Autumn Leaves

This craft comes from a book I bought way back when I was still in school (the first time around). I've since given the book away, because the majority of the projects were not my thing, but I always kept this one in mind.

Earlier this fall I got a large maple leaf on the way to Beadboy2's bus stop, and traced it onto paper with a fine point sharpie. I placed very fine gauge copper wire mesh (the manufacturer calls it "mesh fabric") on top and traced it again, and then cut the shape out, resulting in a copper leaf and lots of little nicks on my hands. I then squeezed puffy fabric paint along the edge to make it less lethal, and in the center to mimic leaf vanes.

The result:
You can see that the puffy paint in the lower right is all screwed up. It got a little mussed while drying, so I reapplied the paint and laid it carefully out of the Beadboys' reach, only to have Mr. Beadgirl toss his jacket onto it five minutes later. I fixed it as best I could and laid it back down to dry, only to have one of the cats walk on top of it ten minutes after that. Sigh.

Beadmom suggested I make lots and lots of them and put them on a wreath. I'll get right on that.

Leaves made by actual metalsmiths: