Spotlight: “When I make a piece for someone who has lost a loved one, it is especially rewarding.” ~Mollie-H
Today I have a very special Spotlight Feature to share with you. Mollie Hubenak’s jewelry and beads are not only lovely to look at, they hold a deep and important meaning to those who where them.
Mollie is making Keepsake and Rosary Beads made from the dried flower petals collected at special or meaningful events such as Memorial Services, Weddings, Graduations, Baby Christenings, etc.
Related links include: (1) Flower Petal Bead Inclusions (2) Rosary Beads (3) Memorial Jewelry.
Here is What Mollie Wrote…
Hi Cindy,
I began researching the techniques of making polymer clay jewelry with rose petal inclusions about 9 months ago. Your tutorials have been extremely helpful in that process.
I started by just making jewelry for some of my co-workers, and it has really taken off from there. Making jewelry is a form of therapy for me, and is also very rewarding. When I make a piece for someone who has lost a loved one, it is especially rewarding. It means so much to that person, and it is something they will cherish for the rest of their lives.
Thanks you, Cindy for all of your help in getting me started with this venture.
Description for attached photos:
(1) Simple Necklace with Rose Petal Bead and 8mm Swarovski Crystals. The rose petal bead was made from red roses and the result was a nice lavender shade.
(2) Necklace with Cross Pendant, Rose Petal Beads, mini Glass Pearls and Swarovski Crystals. This was made from a bridal bouquet with pink, purple and white roses.
(3) Bouquet of assorted Polymer Clay Hearts and Cross Pendants.
(4) Keepsake Memorial Rosary with Rose Petal Beads and Swarovski Crystals.
(5) Drop earrings with Rose Petal Beads and Swarovski Crystals.
(6) Prayer Chaplet with Rose Petal Beads and Glass Pearls.
(7) Bracelet with Rose Petal Beads and Swarovski Crystals.
~Mollie Huenak (Mimi’s Keepsake Jewelry)
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I think you will all agree that Mollie is creating very special memories with her beautiful jewelry. Each bead, holds inside a deep connection to someone or something very meaningful.
They are more than an item of beauty. They are a physical representation of a precious memory. Something very special indeed!
Thank you Mollie for sharing your work with us all. It reminds us that we can always put a little more meaning into our beads!
** If you have been inspired by my teachings and would like to be featured in an upcoming Spotlight Article, then please do write up something creative and email it to me along with a selection of your project pics. Make sure to send me high resolution photos that I’ll be able to zoom in on to show the details of your work. If you don’t already have my email address, simply leave a comment below and I will get it to you right away.
What a beautiful thing to do!
How extremely pretty and sweet.
Mimi, the pieces are lovely and the meaning and sentiment contained in them is beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
I would think that the recipients of these pieces would truly cherish them. They are quite elegant with an almost understated beauty to them. Lovely idea!
What a wonderful idea! Mollie, your pieces are beautiful. I love this Spotlight feature Cindy!
Your pieces are beautiful and you have inspired me. I have heard that the beads colors will fade over time when using the flower petals. Do you have any suggestions to prevent this? One of the bracelets I saw faded within the year. Do you seal your pieces with something?
Gorgeous! I love the look of the flower inclusions.
A little off the topic, but I tried the ink on gold leaf today and the leaf stuck VERY badly to my pasta machine. I love this technique but cannot seem to get a pendant worth keeping.More than half of the gold leaf sticks and gets ruined.Please help!
Mollie, your beads are very beautiful. All the care and time you put into your work shows! I just started working with inclusions and especially roses and it is quite challenging. I think I may have found a new way to work with dried flowers myself. I need to do more experiments to work out some kinks. If I find this new way works well and consistently I’ll let you all know.
They are really nice Mollie, I love the idea of memories captured in jewellery.
@Carrie – Happens to me too. Leaving the ink to dry for a couple of hours helps a lot, just waiting until it looks dry doesn’t seem to be enough. And different leafs seem to work differently too – I have copper leaf which doesn’t stick much, and silver leaf which does (and has much finer crackles).
Mollie, your work is beautiful! I, too, make keepsake jewelry with flower petal inclusions and find it to be so meaningful. I love how you’ve paired your handmade beads with the Swarovski crystals! Thank you so much for sharing with us.
Becky, I made some beads with red roses from my niece’s wedding in May 2008 and they are still as beautiful today as when I made them. I do seal the beads with Future.
Thanks Silverleaf! I was using silver, I even let it dry overnight. Also, my color seems to fade a lot. I had a little better luck with gold. I also tried the red variegated, it had about the same result as the silver. I got a few usable items with the gold though. I’ll keep trying. I would appreciate any other help also!
Gosh they’re lovely what an unusual idea.
@Becky: I don’t think polymer clay based flower petal beads fade over time. I think it is just the traditional rosary beads made by boiling the petals, are the ones that fade. I’ve never had any of my polymer clay rose beads fade, but they are only a couple of years old.
@Carrie: In regards to your gold leaf and ink sticking to the rollers of the pasta machine, try laying a piece of parchment on top your sheet before putting in the machine. That should fix the problem.
I am so thrilled and honored to be featured here on Cindy’s Spotlight. I have been out of town and didn’t find out until this morning. Thank you all for your wonderful and kind comments.
I haven’t had any problems with the beads fading. I seal them with Studio by Sculpey Glossy Glaze.
@Mollie, or anyone else who makes memory bracelets: Carolyn Winters has red roses from her brothers funeral, and would like them made into memory bracelets. Leave a comment for her at the link if you can create keepsake bracelets for Carolyn & her daughter.