I am a Bohemian Hippie!

I grew up in the 1960's and 70's.

I guess that is why I love the Bohemian Hippie look.

Natural fiber ,

wood,

 

crystals,

recycling,

and stones are thing things I love to work with.

It is a very earthy, organic look...and that's what appeals to me.

What appeals to you?

Are you a Bohemian Hippie?

More of a modern type?

Trendy?

Or, something else...

What is Your Style?

I grew up close to the beach on Central Florida's East Coast. Bare feet and casual, comfy attire is what it was all about. 

Recently, I read an article where they described my style perfectly. "...if you are a Steve Nicks fan, spend hours in the ocean, see your home as a peaceful retreat and don't like to subscribe too closely to one specific style..."

Yep, that's me! Well, I don't get to spend much time at the beach, but if I lived closer I would. Living in Louisiana now, I don't really have that option. 

This article goes on to say, "Boho and beach are both laid-back styles, so combining them doubles the relaxing feeling they promote." It goes on to mention how cool whites from the beach provide a great backdrop for bold, bright colors and print combos." 

I love bright colors and fun prints, as well as the crisp whites...especially those white sheers. Love it when the wind blows through the windows, billowing out the light weight fabric. The article actually describes home decor, but usually the colors and style you dress your home in, you also dress yourself with. 

I thought it was interesting, too, that recycling was mentioned. Guess what!? I love to recycle things into fun, unique pieces...hence my guitar string jewelry and ornaments. 

Sea shells are something else I love to have around...

even the broken ones. Something about the shell fragments...they are sometimes more interesting and prettier than the whole shells. It reminds me when we become broken, because of life experiences, we can learn and grow and become a better person.

I not only love to wear sea shells, but I love to decorate with them in my home. 

So....what is your style? Are you a Bohemian Hippie who loves the beach like me? Are you one who loves the Southwest? Jeans and t-shirt type? Or, are you more of the business-professional type of person...dress pants or skirt with heels? 

Whatever your style is, I think it's great. I think it's great because it brings interest into the world. If everyone dressed the same, it would be a very boring place. I'm glad that there are different styles and taste because it makes the world a much better place...

The Tappingflamingo is The Bohemian Hippie

I love my Florida upbringing. It is part of who I am. 

I am The Tappingflamingo

and...

I am also The Bohemian Hippie.

why am I Tappingflamingo?

well, Florida has a lot to do with it. The sandy beaches; the warm, tropical breezes; the sunshine; the palm trees; and even the beautiful colors of yellows, blues, browns, greens, purples, oranges, pinks. I love colorful things.

Tappingflamingo also because of my dance background. I love dancing, and yoga...

Why The Bohemian Hippie?

I play the mountain dulcimer.

I love to dress comfortably. Dresses that flow, layers, lace, Birkenstocks, denim, beach wear, long/easy going hair, etc...

oh, and of course...jewelry

I love jewelry. I love to wear it and make it.

Crystals, feathers, sea shells, hemp, wood, recycled guitar strings, paper, sari ribbon

Oversized earrings, layers of necklaces, bracelets that stack up and down the arm, and anklets

A lot of my friends tease me about being such a hippie. I don't mind, because I know I am. After all, as soon as I graduated from high school, our family drove all over the country for six weeks pulling a pop up camper with our red VW Van. Can't get more hippier than that, lol...

anyway.....I've made nature inspired jewelry for quite some time. In my research of the style I make, I have learned the style is bohemian hippie. I love the bohemian style, and as I have researched what that is, I have learned that I am A Bohemian Hippie...tropical style, of course...

I Miss You, Sox...

 

Three months ago, we were getting ready to celebrate your 14th birthday. Yes, that is pretty old for a dog...about 98 years, but you sure did not act like a 98 year old woman.

You had your good days and you had your bad days, but they were mostly good. You loved to go outside and lay in the hot sun. You loved to run around the backyard. You especially loved to lay in the corner in the middle of the yellow Iris's.

Those have become my favorite flower...

