When I am abroad I always make the point of visiting health food shops. Not just for supplies to sustain and treat me during my trip, but to see what interesting things I can find that I haven’t seen back home in Sweden.

In one such shop (The Bran Tub in Malvern) I was looking for a present for a friend. And let me admit something to you, dear Reader, Miss Best did a very naughty thing. No, I didn’t stuff my jacket with chocolates and do a runner, what I did was find a funky little gift, bought it, and then liked it so much I decided to keep it for my self!

What was this treasure that my friend would not be getting, you may ask? A tin of tea! Yes, just tea. And not even magic tea, just organic English breakfast tea. And here is the irony – I don’t even like black tea! So why did I deny my friend this gift so that I could keep it for myself if I don’t even intend on drinking the tea? Well, the tin was so eye-catching and inspiring I knew that I just had to have it in my tea cupboard (yes, Miss Best does have an entire cupboard for her tea collection.)

As you can see from the picture above, the tin is rather funky with cool little cartoons created by Mr Scruff himself and this type of art work just tickles me. The tin sits rather well beside my other favorite tea tin which cost far more than a tea tin should, but is rather handy as it contains compartments where you can rather cleverly organise your tea, so as not to confuse your guests when offering them a choice. Though, I must admit it can be overwhelming when you are presented with more than two types of tea to choose from.

The tea is selected and packaged by a small new company called The Make Us a Brew Company which was started by Mr. Scruff, a DJ, producer & cartoonist. Not only is Mr Scruff a lover of music but he is also a lover of tea. Not a tea connoisseur – as he himself points out – but just someone who loves a good brew. He started by having a little tea stall at his gigs and festivals and so many people loved these brews that he decided to make them available for everyone to buy.

All of the teas are organic and ethically sourced with environmentally responsible packaging. I have yet to try the English Breakfast tea that I have hoarded, but I will one day, and will be very happy to share this with tea loving guests. What is a big hit though is the Mint & Chili. At first you think it is just a jolly good cup of peppermint tea, then you get a cheeky little zing from the chili. Mr Scruff also offers us Forest Fruit tea for berry lovers and Big Chill tea, with rooibos, pear & cinnamon, as well as Look Lively!, which Mr S describes as “a rather perky number, with lemongrass, yerba mate & mint”. Sounds yummy to me!

OK, so he does nice tea. In funny packaging. Is that reason enough to be a present hoarder? Well, actually yes, I think so. I am so inspired by people who manage to combine their different passions and skills to create a diverse and creative life. This is something I too am striving after – to work with graphic design on one day and food and nutrition the next. It is also a reminder that our creative output can bring pleasure to people we have never met – or ever likely to meet. Something as ’small’ as a little cartoon on the side of a tin, can spark inspiration in someone who may then go on to write a blog post about it. Every time they open the cupboard to ‘make a brew’ they will be reminded of other creative folks who have something to brighten another soul’s day!

Oh and by the way, Mr Scruff also does pretty funky mixes too – music mixes, not just tea ones! He is signed to Ninja Tune – thought I would drop that bit in and make me sound all cool, and happening and not the type of person to have a tea cupboard and hoard tea caddies and even seriously consider whether they should knit themselves a tea cosy! – and you can find him on Spotify or here >> or here >>

Ah…does this mean that Miss Best has a little crush on Mr Scruffs? No, not at all – I keep my crushes for Christoffer and cake – and to clear something else up, I bought my friend a yummy box of vegan truffles instead, which I did actually manage to stop myself from keeping for myself. Though they would have gone exceedingly well with a cup of mint and chili tea!

So, let’s put the kettle on, turn up the volume and have a think about how we too can share our passions and skills with the world!

To buy some of this yummy and fun tea, visit The Make Us a Brew Company >>
(I love the fact that they are physically located on a road called Sparkle Street!)

Share on Facebook

The key to problem solving: The freedom to be creative, fake creativity or, if all else fails, chocolate!

