Words Jo Barnes
Photos Sarah Hartley Photography
Her small hands picked up each tiny flower as her grandmother’s hands guided. These moments of pressing flowers are now a precious memory.
Now North Saanich artist, Chelsea Warren, is not only continuing this activity but helping others preserve their own memories.
Chelsea creates unique jewellery using pressed flowers, some of which are sourced from things such as a client’s wedding bouquet, or even other unique materials from memorable events.
“It is thoughtfully made jewellery and other botanical art. I make necklaces, earrings, rings, also custom pieces like cufflinks for a wedding. As well, I also preserve pet hair into pieces,” shares Chelsea, adding with a smile: “My most popular jewellery uses confetti from the Taylor Swift Eras Tour concert in Vancouver!”
For the past 16 years, Chelsea has been a successful wedding and family photographer. A few years ago, she had an idea for creating special gifts for her wedding clients. “Three years ago, I gave couples flowers from their bouquets as gifts. I pressed the flowers into necklaces,” she relates. “The couples were blown away. One of them said: ‘How thoughtful to press our bouquet flowers and turn them into jewellery.”
The artistic experience was pivotal for Chelsea, and kicked off a whole new business venture for her. Over time, her jewellery line has definitely expanded and is now marketed locally including locations such as the Butchart Gardens, The Roost, Sea Cider, The Tea Emporium, Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea, Deep Cove Trading Co., and Peninsula craft fairs, nationally in Nova Scotia and as far away as the U.S. and U.K. through the online Etsy platform.
While Chelsea has not yet put her camera on the shelf and retired from photography, her newfound focus on handmade jewellery offers a new work-life balance that very much appeals. “I love the change of pace from wedding photography. It involves a lot of client interaction and weekend commitments. Now, with this jewellery, it is me and my husband in our own home. He is the lead assembler. We can chat while we work and we have more time with family,” she comments. “I will do fewer weddings this year but will still do some maternity, engagement, family photos and pet photos.”
To make her eye-catching jewellery, Chelsea presses flowers and arranges them in metal frames in which she has applied UV resin to cure and protect. Successfully completing the creative process all takes skills and practice. “It has been a big learning curve. You have to learn about each flower and how to preserve its colour and shape,” says Chelsea. “As well, you have to understand how the resin works as there are four layers of it in each piece.”
Various flowers are used including forget-me-nots, sweet alyssum, hydrangea, roses and Queen Anne’s lace, as well as cedar and ferns. Chelsea has come to understand that not every flower is the same as the next when it comes to pressing. “There are different pressing methods for different flowers; you need to test them out to see what works,” she notes. “If you use wax paper while pressing some delicate flowers, they shrink up and become spiky, so you need to use paper towel. You can microwave the rose first. This gets out 90% of moisture; otherwise, it goes moldy.”
The materials are often quite small, so the work is fine and meticulous. For Chelsea, however, this is the appeal. “It is very fine work, but I love it. I love understated jewellery. The smallest piece is only 11 millimetres and often people say ‘It is so small!’ But I tell them that this is the actual size of the flower that is found in nature,” she says. “With Queen Anne’s lace, it is actually hundreds of tiny flowers in its pattern. I pick out each flower.”
Flower pressing takes three to six weeks. Jewellery items are done in batches which can take several hours to complete. It all takes time and tenacity, but the journey brings rewards along the way for Chelsea. Often, it’s positive feedback about her creativity. Sometimes, though, it’s a very emotional response because the jewellery holds personal meaning for the customer.
“Every flower is hand placed; I am particular about the flower placement. It is important to me that it is handmade. I put so much care into every piece. It is a wearable piece of art,” she shares. “Flowers are art and whether it is in celebrating beauty and joy or mourning loss, these small pieces of art can be a memory.”
The beauty of a few tiny flowers can be preserved in time. They can represent a moment and a memory. Chelsea has experienced this in her own life and has turned her talents to helping others to do the same.
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