Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: beads

(+9 insets!) (view large please!) When Steve and I went down to the San Francisco Bay Area to visit my younger brother and his wife, we were really happy to learn that Nathalie's daughter, Phoebe, would also be home from college! It would be so nice to see her and catch up with what's going on in her world. Being 54, it's fascinating to talk to someone who's just starting college. At 19 years old, Phoebe's college experience compared to mine totally floors me. It's just gob smacking. For instance, when I went to San Francisco State University, gym classes were varied with dozens of courses available. But today they have only dance classes. No gym. No badminton. No aerobics. No soccer. And of course, not my favorite--trampoline (which I took for two semesters!). All creative art classes…GONE. Etc. It's horrifying. This is the world that Phoebe lives in. Yes, she can go to a local gym for classes but they aren't on campus. Art classes would be the same situation I'm sure. Anyway, talking to her about school leaves me feeling totally staggered and I feel sad that there are so few opportunities for Phoebe's generation to explore creatively within the confines of school. When I first met Phoebe a couple of years ago, she gave me a tour of her bedroom, which was such an honor. It was so much fun to see how she decorated her room and to tell her how I had decorated mine. She had some art on the walls but nothing too outlandish. As I grew up, my walls and ceiling became 100% covered with animal and horse pictures without any surface showing. When I turned 17 or so, I began collecting swim suits and pinned them up to my walls in tropical displays with beach posters behind them, using fake palm fronds as accents. I had a spot on one wall for pictures of cute celebrities too. Phoebe's décor was wonderful but sedate in comparison to my flamboyant display and I really enjoyed the peek into how she showed herself off in her room. While I looked around, I was immediately drawn to a large glass bowl in the corner. It was nearly half-full of some kind of beads. Peering inside I saw…RAVE BEAD BRACELETS!! Dozens of them, in fact! HOW COOL IS THAT?! Rave beads…what the heck are rave beads?! They are bracelets known as "Kandi," worn at dance clubs and parties, created by individuals as gifts to people they meet there. Originally started by drug dealers to stand out as a source for party drugs like ecstasy and coke, these showy bracelets soon turned into a popular fad for anyone who loves the dance scene. Bracelets are shared in a special way--essentially the two people hold hands and the gift bracelet is slid from one wrist onto the other's wrist. Specifically it goes like this: 1. Two people make peace signs (Peace) 2. They form their hands into hearts (Love) 3. They join their hearts (Unity) 4. They slide their bracelets from hand to hand (Respect) 4.a. Hug someone. (From) (For more info & pictures about the Kandi craze, click this phrase!) The whole rave beads-Kandy craze started many years after Steve and I were over our club days, so we never got to see any of this in action. It's a shame because I would surely have had an enormous collection myself! However, seeing Phoebe's collection filled me with excitement because I was sure they were very special to her. She confirmed this by immediately telling me all about her experiences. Every bracelet has a story, instantly coming to mind when Phoebe holds it in her hand. I loved hearing her tales and at the time I thought to myself that I'd just have to get pictures the next time I had a chance. Visiting San Anselmo this time aligned all of the stars and Phoebe gave me permission to take pictures of her collection! My eyes twinkled as I pulled out a bracelet and asked for details. She instantly told me where she got it and who gave it to her. I took out another one. "Oh! That one I got in the bathroom when I met a girl in there!" I pulled out another one and out came another story. Such fun. Thank you Phoebe, for allowing me to share part of you with the world! I spent quite a while photographing her bracelets and my main image shows the whole collection as a glorious pile of dance party memories. I am also including 9 insets for you to enjoy as well. Pam, did you ever have a party phase in your life? I loved dancing but I didn't get many chances to go "clubbing." My dates rarely had the interest and I didn't have friends that liked that sort of thing. But when I met Steve, we went out dancing on a regular basis for the first couple of years when we lived in San Francisco. What fun! I hope you're having a nice day today my dear! Explored on 1/27/19, highest placement, #5.

