ABOUT

My name is Leslie and I started Tea With Iris  in 2010 to create products that help us to reduce everyday waste and live more in tune to our natural environment.  I make products from recycled and organic materials in my Palm Desert studio. My work is inspired by a childhood spent in the Coachella Valley desert with the surrounding mountains as my playground.  While studying biology and working with the California State Parks habitat restoration program during college, I learned the value of native vegetation.  This is why I incorporate native plant prints and on my products.  Their beauty inspires environmental stewardship.  While working and living in the Philippines as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer, I became aware of how important it is to live in tune with Earth’s natural resources.  Life in a rural island community taught me how important it is to deal directly with the waste that we create.  My company namesake, Iris, is our desert tortoise that we adopted from The Living Desert and she lives in our native garden.