"Tomato Patch"

For November’s featured art I’ll be showcasing someone else’s work on “Women-Ish”.

Ronali Dela Cruz is a co-blogger who writes on entrepreneurship, profitable freelancing and other relevant topics of the day. She is also an artist who has made business out of her creativity. From a mere suggestion she heard from a local Christian radio program and a starter budget of Php 500.00, she launched her gift card business.

“I capitalized on my ability to draw caricatures and write timely messages. I turned an old architect’s table my mom obtained from her friend into my working area. I had barely 500 pesos back then, and I went ahead and purchased several packs of card stock, colored paper, and other materials.

It took almost a year before I was able to polish my skills. I created a prototype product and several templates for greeting cards for special occasions like birthdays and Christmas. In November 2007, my mom’s colleague placed the first order for 10 gift cards.

Succeeding holiday seasons found me extremely busy crafting orders made by my mom’s friends and colleagues at work, as well as several neighbors. A couple of my sister’s friends liked the uniqueness of my designs, and one of them became my loyal customer.

It has now been seven years since I sold my first set of cards. My paper crafts enterprise still operates on a small-scale level and relies mostly on word-of-mouth marketing. But I have set a goal within a flexible time frame (probably in a year) to save up for Tomato Patch’s expansion.” – Ronali Dela Cruz

Aside from gift cards, Tomato Patch also offer gift tags and personalized scrapbooks. Christmas is just around the corner and if you are looking at buying cards and similar in bulk, she might be the person to connect with. But even if you’re not, you may still show some love and check out “Tomato Patch -- cards and novelty items”

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John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.