Create tumbling autumn leaves from low firing enamels and copper sheet

What you need...

• NECKLACE Pearl x 1 Small ivy leaf Lobster clasp x 1 Head pin Jump rings, 5mm, 6mm Copper sheet, 0.7mm Trace chain, 2mm x 1m Metal clay Coloured enamels, dark red, old rose, golden yellow, orange, light pink, dark pink
  
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• TOOLS Pliers, round-nosed, flat-nosed, chain-nosed Wire cutters Mini roller Clay balm Teflon mat Scalpel Cocktail stick Hand-held blowtorch and firing block Wire brush Saw frame and no.3 blades Bench peg G-clamp Needle files Emery papers Sieve tops Enamel stilts Enamelling stove Hammer Punch Power tool, drill bit x 1mm Double-sided tape Epoxy resin

instructions

1. Necklace - 1. Download the leaf templates, print and cut out. Stick each necklace leaf template onto copper sheet using double-sided tape. Fix a wooden benchpeg to the table using a G clamp and tighten. Place a No.3 saw blade in a frame, teeth facing down and out, and tighten to create tension. Place the copper sheet flat, with the saw frame vertical. Begin to cut into the benchpeg, bringing the copper up to the blade. Once a cut has been made in the metal, the copper can then be placed in the V of the benchpeg (Fig.1).
   
   2. Pierce out all seven leaves, then smooth the edges with a needle file and emery paper (Fig.2). Carefully drill a hole using a 1mm drill bit, at the top and bottom of each leaf (Fig.3). Apply coloured enamel powders to each copper leaf before carefully placing in an enamelling stove. Remove when the surface looks glassy and leave it to cool completely, making sure not to touch the leaf. The enamel will be in a liquid form whilst hot and will stick to anything that it comes into contact with.
   
   3. Roll out a small piece of metal clay onto a mat. Press a real ivy leaf into the clay and cut around it using a scalpel. Make another leaf, then add a hole at the top and bottom of each using a cocktail stick. Leave the clay to dry overnight or place in the oven at 150°C for 10 minutes. File to create a smooth finish, then fire the leaf with a handheld blow torch. Gently buff with a wire brush and washing up liquid.
   
   4. To assemble the pendant, add a 6mm jump ring to the top and bottom of each leaf. Connect the leaves using lengths of 2mm chain. Add a clasp to one end and a jump ring to the other end. Finally, use a head pin to attach a pearl to the long central leaf and secure with a 6mm jump ring.
   

2. Make it yours - Create a matching bracelet using two fired copper leaves and one metal clay leaf. Connect with 6mm jump rings and hang a pearl from the central leaf.