[theglasszone]

Hi Again Everyone:

I hope I'm not causing everybody's brain to melt down with all the questions; I do have a few clarification requests, though, if you don't mind...

Kerry: When you plunge your stamen cane into the center of the flower and "clip" it, can I ask 1) how do you hold the stamen cane while holding the bead in order to clip it off, and 2) what do you use to nip it? I've been imagining myself with a "tail" or an extra "arm" (giggle) to accomplish this! Should I just try and hold the end of the stamen cane between my lips? (Better be a good length, too - right?)

Heather: Your addition/clarification of my "Step #6" is really appreciated! Do you add a swipe of clear over your striped petals? Looking at them closely, they do look 3-D and cupped a bit - I just thought that placing clear over them might cause them to smear! I guess great care and practice is required here!

Heather/Donna: So far, I've had really good luck with using a Crock Pot with well heated vermeculite to hold my formed beads until I'm done with a session and then I unplug the Pot, and allow it to slowly cool down over night before I remove the beads from their mandrels. Unfortunately, I have very limited space, limited funds, and a rather sparse and unsophisticated set up for now; I have a PMC kiln that has a cycle that I can program to anneal my beads, so batch annealing is my only option right now. I'd love to get my hands on a used Chili Pepper (know where I can find one?), but for now, this is my only hope. Lots of finger crossing and so on....luck's been on my side!

Thanks again to everyone for all the great information, encouragement and photos! If I have success, I'll be sure to post!

DeAnne in CA