April Shop Update Preview!

How is it almost April already?! In many ways I felt like the start of 2022 was steadily moving on and I was grateful for the time but now it feels like it’s moving at lightspeed! I’m in a difficult spot shop update wise because April won’t have as much of a pulled together theme as some of the other months.

I have so many projects in the works that will be releasing later this summer/fall that April will be a shop update of a few items that have surprised me and came in early! But just so you have a look ahead, here are some of the things that are in the works to be released for the rest of the year:

• 4 new pairs of socks

• 2 zipper pouches

• Tiger Gaiwan Pin

• Tea tins

• Wood Coasters

• Countdown to Summer & Coutndown to Fall & Countdown to Winter /Advent

• 2 new wax stamps

There are several other items I want to design but they haven’t been started yet (ex. 2 more rings), all items listed have been started or already on their way to me!

Ok, now back to April. While these items don’t have an overarching theme to connect them, I am so excited about them anyway! So far, this shop update will include enamel mugs, tea leaf ring and a metal moon gaiwan bookmark!

ENAMEL MUGS
These enamel mugs or “camper” mugs as you may have seen them be called are an item I wanted to bring to the shop for a while. Way back when, I had glass mugs and then I brought the highball glasses last year. I wanted to bring a mug that was able to take a colorful print and that isn’t as breakable as glass! I also wanted to bring something everyone can enjoy regardless of where you are on your tea journey.

These mugs will have two designs but 3 versions.
Designs 1- Tea leaves with tiny, yellow osmanthus flowers. The body of the mug is white with yellow on the rim and handle
Design2- The terrarium design. Version one is on a mug with a white body and silver rim. Version 2 is on a white mug with blue on the rim and handle.

TEA LEAF RING
This is a ring that features an open body, green stone and leaf all designed by me! My thinking was to have something simple and elegant with a small pop of color with the green. The difficulty with rings is that everyone wears different sizes and as I am still a very small shop it would be difficult to purchase tons of different sizes at this time. I opted for a ring that is resizable. Just as it is, the ring is a size 6 but it can be pinched closed slightly to be a size 5 or opened slightly to be a size 7. It seemed like 6 was one of the most common ring sizes which is why I chose it and the resizable nature allowed it to encompass 2 other sizes as well.
The ring is made of stainless steel. I chose this because after doing a little research it seemed that stainless steel can be very durable as well as cost effective. I wanted this ring to be accessible for everyone as well as having it look it’s best for as long as possible!

MOON GAIWAN BOOKMARK
I was reading a book one day and thought about how many of you I have interacted with that are avid readers and I decided to give a bookmark a try. I have had paper bookmarks in the shop but wanted to try out something else. These bookmarks aren’t unwieldy at the small size of 2 in X 2 in and are made of copper so they have a really nice color. They all come with a white tassel and they are modeled after the moon gaiwan!

February Catch up

It’s already February ! I actually feel like January is a bit longer which is fine with me because It’s my birthday month. I wanted to recap a few things about the shop, teas I’ve been enjoying and what’s coming to the shop in February!

January was officially month two for full time Tea Thoughts and it was nice but also difficult. January is often the slowest month of the year for many shops due to holiday fatigue, it makes perfect sense! As someone who just started full time, it’s a little scary though and allows doubt to creep. But instead of talking about what was lacking, I want to focus on what I accomplished, and it’s a lot !

In last month’s recap, I talked a little bit about my schedule that I try to keep so that I stay on track. I was pretty good about this schedule in January too except for a few days. Something I’ve learned the past couple years is to not wait to plan ahead for the holidays and even later in the year. Things happen and you don’t want to be stuck with nothing to share. In January I finalized several designs that I will be using later in the year and have already started to plan a few special holiday products that I will be trying this year!

I also placed several orders for products that I will be releasing in March April and May depending on how I structure it. With all this done, I want to try to focus back on working with my hands. I have some clay left over and while it’s a little too chilly to sit on my balcony and throw I may try to hand build some items or maybe do another tea pet series! I also recently finished an important step for tax season and that is a huge load off my mind.

