Client Spotlight: Yoga Tea Poetry

I’m changing up the normal spotlight with something new! I had the pleasure of completing a design project for my friend Taniya over at Yoga Tea Poetry! I am honored that she chose me to bring her idea to life through my design and I’m excited to share the result with you and more about Taniya!

This process was amazing, not just because I got to work with someone I already know well but because It was an incredible experience being able to create something that Taniya enjoyed and is now going to have available in her shop! Designing for someone else can be difficult because communicating a vision isn’t always simple. One of the best parts of this project is that when she communicated her ideas, something clicked for me instantly which isn’t always the case. I’m grateful to have been able to give my designing skills a test and provide a way for Taniya to share more of her beautiful words with the world!

Read more about the project below and please check out Taniya’s website!
Direct Link to the Pin
Direct Link to the Sticky Notes

I am hoping to create more designs for tea themed businesses, so if you’re interested please check out my page to learn more!

Can you please introduce yourself and YogaTeaPoetry?

Hi! I am Taniya, I live in the suburbs of Toronto, Canada. I was born and raised in India, and moved to Canada by myself when I was 17. I love travelling, and tea! I manage my anxiety and try to stay connected to my inner being by learning different yoga and mindfulness techniques. I started YogaTeaPoetry during the pandemic as a way to connect with others who love Yoga, Tea, and/ or poetry, and it has organically grown and connected me with so many lovely beings! I now use it as a way to share some of my work with others, and also offer a few products inspired by poetry.

What was your first experience with poetry and what inspired you to start writing your own?

My very first experience with poetry was definitely nursery rhymes, if those count, but I do remember writing stories and maybe even poems when I was 6-8 years old. I participated in a poetry writing competition at my school in grade 5, and won an award. I think that validation made me realize that the words spilling out of me maybe had some power that I was yet to realize. I haven't always had the privilege to be able to express myself openly growing up in a very patriarchal society, so poetry has become the way I express myself. I find it extremely healing to read and write poetry.

Where do you feel tea and poetry intersect in your life?

I feel that tea allows me to slow down in this rather busy world, which then helps me appreciate the little joys of life, and the beauty in everyday things. And that's where poetry comes from :)

Where do you find the most inspiration for your writing?

A lot of my writing is inspired by human interactions, things that are never said but felt, and also a lot from nature :)

Set the scene for us, how do you enjoy writing the most? Is there a specific place or environment that fosters your words best?

I love writing when the rest of the world around me is either sleeping or barely awake to start their day. Some of my favorite poems have been written at 3am in the morning when instead of sleeping, I scramble to find my phone and open the notes app to write the words down before they disappear. My dream writing spot would be a cabin somewhere on a mountain, with a candle or incense lit, light music playing, and some tea by my side :)

Why did you decide to bring these words to life through the unfurling leaf design?

I am so glad you asked! I have been thinking a lot about how a lot of us spend so much of our lives not fully realizing who we truly are. Once we find our voice and our people, there is no stopping us! The words in this design came from a poem I wrote called "Sorry, Not Sorry" and it summarizes a lot of the things I have apologized for over the years when I didn't really have to, when I wasn't really sorry. I tend to drink a lot more Oolong tea than anything else, so while watching the leaves unfurl, and take up the space they rightfully deserve, the inspiration for this idea was born. Now, I cannot draw, but I am grateful to know another tea-lover who did such a FANTASTIC job in taking my very minimal description, and brought the idea to life!

Is there anything you want to share about this poem that the excerpt of words on the design is from?

It is a very personal piece, and I do want to publish it some day. I will share a short excerpt which I hope will resonate with many others too!

"... to tell you the truth
I am not sorry
for the         space             I take
for standing up for myself
for not wanting to follow traditions blindly
...

I am not sorry 
that I exist"

What are your hopes for your writing?

My hope is to continue writing and connecting with others who might be going through similar experiences in life, so we all feel a little less lonely, and a lot more connected :)

Small Business Spotlight: My Tea Places

One of the best parts about social media is the constant uncovering of people and businesses that you feel connected to you! I’m excited to share about another tea shop that I found through instagram, My Tea Places! I purchased some tea from this lovely shop and now want to share more about them with you! Please check out the interview below and to check out their shop, head over here.

Can you introduce yourself and My Tea Places?