You hind legs were getting tired...probably arthritis, but you didn't seem to be in much pain. Your hearing was not what it use to be, but one good thing about that, you didn't get scared, anymore, when we would have one of our major thunderstorms we get quite frequently here in Louisiana. Your eyesight was not what it use to be, but you still could see me, and always got excited whenever I came into the room.

Because your hind legs were weaker, you could not longer jump on the couch or the bed, but I would sometimes lift your 50 pound body to sit or lay next to me. I remember the Sunday before you got really sick, snuggling up close to you at the foot of our bed. We laid there for a long time. I knew then, that you didn't have much time with me. I wanted that moment to last forever. 

I miss your snuggles, I miss you smelling my breath. You seem to do that a lot. I miss you greeting me with excitement when I come home.  I miss your smile...yes, you had a cute smile. I miss your sassiness whenever your water bowl was empty or food was gone. And yes, I even miss getting up at 3 a.m. to let you out to do your business.

It has been 2 months, 4 days and 8 hours since you crossed over the rainbow bridge.

Will I ever get over you being gone?....I don't think so.

Soon after you left me, I left to visit with my daughter and her family in Virginia. With your dad working a shutdown and 90+ hour weeks, and the quarantine, it was hard to be here, all alone, without your companionship.

Then I came home to pack and leave again to visit two of our boys...one in Colorado and one in Utah.

Now I'm back home again, and oh so very lonely. 

I think of you all the time.... 

I miss you more than I can say....

Some may say I'm silly, and that I need to get over it, but I can't.

I want you to know, my dearest Sox, that I am trying to be good so that I can be with you again when my time is up hear on earth.

Sox Anna Carter

23 May 2006 - 16 June 2020

Shells, Wire and Sari Ribbon With a Little Bit of Crystals, Jasper, Quartz, Agate, and glass...

My husband and I just got back from a big adventure...a trip to Doha, Qatar...to visit his sister and her son. We had a great time!

While we were there, I was hoping to be able to do some beach combing. I got lucky, and we were able to do that twice. The beaches were mostly covered in just sand. Hardly any shells or other findings were around, but we did find some good stuff.

If you are interested in seeing what we found, check out my Youtube video. I show my finds at the end of the video. The beginning, I show my process of getting a shell ready to wire wrap into a necklace.

Since I've been back, I have been playing around with seashells, wire and sari ribbon. Here are some cocoon bead links I made...

Then I wire wrapped some shells and added jasper, crystals, glass beads, quartz, and agate to make some pretty cool Bohemian pieces. At least I think they are pretty cool. What do you think?

The last thing I decided to make was a big pair of earrings. These two clamshells were hooked together, so they made a perfect pair of earrings I wire wrapped them with copper wire and added Picasa Jasper.

So...let me know what you think. Would you wear any of these? One of these pieces has already been asked about. She plans to wear it on her next cruise in a couple of months. 

What About A Newsletter?

I hear a lot about how I need to have a newsletter. I have been fighting this for some time. Why? Well, there are several reasons why.

One...and the main reason is...it cost money. I've heard, "It doesn't cost that much." Well, maybe not, but a penny here and a penny there turns into dollars, which accumulate. I need to have a domaine name...money, then I need to use a site with which I can draft my newsletters and send them through, which is more money. As a small business...a VERY small business, I don't have much of that green stuff, and I like to try to keep my costs down. Lower cost for me, means I can pass on the savings to YOU! 

I have done several polls, and every! single! one! of! them!!!! have said no to newsletters. Personally, the only reason I even open them is to see what my competition is. The only reason I even signed up is to get something either free or a discount. I absolutley HATE emails. They seem to be a necessary evil. I am not the only one that feels that way, and I don't like to annoy people, so this is another reason I am not a fan.

Another reason for me balking at getting an email list, is because of how hard the are to set up and run. Not the writing part, the tech part. I am not very tech minded, and everything is so difficult. I'm not sure why they make it that way. It could actually be dumbed down for those of us who find this sort of thing hard, but nooooo....they don't want to do that. Some of them think they are making it easy, but news bulletin....no you are NOT.

