Me and My Studio Archives - Page 4 of 29 - Ruffing’s

Posted on April 11, 2014 by Elizabeth Ruffing — 1 Comment

Dark purple, daffodil yellow, and orange fleece Hug Me Slugs, stuffed animal plush art toys

I finished two more plushie 12 inch fleece Hug Me Slugs. I crawled into the garden, which I haven’t cleaned out yet, to get a more glamorous photo of this dark purple slug softie with our bright pink azaleas which are in bloom just in time for Easter.

This boy or girl has a magenta heart.

I also have at the moment, three more 9 inch daffodil yellow fleece Hug Me Slugs, where you can pick out your own heart color. I’ve got them ready this time, so there isn’t a long wait, just a couple of days for me to add a heart and make a personalized hang tag for you.

This one has a cornflower blue heart. I was never able to get this exact color of blue again, and so at some point in the future, I’ll have to switch blues. Not to worry. I have so many colors I am sure I have another blue that will look nice with the yellow.

But in this case, I can add any color heart. I’m leaving that up to the adopter.

This orange 12 inch slug is also ready for adoption, at the time I am writing this post. He or she has a gold heart.

My stuffed animal art toys and dolls are over in my Etsy toy shop at hugmeslug.com so please come have a look.

Posted on May 17, 2013July 5, 2019 by Elizabeth Ruffing

Toy shop update, more stuffed animal bunnies and slugs

Hug Me Bunnies handmade stuffed animal rabbits by artist Elizabeth Ruffing

Here are the stuffed toy Hug Me Bunnies I meant to post for Easter. They are now spring bunnies instead.

I used a few shades of pastel rabbit colors. Yes, bunnies do come in pastel colors.

Here is a picture of my pretty Easter flowers as well. Happy belated Easter!

Oh, and here are mommy and baby slugs wishing you a belated happy Mother’s Day! I missed a couple of holidays.

I have some new fleece Hug Me Slugs, like this banana slug, along with some camouflage, turquoise, teal, light blue, and hot pink slugs. You can find my art toys in our Ruffing’s shop.

In the background of this photo, under the camouflage slugs, is one of the boxes I got to hold my sewing supplies. Miss Bertie, below, stole a needle with upholstery thread, and swallowed it before I could get her. Now I keep everything I’m using in a box with a latch, so I can close it if she comes snooping around. String and thread are very dangerous for cats, and can cause serious problems.

Thankfully, the upholstery thread passed without harming her. We were very worried. I was in the same room at the time, but she sneaked in without my seeing her poking around my pincushion. I keep the box closed whenever I get up and walk around too. If you sew, please remember to keep your supplies safely away from your pets. I keep mine in a separate room, except when I am hand sewing, but cats can be stealthy when they want to steal something that looks like fun.

I have been doing okay, a little up and down with the PVC’s, and some chest pain. I’m still waiting for the results of another test, but I still don’t expect anything unusual to show up. I am trying to sleep later, which seems to help. I was feeling shabby after being worn out for a while, and so I gave myself a haircut. That makes me feel better too.

Santana the Peeping Tom Cat wakes me up sometimes. He likes to show up and look in the window early in the morning now. He’s discovered he can climb the settee and rest his paws on the sill. No matter who wakes me up, I try to stay in bed longer, so I won’t get fatigued.

Exercise is helping too. I like to go for walks. We had a string of storms, and now it is getting hot. I am considering joining a gym for the summer, when it is too hot to go walking. I’m not sure I’ll make it there. I don’t often feel that sociable, and I like peace and quiet. I should probably try it at least.

I have been doing custom orders, and have yet to finish the sock cat skirts I have partly done so I can photograph them. They are really cute. I have been going to a block-of-the-month quilting group, but I barely have the time to get the blocks ready each month. That is Jojo, diving over my quilting packet. She thought she was being pretty stealthy herself. My kitty helpers are very silly.

