Thanks @maxwellmarcusart! The steel mandrel that I am building the flower on stays very cool because it is pretty long and the glass rods that I use to apply the glass also stay cool and don’t conduct heat. I just have to make sure my hands stay back from the flame. The glass blob on the mandrel is very firm and has to be kept warm enough not to crack and not too hot or else it will drip off the steel mandrel. I’m also constantly spinning the blob to heat it from all sides. You’re right though, you can burn some colours and they get pretty ugly.