Category: Soft Dolls and Art Toys

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Super Sammy Slug of Santa Cruz

12 inch yellow and blue I wouldn’t want to have to call him for help, because that would be a mouthful, but, I have to say, he looks very willing to help if asked. Or even if not asked.

Yellow and blue Super Slug“Super Sammy” the Super Slug is heading to California right now. He’s going to be a graduation gift for someone who is will be attending the University of California Santa Cruz. Their mascot is a banana slug. Their mascot’s name is also Sammy, but not “Super Sammy”, although I’m sure he is super in his own right.

I’m going to try to get some more slugs up in my Etsy shop soon, and then I think I’ll take a break from custom-made toys while I get our Ruffing’s web site reorganized. I need to edit some art doll photos and work out the blog migration over on that site. I’ll still have the “name your own” option on the soft dolls and toys, so everyone can still get some customization, which is fun for gifts or just because.

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Posing with slugs and one lone toad

I’ve finally settled on slug sizes that I’m happy with. I was going to just have two sizes, but I kept the small, 7 inch size, and just added a 9 inch, and a 12 inch slug size. I’ve readjusted their pricing to be proportionate with the new sizes. The custom-made slugs are currently available in 9 or 12 inches, and I have a bunch of ready-made 7 inch ones. You can still name your own slug, either way.

I’ve got ten new sluggies to put in my Etsy shop. I added a “Hug Me! Slugs” category to make finding them easier.

I’ve also added a “Sock Animals” category. I will get all these guys and girls in there as soon as I can. Unfortunately, our old computer is having fits of despair, which is making all my work go much more slowly. I think this may be the weekend we finally opt to get a new computer. I’ll have to learn how to use it though, since we’ll be switching to a Mac this time.

I talked my mom into photographing me holding slugs yesterday, so you all can see what the sizes really look like in comparison to a person. Looking at them all by themselves doesn’t give much sense of scale.

It was the end of the day, and I was pretty tired when we took these. I tried to smile, but even the corners of my mouth were tired!

Hopefully these will give you an idea at least, of the new sizes. I’ll add them to my listings as soon as I get a chance.

I sure hope editing photos will be easier on a new computer. I’ve been here all day, just trying to adjust these to sort of match each other. It’s been exasperating. I guess that will make me all the more happy to have a new computer, once we get one.

I need to expand my toad collection too!

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Valentino is someone’s Valentine

Today is “Valentino the Hug Me! Slug’s” big day. He’s been waiting to hear who his new adoptive parent(s) will be.

He’s been talking about it to all his friends. As you can see, he’s developed quite a following around here, lots of admirers.

Well, here’s the big news………..Sam A. is our big winner. I will get in touch with you (so glad I figured out who you were!) to get a shipping address. Thank you so much to everyone who entered and left such lovely comments!

Valentino still has slug friends who are looking for homes over in my Etsy shop. I’ve added some special “I (heart) you” tags as an additional option to naming your own slug.

I hope you all have a terrific Valentine’s Day!

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Valentine’s Day Slugs and Toad Tags

I finally got my drawing done for my “Hug Me! Toad” hang tag. I don’t know what took me so long. I must have been making slugs like crazy. I’d like to grab some time to make some more toads and sock hippos especially, some sock zebras too.

I’m still playing with slug sizes. These are the newer “small” slugs, about 8 inches tall, next to the “large” I’ve been making all along. As I was saying before, I’m aiming for two sizes, instead of having a “medium”. I’ll try making the large a little smaller soon.

I made a batch of Valentine’s Day “Hug Me! Slugs” too and put them up in my Etsy shop. They are in my original small size, about 7 1/4 inches tall, and they’re made of cuddly fleece.

I think this magenta pink one is my favorite. I love his (her?) whimsical expression.

But then, it’s hard to pick a favorite. I enjoy discovering how they each seem to have a personality once I’m done sewing and photographing them.

They’re an amusing bunch.

There is still time to enter for a chance to win “Valentino the Hug Me! Slug“. I’ll be announcing the winner tomorrow on my blog.

Speaking of my blog, Blogger.com is making some changes in mid-March. They are discontinuing the ability to upload your blog to your FTP folder. That doesn’t effect most people who use Blogger, from what they say, but it does effect us unfortunately. They are promising a “migration tool” but it won’t be ready for another couple of weeks. So, I can’t say for certain yet where our new blog addresses will be, but they will change soon. I plan to post announcements on the blogs. If anything should go wrong with that, and hopefully it won’t, please check the home pages of our websites, ruffings.com and elizabethruffing.com, or our Ruffing’s Facebook page for the announcement. If you’re on Facebook, please “become our fan” on the Ruffing’s page.

Most likely, the new blog addresses will be ruffings.com/blog. I haven’t published anything to those addresses, as of today, though. I’ll post more information about that when I have some.

Mostly, I’ve just been sewing and sewing and sewing, while watching so many movies that I can’t even remember what movies I’ve watched.

Good night. I will talk to you tomorrow when I post “Valentino’s” adoptive parent’s name on my blog 🙂