Our beagle Winston is a STAR!

The local news station, Eye on the Desert, filmed a segment on us this week. Here is a special report on our beagle Winston showing off our new product line...upcycled custom designer dog coats!

http://palmdesert.kpsplocal2.com/content/two-palm-desert-sisters-upcycle-tea-iris

Eye On The Desert video

Click link below to view the video of Meghan and I on last night's Eye On The Desert.

http://palmdesert.kpsplocal2.com/content/tea-iris-upcycles-vintage-materials-new-products

Season of Splendor Boutique- event information

Tea With Iris at Season of Splendor Boutique this weekend!

I'm getting ready for a very big shopping event this weekend in the Coachella Valley. Below is the link to the event information:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=171146076239463

My free gift with purchase was so popular last month at the Fall Family Festival in La Quinta that I've decided to do it again for this weekend's shoppers.

So, with every 'Tea With Iris' purchase at this weekend's event, you will receive a free veggie seedling and/or a fresh herbal and pepper bouquet from our garden. Hope to see you there!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

TWO SISTERS PROMOTE ZERO WASTE BY UPCYCLING

Leslie Kelly Shockley with some of her upcycled goods

Leslie Kelly Shockley during her U.S. Peace Corps service in Cantaan, Philippines

Meghan Kelly during her U.S. Peace Corps service in Korotubu, Fiji

Tea With Iris founder Leslie Kelly Shockley creates upcycled goods to promote waste-free living. “Upcycling” transforms unused materials into new products. Shockley, a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (1996-98), recognized the connection between waste management and the environment during her work in the Philippines. She observed how waste management is a daily struggle for rural communities that lack proper landfills. Since their livelihood relies on the health of the environment, the reduction of waste is vital. “I was so impressed on how resourceful the people were in everyday life”, says Shockley.

Shockley’s sister, Meghan Kelly, recently returned from her Peace Corps service (2007-10) in Fiji. She also experienced how community members resourcefully dealt with waste issues.

With their experiences abroad, the two Coachella Valley natives came to realize that many Americans can improve on reducing waste on a daily basis with minimal impact on their lifestyle. Through Tea With Iris, the sisters work together to educate and promote healthy living through gardening, composting, and other simple ways to reduce waste.

Their upcycled products are available in the Riviera boutique in Palm Springs and at Albert & George in Rancho Mirage. Shockley and Kelly will be at the Albert & George grand opening on Friday, December 10. They will also be at the Sacred Heart Christmas Boutique at Rancho Las Palmas Resort on Saturday, December 11 from 9am-2pm. You can also read more about Tea With Iris at www.teawithiris.com

My home accessories now at Albert & George!

I'm excited to have my line of home accessories and bags at Albert & George in Rancho Mirage!

Come to the Grand Opening of Albert & George, William Miller Design's New Store in Rancho Mirage on December 10 from 6-9PM.

We also offer a unique selection of Candles, Books, Gifts, Home Accessories, and Holiday Decor.

Please RSVP to 760-836-9199 by December 8.

The most important R!

There are so many good reasons to bring your bag everywhere, here's a few:

1. rely less on natural gas and petroleum (plastic bags are made from petroleum)

2. create less trash

3. practice the most important of the 3 R's (reduce, reuse, recycle) which is REDUCE.

When picking your shopping bags, be sure that it's one that you like and won't forget to put in your car or bike everyday.

Here is a link to my line of reusable shopping and produce bags, that is if you like my style!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/TeaWithIris?section_id=6493924

a sample of my fall collection!

click on the link below to view a sample of my fall collection:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/teawithiris/sets/72157625321484861/

slowing down during the busiest time of year...

This is the time of year when it gets a little crazy with the holidays. So this is when I try extra hard to slow down. Last week our friend Kimberly came by for a morning painting session in our front garden. It's moments like these, slowing down to enjoy life with friends that make the rest of the day's challenges easier to tackle and overcome.

Fall Family Festival in La Quinta

I will be showing my upcycled line of products at the Fall Family Festival in La Quinta on Saturday, November 13 from 10-4.

Imagine...you can do all you holiday shopping in a couple of hours in a beautiful setting and you will be supporting local businesses and most importantly at the Tea With Iris booth...HANDMADE!!!