I am Luz Boys, the founder of My Tea Places. I live in Northern California with my husband Garrett and our Chief Feline Officer, Geneva. We are passionate about traveling, exploring, and enjoying great teas. Our mission at My Tea Places is to offer premium teas from different tea-producing places around the world, highlighting the unique story of each tea and place.

When was your first experience with tea?

My love for tea first started during my childhood, while drinking herbal tisanes such as lemon leaves, chamomile, and cinnamon with my family. In college, my passion for tea blossomed. I often stayed up late writing research papers accompanied by a fresh cup of tea. Around the same time, I also found an interest in Chinese culture, which only fueled my curiosity for tea and the culture that surrounds it.

What is your daily tea ritual like?

My tea ritual varies from day to day depending on how much time I can devote to it. First, I like to choose a tea set for preparing the tea. I have quite the collection and some are only reserved for certain types of teas, like oolongs. If I have enough time, then I will usually select a gongfu-style tea set. If my time is more limited, then I prefer an easy gaiwan with a sharing teapot. I like to maximize the enjoyment of tea, so I do like having multiple infusions and sharing some with my husband. My cat likes to tag along as well. If the day is nice, I’ll usually sit outside to take it all in. My tea routine keeps me balanced, so I try to prioritize it every day.

What was the inspiration to start My Tea Places?

The inspiration to start My Tea Places was a culmination of many moments, experiences, and passions. Some of the most meaningful moments and conversations in my life have happened around a cup of tea. When I reflect on these moments, I’m warmed by the memories of the people that I shared them with. Because of this, tea holds a special place close to my heart. This led me to start collecting and learning more about tea, growing my passion for it! Some of my other interests have been in learning about people, places, languages, and cultures across the globe. It is one of the reasons why I completed my master’s degree in International Relations. I speak several languages and have traveled to Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Ultimately, My Tea Places represents the overflow of my combined passions. I always thought I’d start a Tea Company at some point later in my life, but in 2018 I felt compelled to start realizing that dream, following a Mandarin course I was taking at the time. This led me to the Pacific Northwest Tea Festival in Seattle, then completing the Tea Specialist certification from the World Tea Academy, and participating in a tea business incubator program at the World Tea Expo in 2019. And with much perseverance, I was able to launch My Tea Places in August of 2020. I’ve met so many great people along the way. The tea community is amazing!

What is your curation process like when selecting teas for the shop?

When I first started My Tea Places, I told my husband, “If I don’t sell the tea, then I’ll drink it all myself”. We laugh about this regularly, because it is true, I would drink them all, but it also speaks to my ultimate qualifier of what teas make it into our store or not. The tea has to consistently win me over before I’m convinced to offer it. When evaluating a tea, I have a detailed cupping process where I examine everything from the quality of the tea leaves to the aroma and flavor. I take notes because I will do this process many times and refer back to other tastings. I also do extensive research on the place the tea is sourced from and make sure I’m building a friendship with a reputable supplier that is invested in both sustainable cultivation practices and the well-being of the tea community in the region. I look to my supplier to provide me with detailed information related to the cultivar, crop, and process as well as some of the relevant cultural history or practices. This helps me be able to tell the story of the tea to my clients, particularly during our fun and informative Virtual Tea Experiences.

What do you have currently in the shop that you're most excited about?

I am excited about every tea in our shop. I really could drink them every day. Most recently, we launched our Himalayan Tea Collection with teas from Nepal and India this month. They are amazing! We also have a Tea For Ukraine campaign going on to help World Central Kitchen provide meals to people and pets affected by the war in Ukraine and in neighboring countries. Our Chief Feline Officer, Geneva will match the percentage we will be donating from each tea we sell. We are also encouraging people to donate directly to World Central Kitchen and help in any way they can. This is a crucial time in the world and we want to use our platform to help.

Do you have any upcoming products or projects that you want to share?

I’m looking forward to a few new creative projects that are coming in the future. While they are still in the works, I have to keep them a secret, but if anyone would like to be the first to know, I recommend they subscribe to our mailing list at myteaplaces.com. We typically release certain limited edition teas only to subscribers, since they sell out quickly and we may have a limited amount.

Tea Thoughts Turns 6!

Where did it all start?

It’s hard to believe but I started Tea Thoughts almost 6 years ago! It was May 2016 and I took the leap to finally start an etsy shop. It’s something that I had wanted to do all throughout college but was scared and intimidated by what came with starting a shop. By this point, I had been writing a little on my blog for a few months and decided to have both the blog and the shop.

