The Handmade Business Story

13/05/2025

Ang lakas magpa-sosyal ng mga platong nabili ko on sale! 😆

My pumpkin soup, … este kalabasa soup suddenly looked expensive. 😎😏

At aba! Naubos yung niluto ko!

( *Baka nakalimot at naisip na nasa mamahaling restaurant- nanghinayang na may matira sa P300+ worth na “Pumpkin Soup with Chicken and Thyme Herbs”). 👨🏻‍🍳🤵‍♂️🥘

** It’s actually kalabasa with chicken, bubuk sug from Sulu (hence the more intense yellow color of the soup), and Pipis Buro from Shipyard of Basilan, courtesy of NFI. 😁

✅ What’s the lesson here? 😏

Presentation matters.

Kahit anong produkto. Food or non-food.

✅ You want your merchandise to look premium, then how you hand it to your customers matter- quality, packaging, story.

✅ And of course, quality should be good! 👍🏻

You think my fam would have finished the food I served if it tasted like old shoe?

Gayun din of course sa non-food na binibenta nyo, great quality should match the premium look. 🙂

_ _ _

👉🏻 If you’re interested to learn the recipe, head to Chef-Chefan and I will post there how I prepared it. (Pero, hindi agad-agad, mag-type pa ang Lola nyo.)

👉🏻 Paki-follow na din ang food diary ng isang hindi chef but feelingera na 🧑‍🍳.

O sya, maghuhugas pa ako ng mga pinggan with utmost care. Ciao! 😘

01/04/2025

Displaying your products in a SELLING fair?

Avoid single item displays.
(Unless, it’s just an exhibit, no selling.)

👉🏻 Put out at least 3 items per kind. Or 5, or 7.
Odd numbers are preferable and easy on the eye.

Or if it’s a line of products, they can be in single designs but similar in make and function.

For example, all baskets- round basket, fruit basket, tray basket, magazine basket.

Bakit hindi pwede isa lang ang display?

Nagmumukhang tira-tira (leftover goods) ang produkto nyo.

17/03/2025

Or you get bad reviews on your business.

15/03/2025

What does designing for underserved communities with livelihoods and varied skills look like?

Nakakaloka! 🤪

Well, at first at least.

Pero if you’re able to look at it from a macro perspective, parang pwede na akong magtayo ng sarili kong home store! 😃

It was daunting at first, kasi iba-iba ang skills at iba-iba din yung produkto.

💜At the heart of it though is how a good design can transform lives and boost the self confidence of every maker.

As a huge door is closing for me at this stage, here’s a look-back at some of the ideas we came up with Gifts and Graces Fair Trade Foundation, Inc. 16 years ago.

L-R, top-bottom:

1. Vanilla Candles packaged in glass and tin can option made by former Bilibid inmates.

Natuwa ako sa pag-design ng label and packaging for the candle dyan. My inspiration was Moroccan in theme.

2. Embroidered pillows with Chinese vases as pegs. Hindi ko ‘to design pero nagagandahan ako sa kanila.
Made by women from Valenzuela, Bulacan.

3. The Heart and Elephant Pillows
Alam nyo bang sa basahan ay may hierarchy din?

- Pwede pang I-upcycle
- Bilog na basahan gamit ng mga jeepney drivers
- At sa pinaka-ibaba, yung palaman ng bilog na basahan.

For these pillows that I designed with Caritas Manila, sabi ko sa sarili ko,

“ Itataas ko yung nasa pinaka-baba.” It was tough work and kudos to the sewing group of women from , nasunod nila yung design idea. 🎉👏🏽👏🏽

4. Plastic bayong to plastic tampipi c/o Malabon weaving community of bayongs.

O di ba, nag-mukha syang sosyal na organizer with matching stone charm by .

5. Patchwork Ottoman (not my design), but I did help with the collaboration between designers Joey Yupangco and Lulu Tan-Gan.

6. Paper Lamp

Can you guess it? This solihiya patterned lamp was made from rolled then flattened directory pages! ( yung mga Gen Z’s probably aren’t familiar with directory books😁).

The weavers of this paper lamp, both from Paco, Manila had long passed away, but I know their faces. I remember their stories, their laughters and most of all their baon na chismis. 😆

Ate Minda, Ate Liezl, I have not forgotten you both. I thank you for passing through my life. 🙏❤️

Haaay!

I couldn’t look at this catalog and not see the people who all made them. 🙂

For enriching my design journey, salamat to all the partner communities of G&G! 🙏🙏🙏

08/03/2025

24/02/2025

𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝑽𝒊𝒂𝒋𝒆𝒓𝒐 𝑺𝒆𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 7 𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒐 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔!

It’s very popular with both individual customers and bulk buyers.

What makes it sellable?

✅ It’s Pinoy. 🇵🇭 It represents in the simplest of ways who we are through the Filipino words.

