Making Botanical Art with Metal

No experience is needed — Jess designed this course specifically to demystify making things out of metal for complete beginners. There's no soldering, welding, or hot work involved, and she recommends starting with a small, simple leaf shape before working up to larger, more detailed pieces. A dedicated key techniques lesson lets you practise cutting, shaping and wiring on scrap brass before you begin the projects.

Jess uses small sharp embroidery scissors, non-corrugated and nylon-jawed pliers, wire snips, a bookbinding awl, a dapping (doming) set, 0.6mm and 0.8mm pure brass wire, and 0.1mm sheet brass. She also shares budget-friendly alternatives you may already own, such as a knitting needle or paintbrush handle instead of dapping tools, an old book instead of a cork block, electrical tape wrapped around corrugated pliers, and even the inside of a tomato purée tube as recycled sheet metal. Everything else is easy to find online, from metal retailers or jewellery suppliers.

You'll finish with brass leaves and stems that can be arranged in a vase, a delicate multi-leaf branch, and a made-to-measure ivy garland to hang around mirrors, pictures, fireplaces or mantelpieces. Because the techniques are so adaptable, you can apply them to almost any leaf, flower or plant you find on a walk, making everlasting botanical decorations for your home or as handmade gifts. Jess also shows how to adjust the level of detail depending on whether a piece will be seen up close or from a distance.

Jess is an artist working from a converted cow shed workshop in wild North Wales, where she creates brass and bronze botanical collections and wall sconces, and her course blends nature study with hands-on craft. You'll join her on a hedgerow walk to learn how to spot and select leaves worth recreating, then follow her step by step as she turns a rigid material into something that looks genuinely organic. Her approach uses only simple hand tools at a kitchen table — no technology, kiln or soldering — making it a calming, almost meditative craft that's genuinely accessible from home.

All of our courses are online, meaning that you are able to watch them whenever and wherever suits you best. There is no beginning or finish date and they’re completely self-paced so that you can stop, start and pause each lesson to fit around your own schedule. You can begin watching a course as soon as you purchase it – simply login to your Create Academy account whenever you have a quiet moment to yourself.

Yes! You can rewatch each lesson as many times as you’d like. If you have purchased an individual course, you will have lifetime access to it, so you’ll be able to rewatch and dip in and out of each lesson forever - perfect if you have a busy schedule! If you purchased an annual subscription, you can enjoy full access to all of our lessons until you choose to cancel.

If you have purchased an individual course, you will have life time access.

An annual subscription gives you access to all courses for 12 months from the date of purchase, including those released during that period. Our subscriptions are set to automatically renew after 12 months so you have the benefit of uninterrupted access! If you choose to cancel, you will no longer have access to the platform.

Below each video lesson you’ll find the link to download the corresponding workbook pages. If you’d like to download the whole workbook at once, simply navigate to the very first lesson in the course and click 'Download Workbook'.

We’re on a mission to help you build your creative confidence and live a more creatively fulfilled life. Through beautifully curated video courses, we give you unprecedented access to the expertise of today’s best designers, makers, gardeners and chefs - allowing you to unlock your creativity whenever and wherever you want.

Yes – all our courses are available internationally. Please note, all our courses are taught in English.