Oh, it’s already May! And it’s my birth month! I always get excited when May comes. Not really because of celebrations, presents, or anything like that really. I think it’s just because of the thought that it’s my birth month. And with that excitement, I guess, compels me to do something exciting, which is mostly something artsy-craftsy.

But what I would like to write about is not necessarily something I made or did, but, which is equally exciting, a feature and the body behind it. Recently, I received an invitation to be featured by Filipino Embroidery Artists (FEA). FEA is fairly newly formed and featured a few artists already. Being one of the first few to be featured is truly an honor.

Let’s Get to Know FEA

I was able to ask FEA a few questions that I’ll share here so we can all know more about them 😊

Heartily Handcrafted Feature from Filipino Embroidery ArtistsWhat is Filipino Embroidery Artists? Can you share a brief background of why and how it was formed?

Filipino Embroidery Artists is an Instagram-based platform for stories featuring local embroidery artists in the Philippines. It is created by Ja Turla of Dagum Embroidery.

Ja noticed that there has been a growing number of embroidery artists in the country despite the stereotype that embroidery is an old woman’s medium. Most of them, if not all, are embroidery artists in their youth, an indication that the medium is still thriving.

Where and who do you feature? What does it aim to do??

Ja knows a lot of local embroidery artists online, especially on Instagram. She reaches out to these artists through the app and invite them for an interview. The main aim of the interview is to know more about the artists in a personal level. As people may notice, embroidery artists mostly post about their commissioned works or just show the business side of things especially that their account serve as their online shops, too. Ja wanted a deep dive into their origin stories, their creative processes, things that their followers don’t have access to on a daily basis, among others.

As of this writing, FEA has already featured 6 incredible artists and has plans of publishing more interviews in the future.

Any future plans that aspiring, newbie, and seasoned embroidery artists to look forward to? Where can we know more about FEA?

For now, FEA will only be focusing on the features/interviews. If you want to be featured, you can follow FEA’s Instagram account @filipinoembroideryartists.

In the future, Ja hopes to arrange and organize a group exhibition including all the featured artists of FEA at a local art gallery. Although that is still far-fetched as of now, she really hopes that this idea will come to fruition someday.

Heartily Featured & Heartfelt Thoughts

If you’ll follow the feature posts that I’ve embedded here from Instagram, which were divided into 3, you’ll see the details I shared with them. You will also get a better idea of what Heartily Handcrafted is about, along with the pieces I made over the years. Even while I was browsing my pieces, it gave me a reminiscent moment. And all the more encouraged me to stitch and make more art pieces, especially those I have in mind and have wanted to do for years now. Reminding me of the purpose why Heartily Handcrafted exists.

A great way to start this month! I also have something new and exciting to do this month, looking forward to sharing soon! 😄💖

I hope that you’ll be filled with exciting and blessed days, every day! 💛✨