I totally understand how challenging making real flower resin jewelry after having dabbled with the technique myself. So when I saw Kentucky based Yuki Nalan of NALANStudio's work, I went wow!

You can see why her fans love her work in this niche market.  Her real fruit and flower - sometimes both combined in a single design - still retains much of the vibrant color and shape of the original organic material. She uses the freeze drying technique rather than silica gel. 



Yuki also works without frames or molds. Sometimes she uses the whole flower. I was impressed with her dainty real orchid, rose bud and bellflower earrings. These are very fragile after drying and coating with resin is not easy.  Just lovely work!

See more on her Instagram. 

Bell flower resin earrings

Blood Orange earrings

Real Cherry Tomato Earrings

Real dragonfruit earrings


Real Lemon and Flower Earrings

Real orchid earrings

Real pansy flower earrings

Real strawberry earrings


Real pansy flower earrings

Real rose earrings

Real starfruit earrings

Real cucumber earrings

Freeze Drying vs Dehydrating 

Real organic material like flowers and sliced fruit have to be thoroughly dried before being embedded into resin. Any moisture left will result in the material rotting inside the resin. 

The most common and equipment-free method of real flower resin jewelry making is with silica or by the traditional pressing and drying (faster with a microwave). The drying is not instant so there is the loss of some color and shape distortion. 

The other two methods require equipment which can be very costly especially for freeze dryers.  Dehydrators which are used for drying food use low heat and may affect shape and color. 

Freeze drying is very fast as the material is quickly frozen and placed in vacuum - the form and taste of freeze dried food, which is often rehydrated, remains the same as the original. This method of preservation is commonly used for military rations, astronauts and hikers!

Freeze drying also makes the material very brittle so that is why resin is used to coat and protect freeze dried flowers, fruits and vegetables if they are to be used in jewelry.

Watch this excellent video by Homesteading Family which shows you the difference between freeze drying and dehydrating a variety of foods. 



Before You Go :

Disclosure 

This blog may contain affiliate links. I do receive a small fee for any products purchased through affiliate links. This goes towards the support of this blog and to provide resource information to readers. The opinions expressed are solely my own. They would be the same whether or not I receive any compensation. 
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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM