Tags: Cottage Industries, Entrepreneurship, Handicrafts
By KC Santos
TUKURAN, ZAMBOANGA DEL SUR- The handmade products of Eufemia “Femme” Leopoldo have become popular overseas because of her unique designs and use of indigenous materials.
This entrepreneur and artist, however, still want to further promote her unique works of art to fellow Filipinos while helping her townmates through her company Beads and Roses by Femme.
Femme shares that her business resulted from a fortunate “accident”.
“I went to Manila to learn more about the production of dried flowers. However, by the time I got to the venue, the training I signed up for was already over. I wasn’t going to troop back to Zamboanga with nothing so I signed up for a seminar of systemic dyeing and preservation of plants,” she says.
With assistance from the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Femme would learn advance preservation techniques such as fossilizing and “skeletonizing”, which she now applies on different kinds of leaves to form decorative and realistic-looking flower blossoms
She says while others might find no use for the leaves, she was able to “find money in it.” She soon started Beads and Roses by Femme and would often source her raw materials of local plants and tree seeds from Tukuran
The leaves come from fiber-rich tree species like narra, Formosa tree, and rubber tree, which Femme says are least likely to decompose compared to other trees.
Fossilizing and skeletonizing are preservation methods she applies to leaves. When the process is done, Femme plates her skeletonized leaves on colored material so that to achieves different colors and then rolled to form rose buds.
Femme says the leaves undergo extensive treatment from coloring to fossilizing to achieve that realistic look. Everything from the base material to the baskets and bouquet holders are made from indigenous materials such as coconut husks and twigs.
If maintained regularly and handled properly, these washable handicrafts can last a lifetime.
“These are biodegradable items and it will not harm the environment should you wish to throw them away,” she says.
Beads and Roses by Femme items, which were displayed in last weekend’s “One Town One Product” expo, are sold from three to 25 pesos per piece. Rates go higher if the customers wants the flowers arranged or when bought in bulk.
Femme says in trade fairs abroad that she has actively participated, indigenous and local products are not difficult to sell. She hopes that Filipinos will adopt the same level of appreciation shown by foreign buyers for her local products.
“I wish more Filipino consumers would look past the cost and give credit to the novelty and the effort that went into producing these indigenous products. Indigenous materials are everywhere, we don’t even have to import it, we just need to create something unique from it,” she says.
Get more information about Beads and Roses by Femme
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