·         Work Double Helix new color Ekho very cool to get iridescent sparkle

·       Japanese torches work best with the softer glasses like Satake

·       The Flow is spotlighting female beaders and is begging for submissions. Deadline is September 1^st and you will get a link to your website from their website if you are in the spotlight article

·       Keep recipe cards for each bead you make –likes and dislikes, works and doesn’t work

·        Use a brand new mandrel 3/16” for every 3 inch or longer bead. Prevents bead breakage from bent mandrels

·        Use a wet dinner knife to smooth glass

·        When encasing, if you tap your bead against your torch end and you get a good clink, it’s ready to be encased. Otherwise it is too soft

·        Keep snips of color combinations that work AND don’t work in small zip bags (attach to recipe cards?)

·        Too much inventory at your bead table can be overwhelming to buyers

·       Beads displayed in clear Martini glasses look really good

·        Use Elmer’s glue on the face of CZ’s and pick up and place with a mandrel end. Glue burns off before encasing

·        Delphi sells threaded sleeves for drawer knobs

·       An old knitting frame can be used to create mesh cables with 30+ gauge wire. Resulting cable can be drawn thru smaller holes drilled in a wood board to make a smaller resulting cable. Rubber or leather can be used inside mesh for stability

·        You CAN work boro on a minor burner!

·        You cannot batch anneal inside-out beads because each color has slightly different annealing temps

·        When adding murrinis, heat the bead around the murrini and let it sink in

·        Brad Pearson uses TAG’s Oxblood instead of black and Pearl Gray instead of white because they don’t bleed

·       If you misplace a stringer or dot, cool it with your tweezers then knock it off with a knife blade