In memory of my cousin, Steve. April 11, 1963-June 16, 2011.
Steve, Elizabeth, and Dave.
Tag: Me and My Studio
Ever-growing piles
My workroom is getting very full! I took this video last week, and now there are at least twice as many art toys in progress, squeezing me into the center of the room.
I received such a nice email from a lady who purchased a Hug Me Slug for her daughter’s eleventh birthday. She said her daughter gave her a list of ten things she wanted for her birthday, and a Hug Me Slug was number one! Not only that, but iPod was number two! She told me I beat the iPod out. How cool is that?
I will be posting my new handmade stuffed animal toys in our Ruffing’s shop.
For some time now, I’ve been meaning to make a big Hug Me Slug for my cousin, who is still battling peritoneal cancer, and who has been unable to eat for weeks now. I found it hard to do, I guess because I felt so sad about the whole situation. I sent this blue guy out and I hope he gives my cousin a smile.
Over the past two weeks, I have been stuffing toys by the bunches, mostly in the smaller sizes, but I stuffed one extra in the 12-inch size, for no one in particular. This Friday, I received a request for a custom 12-inch Hug Me Slug, and in the color I had just happened to have chosen. From the gift note, it sounded like the Hug Me Slug was for a seriously ill person. I checked and it was indeed for a baby, who was potentially going into the hospital this weekend, and who may need a bone marrow transplant and chemotherapy. I am so glad I had that slug ready! I will be able to get her out right away on Monday. I hope that little girl gets all well very soon, and I hope her new friend gives her some comfort.
I wanted to make a special card for her. I digitally colored the card above, using Painter and Photoshop Elements. This is one of my first efforts. I am still very much uncoordinated with the Wacom tablet and pen, and I still feel lost when I open Painter. I was pleased I was able to sign my name with the pen! I still have trouble even staying in the lines. I wanted a card that was simple, that would appeal to a baby. I hope to make more pictures for kids, once I get the hang of this.
Josephine has been helping me in every way she can. She tried to take my Wacom pen away many times. She still takes all my pens, turns on the Wacom tablet, and jumps on the keyboard. She even tries to call people on Skype!
“nnn” is not on our contact list. One day she may pick someone who is.
Marie, who is fostering Jack, brought him over for a visit. Jack is doing very well. He played in his carrier, with a fresh catnip knot I made.
He’s been healing up nicely.
Eventually, he wanted to come out and play too. He had just had his leukemia test, which came out all clear. So, he was able to run around with the other cats.
Once he discovered the Bigfoot cat gym, he was obsessed. Jack loves to climb! That’s not surprising, considering I found him living in a tree.
He was determined to make it to the top, as small as he is.
Of course, he made it, because he is a go-getter. 🙂 I hope he gets his own cat tree in his new home, once he is adopted. Marie is still taking care of him, and he’s still got that stitch to get, to reattach his lower lip, but he’s been doing great. Update: Jack has been adopted.
Mini slug-shop update
I have a few new ready-made Hug Me Slugs, and have more to post once I finish a few more details. In the midst of this small crowd is my new fleece Hug Me Kitten design. I will show you more photos of her once I draw her hang tag picture, and I then will get her posted too. I will be posting my new handmade stuffed animal toys in our Ruffing’s shop.
I couldn’t resist running next door to photograph this mauve-pink slug in my neighbors’ azaleas.
I think this is purple salvia, from our flowerbed, with this dark purple slug.
My mom took a photo of the grass-green slug with me holding him, because the wind was making my photos out of focus.
I held this olive-green slug steady too.
I managed to balance this orange slug on the deck railing, and this gray slug held his own.
This red slug is posing in front of our pink dogwood tree. He’s already found a new home and has been sent on his way there.
I had a doll skirt to make also, for one of Max Bailey‘s kitty dolls.
This is Minnie the Tabby Cat, original one-of-a-kind anthropomorphic cat art doll by Max Bailey.
Josephine has been very busy helping me. She loves the computer, and takes all my pens. Every single one. She was very excited over the fleece kitty photos I have coming up, and threw herself at the screen, batting at them with her paws.
I’ve been taking my fleece scraps and making catnip knots with them. They are for a local cat rescue, for fundraising, but someone keeps trying to take the whole bag. I let him choose a couple of his own.
The knots are very easy to make. I made them following the instructions in this video, if anyone else would like to give them a try. No sewing required.
She made herself at home
Happy birthday to my grandma this month. She just turned ninety-six and is still doing well. On a sad note, about the same time as her birthday, we got news that my cousin, Steve, who has been battling peritoneal cancer for the past several months, is back in the hospital, and his cancer, which the doctors thought was gone, has returned, or had never entirely left. We are all hoping for the best, and hoping he can feel better. He is such a nice guy, and a great person, to be going through such an awful thing.
During this time, since I last wrote, I have also been kitten-sitting, for Frosty, who is now Josephine. She had another potential adoptive home lined up, far away, but that didn’t turn out to sound like the best option for her. She didn’t mind. She had already decided she wanted to stay here, and we all wanted her to stay too. So, it did work out, after all, and she has brought us some good cheer.
She has been trying out all the cat beds, and toys, and furniture, and has found it all to her liking. She was very shy, and liked to hide in small spaces, when she first arrived, but she has rapidly changed.
She is out and about now, participating in all we do around here, in between playing and napping.
I went out and bought new cat beds (actually these are dog beds from Petsmart) because Josephine kept taking everyone else’s, but she took a new one too, along with the new blankets that came with the beds.
She is a big fan of our kitty gym, and now sits up at the top of it. No more hiding for her.
Josephine seems to be very happy, and is friendly to eveyone. I thought she needed a new name, since she isn’t “frosty” at all. I thought a more self-assured name would be fitting. I renamed her after Jo March of “Little Women” and Empress Josephine. I later read that Empress Josephine had somewhat embarrassing teeth, which made me smile, because kitten Josephine has funny teeth herself.
I had tried out different names, saying them to her, and she seemed to like this one. She mewed back at me. I took that as a sign of approval.
In art toys news, my Hug Me Toad was in this very cute blog feature from Harmonica Mama, and my toys continue to show up in treasuries on Etsy. Toys make me smile too. I enjoy making them, and I like that they brighten someone’s day.