Please click one of the boxes below to share this with your friends who will be in town this weekend.
Thanks!
Leslie

Article in The Desert Sun

http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=201010130371

1 out of 3 kids will eat kale chips

Last week I brought kale chips on a day trip to the Palm Springs tram with two of my friends and their kids. I've deceived my 3-year old so far with all my homemade concoctions sneaking pureed veggies into dishes like tofu nuggets and I was sure that she would like the crunchy kale chips but not this time. So 1-1/2 year old Camilla made my day by munching on the chips as we sat by the creek. The consensus by the moms is that it sort of tastes like dried seaweed. They are best eaten right out of the oven to retain the crunchiness. Here is the recipe I used:

Kale Chips:

Ingredients
1 bunch kale
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon seasoned salt

Directions
1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a non insulated cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning salt.
3. Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.

strawberries and scarecrows

What do you do when the birds are eating all of your preciously home-grown strawberries? I thought... "why not try making a scarecrow?", even if it doesn't work it's a great creative activity to do with (or without) kids. We used our daughter's torn up jeans and tshirt and started stuffing them with our over-grown dried up cilantro and red lettuce plants. Inspired by MOMA's Tim Burton exhibit (mind-blowing exhibit that is a must if you are going to NYC), I stitched on a tomato vine mouth, corn husk nose and super hot chili peppers eyes, just in case the birds start to get friendly with Chamomile (this is the name our daughter came up with for the scarecrow), they will be burned alive by the spicy chili pepper seeds. So did this work? We are now eating full grown super sweet strawberries!

We had a few friends over last night for some sushi in our garden. Since we lacked enough sushi trays for the group I thought why not use the cabbage leaves from our garden. Brilliant! Fewer dishes to clean and I think the food actually tasted better. So even if you don't like cabbage, I highly recommend growing it for the sole reason of fewer dishes after dinner parties and they are just too pretty to leave out of your garden's color palette.

Facebook | Earth on Edge Exhibition

I'm so excited to be part of this event in our community:
Facebook Earth on Edge Exhibition

Please help celebrate Earth Day and come out to see what it's all about!

blooming chamomile and green beans!

We spent most of the morning today in our garden; it was in need of some love since I've been at my sewing machine lately and really only out in the garden to water. I was happy to find that our chamomile plant is blooming and our green beans are ready to start picking! There's nothing better than eating fresh green beans right off the plant. These plants are very hard to hurt, since they can thrive in almost any garden soil. And they are a good source of Vitamin A, calcium and iron. I wish I would've planted more chamomile; my inspiration came from an organic farm my sister and I took our kids to in Carmel Valley. They had a large chamomile garden that you walk through barefoot. It was one of the best days hanging out in that farm with the girls.

For any of my local friends and neighbors...I dare you to come by our house and pick some of our vegetables! Elle and I are out there every morning or just call me. It's one of the nicest parts about having a garden...sharing! We have an abundance of kale, spinach, lettuce, nopales and cauliflower right now. Someone just dropped off a huge bucket of oranges to us yesterday and I'm still trying to figure out who it was. I love gifts of fresh produce, thank you!

Facebook | tea with iris's Photos - Destination Palm Springs runway show

Facebook tea with iris's Photos - Destination Palm Springs runway show

LOVE BUG!

As the weather has become warmer, ladybugs have infiltrated our garden. This is a good thing! So I read up on them. Here is some information I found in the Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening by J.I. Rodale: "When entomologists made serious study of the beetle, they came up with a startling economic fact: it lives on scale, soft-bodied insects and their eggs and larvae, but it never damages plants, truly one of nature's gift for man's benefit. Fortunately the ladybug is no vegetarian, her diet being strictly confined to soft-bodied insects such as aphids, mealy bugs and their kin which are destructive to crops in many localities. Biggest enemy of the ladybug is the poisonous insecticide. Like all other forms of wildlife beneficial to man ladybugs ask only for protection and food."

Destination Palm Springs

My first runway show with my upcycled children's clothing line at ...

Destination Palm Springs

corn!

Last weekend we planted our first row of corn. It was so nice to do this as a family. It's really amazing what comes out of a 2 year old's mouth, especially when gardening, She's learning so much about plants and it mellows her out when that sudden condition called the terrible 2's tries to break loose. I think our garden relaxes all three of us; it's my favorite hour of the day.

