Using gold foil
 

Because gold foil is a bit on the expensive side I would rather be told than learn through trial and error what color bead would showcase it the best.
Could brass foil be used in place of gold foil? Which is easier to work with

Not brass. Brass will vaporize in the heat, and bras frit can be used to create a bunch of bubbles in your bead.
I've not used gold foil, so no help there.

#-o dang, was hoping brass would be a good substitute

Mina, I've had good results using gold foil over Effetre/Moretti black, dark amber, cobalt and white; Lauscha red works well also.
ESC

Red might work. What I'm trying to do is make some beads to represent the gifts from the three wise-men....
:rolleyes:yes, I do know Christmas is a long ways away but I have a learning curve to take into account

Would gold pixie dust or gold foil give me a better result if I want to add gold to the bottom of a vessel bead?

Gold looks super gorgeous over red, transparent or opaque, as well as transparent dark amber (or dark topaz), in my opinion. Also, It doesn't behave like silver leaf or foil with heat, like spread & react with certain colors. So, when you lay it in an area, go easy on the heat otherwise you could end up vaporizing the leaf. The more heat you give it when on the bead, the more transparent (vaporized) it gets, which means you can control how it looks depending on what you do to it. Also, heat a part of your bead then apply the leaf out of the flame and burnish onto your bead, then use heat control to get the effect you want. It should be the last thing you add to a bead before it goes in the kiln too. Hope that helps.

Pixie dust is a whole nother look, but it's very pretty too! :)

One other thing you might want to play with is goldstone frit or stringer. My favorite goldstone cane is offered at Devardi....it's a very very dense goldstone cane that isn't "watered down" like Effetre cane. It's super sparkly, & cheap compared to actual gold, but I warn you, Devardi cane, including the goldstone, is exceptionally shocky. You have to introduce it very very slowly into the flame to avoid (read "minimize") the shock. Good luck! :)

Thanks, that's a lot of very helpful information and tips

You may also use silver leaf/foil encased by a pale amber and it appears 'gold' without the expense of the real thing. You will have to experiment with the base color too; some reactions will occur that would not with real gold leaf. I guess you could encase the base color in amber, add the silver, then encase again. If I can readily find my beads done like this, will post some pics.

Thanks! I'm super excited to try out your suggestions!

I've put gold leaf on everything and haven't found anything it doesn't enhance. I think it might not look as good on the earthy, organic colours quite so much; Sandstone, Fossil, Ivory, that kind of thing. Otherwise it looks great on everything else.

Like Renee said, go easy on the heat. Warm your bead well, apply the leaf, burnish (rub) it on as well as possible, then heat it again at the tip of the flame. You'll lose some of it, but not all. Make that your last step, and put it in the kiln.

Awesome! I love learning new techniques