Teas

I received many teas for both Christmas and my birthday and I have been slowly sipping them down as well as sharing them! Two of my favorite have been moon bear oolong and red buffalo oolong from Hatvala Tea.

I also decided to keep one of the fish gaiwans that had some glaze issues for myself. Even though I’m at home, I find it relaxing to be able have a tea session while at the computer if I’m busy. This set has been great because I can fill up two cups and the vessel is in “easy” mode because it has a spout, handles and a built in strainer. Effortless Tea!

If you’re interested in grabbing one of these sets, I have a few left in the shop.

February Shop Update

Near the end of the month I will be having a shop update! I may break the update into two sections as Cat teaware will arrive today! Remember those cat tea cups I had in December? Well I will be restocking those + matching gaiwans and pitchers and have around 20 of each depending on if any broke during shipping.

I also will be releasing TWO boxes this month. I know there has been some disappointment in the past about the countdown boxes selling out. It is truly a struggle because I want to offer more and I have been gradually increasing the amount I offer but I guess it’s time to up the boxes again! I will be offering more countdown boxes this time. Since I am the only person working on these from curation to wrapping and shipping I will need to start simplifying the process.

Changes:

• This time I will be using kraft boxes with a nice design but writing name directly on the box. That last part of wrapping the box in kraft paper takes a lot of time and was meant to protect the white box. I’m giving in and doing kraft boxes with one color print to save time!

• I will likely be making the envelopes and paper shred inside more uniform like kraft color so that I can save and use them with more than one box instead of having leftover items that I have to find a place for.

• I finally bought a wax seal gun which will make sealing the envelopes way easier!

• I’m contemplating creating a QR code that you can scan for the box info instead of including so much paper in the box. Do you like having the fortune tellers/cootie catchers? Let me know your thoughts!

Nowruz Box

I will also be offering one other box so that there are options and more opportunities for fun tea experiences. I have in the past done a small Nowruz box or shared about Nowruz but I plan on providing more information about the traditions around Nowruz and some fun items to help you celebrate that are also items that are nice to have. While I don’t want to give away everything in the box I will share some hints:

• Explanations of traditions around Nowruz and what they represent

• 2 Small Books

• 1 Oz of a Persian Tea Blend

• Nowruz themed goods designed by me

• 1-2 other items that relate to Nowruz that will help you celebrate

• Dependent on shipping: A glass tea cup- one that is similar to glass tea cups I used growing up

There are a few other items in transit that I may include in the shop this month but it’s a little too early to make a decision on those!

A little bit about the Tea Thoughts Journey!

Happy Sunday friends and thanks for joining me as I share a little bit about the Tea Thoughts journey. As my next shop update approaches tomorrow I’ve been doing a lot of reflection myself and wanted to share. Before I start, I want to say that I will be sharing difficulties and triumphs with you. I don’t share the difficulties as a way to garner sympathy, just to share. I feel extremely grateful to be able to have the means and time to run a small business.

The Start

Many of you have been around since the inception of Tea Thoughts. I was hired for a creative type job that turned out to not be that creative, I felt drained and like I didn’t have a place to express myself. I’ve always crafted, hand making gifts and cards. I’ve also almost started an etsy shop maybe 10 times at this point but fear always got the better of me. So Instead I started a blog and since tea was such and important part of my life I wanted to make it about that and learn more because I didn’t know that much.

I started my blog and began “reviewing” teas. This eventually turned into me creating recipes because that was something I enjoyed more. After a couple of months, that creativity bug was still biting and I decided to start an etsy shop. That was back in May of 2016. At the start, there was no direction, I was painting, doing calligraphy, creating items for weddings, custom pieces etc. It was nice to create but It wasn’t working well so I made the decision to connect my shop and blog and create tea themed designs!

The Shop

Tea Thoughts has come a long way as a shop, mostly because I’ve come a long way as a designer and business owner. When I started my shop I also starting teaching myself design. Tea Thoughts has always been bootstrapped by funds from my full time job. Working at a small non profit, this isn’t a ton but I’ve made it work. There were some scary times where this funding method really took it’s toll on me but overtime as the shop has grown, the pressure is less.

