Facts About the Policies at Malika Bourne Legacy
FAQ
Who owns and operates this e-commerce shop?- I grew up in a photography business in Washington, Iowa, known as Ken Rene' Studio. I became my father's assistant in the darkroom and at local weddings at an early age. As a child, I was inquisitive, to a fault, so my dad had to keep me busy and out of trouble. I learned the photography business from a master photographer of his day.
- For three years, I was self-employed as a piano and guitar teacher in Iowa City, and Washington, Iowa, as I worked my way through nursing school.
- I was an OB nurse and director of nursing for 3 day care centers in the late 1970s. I held many positions with Head Start and eventually was the traveling nurse for 15 Head Start Centers in five Iowa counties until the 1990s. I held teaching positions in a variety of day cares/ pre-schools. I worked in the Maternal Child Health and at a special unit on the U of Iowa campus, Hospital School, as an RN. I also did a wide variety of private care home nursing jobs and nurse nanny positions.
- In the late 1980s, with my late husband, I owned and operated a brick-and-mortar store in Iowa City, Iowa, DBA Nancy's Fancy.
- I published my first novel in 2 typo-filled editions in 2010. (The Secrets of the Unwritten Book) The goal of this e-commerce store is to support the promotion of my published works. The theme of this e-commerce boutique is based on the fantastical world of The Secrets of the Unwritten Book, and my children's books that I have never gotten around to getting published, until... coming soon... The Secrets of the Unwritten Book has been revised and includes two more parts to complete a trilogy. This trilogy will be presented in ebook form on Amazon in 2026. Related merchandise is and will be offered for sale on Malika Bourne Legacy.
- I raised 3 children. Currently, I am proud to share that I have 6 grandchildren and 4 great-grandsons. One of my children is now in the late stages of primary progressive MS - he is my roommate and tech support. I am his 24/7 nurse at home.
- Malika Bourne Legacy is my 2nd e-commerce store. The DBA, Heart Felt Play Store is attached to old pins on Pinterest and in my 14 to 15-year-old blog, No Non-cents Nanna. (I often promote my work on my blog.)
Why mention all-of-the-above?
- My life-experiences, loves, and passions are the vast experience I bring to the product I create for this boutique.
- I understand 'mommies' and children extremely well.
- My peers are baby-boomer grandmothers.
- I have creativity in business in my blood.
How I do business relates to my life experience: compassionate, empathetic, and kind. But don't let those qualities fool you. I am as strict as they come. I have rules that help all of us know what to expect.
Who is Queen Malika or 'Mother Nuture'?
- Queen Malika is the protagonist in my novel. Her essence is born in a subsequent character, Anna. Queen Malika is ageless.
What is the deal with the images of fantastical creatures on this store's pages?
- I am building my boutique around my fictional characters. It is a huge challenge to go to the extra effort that may not be very clear at this early stage of the business. I am not the first writer to incorporate selling merchandise with stories. Walt Disney did it! Rawlings did it with Harry Potter. The difference is that those two people had help. So far, my bed-bound adult child is my support system. And I am the chief cook and bottle washer in my spare time when I'm not writing or creating new and improved designs and correcting typos.
Does Malika Bourne Legacy take orders for special requests?
- Yes, we carefully consider custom orders and personalize most POD products.
- If the tools are available to design special orders, yes, most requests will be considered as long as they are PG and in good taste.
- POD stands for Print-On-Demand. *Your purchase is not printed until you order it and your payment has cleared.
POD allows for a word or an image to be changed to your liking within reason and the capabilities of the printer.
And the beauty of POD opens the doors to a vast world of possibilities.
I cannot guarantee any color matching or exact in-your-head ideas magically coming together in a finished product.
However, I will do my best to fulfill most requests. Be sure to ask about additional fees after one consultation: limited to up to 15 minutes.
The above image was AI-generated from a prompt by Malika Bourne Legacy's owner to depict that our POD can personalize t-shirts, blankets, mugs, acrylic ornaments, and more.
When Malika Bourne Legacy opened the virtual doors, my intention was to do only a POD with a small amount of at-home inventory for a short time. Well, the short time is up for most of the non-POD inventory. The gifts I offer for sale are about to be refined in April 2026.
Personalize:
Q. Can t-shirts, blankets, phone cases, or shower curtains be personalized with a name?
Customers will now be able to fill in their own names, and more on most customize-able products.
The app to do this will be installed on Malika Bourne Legacy the week of April 5th. DIY will reduce spelling errors. You will want to double-check your spelling before we submit your order to the select printer.* Digital pages will also be added the first week of April.
*NO REFUNDS. NO RETURNS.
When you place the order, you agree that this is your request and will accept the final product. Special orders cannot be passed on to the next person as they are one-of-a-kind, commissioned by you.
Once printed or engraved, the printer has already incurred the expense of producing according to your specific written directions. That item will not be of interest to anyone else. "I changed my mind," or "I broke up with the person I was gifting this to," cannot be accepted for a refund.
My customers do have my guarantee that I will do whatever I can to satisfactorily resolve a rare issue when there is a defect, or the provider sent the wrong order. Mistakes can happen. Most mistakes can be fixed with good two-way communication.
Why you might get a phone call from Malika Bourne.