My husband works as a product photographer at a company that sells zillions of kinds of beads. Just before my birthday a couple of years ago, he brought home an assortment of colorful beauties as a treat. I loved them, and enjoyed taking pictures of them to share. If you roll your mouse over the upper left corner, you can see the picture I chose for my Alphabet Project! :)

You can also find me on Facebook ! I had so much FUN visiting everyone's photo stream over the past few days! What a joy it was to take a peek at what all of you are doing! It was simply incredible to me that I got over 150 comments on my previous picture (the Poppy) and it took several days to reply, but I thoroughly enjoyed every moment! I was sorry to see that many people have left ipernity because of the latest issues with groups being shut down, but I was happy to find that the majority of the folks I visited were still here. I'm certainly here to stay, because Flickr isn't an option for me, and I didn't have any issues with ipernity. I love my new ipernity routine! I put up a new picture, and in the days following, I reply to all the comments left on the previous picture, before I put up a new picture! This solves one of my biggest problems I had with my 365 project: trying to reply to the comments left on each picture. It was really hard to do, and yet, I think it's extremely important to repay the kindness of a visit, appraisal and comment by doing the same. I'm not sure how to phrase that, because I don't want commenting to seem like a chore or requirement. I think commenting should come from a desire to share one's feelings about an image, to offer encouragement and sometimes some constructive criticism, but only if it is asked for or stated in such a way that it's not destructive. I love that I'm no longer under pressure with my photography or ipernity. The stress that built up over feelings of guilt for not visiting people is finally going down, instead of up. I know there are countless people who've left comments that I haven't visited, but I hope that in time I'll be able to visit everyone once again! Today's picture was taken about 6 months ago on my birthday in September. My husband, Steve, presented me with some beautiful beads he bought at the company he works for, Fire Mountain Gems & Beads , where he works as a product photographer! I originally planned to use this picture for my Picture of the Day for my 365 Project, but in the end, I decided on another image instead. This picture, like dozens of others, sits in a folder just waiting for a chance to be seen! I am busy finishing up a work project right now so I just can't afford the time to take any pictures of Bees (CHRISSY!!), Boxers, Bassets, Birdseye Speedwell Blossoms, Beetles, Bugs, or any other awesome B subjects for this round! So I thought it would be perfect to share this neat image today! I hope you like it! And once again, I'll be visiting everyone in the next few days and I can't wait to see what you have to share with me! :) Explored on March 5, 2014. Highest placement, #6.

Here is my contribution for Square/Cube! :D 4 more pictures in notes above! :) You can also find me on Facebook ! Today is Thursday and that means it's BOKEH THURSDAY!!! The theme for this week is "square", so I decided to take macros of some tiny crystal, metal, and enamel square beads that I have. I placed them on my iPad for a reflective surface and used my macro flash to get lots of shine. I settled on three different arrangements to share--this one even has a square format!--and I also got a nice one of some colorful wooden beads I have! ENJOY!! Today also marks the first day of August, and that starts another month in my 365 Project! I've included a collage of my month today as well! :) By the way, if you enjoy taking pictures with bokeh in them, you might be interested in this group. Lots of very nice people and we would love to have more join in the fun! Bokeh Thursday Courtney Milan's debut novel was published in 2010. Since then, she's been a New York Times and a USA Today bestseller, and her books have received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Courtney Milan Explored on August 2, 2013. Highest placement: page 2 (#50).

I think this is my favorite because it's nicely balanced with lots of pretty bokeh shimmer!

This one has such a beautiful amethyst-colored crystal bead, I like the skewed perspective and interesting abstract quality. Believe it or not, the green crystal beads are the same size and shape as the amethyst one! They are only about 1/8" in size! :D

These wooden beads are 1/2" squares and meant to be strung onto sisal strands (a natural rope fiber) and used as a chewable toy for our parrot! The blocks are colored with vegetable food dye so they are non-toxic! :)