The most difficult part of my shop has been keeping it stocked while at the same time trying different products to see what people like best. For a couple of years I was drowning. Funding an idea, having it fail and then being stuck with all of the stock in my tiny apartment. I think many people assume that if you have a certain amount of followers, you are rich or have a sell out shop. Not the case. The reality is that marketing your products is like asking over and over “please buy this.” Something I did a lot of was watching webinar after webinar about how to have a successful social media presence. They always say that follower count doesn’t equal a paycheck and let me tell you: TRUE!

Attachment

Something I’ve really had to overcome is connecting shop sales and social media success to my personal worth. When your shop isn’t doing well, it can be really tough mentally. When I didn’t get likes on a photo, I felt like a failure. There were many times where when my shop wasn’t doing well and I saw myself as worthless because I couldn’t make it succeed. Much of my desire to start a shop was to have creative control and freedom and something I built that I could be proud of and these feelings made it difficult to go on. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve almost quit Tea Thoughts because I didn’t think it could work. Thankfully I have a wonderful support network who always encourages me to keep going because deep down that’s what I want to do. While most nights look like: staying up late, falling asleep in front of my computer and burnt out, I don’t mind because I love Tea Thoughts. The feedback I get from you all motivates me to keep creating and thinking of new things! I’ve come a long way in my mindset. I spend less time on social media and obsessing over likes. I try to share good content with you all and that’s it. I’ve also learned to not take slow sales personally, just that I need to keep going!

Hope

Now for some good. Tomorrow, I release my second annual Tea & Treats Advent calendar. Want to know how random things are? Last year I was hunting for an advent calendar for myself and since I don’t really like tea bags or blends, It was tough to find one so I decided to make my own! Last minute I ordered tea from a few places and was able to throw together 15 listings of an advent calendar. It was so much fun wrapping everything and I was so excited to be able to combine my love of gifting and tea.

It was a hit! So I did a valentine’s day box and a spring box and a summer box and a halloween box! The halloween box sold out in one day and y’all I can’t tell you how much I cried that day. Tears of joy of course. I cried because I finally felt a little success after all my hard work. It was very emotional and I think about that day all the time to remember to be grateful. Now, selling out in one day sounds great but honestly, four years later and I am still working a full time job because I’ve barely scratched the surface of being able to make Tea Thoughts a full time gig. The reality is that on release day I get sales and between release days, sales ebb and flow. Despite this, I’ve never felt more hopeful. The items I’ve been putting in my shop have been doing well and while the countdown boxes are very labor intensive, I love them. I love curating, wrapping, and most of all - seeing your reactions.

The Future

Thanks to all of your support, I feel like I finally found my dream job. I get to design things that combine my love of tea and other items and also fill a need in the tea themed items category. Thanks to your support, the shop has been self sustaining in 2020 for the most part. Still have a long way to go but I feel hopeful and grateful. While I feel like my hard work and trying different things have helped I couldn’t have done it without you. People who shop from me, are putting their trust in me as they shop from a small business and I try my best to make your order feel special. As I look to 2021, I already have 2 boxes planned and depending on how this holiday season goes, lots of new fun items! Something else I am really excited about is that I am saving to purchase my own pottery wheel so that I can update my shop with pottery more often!

I wanted to write this to give you a little peak into Tea Thoughts. Most of you probably follow me on social media and there, I try to keep my feed put together and calm because I think that’s what we could all use more of. In an effort to keep it real though I wanted to share that it’s not always pretty pours and fun product shots!

I am incredibly grateful that I’ve been able to start this business and keep it going. As COVID hit, I thought that it might be the end for Tea Thoughts but in an amazing turn, this has been my best year yet! This is something that’s hard to celebrate, especially because people have lost so much. I will continue to stay humble and keep creating and bringing you tea goodies.

To all of you who follow on social media, thank you!

To those who like and comment on my posts, thank you!

To those who subscribe to my newsletter, thank you!

To those who order from my shop, thank you!

To those, who share about Tea Thoughts, you have been a huge part of my success and I thank you so much!

Wishing you lots of joy and tea,

Nazanin