Hi Stefanie,

Congratulations, once you finally master the skill, its really a good feeling.
I'm not an expert at this, but I've done it quite few times. Regarding the
bubbles that you are getting. All you have to do is gently tap the molds, or
thump them on the table while the chocolate is still melted. This should cause
any air bubbles to rise to the surface. Also, try cheap plastic molds that you
can find in any chocolate store (or you can order them online). They tend to
make the finished product very shiny.

One of the difficulties of tempering chocoloate (when you do it without a
machine) is the fact that you have to work extremely quickly, because the
temperature changes so quickly. One thing you should constantly be doing is
stirring it immediately before you put it into the molds. This will help to
make sure that the chocolate has a uniform temperature throughout...

Good Luck