I am a serious bead admirer. But this bead just has me in awe! Have you ever seen anything so gorgeous? I want this bead...bad!

Check out even more of Barbara's work here.

Let me know what you think of this!

I promise, something's getting listed on Etsy this week! I just have to take good pictures!

As always, let me know what you think!

I did break a bead. And it was gorgeous! I'm trying to get the swirly look of transparent over opaque and I don't think I heated up the mandrel enough. I think I can recrete it.

These latest beads (from the last few sessions) are a new direction for me and I'm liking it a lot! What do you think?

The top photo are the blues beads. I got both sides on all but one. I love the tone on tone and can't wait to make these in other colors.

The bottom photo are other beads I worked on. There's a pansy bead. Well, a sad attempt at a pansy, anyway! I do love the enamel I used on that bead. It's a scrumptious teal color. And my all-time second attempt at a pinched petal flower. This one turned out great. I am pleased!

I've also been trying new shapes. I've pretty much done what I can with round. And I wanted bigger.

I love the tube bead...but the end chipped because I had to wrestle it from a crappy mandrel. I need to work on that more!

Let me know what you think!

The band played local shows and consisted of people he met while going to Driscoll Catholic High School. Jim didn't stay with the band; he went on to a career in engineering.

I have a picture of him playing back then and he was adorable. He plays guitar most nights and I think he plays wonderfully.

But it was nothing compared to seeing him play LIVE! We found out some of his old band mates were playing at a nearby party, so we went to see them. When we got there they ask Jim to play with them.

He doesn't think he did so good playing the blues, but we (the boys and I) thought he did a great job. It was fun seeing him in a completely different element.

And, hey, I finally got to go home with someone from the band!

I should have taken my Canon camera, because I missed a lot of great shots using my Fugi purse camera. I was worried cameras would be frowned upon. Was I wrong! Everyone had cameras!

One shot I missed was almost an entire row of women fanning themselves. When we got there I noticed lots of people had paper fans. Do you think the theater passed these out because the majority of the audience was menopausal?! Or because Rick is just so hot? hmmmm

Again, the audience was primarily women. Not a lot of men there. Hey, if you are a man a Rick Springfield concert would be an excellent place to meet women! Just a thought, guys!

Women were grabbing Ricks hands and putting friendship bracelets on them. I could have made a killer bracelet for Rick! Or a necklace!

I'm leaving the pictures full size for the full effect! If you'd like to see more, visit my flickr site. I have posted every one I took. Scroll down for my favorites!

Then Aaron and I went school supply shopping and the super mom mood ended. This year wasn't half bad. I only had to go to two different stores to get everything needed. I'll get to shop even more when J&J come home with the things they need for their sophomore year of high school.

J&J have football practice until PM tonight. I needed to make a nice crock pot meal so they would have something to eat when they got home. They must be famished. After yesterday's practice they ate a hamburger and fries each. Half a jello cake. Lots of containers of pudding. Someone even took bites out of Aaron's left over hamburger. yum

I'm making crock pot macaroni and cheese. I don't know where I got this recipe but it is incredibly easy and tastes good.

Crock Pot Macaroni and Cheese

Cooked elbow macaroni, 1#

Sharp cheddar cheese, 2# (I sometimes mix up the cheese; you can get the grated or buy a chunk and slice it.)

Flour

Milk

Layer third of cooked macaroni, third of cheese, sprinkle with flour and repeat until you've used up everything. Then add milk until you see it coming up to the top.

Depending on the crock pot, cook on low 3-4 hours. Or high for less time.

This is great for the way I cook. I rarely follow a recipe exactly--usually just while baking. I hate to measure and I'm always making up recipes. I'll share more in the future!

Art wise: yesterday I started re-organizing The Studio. I'm feeling claustrophobic out there. I threw away boxes I'd been saving for some reason. Gathered up all my bubble wrap. Moved my rods to another location. Vacuumed the gross bugs off the window.

I threw a sea horse into the kiln that had been sitting around for awhile. It didn't turn out so great. FYI: Transparent glass on transparent glass isn't very visible. I'm thinking about outlining things with glass line paints and seeing what happens.