I got today’s shipment of Valentine’s Day Hug Me Slugs ready for a trip to the Post Office, and grabbed the camera to take a quick photo of them before they began their individual journeys. About mid-sneeze, I realized I was recording, not photographing! Here they are, with a well-enunciated “Ah-choo!” from me.
Tag: Me and My Studio
Another gift-wrapped slug
I just sent another Hug Me Slug on his way, gift wrapped with a card. I’m trying to decide on how to make gift-wrapping an add-on purchase, because the difference in postage varies with the destination. I may have to come up with an average or just set a fee for it as a service. I think it’s a nice option to have. I have a small collection of gift bags and note cards, and they’d have to vary based on which ones I happen to have. That gives me an extra thing to coordinate. I enjoy picking out colors and patterns.
This royal blue guy went on his way this afternoon too. He’s a Valentine’s Day slug. I really wish I could wave a wand and restock all my toys. As it is, I keep finishing nearly-finished toys, or making toys, as inquiries come in asking what I might have available, and I still haven’t gotten my shop restocked. I will have to make a concerted effort to set aside time for replenishing the ready-made toys. I know people don’t always want to wait, especially with gifts, and it would be good to have more to choose from. I do have many, miscellaneous toys partly made. If you haven’t yet, please “like” us on Facebook. I will be posting my new handmade stuffed animal toys in our Ruffing’s shop
I was going to demonstrate with this photo how my workroom looks like a victim of whirlwind, and yet, it looks surprisingly neat in this photo, compared to how it looks upon entering. That may be because the cascades of fabric and toys are off to either side, hiding from my camera lens. I was having trouble moving my chair around to pack boxes in there this afternoon. The boxes fall off in an avalanche to the side as well. I will dive in anyway, and attempt to surface with new treasure soon.
We’ve got snow!
Last night, there was news that we’d be having the first Christmas snow here since 1947. There were only flurries around bedtime, and so we didn’t know what to expect when we got up this morning.
This is what the front steps looked like when I got up, but it kept snowing and snowing. My poor kitty did a belly flop trying to walk down those steps. He quickly turned back around and came in the house.
All the trees are covered and bending with heavy clumps of wet snow.
We can’t see the pond anymore, from here. I hope the ducks are comfortably hidden away in the brush.
The kids next door rang the bell this afternoon, with a request for buttons for their snowman,
but the kitties and I watched the snow fall, mostly from inside, except for a few forays, by me, to take photos.
I finished reading, and enjoying, The Robber Bridegroom by Eudora Welty today. The beautiful illustrations in this edition are made from wood engravings by Barry Moser, who also designed the book, which is lovely.
They were wonderful to look at in combination with the snowfall today, so atmospheric and full of mystery, like an enchanted forest.
Snow creates such a nice, insulating environment for hiding away. I read in front of the heater, while my cat kept stealing my comfy sitting spots.
Tomorrow, I think I will pretend Christmas is still almost here, and sew some more toys. I was reading a column by Emily Martin, where she noted that, for some people, getting ready for the holidays starts in January. That sounds like a good idea to me. By summertime, I have usually lost some oomph in that regard. So, why not start while the experience is still fresh in my mind? I have a Wacom tablet to hook up too, now that I have some time. The printer is still at the shop. I don’t know when we’ll be picking it up. Hopefully there won’t be too much of a delay on orders, between that and the snow.
Long ago and far away
Maybe it wasn’t so far away, or even so very long ago, but I thought you might like to see my first art doll. This is “Serenity Starr“. I made her back in November of 2005.
Serenity was an original, one-of-a-kind, hand-painted angel, with hand-quilted wings, and a handmade wooden stand that slipped in between her body and her wings. My friend, Miko, wrote a cute poem for her, which I printed on her hang tag, and after that I tried my best to write poems for each of the five angels in the set! That was a challenge! I started getting a little redundant with my poetry ideas. Those are all on the new-and-improved blog too.
By the way, this is what can happen to your hair when you are working from home on your web site. I caught a glimpse of this in the reflection on our monitor, and realized I probably never even combed my hair today. On the other hand, this is a very easy to maintain style. Just fall asleep without completely drying your hair, and voila…no effort needed in the morning.
