Dissecting Desert Peas

The wildflowers of the desert are spectacular.  In our garden we have native frangipani and this gorgeous flowering gum.    Nearby, in the regeneration area that surrounds the town to keep the desert dust out, we have saltbush, heaths and, perhaps most famously, the Sturt Desert Pea.  Of course, as soon as I laid eyes on this baby, I knew I had to have a go at making it in polymer clay.  It even looks a bit like a magnificent cuff as it hangs on its stem! It's tricky though.  In a recent post in her blog, Debra deWolff wrote a tribute to engineers.  You can find it at http://debradewolff.com/2011/09/07/inspiration/ She is right.  There is a degree of engineering involved and I am still working on applying engineering principles here! My work table today shows the evidence of those experiments.  Which bits, if any, do I cook before others?  How do I keep the pea shape intact?  Constant referring to lots of photos helped but ultimately, it was pulling apart a specimen from a locals kerb (not the regeneration area I stress) that helped the most.  I'll report on my progress.  I do know that I won't use as much translucent in my next trials.  While the matte was too matte, the translucent gives an unnataural shine.  Fortunately, I can use leftovers for more coral beads.  Oh well, back to the drawing board...