About TULA :: Ethos and Care

Tulá means "poem" in Tagalog. In this spirit, Tula Designs is a practice of creation and community, offering gingerly handcrafted adornments inspired by the natural world, heritage and the lyrical human body.

Both poems and adornment are ancient languages. They transform the body into a site of meaning, marking what matters - identity, protection, belonging, beauty, expression - conscious and cultivated. Both ask the body to carry what the spirit needs to say, arranging and rearranging its components and textures to suit. Armed with power. Formed by topologies of elements - living, lyrical, alive. A necklace at your throat, a poem on your tongue.

Each piece I create by hand holds handpicked natural elements from land and sea - whether they're stones and gems metamorphosed under Earth’s surface, or parts of a tree like Philippine betel and buri nut, carabao horn, bayong wood and bamboo, or bone and shell recycled from noble creatures. Through an ancestral, animistic lens, I honor every component’s material existence.

All packaging materials are recyclable or biodegradable.

All pieces are unique, and come with a care warranty for free adjustments, repairs or hardware replacements. Bartering and service trade requests always welcome (see info page for more details).

:: Kelsey Lacanilao (Lakan Ilaw) is a local lesbian and Aquarius sun, born from parents and ancestors from all over Luzon Island, Philippines.

She started making jewelry as amulets, and as a way of feeling more connected with the Earth, her heritage & her body - to adorn it with self-made, carefully collected natural objects, stones, beads, and findings.

She works full time at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and has been an arts and culture administrator for over 10 years.

She is an avid reader, former independent bookseller, and loves collecting - from rare books, earth objects to tatus on her body.

Holding anti-colonial, anti-capitalist values, she finds reading a part of resistance labor. You can find access to free revolutionary radical books here.

Additionally, % of each drop's profits are donated to a mutual aid or grassroots organization - from LA and the Philippines to Palestine. Your purchases so far have supported multiple water trucks to Gaza, legal aid for families impacted by ICE raids, and disaster relief in the Philippines.