When passion equals profit

Stickers by Cheryl Owen

To the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the recent launch of a new souvenir collection under its Go Lokal! program marks the agency’s continued commitment to its mission: to help micro, small, and medium enterprises penetrate the mainstream market.

To the artists and craftspeople behind those products, the event was much more than a launch—it was a recognition of how their respective passions can also make good business.

“This is really a blessing,” said Catherine Limson, who owns accessories brand Bedazzle (@bedazzleaccessories on Instagram). For Go Lokal’s souvenir collection, she made “dessert-themed” beaded bracelets inspired by Filipino desserts like halo-halo, buko pandan, and fruit salad.

“I wanted to veer away from the usual materials found in Pinoy accessories, which are usually wood and native beads,” Limson said. “I decided to focus on desserts, since I have a sweet tooth, and use more colorful beads.”

Phone stands by Cut the Scraps

Limson said she also made use of spare beads she had stashed in her workshop. An accessories maker for over a decade, Limson said she first got into the beadwork business because she needed to augment her income then as a preschool teacher.

“I would be making accessories while on the bus, during breaks in school,” Limson said, who learned the craft from her late mother. Her first sales platform was Multiply.com; soon she was joining bazaars as well. It was in 2015 when she was asked by her friend and Common Room PH cofounder Roma Agsalud to join the arts and crafts store.

While Limson had business in mind when she started her craft, illustrator Ella Lama (@ellalama) initially turned to hers as a stress reliever. Lama creates quirky pins for Go Lokal!’s souvenir collection.

“I was working eight to 10 hours in front of the computer, and I wanted to do something after to destress,” Lama said, whose first works were letterings on postcards and stickers. Aside from letterings, she has diversified into doing illustrations, and has been running her business full time for the past two years.

Guests design their own tote bags at the Go Lokal! Launch

As for watercolorist Cheryl Owen (@cherylowen), who makes stickers for the collection, choosing painting as a full time business was brought about by the realization that she didn’t enjoy working in the corporate world, after four years in an advertising agency.

“Deep inside, I knew I really wanted to pursue painting,” she said.

Like Limson, Lama and Owen found a home in Common Room PH, with which the DTI collaborated to make the souvenir collection, along with clothing store Team Manila. Watercolorist Alessandra Lanot (@lifeafterbreakfastph), who is also with Common Room, said she was initially tapped by the DTI to do the entire collection.

“But I told them, one person couldn’t possibly capture the whole Philippines,” she said. “That’s why together with [Agsalud], we chose 16 artists to do the collection.”

“Rush Hour” pins by illustrator Ella Lama

Aside from Agsalud, Lanot, Limson, Lama and Owen, other crafters in the collection are Agsalud’s sister Maan, with whom she runs PopJunkLove (@popjunklove); illustrators Valerie Reyes (@artsyology) and Grace Marcellana (@fandomfeelsph); jewelry designer Janette de Vera (@blueflamejewelry); watercolorists Cynthia Arre (@arncyn) and Kat and Vic Garfin (@tattoooie_ph); woodworkers Kai and Mond Tolentino (@cut the scraps); crochet artist Nike Nadal (@shopnyuki); wire artist Anrea Sahagun (@paperpliers); decoupage artist Pia Suiza (@ps.craftswithsoul); toy maker Zerah Capili (@sapinsapintanzan); and leather crafter and metalsmith Pat Peralta and Janina Arias (@soulflowerco).

The new souvenirs, which also include hand-painted notebooks, earrings, plush toys, magnets and apparel all designed to be iconically Filipino, will be available at the Go Lokal! store in DTI’s head office in Makati City, and at the Kiss & Fly Shop inside Naia Terminal 3.

“Go Lokal! is always about being fresh, new and cool; very millennial. It was fantastic with us to partner with Team Manila because they embody what it is to be Filipino in a very hip way,” said DTI Trade and Investments Promotion Group Assistant Secretary Rosvi Gaetos. “And Common Room, while a space for artists, is also a business entity which helps these artists with their craft. They are in the business of design, so they are a good fit with Go Lokal!”

Team Manila merchandise

Alessandra Lanot shows off her work

Cheryl Owen, watercolorist, with her stickers

DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez —PHOTOS BY Earvin Perias

Maan and Roma Agsalud with their fishball plushie creations

Common Room PH’s line at Go Lokal!