Don't be embarrassed if this store owner calls you on the phone to question your credit card. Sometimes a payment will get flagged by the credit/ debit card service company. I am given the option to delete the order or try to track down the person who placed the order... Awkward for all of us... Unfortunately, spammers are using our credit card numbers. Sometimes, unauthorized users - people we know and used to trust will help themselves to our plastic cards. You would want to know, and I want to know that our resources are protected.
If all is well, we can have a nice chat. For those who don't pass my No Non-cents Nanna test- they get the message that this store owner is paying attention and will put a stop to whatever shenanigans they are playing.
Can't find what you want in your size?
As of February 2026, the Simply Pretty line should be published for those lovely midwestern ladies, like myself, in sizes 2XL- 4XL, and sometimes 5XL. (white, navy blue, true blue, and black are the only colors that come in 5XL with the Bella Canva brand.)
Do you feel your community is underserved?
- Need some more inclusive special-needs custom-designed?
You matter. And your input is valuable to this boutique's owner: Malika is a retired RN who specialized in 'special needs' - Developmental Disabilities.
Feel free to ask: Contact Malika Bourne Legacy
Does Malika Bourne Legacy put faces on images that can be printed?
- Yes, faces can be swapped, provided you have legal-authority to use the face you want to insert into a printed design. Malika Bourrne Legacy is a stickler for rules and laws of the land that protect us all.
- Malika Bourne Legacy will be more than happy to work with your creating something magical - but this only happens after proving you can claim that face.
I often replace an AI model's face with my face from a good-quality photo from years past. I will use old family photos in AI-generated images on a description pages.
Party goers at a masquerade ball swap face masks in this AI-generated image.
**Malika Bourne Legacy has the tools to FACE-SWAP on many images, provided the submitted photos are of good quality, and you have the legal right to authorize me to do this for you for a small fee to cover my time and the cost of the tools.
**I, Malika Bourne, reserve the right to question and may refuse to do a face swap that is ordered to be printed by a third party.
The first example of face swapping you see when you come to Malika Bourne Legacy is the watchful Queen Malika on the front page. That is my face on a body I had decades ago, LOL.
FYI: Queen Malika is the Queen of Discipline, the essence of the protagonist in my novels.
How soon will personal messages sent on the Contact Form be responded to?
- All respectful requests will be responded to during normal business hours within 48 hours. Usually, Malika responds almost immediately under normal circumstances.
- Power outages occurring to local weather and internet malfunctions are not under our control. Inclement weather conditions may delay any order or a reply from Malika Bourne Legacy. Please, always order at least a week earlier than we may anticipate.
True story: When Heart Felt Play Store was open, I was living in Colorado. We had a snowstorm, a normal weather event in February for the Rocky Mountains. The Denver Airport was shut down. The internet was down. Many had no electricity.
Wouldn't, you know, a mommy in sunny Florida placed last minute rush order for her son's 3rd birthday party.
After the fact, I learned this mom was steamed! I had not responded to her 47 emails and phone calls about rushing her last-minute order... I was going to ruin her child's life.
Meanwhile, back in the Rocky Mountains, I was in the ER a few miles from our home when Colorado had a mega-blizzard. I got snowed-in the hospital with all of the other patients and staff who could not leave until the city got shoveled out of the snow melted. My cell phone died. I had no laptop with me. The vending machines were out of snacks. The kitchen crew could not make it to work. Doctors and nurses were doing 2 day shifts... Surely this made the news in Florida that the country was now cut in half by feet of snow.
Typically, I would move heaven and earth to do my part to make a child's birthday very special. But, when I made it home, tired, hungry, and smelly... You know my priority was not to check my emails for orders.
I want to encourage everyone who orders goods and services to keep their expectation reasonable.
- Most product messages are kind and respectful.
If you find a product message offensive or unclear, please use our contact form first to allow Malika Bourne to the opportunity to clarify or carefully reconsider a resolution. Contact Malika Bourne Legacy
Only use the contact form on this business site. Messages left on Facebook comments, Messenger, Instagram, etc. will probably be missed and never responded to.
AI-generated image to depict inclusiveness.
- Ms. Bourne's intention is to remain respectfully inclusive, PG-13, and PC, in line with the general American population and legal requirements. The aim is not to discriminate. However...
The above image is AI-generated from an imaginative prompt by Malika Bourne
- Malika Bourne reserves the right to refuse service to anyone whom she feels is out of line or a solicitor.
- The statement, "The customer is always right," has never been this businesswoman's policy. That was the 1905 policy often credited to Marshal Fields, and it is often used by people who practice manipulation.
- This is a small, disabled women-led business that refuses to respond to unreasonable demands and spam. I will do what is fair and right after a responsible effort to practice prevention.
What response can customers expect when an order is placed?
After a purchase, all customers will receive an email about the order. Every effort will be made to keep everyone up-to-date on the progress of the order as it moves through the process of printing.
This AI-generated map looks a bit messed up - but you get the point, I hope.
- This business is set up for business in the continental US ONLY.
- If you live in Hawaii or Alaska, you already know to allow extra time. Pony Express has to get on an airplane to deliver to your zone.
- Solicitors will be politely turned away the first time.
Honestly, Malika does not mind hearing the phone ding from a customer working the graveyard shift or someone who cannot sleep. I will most likely reply when I wake up, unless I'm already burning the midnight oil. But, please use the contact form.
