Couple things I do differently...might be helpful to someone

First off, as a newbie I would like to thank everyone who is sharing ideas here. I've read a lot of the old posts and have learned a ton already but there's obviously a lot I still have to learn. Like a lot of you I got started watching Tom and Martine's videos but since have experimented and altered the craft in little ways that make it easier for me. I've seen a lot of discussion on how to mix the dye- how much dye to use in the mix....how much thickener to use. One thing I like to do is mix my dye very strong like on the video, 2TBS per cup of water urea mixture. I don't however, add the alginate to this mixture. Using pipettes, I'll suck up as much dye as I want, sometimes just a few drops for a pastel color, and suck up additional water from a cup I keep near, filling the pipette. This way you can alter the strength of the dye as you chose. Maybe going over a pastel area with strong dye. Also I like to mix some alginate with hot water to make a thick mixture, almost a gel. This gives you the option of squirting a pipette full of dye in another cup, adding some of the thickened alginate mixture and making some thickened dye for delicate areas on the run. Obviously these methods are very random and admittedly somewhat chaotic but I like the options it gives you.