My shop was called Tea Thoughts Shop, but at the start it didn’t really involve too many tea related items. I was doing a whole range of things that helped satisfy my creative itch. I created custom paintings, calligraphy pieces and even did some wedding items like place cards. I also started making cards by hand, mostly using tombow pens. These cards had tea puns on them and eventually I decided to do more tea themed items to match my blog.

You can see some of the designs I created, I’ve always loved a good pun! I love looking at these photos to show myself how far I’ve come in my designing and lettering skills but am still super proud of what I created back then too.

Running a business of any type is a lesson in research. I was looking up so many different things and teaching myself whatever I thought would help me be more successful. I would watch every free webinar about social media and blogging. Eventually, I taught myself how to use illustrator and started doing more digital designs. Going down this path helped me create designs that I could print on items at a larger scale. One of my first projects was pins! I always enjoyed collecting pins and since they had seemed to come back in popularity, I gave it a try.

Below are a few more shots of my earlier products and first attempts at digital designs!

As time passed I continued exploring new ways to create things for tea lovers and have grown my product offering significantly. Over these last few years, I’ve accomplished many of my goals but because I am still not quite where I want to be I haven’t really celebrated my Shop Birthday all these years. I think a few times, I might have done a sale but seeing how other shops recognize their Shop Birthdays as a big deal made me realize something. It IS a big deal. I SHOULD celebrate another year where I’m still running Tea Thoughts. You know when you’re younger and teachers ask you what you want to be when you grow up? I didn’t know it then but this is that path. I want to be running Tea Thoughts and I AM! So I want to take more time to recognize this!

Lessons Learned

I’ve learned many lessons throughout running Tea Thoughts and I’m honestly still learning all the time but here are some really important things I want to share especially to those who may want to start their own business.

• You’ll be surprised what you can google : Pretty much everything I’ve learned from illustrator to setting up an LLC was found through google searches. If you have other resources, great! But if not, there are so many resources free and available.

• Stay True to yourself : In the world of social media and trends, this is really difficult but I think there is always a way to keep parts of yourself when following a trend. The most important thing to remember is that there are no other yous and that is your greatest asset in all aspects of life! It’s also personally easier to relate to someone who I find to be genuine.

• Be Kind : Everyone you interact with is going through their own struggles and you may not know it so I find it best to approach everything gently and with kindness when possible. Put good into the world. Help others when you are able. One thing I realized is that there aren’t many people out there who are willing to take a chance on you which is why I try to support other businesses whenever I can because it’s what I would have loved when I started out and even now!

• Under Promise, Over Deliver : In terms of my business, this is probably one of the best pieces of advice I can give. When you say you’re going to send one product but maybe you’re able to include something for free or customize it in some way, do it. It’s a small effort that will go a long way and it always feels good to have a customer who is happy with their order!

How am I celebrating?

To celebrate, I will be releasing one product on May 5th. This is a special product that I think truly encompasses my progress and my roots in terms of tea. In Persian households, you’ll likely see tea being brewed from morning until evening. You will find the brewing vessel to be a modern version of the samovar in most cases, two tea pots on top of each other. The bottom teapot is a larger metal kettle and the top teapot is a smaller ceramic teapot. Sometimes both teapots are metal but growing up, the top was usually ceramic. These teapots all have a similar shape, short and round with the sides jutting out a bit. They often are lighter glazed or white and more often than not will have some floral designs. You can also read more about my tea roots here.

What will be in the shop birthday release?

In honor of this teapot, I created my own floral version and had totebags printed with them! Besides the design being fitting to my tea roots, this totebag is something I would have only dreamed of having in my shop when I first started! Products like these often have a larger minimum order and cost per piece and it just wasn’t a reality for me when I started. This totebag signifies to me the progress I’ve made and it’s also really cool! The totebag has two types of straps, an outide and inside pocket and a zipper! Due to the complicated nature of the design, these are digitally printed. Digital printing is more eco friendly but the toss up is that if you wash the bag often, the design will fade over time.
Birthday Special!
-As part of the special release, if you purchase a totebag, you will also get a free matching pin with the same teapot design.
-I will also be including a tea gift in the first 15 orders of the totebag! So far I have tea from white2tea, teawala, bitterleaf teas and the qi for these prizes! My Tea Places has also kindly offered to sponsor some tea !

