Well the Slacker is back!!!

PEEK A BOO!!!

 And Hello SPRING!!! I am so proud of these plants coming up!! They are from my MOM's funeral plant I got. I planted the bulbs last SPRING. I have never really been able to plant bulbs and have them grow except for lillies!!! So I am geeked over these!! Today I went out and raked the leaves off of them!!

 

 

We had a great Easter!! Our granddaughter Caylee came up to see us Easter evening!! We got her a jump rope and some sidewalk chalk and a few other things. She loved the jump rope and of course wanted to play with it right away!! I think she likes it!! LOL She is so cute. She will be 3 at the end of the month. We'll be seein her again soon!! Yay!!!

Our Easter was pretty busy. I ended up making two pies and two Apple Snickers desserts. I gave one pie to my neighbors and took the other to my SIL for our dinner there. Sim took one Apple dessert to work and the other I had for when the kids were up to see us. We had a very blessed Easter.

 

 

Then on Tuesday it was my birthday!! We went out for the best BLT pizza they make uptown at The Mountain Inn bar. I love the way they put them on the big tin cans to serve them!! I threw myself a party up there!! Sim is taking the pics, and that is my MIL, SIL, BFF and my two daughters Kaitlin and Brooke!!! It was alot of fun!! I brought cookies for us to have after the pizza!! I tell you between the big Easter dinner we had and all the desserts and then my birthday I have to go on a diet!! No kidding!!! I also had my yearly physical this week too!!  

 

Today Sim and I went on a date!! It was so much fun!! Just being together!! We went to Holly to the Goodwill. A friend had told me about it. I found a few goodies and some jeans I needed real bad!! Then we headed off to Fenton from there and no kidding we ran into a church sale!! I got a few goodies there too!!  Then it was out to lunch with a gift card!! Awesome food and dessert of course!! We drove to a boat launch Sim use to fish at and walked around!! Boy do I need to walk more!! LOL I am so glad the weather is getting better!!!

 

Kaitlin gave Sim the money to buy the wood to make me a shelf for my studio/office/craft/computer room for my birthday. He got it made and painted for me this week and after I get my goodies on it I'll share with you guys. I LOVE it. I have been working on some pigg orders!! Those little dudes are so darn cute. I also made another spoon nest.

 

 

And I LOVE this Mouse Pin Cushion that I up cycled from an Alpaca vintage sweater I got thrifting. I am thinking maybe I might keep this one for myself. LOL She turned out so sweet!!

 

So that is what I have been up to lately!! LOL I can't wait til I can go outside and work!! But I really need to get everything done inside first!! Guess I'd better get busy!! Right? Hope you are all doing good. Thanks for listening to Frannie Downer last time I posted!! Since then I got a couple of orders and I guess I realized when God closes one door He opens another one!! I am gonna be looking for those doors and not running into them!! Cuz sometimes the blonde in me does miss them!!

XOXO Love ya and peace out!!

Fran.

A new Farm Animal and "NESTING"!!

Meet "ROXIE LOU HICKS". Oh how I am digging making these little beauties!! This one is named after my grand baby sorta the Roxie comes from her middle name Roxanne and the Lou is from my Kaitlin's middle name which is Louisa. They will all be from the Hicks family!! LOL I decided not to grunge this one up as the blue was so pretty. But I think I still like the grunge better. Right now I am working on finishing up one of my Prim DOG dolls as I can't wait to use that cute material on it!!

 

I have also been "NESTING"!! I made these pretty nest spoons for my Esty Shoppe. I have been watching the birds return slowly and I found some Downing Woodpecker feathers and added them to the nest. I love their feathers sometimes they look like polka dots on them. Oh how I love nature!! I have been takin little tiny walks outside. I had a cold for about a week it was driving me so darn crazy!! But it is gone now but I am still havin a flare up with my bladder disease. I am praying and praying as what the direction God has for me. I don't want to have a pity party as no one comes to them. AND I LOVE PARTIES!! Just not ones where no comes!! So I am kickin my own butt and trying to listen to HIM!! Hmmm.. as I just typed this the sun perked up!! I did a craft show this weekend and I have come to the realization that I am probably not gonna be able to do them much longer. I am praying for direction as I love to be with people and I love to create and sell what I make.

