Judy Larson is a most generous designer and instructor.  Over the years, she has sent me many tutorials to share with readers. Here is her latest.   She said, "This cuff was made to commemorate my nephew's wedding last summer and  I photographed the process. I made the cuffs for David to give to the mothers and his bride-to-be at the grooms dinner. It took way too long, but I finally put the tutorial together."

I am glad she did as it is a beautiful piece.  I have uploaded it to my slideshare - you can download the free PDF there.  Scroll down to see the download button.  All her other previous downloadable tutorials are still there!


Judy shared one hint :  "My hard paste solder just would not flow no matter how long it was heated and left a granular looking deposit where it was placed. It took me a while, but I finally figured out my solder was too old (I had been using it for two and a half years) so I threw it out and broke out a new one. It flowed like a dream! There could be many other reasons, but this was one I had not run into before."

Hard and medium paste solder is used when there is further soldering to use on the piece.  Otherwise, soft or easy paste solder is fine.

Judy says double flower one on the right was a "mistake"!  I think it is a lovely variation!

Judy is also accomplished in metal clay techniques. She was a Fire Mountain Gems Gold Medal  Prize winner with her stunning metal clay creation, Treasures of the Reef.  Shown below is another similar creation minus the hermit crab which she made for her daughter-in-law!


She told me, "Last year when we met up in Mexico for vacation, the grandchildren kept bringing Grandma small shells and bits of coral for my "collection". When we go home, I made molds of a few of them and incorporated them in the necklace."

Judy explained that she has been " saving metal scrap for years and wanted to make something with recycled and reused materials. This was the perfect opportunity. To make the reef portion of the necklace, I salt and water cast metal scrap. Reconstituted metal clay filings filled silicone molds made from shells, coral, etc. Several pieces were hand carved. After the metal clay was fired, all the pieces were soldered together in several steps. Small bits of wire and scrap metal left from other projects completed the weeds part of the necklace. "

Thanks Judy for sharing your tutorial and inspiring us all!

Before You Go:

Disclosure
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