How can you celebrate with me?

1. If you read this post, let me know what you thought ! Leave a comment or just say hi!

2. Share with any fellow tea lovers, this post or any information about the Shop Birthday

3. If you’d like to support the shop directly, you can purchase a tote bag on May 5th

Year of The Tiger Gaiwan Design

We’re already months into 2022 and well past Chinese New year but I am finally getting a few products with a special design on them and I wanted to share with you! As many of you know, this year is the year of the Tiger! When I go about designing different products, I usually am sparked by something in my life. This could be a plant I see, a color palette I like, how I am feeling etc. I rarely create designs based on holidays or other seasonal trends, this is mostly because since I am still growing, I need a larger window of time to sell my products. This is one reason why I haven’t made any designs based off of the chinese zodiac before for example.

When I found out that 2022 was going to be the year of the tiger however, I knew that I might need to make an exception. You see, four of my lovely family members are tigers! How fun to have so many tigers in the family :) My mom, older sister, brother in law and younger brother are all tigers. After some nudging from my mom I decided to make a year of the tiger design. But what I decided to do was to make this design in their honor.

I thought this would be the perfect design to include on my gaiwan series to honor the Chinese roots of the zodiac signs. In the process of designing the tiger, I thought of my family. I went for a contrast that I see in all of them. In their own ways, they are fierce and passionate which is displayed through the tiger’s sprawled body position and open/growling mouth. But just as much as they are all bold, they are gentle and beautiful like the camellia sinensis leaves and flowers that surround the tiger.

I will have a couple if items with this design but the first one will be this enamel pin which will be in my shop on 4/14 ! You can see the design below and find it here when it hits the shop!

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!

Small Business Spotlight: Tea Curious Water

I’m excited to share this next spotlight with you ! Rie, from Tea Curious is another wonderful tea person that I’ve connected with over instagram that has greatly impacted my tea journey. Nowadays, I think most of the discussion happens on discord but I remember watching many live videos on instagram of Rie asking the important tea questions that I didn’t always ask. These live videos always made me curious to experiment and enjoy tea the way I thought it tasted best. Rie and Steven have taken their Tea Curiosity to water and after years of experimenting are elevating our water experience! Water is so important to all aspects of life and tea is one of those things. Their innovative tea recipes can change your tea time and inspire your own curiosity. As I’ve always expressed, experimentation when drinking tea is so fun and also important !

Learn more about Rie & Steven and what they’re doing with Tea Curious Water!

Can you introduce yourself and Tea Curious Water?

Hey, we're Rie and Steven! We're professional tea nerds at Tea Curious, and we help people study tea through our online community and tea courses, workshops, and tours. And now we get to develop tools like Tea Curious Water, which has been a blast.

I actually met Steven while hosting a workshop here in Las Vegas, so we know first hand how much joy and connection can come from tea. And we work really hard to share that.

Anyway, Tea Curious Water is a tool for tea brewers who want more control and confidence when they make tea. It's basically a mineral concentrate -- you put a few drops in your kettle with purified water, and voila! You've made your own ideal brewing water.

This is important since certain waters can degrade the flavor compounds in tea. Just ask anyone who's ever had to brew tea with hard water, or see the difference for yourself:

You can imagine the difference in flavor, haha. There are two recipes:

• Original, which brings out more of the bright and zesty notes found naturally in tea (it's also amazing with old tree tea), and

• Autumn, which makes things nice and smooth, with a round sweetness, awesome for darker teas.

What first got you interested in experimenting with your tea water?

Oh yeah, when I was first getting into tea... You know how you sometimes order a whole bunch of tea samples because the tasting notes sound awesome? And then when you finally get to brew the teas at home, you can't really pick out the flavors they were talking about in the tea?

That happened to me when I mass-ordered a bunch of teas to try, haha, and when that happens, you don't know if there's a problem with you, or the tea, or the vendor. It was really frustrating, thinking I was doing something wrong even if I'd put in so much effort to brew the tea right.

Eventually I heard through the grapevine that water was important for tea, so I picked up a few bottled waters and did some side-by-sides with my teas. And my mind has been blown ever since, haha.

What did the process look like for honing your tea formula?

You know, at first we were really trying to find the Holy Grail, the perfect water for tea that we could share with everyone. But then we learned that just like everything else in tea, there is no one right answer -- it depends on your individual taste, and on the individual tea.

