What do you get when you have four sisters raised on a homestead in Alaska who were encouraged to be innovative and independent? Not only one business, but seven! In addition to being partners in Brainstorms Extraordinaire and its subsidiaries Brainstorms Publishing and the Homestead Store, we each have our own business, full time jobs, children, & grandchildren. Brainstorms Extraordinaire grew from a desire to use our combined life experiences to help others start a business or promote an idea.

Next came the writing and publishing of Book One of "The Children of Glacier Point", taken from diaries and journals our parents kept. This was followed by The Homestead Store, an outlet for a wide variety of handcrafted gifts and unique ideas. Because we live across Oregon and Idaho, and still have those full time jobs, an online store is perfect for us. We meet weekly in an online chat room, email on a regular basis and have an annual retreat, which doubles as a research and development opportunity.

This spring we published our Mom's WWII memoirs. Mother Teresa, our inspiration, encourages our crazy ideas. Denise, school secretary/office manager, makes memory teddy bears, primitive and rustic wood frames with Linda's help, hand bound books, and handles the web design and maintenance. Linda specializes in bag ladies, personalized bags, & cozy cabin quilts. She is a full time bookkeeper/office manager and helps her husband on the family farm. Nancy, a full time business manager, does custom sewing as well, including the popular micro mitts and vests. Ruth ranches with her husband in Eastern Oregon, and finds time to sew and make custom quality frames and toys. We always have more ideas than we have time for!