Here is another reason....WHERE DO I GET THE PEOPLE!? Yes, good questions. I can't just pull them out of the sky. Sure I have a few that would join, but since I seem to be the invisible one, not sure I will be seen. I have working my you know what off with posting all over social media for several years, and I am still pretty much invisible, looked over, not seen. Yes, sometimes invisibleness is a good thing, but not in business.

Anyway, those are just a few reason why I have not jumped on the email bandwagon. Now, this being said, I do want to get people information about what is going on with Tappingflamingo and TappingflamingoBling. I don't want to be pushy and just talk about selling this or that, but I'd like to help people with any problems or questions they may have when it comes to certain things, like beach vacations, cruises, how to pack, what to bring, what to do, what to wear, etc. 

I've been thinking a lot about this, and these are the things I would put into a newsletter along with some new items I have been working on. I would also like to share some fun things on how I come up with designs and some of the process of making them. I don't know about you, but I love to watch people create.

So...why not just do this in my blog and promote it? For now, I think that is what I plan to do. So, stay tuned for my newsletter blog. They will be short and to the point. I plan to have links to take you to places where you can read and learn more..that is if you want to. 

Please share my blog, yes, I would love it if you could help me be "SEEN."

So...if there is anything you would like to learn or glean from my blog, let me know. I love it when y'all comment and leave message.

Have a wonderful day!!!!
Terry Jeanette
Tappingflamingo
TappingflamigoBling

etsy as TappingflamingoBling
other places you can find me
Instagram as tappingflamingobling
youtube as tappingflamingo
facebook as TappingflamingoBling, TLC for Body Mind and Spirit, Beach Bums and Cruises, Crusing 411
TikTok as tappingflamingo
Twitter as tappingflamingo

January is Glaucoma and Cervical Cancer Awareness

Happy 2020 to everyone! It is my hope that you and your family find 2020 a great year!

TappingflamingoBling plans to concentrate on some very import things this year, and that is awareness.

There are so many conditions that people suffer from, and a lot of them, most of us have either never heard of or have no idea what they really are. This is why I want to focus on these things.

For the month of January, I want to bring more awareness to two things..

Cervical Cancer

and

Glaucoma.

January is the awareness month for both of these conditions. 

Cervical cancer occurs in the cells of the cervix which is the lower part of the uterus that connects the vagina. It rarely affects women under the age of 20. Women between the ages of 35 and 44 are at highest risk. More than 15% of women diagnosed with cervical cancer are older than 65. This is why it is so important to continue to have regular check ups, including Pap smear, as this is how it is found. 

Glaucoma is something I had a bit of a scare with a few years ago. It is a condition that damages your eye's optic nerve. It will get worse over time, and it tends to run in families. Glaucoma is something you usually get later in life. Basically it has to do with pressure in your eyes. Intraocular pressure damages the optic nerve. The optic nerve is what sends images to your brain...so yes, you can go blind.

What are the signs? If you see halos around lights, your peripheral vision is diminishing, redness in the eyes, tunnel vision, hazy eyes or vision loss are some of the symptoms. Glaucoma cannot be cured, but it can be slowed down.

Fortunately, high pressure in my eyes is something that runs in my dad's side of the family, but has nothing to do with glaucoma. I was very relieved to learn this. 

To bring more awareness to these two conditions, and other conditions, TappingflamingoBling has crochet bracelets from wax cording in the awareness colors. 

Green is the color for glaucoma awareness...  

...and teal and white is the color for cervical cancer awareness.

These bracelets and other awareness bracelets are available on my TappingflamingoBling Etsy shop

They are adjustable to fit most wrists and waterproof! So...you can swim, bathe or go to the beach in them. You never have to take them off, if you don't want.

If there is something that is close to our heart that you would like to bring more awareness to, just let me know! I'd be glad to make you one in YOUR color. If you need multiples, I can do that too, just let me know....

Hope you have a wonderful day!!!!

and New Year!!!!!

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