Posted on March 25, 2013July 5, 2019 by Elizabeth Ruffing

Hearts, butterflies, and pinwheels

Grass green Hug Me Slug stuffed animal art toy by artist Elizabeth Ruffing with pink butterfly gift bag and personalized hang tag

I finally got to the cardiologist, and had some tests done. It was sure stressful waiting for the two weeks for my appointment, but it turned out okay. My heart is beating irregularly, but it is structurally normal, which means the improvising it is doing is mostly just an annoyance. It is something I’ll have to get used to, even though it feels weird. It can be set off by anything that throws your body off, like fatigue or stress. Unfortunately, even normal amounts of tension can get it going. I have to work on getting more rest. The cardiologist said if it acts up, doing some exercise and getting my heart rate up can help.

I’m just waiting for some blood work to come back, to make sure I’m not anemic, that my electrolytes and magnesium are in balance, and that my thyroid is fine. I don’t expect any problems with that. The lab technician gave me this pinwheel on my way out. I was so relieved at the time. I’m keeping it as a memento on my desk as a reminder.

I got to see my heart beating on the echo-cardiogram, which I thought was the coolest thing. I wish I had a video. I really do. The valves clap together like little hands, so precisely. They look like the furry hands of Dr Seuss’ characters. It’s amazing to watch. There is something very reassuring about seeing that and thinking about it.

I still feel stressed over the whole thing, which is giving me pins and needles, something else that acts up when I feel tension. Hopefully I will calm down more as the days go by and I’ll get used to the idea.

I tried to get some Easter bunnies made, but people keep adopting Hug Me Slugs for Easter. So, I guess it is okay that I didn’t get my stuffed animal Hug Me Bunnies posted yet. I do have Hug Me Bunnies, if anyone is looking for one. This slug is a gift and the customer asked if I could gift wrap her. I have lots of gift bags. I seem to favor the ones with butterflies on them.

I have plans to make a lot of different toys, but I end up making slugs because people ask for them. I’m glad people enjoy them. I think I forgot to mention before that I passed my 500th toy sale.

I’m trying to rest more when I need to, but I’m also trying to get things done. I pre-washed more fabrics today, and I have stacks of fleece to sew into stuffed animals.

I, at long last, potted my poor African violet leaf that has been waiting in a coffee cup on my desk. I have more violets to re-pot.

I hope to get around to cleaning out the flower bed in front of the porch, before more flowers poke through, but that seems like a lot right now. I have some catching up to do, with rest and with projects both.

The camellias are in bloom. They are so pretty. I picked this bloom up from the ground on our way back from a walk recently.

For the past couple of days, the weather has been dreary. The kitties responded by piling together on my bed for napping. I thought it was so cute the way they lined up in a cuddle chain. That is Phoebe, the shyest of the group, sandwiching herself between two friends.

Posted on September 19, 2012July 28, 2019 by Elizabeth Ruffing

In memory of my grandma

My grandma passed away yesterday, at 97 1/2 years old. She had seemed content most of the time we all talked to her, and spent a lot of time believing she was young, visiting with her older sister and her parents, going for rides in the car, and going to church. We always wondered if someone had come to take her for a ride, or take her to church, but we never knew.

This is a photo of her with her older sister, long since passed. Some time ago, she said her sister had come to visit, and they were going to go over the mountain to visit their parents, not that day, but soon. She said their mom and dad were going to be so surprised and happy to see them.

I like to think her sister came to visit her yesterday, and they went together to go surprise their parents.

This morning, I went looking for this photo of my grandma, the one above, in front of her hollyhocks. I gave her seeds from the hollyhocks in my garden, but they grew much better for her. When I looked more closely at the photo, I realized that my cousin Steve was reflected in the window behind her. He passed away just last summer.

I remembered that day the photo was taken. We were about to go see my cousin John play in a little league baseball game, and Steve and my grandpa were talking behind me, when I photographed Grandma. I realized then that I could see my grandpa, his back to us, talking to Steve, both reflected in the window behind my grandma, all three now gone, but together.