Trying Aura 22

I love keum boo for applying a touch of gold, but sometimes I want a more intricate design. Aura 22 is a gold clay slip. After firing silver, you simply paint it on and refire. The bird on this pendant would have been easy with keum boo, but I tried the Aura 22 because of the gold berries. Unfortunately, three coats of the paste didn't give a very strong gold color. I added another 2 coats to the bird, which finally made it pop out nicely.

During the course of firing the enamel though, the gold seemed to fade in areas. Probably I should have done the gold last, since it's fired at a much lower temperature than the enamel. Add that to my basket of things learned.

I'm still happy with the pendant though.