by making raspberry, mint, and lemon extracts. We purchased 2-oz clear bottles; printed out our own labels; and made a batch of each, filling 25 bottles of raspberry, 25 of mint, 25 of lemon, and 25 of vanilla. Every morning for four months, I would enter the pantry, say “Good morning, my beauties,” and shake the extracts. Then we hit the holiday craft sales, where we used our extracts to make white chocolate raspberry fudge, butter mints, and mint brownies for tasting. We printed out cute little recipe cards, packaged one of each of the extracts in a holiday baggie tied with a festive bow, and enjoyed talking and making new friends as people came up to see what we had to offer. We sold every bottle of extract and people wanted more, but we just laughed and told them that we only did it for the fun.
In October, I received a call from my sister asking me if I had seen the article about cowboy-boot purses in one of your back issues [“Sentimental Journeys” June/July 2010 issue]. I had seen it, and I remembered that 20 years ago, when my husband threw out a pair of cowboy boots, I looked at them and thought, “What could I make from the tops?” But nothing came of that thought until your article popped up. We were all excited to try out this new idea, so I hit the church sales, thrift shops, and yard sales and collected cowboy boots.
Our first purses were too fabulous for words to describe, and everyone we showed them to just loved them. We had such a good time shopping and creating that we continued shopping and creating. One hundred pairs of boots and three months later, my sisters and I have started a new business. “StageCoach Bags and Collectibles” are now carried in three stores and on our new website (www.stagecoachbagsandcollectibles.com). We have sold over 25 of our bags in three months, have 25 more in shops, and are creating more daily for our online business. I just wanted to say “Thank you!” for providing us the inspiration to keep our spirits soaring and our creative ideas touching others who have the same love and passions that you share each and every day.
Warmly
Gayle Maloney
Arizona
