Great tips, Dawn! I do about the same thing as you to coax out the colors, however, I do an extra step.
For my Sparkling Raku beads, I use a full rod of raku to make a very small barrel. I then heat the barrell until it's almost white-hot and then gently marver it back into a barrel shape (like you said...the raku is black at this point, which is good). Then, I super heat one side of the barrel until it's white-hot and quickly marver it on a brass tool that's been soaking in water. I repeat the same step for the other side of the barrel, at which point, I start to see some color peeking out of the raku. I then flash the barrel in the flame (which coaxes out some more color) before encasing in clear. Heating the raku barrel on one side and then the other brings out some awesome, colorful striations in the glass that look amazing under the clear.
Here are some pics:
Oh, before I forget....great beads, Dawn! I especially LOVE your raku dot tabs!!!
Karlar