On the windowsill in my bedroom sits a small ceramic dish filled with the heads of dried flowers. They are worn and papery and one is so old that a strong breeze would likely turn it to dust. There is a rose from my high school graduation, a stem of lavender from my best friend’s grandparent’s backyard, and some greenery I snuck from my sister’s wedding bouquet. The flowers are beautiful, but the memories tied to them make these delicate pieces of my history worth keeping. Our memories are a powerful and important piece of being human, and we have always practiced their preservation. Dedicated to this practice is Nicole Haslam, owner of Ivory Cole Designs.
From jewelry to tabletops to clocks, Nicole has been preserving flowers in artistic displays since 2020. She stumbled into the world of resin while researching sealants for another project and dove head-first into the craft from there. She works out of her “flower lab”, a private studio brimming with ornate displays of preserved flowers at various stages in her creative process. The studio has an unexpected mad scientist element to it as Nicole explains the significance of each tool and ingredient used to make her art. Her enthusiasm for her craft lies in the painstaking details, like arranging each individual flower petal so they dry perfectly without getting bruised. Entirely self-taught, she takes pride in being able to say she built her company alone. “I didn’t want to be a product of somebody else’s success. I wanted to be my own success and do everything on my own… And that’s one of the reasons I’m so proud of Ivory Cole Designs; I know how much time and energy it took.”
There’s something about knowing that the person creating something so personal and unique is a member of your own community. This is someone you may have passed in the grocery store or stood behind in line for coffee. You have walked through the same parks and listened to the same radio stations and exist within a shared space and history. And what is flower preservation if not sharing a memory so personal with the world and saying, ‘look! I have felt this love and I’d like you to cherish it with me.’ Nicole appreciates the trust her customers place in her to make art with their memories. “I’ve done house calls. People [will say], I’ve lost my son. I cannot leave my house. And I’ve driven there for a couple hours by myself. I don’t charge [for] any of that. Because, again, it might be a pro, it might be a con… I want people to know that I care.” While she largely specializes in flower preservations for weddings and funerals, Nicole has also included fur, ashes, pieces of clothing, invitations, and other kinds of memorabilia in her art. Each project presents an opportunity to provide for her community in some way, a privilege she does not take lightly. “I’ve never wanted to have a job and just do it well,” she explains. “I’ve wanted to have a job and do it in excellence and leave that job eventually knowing, wow, I had great success here.”
Truthfully, nobody wants to see the final product as close to perfect as Nicole. “Sometimes I’ll go out at midnight and pop bubbles because I know where in the process the resin is [at].” She’s spent each day since launching Ivory Cole Designs learning about and honing her craft. “My first 400 attempts were pure fail,” Nicole admits. “I think the thrill of success is what kept me going. For every five trial and error pieces that I would screw up, one would come out to perfection.” She’s come a long way since then, but readily admits that there is always more to learn when it comes to technique and skill. “Everything somebody says is going to change the next person’s order at the end of the day. So, if you’re giving me feedback, I’m going to take it to heart and figure out what I can do to elevate the next person’s piece… Yours was so unique and special. I’m always going to grow.”
Life is challenging. It sets up roadblocks and changes our paths and surprises us each time we think we’ve finally found our footing. It gifts us with moments of beauty, with inspiring relationships and surreal milestones and a nuanced, incredible history to call your own. Sometimes in the chaos of this life we forget ourselves. We forget the journey that has brought us to this moment and the importance of each choice we’ve made. Maybe it isn’t necessary to have a tabletop encasing your wedding flowers in resin, but maybe it would be nice to set your coffee mug down on it each morning and reminisce over the journey that led to those flowers. History is a beautiful and complicated and important thing, and your own personal history is no different. It’s something to consider the next time life presents you with one of those special and rare milestones. How do you want to remember this moment? Nicole wants the Windsor-Essex community to know she’s there to help with that decision. “Yes, it’s my income and yes, it’s what I do for a living, but at the same time, the experiences that I get to create with every single person is incredible… [I’m] someone who isn’t just selling a service but selling something so special that [I] care about as well… And I just want to be that service in Windsor that people go to.”
There is a specific type of love and care that goes into an independent business. It involves mindfulness that transcends the product, nurturing it into something cherished by both the client and the maker. In listening to her reminisce over her past clients and the importance of their preserved memories, I can’t help but think of the dusty, well-loved flowers in the dish on my windowsill. The skill and care involved in preservation of Nicole’s caliber is incredible, but at its heart is the same human desire to let love persevere, even after a chapter has closed.
To contact Nicole and see more of her work, visit her Instagram page or website.