Thanks for listening. I have been praying all morning and watching the birds. I know God has a plan.

XOXO Luv ya all to the moon n back!!

Fran. 



Come share a cuppa Spring with me!!!

 



Well I can't stand it any longer so I decided if Spring wasn't coming soon I was gonna bring it to me!!!! This is my favorite cup for my coffee with my favorite color orange on it!! So when I saw the orange peeps I decided to get them. I had seen something like this on Pinterest. I did this for me to brighten up my coffee and day!!! And I did eat them too!! They were very yummy!!

 

Along with getting the peeps I got two new cleaning cloths!! And guess what!! they are orange too!! I know I will dust a lot more and with a smile on my face!! I decided to go with my fav color!!

 

And my new "ORANGE" purse. Sim got this purse for me from the hospital gift shop and I have been waiting til the first day of Spring to use it!!! Which is Wednesday!!! YAY only two more days!!! I think!! LOL Now I gotta put outfits together!!! Which I need to go through my closets! And I am looking forward to Spring Cleaning!!! both the closets and the house.

 

 

I got some new Springy materials at Joann's. The dog prints are gonna be sweet dresses for my Prim Raggedy Dog Dolls I am sewing up right now. The one print is so cute with the little boots on the dogs feet!! The other two prints I just really liked a lot!!

Well I know everyone is waiting for Spring as much as I am!!

Thanks for stopping by!!! XOXO Luv ya Fran.



 

 

 

I canned tomatoes today!! SAY WHAT!!

 

 I made some tomatoes that I upcycled from an old 80's like sweat shirt. I put one into blue pint size canning jars with a little bit of moss in the bottom of the jars. I tied twine around the jars and added grubby tags. One says "Maters 1876" and the other one says "Maters 1878". These jars are alittle bit worn n chipped but perfect for these kind of tomatoes that won't spoil!! They both have the old zinc lids. I love how these turned out!! I'll be puttin these in my etsy shoppe.

 

See my cute little pig on the rusty spring!! After I get done fixin her up she'll be headed for the shoppe too!! I designed her and grubbied her up real good!! I wanted her to look like she's been playin in the mud out in the pasture and boy does she!! And she smells good too!! I kinda feel like I have been working on the farm around here. I also have another sheep ready for her prim bath!!

 

 

 

I also whipped up this sweet pen/pencil holder for myself for in my gettin clean n organized craft/studio/office/computer room. I have been working on cleaning it for about a week now. I have been watchin alot of DVDs I haven't seen in awhile and just doing it. This pen/pencil holder I whipped up from an old door knob. The bird was my Mom's and I had the pencil and added the tag that I made along time ago. I also used a real bird feather and pinecone. Funny thing this door knob was given to Sim Saturday night from a friend for his bird houses he makes. Sim doesn't know yet that I snuck into the box of goodies and got it!! OOPS!! But I LOVE it sitting on my desk.

 

I believe I have SPRING FEVER!! LOL The sun was shining here in Michigan today and I had a smile on my face all day!! And I just heard it is suppose to be close to 50 on Friday and the sun is gonna shine for the next few days!! WOO HOO this gal is gettin her MoJo back and lovin it!! I can not wait til I get my studio done!! I have so many things I want to make!! And before I know it I can go outside and play!! Hope you all had a sun shiny kinda day too!!

Peace out!! Love ya XOXO Fran.  





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Come celebrate with me at my new Etsy Team Kick off!!!

This is my donation to the giveaway.

I hand sewed three cute little bunnies with a carrot nose in different shades of purple flannel. There is a crocheted dishcloth I made in sweet colors and two plastic eggs I upcycled with the left over yarn and added lace and a sweet little flower too.  I put it all in an old bread pan with purple Easter grass and added some eyelet lace around the pan. I had alot of fun putting this together for you. It will come wrapped in cello with Easter candy.

Here is the link to our blog http://folkartandprimitives.blogspot.com/. Stop over there to find out what you need to do to have a chance at my giveaway and all the other groovey giveaways from the team!!! On the side there are little banners that will take you to the Etsy shoppes!! Just click on them.

Thanks so much!!! Love ya bunches and good luck!!

XOXOXO Fran.