Enamel Paisley Brooch Project Step by Step

This was my second champleve enamel project (champleve is an enamelling technique - cells are cut into the metal, in this case through etching, to be filled with enamel).
After the Roman style brooches, I learned that I needed to etch the cells deeper, and also use thicker copper as I'm not a fan of counter enamelling (enamelling on the back of the piece).
The copper I used here is 1.5mm thick, bought from Ebay. It takes a long time to saw, but it doesn't warp in the kiln and doesn't need enamelling on the back.

Here's what I did:

I chose this paisley design

The brooch pierced out of 1.5mm thick copper

Simple findings soldered onto the back with hard solder

I freehanded this design - painted on with stop out fluid.
The edges and the back of the brooch are painted as well.

Once the fluid is dry, you can refine the lines with
a needle tool or scalpel

I made some colour mock ups using my test samples

I chose this one!

Here is the etched brooch - etched away too much in places!
Have a look at the tail - the line etched away completely...

The enamelled brooch...

The result is better than the Roman brooches but still not perfect. I have to practice more!

So next time I will be careful not to use lines that are too thin and could etch away. Also the red still burnt out a bit, even though I thought I was being careful!

I haven't decided how to finish this - I'm not a fan of shiny copper, oxidised black copper looks a bit harsh, and silver plating is expensive... Maybe I'll just leave it as it is for now, and move on to the next one!

I might not use red this time though :-)