Soft Dolls and Art Toys Archives - Page 36 of 56 - Ruffing’s

Posted on July 11, 2010January 9, 2019 by Elizabeth Ruffing

Hybrid Slugs

I was asked if I could make a fleece Super Slug, and I wasn’t entirely sure I could. Mixing stretchy fabrics with non-stretchy fabrics seemed like asking for trouble. I usually make my “Hug Me! Slugs” out of either fleece or cotton, but I’d never tried both together. I used a mini iron to fuse the “super” emblem onto his chest, and then machine appliquéd it in place. I did the same for his eyes. I wish I had an even smaller mini iron, for the smaller slugs. I can’t touch the iron to the fleece, because it could melt, which makes the process a bit tricky.

I hand-basted his cape in place before sewing it, but really had no problems overall. This opens up some new possibilities in my toy-making. More hybrid slugs are soon to be born.

First, I have to finish these. I’ll be hand sewing their eyes and hearts and smiles.

Speaking of smiles, my fur-kid here needs to have his worked on this week. He wasn’t happy at all about people trying to look at his teeth, but he might need a couple of them taken out. I’m nervous about this, but hopefully all will go great and he’ll feel much better afterward.

Posted on June 15, 2010January 9, 2019 by Elizabeth Ruffing — 1 Comment

Super Slugs and Super-sized Slugs

As promised, I have some toys to show for myself today. We went out into the heat and took some photos. These two 12 inch tall “Super Slugs” are over in my Etsy shop right now.

This is the first time I’ve done a 14 inch “Hug Me! Slug”. He looks like he might be the real super slug here, but he’s already on his way to his new home. He’s a Father’s Day surprise for a dad who surprised his wife and son with their own personalized slugs. They wanted an even bigger one for him. He’s supposed to be “Dad sized”.

As you can see, the 12 inch slugs look dainty compared to him.

I also sewed up a 9 inch tall “Super Slug”. He flew off a few days ago to help look after a new baby. These slugs keep busy.

I should have taken one of them to the Post Office with me today. I could have used some assistance. I got a flat tire. I thought I heard a funny flapping noise over the air conditioning, and just as I approached the shoulder-less road home, the noise got louder.

I didn’t really have a safe place to pull over, and so I drove the rest of the way home. Luckily, it wasn’t far. The tire is still on the car, because it is just too hot out there right now to touch it, but, hopefully, there’s no damage to the rim. That’s a project for tomorrow.

We also photographed some of Max Bailey’s kitten figurines. I’ll get to work on editing those photos and putting up their web pages too. They’re very cute.

Up, up, and away!

Posted on May 28, 2010January 9, 2019 by Elizabeth Ruffing

Cleaning and rearranging

I’ve been knocking myself out, cleaning and organizing my workspaces. I’m still working on it. My kitties are competing with each other over who gets to sit on the new shelves, or on my old desk that I moved into my bedroom so I can sew while I watch, or at least listen to, TV. I’ve got lots of aches from hauling things around, and I feel a bit like I’m living in a storage facility. Still, the new arrangement sure beats having to lift eight boxes to get to the right color fleece!

That’s a good thing, because, in spite of my new organization, I still couldn’t find my light pink fleece this week. I pulled a few boxes off my new shelf, only to discover the pink was hiding in a bag on my table. But don’t worry…I went out and got more boxes! I should have supplies floor-to-ceiling, everywhere, soon.

As you can see, I turned my pink fleece into a pink fleece Hug Me! Slug. She left for her new home this morning, along with this cheerful pink polka dotted Hug Me! Toad, who is on her way to Australia.

Lately, I seem to be attracted to this pink color. When I was five, I think that was probably my idea of the best color there was. I had a fuzzy toy box that color. I picked up some more pink fabric, which is sitting on my ironing board, since I prewashed it. The fabric with the stars is fleece. I thought that was a good find.

I have some interesting information about my sewing machine, but I’m just waiting for confirmation about where to send it first, before I give an update about it.

Posted on April 30, 2010January 9, 2019 by Elizabeth Ruffing

Newly-hatched cardinals and a mini shop update

There were a lot of cheep-cheep-cheep noises coming out of the the bushes next to the porch last night. We kept seeing a male and female cardinal, hopping along the railing, and flying in and out of one of the bushes. I followed the noise and found four baby cardinals, with their eyes still closed, in a nest, waiting for their mom and dad to bring them some dinner.

It doesn’t seem like the best place for a nest, but birds make some odd choices sometimes. We’ve watched birds building nests in the hanging plants before too. I tried to give these cardinals some extra privacy by attaching a board to the porch railing, to block the view, at least from the porch. I took these photos first.

As you can see, when their mama arrives, all their mouths open at once. You can see her tail feathers through the branches. I tried to get a picture of her feeding them, but the light was fading and she wasn’t still for more than a second at a time. Their dad has been just as busy feeding them.

I hope they’ll be safe in there.

I just put some “Hug Me! Slugs” up in my Etsy shop and updated our Soft Dolls and Art Toys page, for a quick overview of what’s available. As I mentioned, I’m switching out the custom-order listings with ready-made dolls and creatures. I’ll continue doing that so I can get caught up on everything around here.