Guelph artist preserving flowers from special occasions in resin

Guelph artist preserving flowers in resin From CTV Kitchener's Jessica Smith: A Guelph artist is helping preserve flowers with sentimental value by casting them in resin.

Guelph — A Guelph artist is taking a unique approach to help preserve special memories by casting flowers in resin.

"I thought that would have been really cool to do with my wedding flowers," said Rachel Navarro, founder of RRresin Creations. "They just kind of wilted, never to be seen again. So, this is a really cool way to preserve them for life."

Navarro takes flowers from special occasions, like weddings, and casts each petal in resin.

The flowers must first sit in a special solution for two weeks to preserve the freshness before resin is added layer by layer.

"I knew my eventual goal was to take custom orders from brides or a funeral," Navarro said.

The creative outlet in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic quickly became a small business for the artist.

Melissa Gomez, who got married this wear, wanted to save her bouquet to share with those who couldn't attend the wedding.

"Instead of just having them in photos, I kind of wanted to take a piece of that day with me," she said. "It was just more sentimental."

Erin Carlisle wanted to hold onto a memory of her late mother, who passed away earlier this year from stomach cancer.

"When somebody passes away the love that you feel and the outpouring of support that you get was huge," she said. "And when Rachel said that she was able to preserve this in resin, those special flowers that meant so much, it meant more than I can ever explain."

"Losing somebody is really hard but especially during COVID, this is really the least I could do for her as she's grieving," Navarro said.