✅ Target market is clear: Travel-loving Pinoys (count me in!😀). It’s in the name, “Viajero”.

✅ The product is functional.

It’s an organizer. Separating your dirty stuff from the rest.

✅ It’s presentable. It’s nicely packaged and gift-ready. Ribbon and card is all you need.

✅It’s reasonably priced, it’s below P1k budget.

✅ Best of all, 2 groups of makers had been benefiting from the regular orders for the last 7 years-

The sewing group from Mandaluyong and the weavers of buri baskets from Sorsogon. ❤️😀🧵🧺

That’s how a sustainable enterprise looks like! 🙂

😎 Got questions on your product development?

👉🏻Ask away and I will try to answer them. 🙂

21/02/2025

I’m proud of this girl and her group, Dressmakers! 🙂

Willing to learn and try new things!

Fot bravely getting out of your comfort zone, congratulations Jenny Miquiabas Escudero! 🎉

*If you listen carefully, isa sa unang binigyang pasasalamat nya sa acceptance and support ay ang mga kasamahan nya sa Dressmakers. 😊❤️🫡





https://www.facebook.com/share/r/15mnvdWvDn/?mibextid=wwXIfr

11/02/2025

Gumagamit ka pa rin ba ng packaging with window para sa kape mong tinda? 😳☕️

Here are a few reasons why you should consider changing your coffee pouch for a windowless one:

☕️ 𝗟𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲

Coffee is sensitive to light, which can degrade freshness and flavor over time. If using a windowed pouch, consider a tinted or UV-blocking window.

☕️ 𝗢𝘅𝘆𝗴𝗲𝗻 & 𝗠𝗼𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

Coffee needs airtight packaging to preserve its aroma and freshness. Make sure the pouch has a good barrier (e.g., multi-layered materials with a foil or metallized interior).

☕️ 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗵𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀

If customers see condensation or uneven coffee grounds through the window, they might assume the coffee is old or low quality.

❎🙅‍♀️❎ 𝘼𝙑𝙊𝙄𝘿!

Windowed pouches without UV protection, as light exposure degrades coffee quality. 😏

04/02/2025

What were the first few items I designed when I started a career in product development for livelihoods 16 years ago? ( I feel old!😱)

Madami. 😆

Pero I would like to share photos of some of them here.

They were handmade paper-based cards and journals made from banana bark.

Apparently, para tumubo uli yung banana herb ( Opo, hindi po tree ang banana, it is a large herb daw.🪴 Late ko din nalaman so quits lang tayo sa latest knowledge na ‘to. 😆), after harvest ay kailangan putulan.

The women of ng Kalikasan Women’s Multi-Purpose Cooperative from Kiloloron, Real, Quezon were taught by the Australian nuns to make these beautiful handmade papers! 😊✨❤️

So I developed this collection:

📓 Journals

♥️ Greeting cards with stitched designs

🔖 To complement the collection, I designed a bookmark with bird charms crafted by individuals with special needs ( students within the Autism spectrum) from Learning Center in Parañaque.

🖍️ I specified din the colors para hindi kalat:
Watermelon ( sosyal pakinggan!), and turquoise.

It was super fun creating that collection for them 16 years ago. 🙂✨💜

23/01/2025

Hindi kaya ganito ang binasa na card ni Steve Harvey kaya sya nagkamali ng pag-announce ng winner sa Miss Universe noon? 😏

In graphic design, may tinatawag na 𝙃𝙞𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙮.

✨Using all the visual elements ( colors, lines, textures, etc.) and principles ( repetition, contrast, balance, etc.) sa pag-disenyo ng layout para ipakita at I-highlight ang pinaka-mahalagang parte sa design.

✨ Simply put,

Ang pinaka-nakakatawag ng pansin ay sya dapat na pinaka-importante na element or information sa design ng layout nyo. 🙂

18/01/2025

“Low volume, high value.”

That’s what I am advocating too for the Marang-Marang Women's Association and the mangrove sanctuary at Barangay Marang-Marang. ❤️

Make it premium by its exclusivity.

Environment and community protection over massive tourism volume.

✨Maybe Marang-Marang Mangrove Sanctuary would be the next awardee? 😏🏝️🙏

_ _ _

* I had been to this lovely place in Suyac. The guides were so informative about the mangroves that they were protecting. The young ones had even a participation, a choir composed of the youth singing songs in the local tongue. 🎶☺️

**

Isabela City Tourism
City Government of Isabela de Basilan
PESO Public Employment Service Office Isabela City

https://www.rappler.com/philippines/visayas/suyac-island-negros-occidental-asean-sustainable-tourism-award/ #

Known for its old mangroves and a growing colony of flying foxes, Suyac Island is a case study in what happens when a community prioritizes stewardship over short-term profits