‘Be creative…now!’ ‘Solve a problem…now!’ Ever had that pressure put on you? I know I have. One time that springs to mind was a grueling 2 day entry-test to get into an Industrial Design Degree programme at Lund University. I had a really bad cold, and not a lot of creative experience or confidence behind me. It was horrid. Chuck a load of wanna-be designers in a room and give them a load of briefs (design briefs not designer briefs!!) and watch them sweat! I had a fever and the shakes and had to present my work to a panel, who must have thought I was a nervous wreck or severely hungover, or had Parkinson’s Disease until I pointed out that I was in fact suffering from a nasty nasty cold. I got a lot of praise during that panel interview…sadly not for my outstanding work, but for my apparent good command of the Swedish language. I didn’t get in. The universe knows best anyway, as a few months later during another degree programme I discovered my love for graphic design, which I think is far more instant, satisfying and accessible, and suits me much better.

You might think to yourself that if I am moaning about the pressure of coming up with designs on the spot then I am not suited to the modern work place. And I will quite agree with you. I mean I can certainly perform under pressure and am always pretty creative, but I have to say that my best ideas do not come when plonked in front of a computer and prodded with a stick to perform.

My most creative ideas come when I am not at a desk, and when I am not particularly thinking about the problem. I am sure we have all heard that the great thinkers came up with their revolutionary theories when doing other things than working. Mine often come to me when I am walking in nature or working out. In the days when I used to be partial to more than a drink or two I would find that the delicious, barely awake stage of waking up the morning after (when still slightly intoxicated) was an amazingly creative time. It was during one such morning when I lay in bed just 25% awake in a dreamy state yet with my mind going to crazy, alcohol induced places that I came up with the cheeky, but much appreciated, slogan for a back-mounted vacuum cleaner with a built-in massage function and MP3 player that I was working on for a group project. “Vac-Pac: Pleasure from behind!”

In fact I am sometimes tempted to get ridiculously drunk just to experience that wonderfully creative window of time the next day. But now that I am a little older – and therefore far less tolerant of the physical and mental hell that comes with a hang over – I think I will give it a miss and bounce on my mini trampoline instead.

So I do find it frustrating when companies insist on fixed working hours. Especially since I have had the good fortune of breaking away from the traditional 9-5 route and am more used to directing my own time and working when creativity is there.

And I know I am not the only one. A friend is doing some contract work at a rather old fashioned organization. He is used to working with modern, high-tech companies and despairs at the Stone-age mentality of his new colleagues. He rather amusingly described their use of email: “They come up to me at my desk and tell me that they have sent me an email. They then hand me a printed version of the email they have just sent!” Funny but insanely frustrating! So this organization is really not in the ‘problems are more likely to be solved away from the computer’ camp and have even bothered to reprimand him for not doing all his work chained to a desk.

So what you may ask, has prompted this public criticism of modern work life? Well, today I am not working in the office. Today I am free to go to and from the computer depending on my mood and my state of creativity. No prodding sticks. No need to ‘fake work’ to show that I am in fact thinking about the problem and not just aimlessly staring out of the window. You know the ‘I am actually working’ look don’t you? The frown of concentration; deliberately talking to your self; writing something down and dramatically crossing it out again; stabbing the air with a pointed finger and giving a satisfied nod? You don’t know it? It’s a good tactic to use when stapled to your desk until some form of inspiration strikes. Alternatively, you could subscribe to the following idea which is slightly less bonkers and far more pleasant:

May all people, who has completed a major piece of work
and who soon are going to sleep
may all souls who for a moment
feel themselves to be without inspiration and motivation
may all people who find the air humid, the time moving slowly
and the mood difficult to appreciate
grant themselves a good half liter of hot chocolate……..
they will experience a miracle.

Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1775-1826)
French magistrate and gastronome

What ever you are doing – have a great day. Eat chocolate. Be inspired!

xx

Share on Facebook