original-one-of-a-kind Archives - Page 11 of 44 - Ruffing’s

Posted on November 19, 2009 by Elizabeth Ruffing

Slug onslaught

I’m still here! Somewhere in the middle of all the slugs. This is the group of “Hug Me! Slugs” that went out on Monday, this week, to their new homes. Yep, these are all spoken for already. I’m working on the next batch this week. I’m currently running at about a two-week time span to finish new custom slug orders.

In this group are my first “Mommy and Baby” slug sets. The babies’ hearts match their mommies’ bodies, and vice versa.

I like the way they look at each other.

They couldn’t wait to get to their new homes. They jumped right into their boxes before I could even get their tags on them. I had to take them out, one at a time, and tie their hang tags around their necks, but they were wiggling all over the place. Slugs just love to travel and they just go crazy with excitement when they get adopted. I’m sure the next bunch will be no different.

Posted on November 6, 2009 by Elizabeth Ruffing

Sewing slugs in the sunshine

It’s a beautiful day here today, and I’m making my first large fleece “Hug Me! Slugs”. I’ve been sitting outside, when possible, sewing and stuffing, taking advantage of the weather. A nice mom put in a custom order for two “mommy and baby” slug sets, and she’s going to be knitting clothes for them once they arrive at her house. I really like that idea, and I started wondering if I should try offering slug skirts, or something similar, myself.

It looks like my Platinum sewing machine is going to be in the shop longer than anticipated. It needs a couple of electrical parts, which need to be ordered from the company. Hopefully, they’ll have them in stock. In the meantime, I had forgotten how persnickety my older Viking machine, Sarah, is about thread. She was eating up thread for hours. I asked the repair place for advice, and, oh yeah, “Change the thread and the needle.” I’d forgotten. We had to make a run into town to get some more expensive thread. I’d only recently gotten a few of the newer spools of Coats and Clark cotton machine quilting thread to match some fabric I had, completely forgetting I’d ever had trouble with Sarah’s thread tastes. Their other, older cotton machine quilting threads never seem to bother Sarah, but she wouldn’t tolerate any of these new spools. Makes no sense to me. Ah well. It’s okay now. I was relieved it was a simple solution, and no repairs were needed. Whew.

My usually helpful kitty assistant wasn’t too interested in helping me out on the porch today. I woke him up too many times while he was sunbathing. He scolded me. I’ll have to learn to sew and stuff in a less disruptive manner. Or maybe he just thought I was going to ask him to come back in the house.

Posted on October 22, 2009 by Elizabeth Ruffing

Slug gossip

My “Hug Me! Slugs” are all whispering amongst themselves today. Two of them have been invited to visit a host and executive producer of a show on HGTV and the DYI network. This should be great fun for them, but I don’t want them to get too excited before they get there. They will still have to sit quietly in their box for the trip.

I’m going to try to update my Etsy shop tomorrow. I’ve still got a couple of “Hug Me! Toads” and a couple of “Hug Me! Slugs” to post for adoption. Above are, from left to right, Gilda, Glen, Jake, Rosemary, and Paulie. Gilda and Jake are on their way to their new homes right now. They will both be celebrating birthdays when they arrive at their destinations.

I know this sounds very sentimental, but I have to admit, after seeing the way Gilda and Glen have been staring at each other on my desk, it was hard to send Gilda out without Glen. I get attached to some of my toys, but this time, I felt like they’d gotten attached to each other! I’m sure they will make new friends and be loved.

I decided to pre-wash the socks I use for my sock dolls, and my mom has been patiently helping me turn and sort them all. I didn’t want them to pill, and so we’ve been air drying them. This full rack is just a drop in the bucket. My mom had been saying to me, “Don’t you have enough socks?” I didn’t realize quite how many I had, until I filled the entire washer with them. Oh my.

Posted on October 20, 2009 by Elizabeth Ruffing

Next stop, Toadville

Introducing…”Hug Me! Toads”. “Hug Me! Toads” are one-of-a-kind, original, hand-sewn, and hand-embroidered sock dolls.

It was love at first sight between the toads and my “Hug Me! Slugs”. They’ve been bouncing off of one another for the past few days, while I’ve been waiting for the sun to come out so I could take some photos of them.

They don’t mind rainy days at all.

This is Marmalade. She wanted a pink heart to go with her orange self. She heard the combination was very Jackie O.

This is Bernie. He likes flowers. He says they’re not just for girls anymore.

And this is Elvis. He was the first-born “Hug Me! Toad” and as a result, he likes to tell the others what to do. He thinks he’s a big deal.

Marmalade and Bernie have been trying to show him he’s not the biggest toad on the block.

He doesn’t pay any attention.

“Hug Me Toads” really like to be picked up and hugged. If you ignore them, they will bounce in their chairs, wave their arms up and down, and look pleadingly at you until you do.

They don’t come with chairs though. If you want to adopt a toad, and he tells you he needs a chair, craft stores like A C Moore have them, or you might find some on eBay.