On Valentine’s Day, the rose is an ubiquitous gift for parents, friends and lovers.

{jathumbnail}

The only problem with the rose is that it doesn’t last for long, and of course, it’s not that unique.

That’s why 22-year-old Lang Suykeang came up with an idea to create and design special and sustainable gifts for her customers on Valentine’s Day.

Lang Suykeang saw beauty and ingenuity in creating a paper rose, and pairing it with accessories.

Some of those accessories include teddy bears, bracelets and even attractive comestibles such as delicious chocolates. Lang Suykeang utilises an array of diverse and striking material she buys in Vietnam.

Lang Suykeang began her business ventures in 2007, when she started hand making these special gifts. When she started, she worked only with her sister; now, she has a staff and works with her friends.

“After a few years, I noticed that I had a talent for running a business and that I knew how to deal with the difficulties I met,” she said.

For the past five years, Lang Suykeang has posted good profit from her handmade gifts. Her customers range from young buyers to seniors.

“Handmade products appeal to all customers because they’re unique,” she said.

“So that means if one customer orders one style, it will be the only one like that. It’s really special for something like Valentine’s Day.”

Lang Suykeang also studies full-time on top of running her business.

“I only make these gifts one time a year – just for Valentine’s Day – so I can manage my time well. It doesn’t affect my studies,” she said.

Lang Suykeang added that she still runs into a few difficulties when it comes to making gifts.

Often, her biggest challenge is figuring out a way to make the packaging of her gifts fresh and charming.

She said that packaging is always the most difficult part, especially because hot glue is difficult to use – and burning herself, unfortunately, isn’t rare.

Lang Suykeang noticed that her products were becoming popular when her customers said they couldn’t find anything like them at other shops or stores. Usually, her customers order the gifts a week prior to Valentine’s Day.

“To order, they go to my page on Facebook – Lanyna – and confirm which style they like,” she said.

Now, Lang Suykeang is a second-year student in fashion design at Limkokwing University of Creative Technology. On top of her Valentine’s Day business and her studies, she works year-round as an accessories designer.

This year, Lang Suykeang looks forward to bringing something unique to each of her customers.