Michele, thank you for the compliments on this bead set. Gwacie told me that someone was asking about them here at LE so I thought I'd pop in to see if I could help out. I feel kind of bad because after we spoke yesterday, I realized that I didn't really tell you anything that could help you figure out how to make them.
I get more questions about this style than I do any other so I had tried to do a tut for Glassline and it ended up being WAY too long. I just threw my hands up and moved on to something else. lol Anyway, my husband and I are going to do a video for this. Not one that you have to pay for. . .It will be free on my site. That will keep me from having to write so much. Hopefully my camera man/producer/husband will hold the camera steady and we'll end up with something that will help those that want to know how to create this design. (I am camera shy, but just so you know, I'll be the one holding the mandrel and wearing a bag over her head.)
In the meantime, here are a few tips that might help. . .
Use a plain old base glass and don't get fancy (you can fancy up later). Of course I'm sure you know you'll need to pull lots of black stringer. USE INTENSE BLACK. Any other black will NOT yield good results because they look like trans dark purple. Apply your black dots in an arrangement that resembles a stemless three leaf clover. Melt them all the way in, but work as cool as you can because intense black likes to bleed when it becomes really hot.
Once your three dots are melted in, pull the left dot with a downward motion, yet slightly to the right. . .. Next, pull the dot on the right, again, pulling in a downward motion, but this time, pull the dot slightly to the left. The middle dot is easier. . You just pull it straight down. As a side not, when you are pulling the dots, be sure to place your pick 2/3 of the distance from the top and be as graceful with the pull as you possibly can. Work slowly, and pull with an almost feather light touch.
After you get this part of it down pat, you can start adding more "petals" and twisting them in different directions.
Hope this helps, Michele!!