GO TEAM!!!!

What are your school colors? Funny thing is, from elementary school to high school, then to Jr. college and university, all but one of those schools had the same colors...blue and white.

I went to St Mary's Catholic school from third grade through the eighth grade and we were the cougars. Go blue and white!!!!

Then in high school, we were the Tigers, and of course our colors were orange and black.

Eventually, I headed west to a church school that was only a two year college. We were the Viking's and our colors were blue and white. Upon graduation, it was off to the big university that the Jr. college fed into, and I found my self, once again, a cougar...and blue and white were the colors. 

TappingflamingoBling is now making fun waterproof adjustable bracelets in school colors. I have most colors, and plan to expand to even more.  

These bracelets are hand crocheted, using high quality wax cording. I hand crochet each and everyone of them MYSELF. 

I'm even thinking about offering fund raiser opportunities.

I know schools are always looking for opportunities to raise some money for athletics, trips, and various other school functions. 

Blue, Black and White...this one would be perfect for the school our two youngest went to.

TappingflamingoBling made several of these camo bracelets for a fund raiser toward a precious little baby who was born with some serious complications. 

I have actually had the opportunity to raise a little money selling these autism awareness bracelets. Our local autism center and Surfers for Autism benefited from these sales. 

If you are interested, you can contact me through my Etsy shop . Just send me a convo, and we can talk about your needs. 

Whether she cruises the high seas on a ship, hang tens on a surfboard or just likes a quiet walk along the shores...Wearing a creation from TappingflamingoBling will keep her favorite places close to her heart and soul.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/TappingflamingoBling

Time to be Inspired Again!

It's that time again! To check out some crafters to see what they have been working on...

Do you like a good challenge? I know I do! Allegory Gallery has some great challenge kits, and this month's kit, Wild Jungle, looked like it was right up my alley! I love how they put some of the items from the kit with these bright beads that were already on hand. Mixing new things with old stash is a great way to freshen things up. I hope you go check out some of the other things they made.

https://beadlove.wordpress.com/2018/07/26/allegory-gallery-design-challenge-wild-jungle/

Allegory Gallery has some new items in their shop that you can use in your own creations. They also share some interesting history about their shop. 

https://www.allegorygallery.com/blog/index.php?id=4290624572768393298

Tammy Powley of The Crafty Princess Diaries has been busy with her dolls. She has been designing and making dresses for them. Hop on over to her blog to see what she is up to! She posted a video about some of the crafting and doll stuff she has been doing, including a gorgeous quilt that was started by her grandmother and finished my Tammy!

http://tammypowley.com/2018/07/25/stitching-details-matter-on-blythe-doll-dresses/

With the busy summer we all seen to have, it is hard to find time to do some crafting. Beading Arts decided to work on this Russian Spiral Rope Necklace, which she refers to as quick. I'm not sure about that, but it sure is gorgeous! She shares a link from June's issue of Bead Work by Carol Ohl. If you've ever wanted to learn to do these ropes, this would be a great opportunity to take advantage of the free instructions.

https://www.beading-arts.com/2018/07/russian-spiral-rope-necklace-quick.html

Tappingflamingo shows off her Autism Awareness Bracelets. They are all adjustable and she even carries styles that are waterproof. With each sale, a portion of the money goes to a non profit autism awareness organization! 

http://tappingflamingo.blogspot.com/2018/07/autism-awareness-bracelets.html

Andrew Thornton shares his latest creation for the Inspired by Reading Book Club.  For July, they read, "Eleanor & Park" by Rainbow Rowell, and he was inspired to create these fun "Mixed Tape" earrings. Check out his blog to find out more about the book club.

http://andrew-thornton.blogspot.com/2018/07/inspired-by-reading-eleanor-park.html

As a crafter, I love seeing what other crafters are up too. Stay tuned next week for some more inspiration.

Autism Awareness Bracelets

When I first opened my TappingflamingoBling Etsy shop, I knew someday, I wanted to do something for the autism community. I have two nephews with autism, and know the difficulties that many families living with autism have to deal with. 

I opened my shop in October of 2015 and started listing guitar string Christmas ornaments and jewelry. Over the next few years, I geared my line more toward beach and cruise inspired jewelry and accessories. 

In 2018, I started doing some serious thinking on my original plan...what can I do to help out the autism community? Since my nephews live in Florida and love to surf with their dad, I started doing some research on surfer style bracelets and discovered a product that I could use to make the bracelets waterproof! 

My plan was to make these affordable, and to donate a portion of the sales to a non profit autism awareness organization. 

My first style really didn't work out too well, so I went back to the drawing board and came up with a multi strand crochet style adjustable bracelet.

I loved the way it turned out!

I made a few of the original style and decided to make a simplified version. Still using all the colors, but instead of four strands it has one larger strand. 

In the Spring, I had the opportunity to be involved with an autism vendor fair, and was able to sell several of these bracelets to benefit the autism center at our local university. 

When summer came, I started collecting the money for a different organization...Surfer's For Autism. Since my two nephews surfed, and had been involved with Surfer's For Autism, I thought this was a perfect match. 

My next idea was to add beads and charms. Now, because of the beads and metal charms, these are not waterproof, but they are still comfortable and fun to wear.

Then I decided to branch out to school colors. Here are a few I have made. 

LSU Tigers!

BYU Cougars!

Arizona State Sun Devils!

My next idea was to come up with a princess line. The first one I made has a whimsical horse on it. Doesn't he look as if he could pull Cinderella's pumpkin coach? I have several styles of charms....crowns, pumpkin coach, mermaid, castle, magic wand, etc, that will be perfect to add to these bracelets.

I love working on these bracelets, and hope to be able to donate to different non profit autism awareness organizations. Check out TappingflamingBling for more Autism Awareness Bracelets and other styles of beach and cruise inspired jewelry and accessories.