Soft Dolls and Art Toys Archives - Page 10 of 50 - Ruffing’s

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 March 18, 2013July 5, 2019 by Elizabeth Ruffing

I redesigned my personalized hang tags for my toys a little

Purple fleece Hug Me Slug handmade stuffed animal art toy by artist Elizabeth Ruffing with a personalized hang tag with a poem on the back

People sometimes ask me to print messages that don’t quite fit on the front of the hang tags for my toys, and so I redesigned my tags to make room for personalized messages. I made them so they now fold in half, and have a reverse side. They hang lower so the different colored hearts are more visible as well.

This one has a poem about slugs by Judy Darley on the back.

The poem is called “Instructions on How to Kiss a Slug” and it goes like this:

Close your eyes, and hold your nose,
Pretend you’re just smelling a rose.
Purse your mouth, tight and round,
Bend down almost to the ground.
Ignore the slime, kiss him quick,
And don’t forget to wipe your lips!

My customer asked me to include this poem with her gift of this Hug Me Slug for her grandchild. I thought it would be nice to have her message right on the tag, and so I printed it on the back.

Now I don’t have to mess around gluing anything. I can print my tags, slip them into vinyl sleeves, and tie them onto the toys, without having to wait for the glue to set.

I just heard another story, from a lady who is sending one of my Hug Me Slugs as a gift, about one of my toys being passed around and admired at party. She saw him at a baby shower. She said the slug was a huge hit, and there was a baby who loved it. I love hearing things like that.

Hope everyone had a nice Saint Patrick’s Day. These green Hug Me Slugs all celebrated. We had cake. I don’t think the slugs had any cake though.

We have several cats who come to visit on our porch. I don’t usually feed them, but one looked like he needed some plumping up. This is our “visitors” jar, easy to find in dim light, with or without glasses.

The cats have decided suddenly that they all love this one catnip toy kicker that they weren’t especially interested in before. It is about 3 1/4 x 10 1/2 inches and it is filled with just catnip. I had one out on the porch. It was demolished quickly. I have to take some time to make a stash of them.

I’m trying not to be too nervous while I wait to see the cardiologist later this week. My heart seems to calm down, and then I feel it improvising again. I’m staying close to home until I feel more secure about taking trips by myself. Waiting to see what is going on is hard. Hopefully I will feel relieved once I have more information.

Posted on December 22, 2012July 6, 2019 by Elizabeth Ruffing — 1 Comment

Handmade stuffed toy plush slugs, and Slugterra, a new show for slug enthusiasts

Hug Me Slugs handmade fleece stuffed animal banana slug art toys by Elizabeth Ruffing

I’ve been making lots of stuffed toy Hug Me Slugs lately! I realized today that I have been making stuffed animal slugs for almost half a decade now! Wow, that must mean I’ve made hundreds of plushie slugs.

I’ll be adding more adoptable slugs to our Ruffing’s shop, in all different colors!

They are all made of fleece and are soft and cuddly. Each one comes with a hang tag, which can be personalized. Their adopters can pick out names for them, or I print “For + a name” on the tag, which comes tied to each slug with a ribbon. There is even room for a short message on the back of each tag.

I discovered there are some slug cousins and more slug enthusiasts out there. There is a new animated show on called Slugterra, with a bunch of cute slugs, in all different colors too. They look like a fun group of characters. The slugs on the show are very action-oriented. I’m sure they will have their own toy versions soon.

Here is a video of some of the Slugterra slugs.

I found myself wanting to set all the slugs free. I wanted to release them into a shady green garden with all kinds of good things to for them eat.

In my fantasy slug-world, Hug Me Slugs live in a sanctuary full of fruits and vegetables that instantly regenerate whenever a slug takes a bite out of them.

When they are not eating or playing, they loll around, with the sun shining through the forest leaves above, smiling contentedly, telling each other jokes and stories. They may even have burping contests. They do seem to eat a lot.

I’m not affiliated in any way with the Slugterra show itself. I think my Hug Me Slugs and Bugs may be friends or relatives though. I’m sure they would enjoy playing together. Hug Me Slugs get along with pretty much everybody.They are peace-loving, gentle souls who are friends to everyone.

Please come visit our Ruffing’s shop to see my adoptable creatures. If you are on Facebook, please come “like” our Ruffing’s page.

Posted on December 22, 2012July 6, 2019 by Elizabeth Ruffing

Handmade polka-dotted sock snake stuffed toy animal

Sock Snake handmade stuffed animal snake by Elizabeth Ruffing

I had a neat request for a custom stuffed snake to accompany one of my stuffed animal toy Hug Me Slugs to Australia.

I’d never tried a snake. It sounded like fun to me, and it was.

The slug and snake are a gift for someone who had a pair of toys named “Sluggy” and “Snakey” as a child. I hope these will bring back some happy memories.

I drew a tag for the sock snake,

and found a spot on his underside for a heart.

He came out pretty big, maybe 19 inches long. I had a challenge finding a box that would fit the Post Office dimension limits for First Class Mail International, but I lucked out and found I had just the right size box, one that came with some mail-order fleece.

I may try a Hug Me Worm next time so he, or she, will be a little smaller.