Our garden...loving today's rain

My inspiration in the garden comes from my grandparents, Carmen and Louis Martinez. My fondest childhood memories are of the days spent in their orchard and garden. My next goal is to learn to can like my grandma did. As kids, we found her can-filled basement exciting and spooky at the same time!

MY FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE!

I've been invited to show my product line at a local festival tomorrow. I'm very excited since this is my first event I'm involved in with my new company. "Things are going to start happening to me now!"...quoting Steve Martin when he found his name in the phonebook in 'The Jerk', one of my favorite movies.

Here's the info on the event:

Wildflower Festival
at the Santa Rosa & San Jacinto Mountains National Monument Visitor Center
51-500 Highway 74
Palm Desert, CA 92260

Saturday, March 6 2010
8am - 4pm
free admission
(760) 862-9084
http://www.desertmountains.org

IRIS WOKE UP!

Our tortoise and namesake of my company, Iris, came out of hibernation yesterday! I think the warm weather this week and the presence of my niece Maya did it. She has a special affinity towards Maya; Iris would nap next to Maya under our mesquite tree when Maya was 2 years old. So Elle, Maya and I gave her a day to adjust to being out of her den and had a picnic with her today...pizza and a big juicy apple for Iris (she is behind Maya in the blue pants). I'm so happy to see that she is alive and well; she is after all my living reminder to SLOW DOWN AND ENJOY EVERY MOMENT!!!

BE ORIGINAL!

I have to brag about my cousin Jackie Sepulveda's shop, Voz Clothing & Art. She takes vintage bags and makes them into works of art. I bought this from her at the L.A. Roller Derby last year to hold my laptop in. With artists like this, there's no need to store your valuables in boring, unoriginal brand name goods made from virgin materials. (In the background of the photo shows our work in progress- Elle's 3rd birthday present, a playhouse made from scrap wood).

To check out her shop go to...http://vozclothingandart.etsy.com

HAPPY POWER DRESSES!

A preview of the first batch of dresses made from sheets, pillowcases, and doilies. I stole the name from my daughter, this is her new favorite saying. It was a fun weekend designing them and I can't wait to search for more unwanted pillowcases and doilies to make more.

INSPIRATION

Inspiration sometimes comes from the most unexpected places. A friend asked me yesterday if I had any upcycled dresses. Immediately I thought of dresses that my daughter has outgrown that I could give her; not thinking she was talking about product from my shop. Since she needed it for this weekend, this put me into a creative flurry. I have been collecting lots of unique pillowcases to eventually turn into dresses so there was no time like the present to start! Here is a photo of my first dress, 100% upcycled from a pillowcase. Much more to come!

LEMONS!

I’m sad that the last our lemons were picked and juiced this weekend because it was such a nice view out of our living room window, but I’m looking forward to nurturing our garden in the backyard. I pressed some of the lemon tree leaves this month and made prints of them; you can find them on my latest potholders, dishtowels, and coasters at http://www.teawithiris.com

If you have citrus trees- Take time out to pick and share your citrus with friends and neighbors. You can also donate fruit to those in need through local charities. The city of Palm Desert has a program called Hidden Harvest; drop off citrus at the City’s Visitor Center daily from 9am-5pm (760-398-8183) or at City Hall.

COMPOST!

Today, my daughter and I emptied one of the compost bins to fill the rest of our planter boxes. It’s so exciting to see nature at it’s finest! All those microbes did their job and there was no need to make a soil run at Home Depot.

I would like to thank the Bowie's horses for speeding up the process with their manure.

Here's a few things that you can add to your pile that actually break down:

1. dryer lint

2. hair

3. tea bags

So remember me the next time you get your haircut- bag it and leave it at my gate; I'll turn it into soil!

RAIN!

Rain, rain, beautiful rain!!!

PUDDLE JUMPING!

Elle finally got to really try out her new rain boots in Santa Cruz. We spent the whole afternoon jumping in every puddle.

Happy 2010!

My new year's resolution is done! I've decided to ditch my planner this year. As a left hander, it was always a chore to write in so I'm going very low-tech this year with a yellow pad of paper and my city of pd calendar. I plan to only fill one sheet a day...shorten my to-do lists so I can spend more time reading in my hammock, hiking, creating and gardening while waiting for Iris to come out of hibernation...we miss her!