So we started by studying our favorite bottled waters, brands you hear about all the time in tea: Fiji, Poland Spring, Volvic, and so on. Then we'd formulate our own water with the same minerals found in those waters, making sure our DIY water performed just as well as the brands, with the same natural taste.

Then we'd test our water with as many teas as possible to see how it reacted with each tea type, from HK stored sheng to Jun Chiyabari autumn flush to gyokuro. Finally, from there we made tiny adjustments -- 0.01 grams more of a mineral here to take away sourness, or 0.02 grams there to reduce bitterness -- and we'd coerce family and friends into tasting the differences with us, haha.

Altogether it's been 12 years of experimenting with water on and off, and about a year that Steven and I spent almost entirely on water. Lots of late night experiments, lots of research papers, and lottttts of dishes. ;)

What inspired you to create Tea Curious Water?

We want people to be able to experience their teas with as much flavor as possible. Maybe even the flavors that the teamakers intended. Because if a teamaker in Kyoto uses soft water to evaluate their tea, there's a lot getting lost in translation if we taste their tea brewed in the extremely hard water we have here in Vegas. And that's a shame if, at the last moment, after all the tea farmers, tea pickers, teamakers, and tea vendors have put in everything to make a tea great... the ball gets dropped because the water isn't quite right. That's why you'll find a lot of tea shops and serious tea practitioners rely on bottled water to keep their teas consistent. We made Tea Curious Water so we could stop relying on wasteful bottled water while still getting excellent results from our teas. No flavor left behind!

Are there any water issues that you want to share about or organizations that you find are doing good work to help with water issues?

Absolutely, since as you work with water in tea, you'll inevitably grow your relationship with water in a bigger way too. We should care about the water we use for tea, and we should care about these pressing water issues by listening to people on the front lines and taking action as directed by them.

For example, there's Emma Robbins from Navajo Water Project and The Chapter House, who talks about Indigenous water rights and the treaties broken by the US government, so that today 1 in 3 Navajo homes is without running water.

And the People of Red Mountain Paiute & Shoshone who are protesting a lithium mine in Northern Nevada that would use 7 billion liters of water a year in one of the driest regions in the nation. We also appreciate organizations like Waves4Water, and try to make sure to read not just the materials put out by the international admins, but what the people on the ground are saying, the local leaders like Jenica Dizon who work in their local communities and for whom the work is solidarity rather than charity.

Water affects every community in different ways though, so I hope people can engage with the water issues that are closest to them and in the way that suits them best. For us, we make monthly contributions through Tea Curious Water to various organizations (inspired by Tea Thoughts!) and that just works for us -- integrating what we love with what we should take responsibility for.

What do you see in the future for Tea Curious Water?

I'd love to see the day where friends from different places could bust out the same tea -- let's say the latest oolong from Mountain Stream Teas -- and then brew that same with the same water, so they could have a really similar tasting experience.

We've been testing this already in small groups and it's been magical to see the tasting notes converge between people thousands of miles away. You get the sense that we're really tasting the same tea, and we can learn together almost like we're in person. It's a really intimate feeling. At the end of the day that's what Tea Curious Water is for -- simply set the stage, then let tea be.

Blog Spotlight: Tea Fairy Brigade

Bringing you a special blog spotlight regarding a really special project called Tea Fairy Brigade!

Without giving too much away, you should read on if you love tea, sending snail mail and spreading cheer! I asked the founder of Tea Fairy Brigade, Victoria a few questions to get to know it a little better and how to get involved. Check out what she said below!

Can you please introduce yourself and Tea Fairy Brigade? 

Hi there! I’m Victoria. I started the Tea Fairy Brigade in August 2020 as a way to connect with people during the height of the first coronavirus shutdown. At first, the group was mainly about a monthly tea swap, but as I began connecting with the people involved in the swap and thinking about ways to make a positive impact, I started the “tea fairies” to send tea and cards to anyone having a rough time. A year and half in, our 350+ volunteers have sent tea and cards to over 275 nominees (4+ each) in the US, UK and Europe.

What inspired you to start Tea Fairy Brigade? 

Like many people during the early days of the pandemic, I felt very isolated. I love tea and was involved in several Facebook tea groups, so that seemed like a good way to connect with other like-minded folks. As the group grew from the initial swap in August 2020, I wanted to create a community that was focused on bringing joy and kindness to others through tea.

