Fall Leaves for Your Designs
by Judy Larson
On my walks every morning I am always looking down and find the most marvelous little bits and pieces that I might be able to use in jewelry design. Tree and weed leaves in the spring and summer come in many interesting shapes and colors but the colors of fall are particularly stunning. Imagine making leaves layered in copper and brass. Add a little patina and you will capture the feeling of fall.
Just one 6"x6" sheet of metal, 22 or 24 gauge, is all that is needed to make all these leaves. The larger leaves are in Pendant and Earring sets. The smaller leaves, flower, bird and wing, and circles can be attached to the 1" wide bracelet sections. There are also two pieces to use as bails. Scale the template to a 6" square or scale it up or down to suit your preference.

Since sheet metal comes in 6"x 6" and 6"x 12" pieces, I keep 6"x 6" gridded squares separated in plastic sleeves in a binder to pull out and fill in when ideas hit. When one template is full, it is scanned, printed, cut apart, and put through a sticker maker. My sticker maker can handle strips up to 2½" wide, which is the width of the top two sections of this template.
Judy Larson's Fall Leaves for Your Designs - , Wire Jewelry Design, Design, fall leaves for designing
Judy Larson's Fall Leaves for Your Designs - , Wire Jewelry Design, Design, fall leaves for designing
Using a saw to cut out the pieces would be best, but all the parts can be cut with shears. If using shears, those pesky interior "V" cuts can be avoided by punching a small hole in that spot and cutting to the hole from either side. Then all that is necessary is to file any jagged edges that may remain.
Judy Larson's Fall Leaves for Your Designs - , Wire Jewelry Design, Design, fall leaves for designing
I am sure a lot of you are like me-grand ideas and too little time. To make sure it could be done, all the pieces were cut with shears. For four years, these pieces have been cut and stored in my "TO DO" box. I'll get there eventually. Maybe this winter........
Judy Larson's Fall Leaves for Your Designs - , Wire Jewelry Design, Design, fall leaves for designing

Materials

24 Gauge 0.020 Dead Soft Copper Sheet Metal - 6x6 Inch
MET-705.24
  • Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
  • Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
  • Price: $8.43
  • Gold Club Price: $6.32
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24 Gauge 0.020 Dead Soft Copper Sheet Metal - 6x12 Inch
MET-705.24M
  • Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
  • Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
  • Price: $10.12
  • Gold Club Price: $7.59
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Tools

Basic Sawing Kit
G15-7
  • G15-7
  • Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
  • Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
  • Price: $34.95
  • Gold Club Price: $26.21
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2/0 Relentless Sawblade - Sold by the Dozen
SAW-400.05D
  • SAW-400.05D
  • Lesson Quantity: 12.00 pieces
  • Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
  • Price: $3.97
  • Gold Club Price: $2.98
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  • Category: Design
  • Technique(s): Design