About Nature Theory Craft

Nature Theory Craft is a handmade real flower jewelry and botanical gift studio based in Innisfil, Ontario. We are Linlan and Bei — and nearly every piece is made by hand, by the two of us together.

Our Story

Before Nature Theory Craft, one of us studied folklore and the other worked in wildlife conservation. For years we lived in Yunnan, in southwestern China, our days bound up with mountains and fields — attuned to the seasons, to the small monthly changes in every plant: which flower opens when, the color and curve of a petal, the scent of leaves and soil.

When we moved to Ontario, an entirely different temperate world opened before us. Unfamiliar plants, new garden flowers, wildflowers along the roadside — we were completely taken with it. After the pandemic, we began building our own backyard garden, hoping to make a small world that blooms in every season.

Why Real Flowers

The first thing a garden teaches you is impermanence. A flower opens, shines for its moment, and passes — and each year, shaped by the weather, the garden is never quite the same. We took countless photographs, but photographs were never enough. We wanted to keep something more: the color, the curve, the light, the feeling of a flower in full bloom.

That wish led us to pressed flowers, then to dried botanicals, and finally to preserving flowers in three dimensions. We began with simple pressing, then moved toward dimensional work because we wanted to hold on to more than a flower's color — we wanted its natural shape, its movement, the way a bloom holds light and space. Those details are what make a real flower feel alive.

How We Work

Many of our flowers come from our own garden in Innisfil, where we grow roses, peonies, carnations, pansies, daisies, cosmos and asters through the seasons, alongside many plants for our botanical gifts. In summer and fall we forage local wildflowers, mostly daisies and asters. For varieties our garden doesn't grow — phalaenopsis orchids, anemones, ranunculus, gerbera daisies, and other special seasonal blooms — we work with local farms and florists, buying fresh and in season.

We do almost all of it side by side: gathering, pressing, making, photographing, and preparing each piece for market or online release. If we had to divide it, Linlan leads the design — the colors, the choice of flowers, the feeling of each piece — while Bei holds the craft to standard, catching flaws most people would never notice.

That same standard is why we have chosen to keep our production small. So far, we have not found a way to scale this work without compromising the details we care about — so to this day, our 3D real flower and garden collections are made entirely by the two of us, from first sketch to finished piece. We don't flatten a bloom into a pressed disc to make it easier, or rush the sealing to make it faster. Every piece is allowed to take the time it needs — and we only finish it when it feels ready to be worn, gifted, and kept.