Meet Franc & Stan

I thought it might be a nice idea to introduce Franc & Stan and tell you a little more about these quiet but colourful characters.

The two chaps have an intriguing back story. Franc is a retired circus lion tamer and champion disco dancer. He is reluctant to talk much about his lion taming days and I suspect there are many tales of love, won and lost, if only he would share his stories. Nobody is sure of Franc's exact age but it is suspected that he is considerably older than he looks thanks to Grecian 2000. Franc has an insatiable appetite for pork scratchings and now spends much of his time with his best mate Stan. 

Franc

Stan is an avid collector of jumpers (sweaters in the U.S). It is rumoured that he has nearly two thousand, some dating back to the 1930's. He has bequeathed the entire collection to the National Institute for Sweater and Tank Top Design in Stanton, Nebraska much to Francs relief!!! Stan is also a champion ping pong player and has travelled the globe to compete. It was on one competition tour that Franc and Stan first met. In 1991 in a soulless hotel bar, a long way from home in Chiba City, Japan, both buzzing from winning their respective heats, they sat chatting late into the night. They remain firm friends to this day.

Stan

Franc & Stan are available to buy as a kit to make yourself or as ready made softies and even as keyrings.

I hope you have enjoyed meeting Franc and Stan. We'll meet some more Fat Hen And Flo folk soon.

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Do more of what you LOVE.

The weekend is here and it's a long one,yay!!!! well it is in the UK anyway. And true to form the weather is fairly miserable. I however think it's a perfect excuse to cosy down and do lots of what I love, which this weekend is mostly this.

I'll also being doing plenty of this with friends and family......

Print by Freshline Illustration on Etsy .com

and eating a little of this.....

What ever you do this weekend, make sure you do more of what you LOVE.

Enjoy.

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By the way......have you seen the new items in my shop? A little bit of of London.

Available on Etsy and Folksy.

I'm off now to eat cake and drink tea........happy days.

What shall I write in my peacock blue square?

Today I found myself feeling a little flat and struggling to get going, the grey skies didn't help. I quite fancied snuggling up with a book and an endless cup of tea but that wasn't going to happen. I then couldn't find a pattern I was looking for that I'd had only a few days ago...grrrrrrr, so I decided to head out to pick up a coffee and get some fresh air. 

I don't really know how I came to be in Wilkinson's in the paint aisle..... looking at paint sample pots..... I am not thinking of decorating any time soon....... or why I felt compelled to buy a pot of Peacock Blue paint (complete with brush attached to lid for emergency painting moments). 

So with my paint in my bag I headed back to the studio, picking up much needed coffee on the way. Once in the studio I did this.

 I don't know why or what for but sometimes things just need to be done!!

I quite like it actually and I'm thinking I might add some text, perhaps an inspirational quote...........

What should I write in my Peacock Blue square? Answers on a postcard to ...... the comments box below will do fine. If any one suggests anything that I use I might even send you a little something from Fat Hen And Flo.

Susan

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Vintage book fun

Can you imagine asking kids today to answer these???? This is from a book of bedtime stories for young children in 1976.

How many can you get right? Answers later.

I got three and my hubby is a gardener!! I would have been four when this was published and so just the age for bedtime stories, can't imagine I'd have answered ANY then......

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The answers.

Inspirational Vintage Book Bargains

Beautiful illustration on the inside cover of this 1972 'Toddlers Own' and just look at the price!

I just adore vintage children’s illustrated story books and over the past couple of years have gathered my own tiny collection. They are often found stacked on my desk when I’m working on new designs or just when I just feel like an afternoon of tea and books.... creative research, a legitimate work activity.....

What is it I love about these books? The colour, naive style, folk element, simplicity and I’m sure a handful of nostalgia needs to be thrown in. Also it’s this......

This would have been a major gift, not just an annual to bulk out the presents, thrown hastily in the trolley as it was on offer...  so cheap it can be sent to the charity shop in 3 months when it’s hardly been looked at!! This, I’m sure, would have been read from cover to cover and here it is 55 years later back on someone’s bookshelf.

Last week I struck lucky and found 4 fabulous books for just 50p each!!! OMG I here you cry....I know!!! I paid up and ran out the shop quickly before they realised their error. Inside my head I was skipping down the street. Not that they have any real monetary value but were I to stumble across them at a vintage fair say, I’d have paid handsomely I’m sure.  They range from 1957 to 1976 and are full of gorgeous stuff like this.

The 1957 Girl Annual has these beautiful colour prints in the the centre.

And OMG it even has a vintage toy sewing pattern, another love of mine that I'll share with you another time.

It's all about enjoying the simple pleasures in life and this little bundle of loveliness rounded off a great week perfectly for me.

What bargains make you want to skip down the street?

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