What does your daily tea ritual look like? 

I’m rarely without a cup of tea! I have a ‘tea corner’ with a shelf of my favorite mugs and a tea cart with all my teas organized by type. At the start of my day, I select the mug I’m feeling for the day and start brewing, usually beginning with a black tea. As the day goes on, I typically switch to herbal tisanes so I’m not bouncing off the walls at midnight!

What has been your favorite aspect of Tea Fairy Brigade since you've started it?

As a participant, my favorite thing is probably meeting new people – I’ve made so many new friends and penpals through the group, I really appreciate the friendly atmosphere. As the coordinator, it’s been seeing such an incredible outpouring of support for nominees from complete strangers. I’m consistently seeing volunteers go above and beyond and that’s really inspiring.

How can we get involved and what is your largest need at this point? 

Great question! You can find more info and sign up to be a zero-pressure volunteer on our website, www.teafairybrigade.com. Signing up just means you’ll get our weekly emails. You can participate as much or as little as you want. You can also find the link to nominate yourself or someone else to receive happy mail on our website.

Is there anything else you want to share about Tea Fairy Brigade? 

We actually have the fabulous problem of having more volunteers than nominees, so please feel free to nominate yourself or someone in your life who’s having a rough time, and to share our link widely and invite others to sign up. Our volunteers send throughout the US, Canada, Europe and beyond. 

Small Business Spotlight: Fin Pin Shop

It’s March and Nowruz is almost here! I’m getting a bit of a late start but I wanted to share a few fellow Persian makers/creators with you this month. First up, is my dear friend Yasmin and her two women team you might have seen me share about on Instagram: Fin Pin Shop!

I met Yas through instagram and we instantly bonded as many do who share the small business joys and woes. We then further connected through our Persian heritage and love of animals. Yasmin is someone I can always count on to talk about our shops and she always finds the best cute animal videos to share with me! I admire her dedication and advocacy to the ocean and all the critters inside it. I’m so honored to feature her on my blog!

Check out more about Fin Pin Shop below!
Can you introduce yourself and Fin Pin Shop?

Absolutely! Fin Pin Shop is run by two women, Jaclyn & Yasmin, who advocate for marine life through ocean-inspired products. We are biologists who love ocean puns and promote an eco-friendly lifestyle. Our products donate to research and ocean conservation while tapping into important messaging, like respecting our oceans!

Diving deeper into who we are individually, Jaclyn is an avid ocean advocate with a Bachelor’s degree from Ohio University in Marine Biology and a Master’s degree from Nova Southeastern University in Environmental Education. She has worked as an aquarist, marine science educator, water quality technician, classroom teacher, expeditions manager, SCUBA instructor, and even a mermaid! She is a volunteer supervisor with her local sea turtle patrol and lives in Florida with her husband, son, and rescue animals.
When it comes to myself (Yasmin), I believe art plays a powerful role in fostering environmental awareness and I create our designs with that goal. I obtained my Master's degree in Environmental Science from Drexel University, and recently my Master of Business Administration, focusing on Data Analytics, from Florida International University. There's three things you learn about me pretty quickly: I love manta rays, cats, and turning everything into puns.

Jaclyn is on the left and Yasmin is on the right!

What first sparked your interest in animals and the ocean?

Oh gosh, well Jaclyn was pretty much a water baby from the start, always drawn to the ocean, even though she grew up in Ohio. Funnily enough we were both born in Ohio! We were destined to meet, for shore. The ocean has shaped a lot of Jaclyn's life, she spent years volunteering for aquariums and zoos, educating and caring for ocean animals.

While I have always loved animals, I felt my need to save ocean life brought on by a specific encounter in my early 20's. One day on a vacation in Hawai'i I found myself swimming next to a reef manta ray, the first one I had ever met! Unfortunately this sweet ray had a large, rusted, commercial fishing hook attached to her cephalic fin (these are head fins they use to scoop food into their mouth). Her fin was more than half gone and the hook looked so heavy. That was the moment that truly set me on this path.

What is your favorite cephalopod :D

Oh I love flamboyant cuttlefish! They are just so fun and fascinating with their color changes and I love when they lift their little arms inquisitively in aquariums!

How do you feel your Persian and Turkish backgrounds influence your art?

