Author: Elizabeth Ruffing

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Still fusing the world together, one piece at a time

Okay, yeah, that would be an ambitious project, and I’m not sure a necessarily good one to take on. I am, however, still fusing my appliquéd pieces together for my Lucy dolls. I know these don’t look all that different here from the last time I posted about them, but I’ve gotten more done on them. They just don’t look like “something” until they come together, all sewn and stuffed, and they take a long time to make. I’ll be embellishing them next.

Thanks everyone who wrote to tell me they voted for my “Hug Me! Slug” in Etsy’s Handmade Kids Challenge, and thanks to everyone who didn’t write to tell me they voted too 😉 The polls are open until September 8th. You can still vote for my Gerard the “Hug Me! Slug” here (if you haven’t already)…I really appreciate it!

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Please vote for me!!!

I’m a finalist in the Etsy Handmade Kids Challenge! I’m so happy! Gerard, my “Hug Me! Slug” is is in the toy category. Please, please, please go vote for him (and me!) here. All you need is an Etsy user ID. It’s free and easy to get one. You can vote only once in each category and, by voting, you get a chance to win an Etsy shopping spree. You can read all about the Handmade Kids Challenge and Sweepstakes here.

This is Gerard. He has already found a home, but you can still see his listing here.

The photos on the voting page rearrange themselves, and so you might have to look for him a little on the page. Etsy will be having a guest panel of judges from Boingboing, Cookie, decor8, Martha Stewart Living, Ohdeedoh, Parents and Treehugger. I’m so excited. I have been on Etsy for some time now, hoping to be found amidst the many handmade items by all sorts of artists and craftspeople. Thanks Etsy!

Gerard is happy about it too, or I’m sure he would be. I hope someone will tell him!

I’m still making my dolls. They got dresses, stockings, and shoes today, or some of them did. I’m making progress.
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Sunday afternoon

I’m gessoing some little, very little, canvases this afternoon. The canvas looked wobbly and loose on one, and so I dunked it in hot water to shrink it. I should have done that before I added more gesso, since it did shrink and my new coat of gesso came puckering off.

I’m going to try some mini animal portraits. I have no idea what that will be like, especially with acrylic paint on canvas. The texture of the canvas and the heaviness of the paint might be a challenge to getting fine detail. They are only 3 x 4 inches. They should be relatively fast to get painted at least, and I need some quicker path to satisfaction while I’m making all my dolls. It’s good to make a bunch of things simultaneously because you can be more organized about it, but it’s bad in that you have to wait so long to have that sense of accomplishment you get when you are holding something finished in your hands.

I also picked up a new journal for myself. I’ve been journaling since I was twelve or thirteen, but I’ve always picked out plain school-type spiral notebooks. I’m intimidated by anything too “fancy”. I used to write in them more regularly. In recent years, I’ve tended to turn to them almost only when I’ve been sad or angry, and don’t want to overburden anyone else by talking about it too much. I hate to think what my life will look like to anyone who might read them someday! I am cheerful most of the time, and I am hoping by having a more cheerful looking journal, I might be tempted to “branch out” again.

I’ve had this Cat Steven’s song in my head for a couple of days now, “If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out“, from Harold and Maude.

I’ve had a lot on my mind lately, and there have been moments when I’ve had to stop myself and remember that my life really isn’t, and doesn’t have to be, complicated. I have a home, enough to sustain me, people (and kitties) who love me, and things to do that I enjoy and find rewarding. I’ve tried too hard, in recent years, to add one more very-important-to-me thing to my life, a family of my own, and in doing that, I have tried too hard to accept a lot of unhappiness. I feel like I am at a crossroads, emotionally, where I need to choose to release myself from the pressure I feel, choose to have faith in my own future, and not be sad about it. I’ve said a lot of things would “never” happen for me before in my life, and been very wrong.

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I have big shoes and a messy room

I’m still working on a bunch of dolls all at once. They were all getting appliquéd hair today. That is a pile of ponytails-in-progress in the upper right of the top photo with my “Gumdrop Baby” faces.

This one is a Lucy doll in progress. I pull the paper backing off my fusible web as I go, and drop it on the floor. I know that isn’t so nice, but there isn’t anyone here who is going to complain about it. As long as no paper-chewing pets are in there, it’s okay for a while. We have one cat who will chomp on all sorts of weird things if we’re not careful. He’s not allowed in there. It’s important to keep pets away from art and craft supplies they might eat. You just never know what might be intriguing to them and it’s best to be safe.

My floor looks like this until I come through with a waste paper basket. I don’t like to trip over anything extra in that room. So it’s easier for me to leave the waste paper basket somewhere else and come through with it when I need to. I am a clutter-aholic.

I also finally got new sneakers. I have been putting that off for months. I think I mentioned before that I hate to buy new sneakers. Don’t you know, they redesigned them, and made the toe area bigger. I am floating in the usual size I get, which I ordered by mail. I don’t think I mentioned before that I also hate to return things, and so I will be floating in these for a good long time! I wear sneakers most of the time, even with sundresses. That should be an even better look for me now 😉