I think the perfect example of this influence is in our "lucky eye" designs! This is when I completely unleashed my culture into our designs. We have both a sticker sheet and an enamel pin with the lucky eye, called nazar bonçuk in Turkish. This blue eye symbol is regarded as a protection against envy and jealousy, to bring good luck and repel the bad. In Turkish culture, it’s worn as beads, jewelry, displayed as wall ornaments, and even found in mosaics outside of shops. I believe this is also prevalent in Persian culture as I've seen these blue lucky eyes on display in both my Turkish and Persian family member's houses growing up. I have had a lucky eye on my wrist or worn it as a necklace since I was a baby so this was something I was extremely excited to bring to Fin Pin!

https://finpinshop.com/products/lucky-eyes-sticker-sheet-sharks-rays-octopus-fish

https://finpinshop.com/products/lucky-eye-fish-enamel-pin

Where is your favorite place to find inspiration?

I am so inspired by what I sea in aquariums and out in the ocean! With Instagram being such a big part of my business, I also find inspiration from others around the world on that platform. I consistently stumble across the most FINcredible footage of ocean species which make me want to pick up my Apple pencil (wish I was sponsored, lol) and start drawing!

What do you have currently in the shop that you're most excited about?

We just released a huge set of 7 sea turtle pins which donate 20% back to sea turtle conservation and research with Inwater Research Group! Each purchase of these pins support research and education programs critical to the continued survival of sea turtles today and for future generations!

https://finpinshop.com/collections/new-in-store-1

Do you have any upcoming products or projects that you want to share?

Oh gosh we are working hard on a new character, Munch, who is a Mola mola. This cute little fin (friend - I know we go hard on the puns! lol) has a little chunk missing, which honestly feels relatable to us in 2022. We went through so much the past couple years but still, we persevered. We are currently developing scrunchies and other fun products with this little fin we created, and we are so excited!

Here's our first Munch product! Soon to be on our website :)

March Shop Update Preview

The next shop update will revolve around the two major products and will be happening on Tuesday March 22nd! I know that I usually have the updates on Friday but I’m trying to change things up and see how it goes :)

After having wax seals in the shop, I decided I wanted to keep this product updated and available always. I kept coming back to feedback from those of you who purchased the wax seal kits that you wanted to be able to just purchase the sealing stamp by itself when a new design came out instead of having to purchase a new kit. My initial idea behind the kit was that the wax sticks in comparison to the stove and the spoon were a more mobile so that you could take them anywhere. The trade off is that they melt a little slower. The benefits of the stove and spoon is that you can melt wax quicker for a larger pool and honestly it’s a bit romantic with the tealight candle :D The tradeoff is that this takes more space and while you can use a wax stick by holding it on the spoon, this way is easier with beads which is then something I would need to offer as well.

What I decided to do is to open up “The Sealin’ Shop” as a part of my shop where you can purchase all these things! Instead of creating a kit, I will offer items individually so you can purchase whatever you need.

Here is what I will offer initially, I will see how things go and amend as needed for future shop updates:

• 2 new sealing stamp designs - Teararium & Cloud Gaiwan

• Wood handles that screw into the stamps- these fit previous sealing stamps from me

• 2 colors of wax beads sold in packs of 150 beads (bronze beads not pictured)

• Stove & spoon combos!

Check out the photos above to get an idea of what will be new in the shop. For the new wax seals, I have created an example of what the seal looks like in the wax. I may also have a couple stamps of older designs like the teapot, floral gaiwan and camellia sinensis.

Below, you can view the fun graphic I created the sealin’ shop too !

The next item is something I’m SUPER excited about. While I don’t plan on adding much teaware to the shop for a while, I am adding one piece that I designed! Ok, so this all started when I got a glass infuser bottle in one of my pusheen boxes. It was a nice, small, glass tumbler with a bamboo lid and a removable infuser. It was so nice when I wanted to take tea on the go and wouldn’t necessarily have time to sit and brew. I also loved how you could remove the basket easily. My only issue is that it didn’t hold enough liquid for me.

Well, I decided to get some printed for the shop! My glass bottles are 450 ml with a removable stainless steel basket and a wood lid! They have a simple print of leaves, teapots and gaiwans on them that will come alive a little when tea is placed in it!

I was hesitant on getting things because glass is very fragile but the tradeoff is being able to see your tea! I hope that you will enjoy these and keep them safe :D

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!