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Toy riot

Fleece Hug Me! Slugs in progress and Hug Me Sock Kittens by Elizabeth RuffingThis is a glimpse into my workroom, showing how it has looked over the past few days. I’ve been in a whirl of fabric and thread and stuffing, surrounded by toys in all stages of completeness.

Fleece Hug Me! Slugs in progress and Hug Me Sock Kittens by Elizabeth RuffingAll my little sock kittens went off to new homes, all but one kitty angel that I will show you later.

Orange and Red Striped Hug Me Sock Kitten by Elizabeth RuffingI miss them and need to make some more. My Hug Me Toads are hopping off too. And, there has been an onslaught of slugs.

14 inch Fleece Hug Me! Slug by Elizabeth RuffingThis fourteen-inch slug is on his way to Australia. I have a big bunch more, in all shapes and sizes, that I’ll be working on this week, so they can be off before for Christmas.

Fleece Hug Me! Slug and hang tags in progress by Elizabeth RuffingPiles of personalized hang tags are accumulating, and more toys keep joining the ranks. I am sewing all day, each day, for the most part. I’m still on schedule, and every toy that has been ordered as of this morning, is either all done, or in progress. I’m currently on about a two-week turnaround time for making the custom toys. Almost all of my ready-made toy animals have been adopted, but I will try to add a couple more to my Etsy shop, if I can, before Christmas. I have some things I have to do this weekend, along with celebrating my birthday, and so I may run out of time.

Fleece Hug Me! Slug and hang tags in progress by Elizabeth Ruffing

My toys and prints have made it into quite a few Etsy treasuries over the past couple of weeks, and this one below made it to the Etsy front page. I saw the number of views rushing up on that listing, along with the number of hearts on it, and thought something must be up. I missed seeing it on the front page, but the curator told me about it later. I appreciate everyone who features my work. It’s a very nice compliment. I put the recent treasuries in a set on my Flickr page.

Etsy treasury featuring Fleece Hug Me! Slugs by Elizabeth Ruffing, made it to the Etsy front pageIt seems like weeks now that I, at long last, got myself a Wacom tablet. I haven’t yet had the time to plug it in. I picked up a bundle with Corel Painter, which I have hardly tested out yet either. I tried the tablet during Apple class, but I haven’t had time to get to one of those lately either! I was thoroughly uncoordinated with the pen and tablet. I am going to need a lot of practice, once the holidays have passed.

My new Wacom Intuos 4 tabletI think one of my first projects will be to play with my hang tags for my toys. I am wishing I’d made up some kind of gift certificates or e-gift cards to send out for people who are shopping late for the holidays too, so they could pre-order slugs for gift recipients. Those are small projects, but I’m not stepping away from the sewing long enough to do them at the moment. I wish I’d been a little more on top of things this season, but I am more prepared than I was last year. The holiday panic is subsiding, and being replaced by fatigue. My mom is giving me a hand, cutting out eyeballs, and doing this and that. I’d be panicked and fatigued at the same time, without her help. Thanks, Mom!

My kitty helper with two sock kittensAs always, I have my kitty helper too. He is also invaluable.

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Custom Hug Me Slugs

Fleece Hug Me! Slugs in royal blue, by Elizabeth RuffingHey, everybody! Excuse my absence from my blog. I’ve been on a sewing binge. I am actually still on a sewing binge, and will probably remain on one for a couple of weeks at least. I just wanted to check in because I’ve been receiving some emails asking when the Hug Me Slugs I’ve been working on will be available. I’m accepting custom orders right now! Rather than try to guess which ones to finish first, I’m letting you decide which colors you’d like. You’ll find some listings for them in my Etsy shop. I’ll keep putting finished ones up when I can, along with my other toy characters. If there are any you are waiting to see, don’t be a afraid to just drop me a note. You can always order directly from me, if you prefer, by sending me an email.

The proud royal blue slug above was a present for Tia, who had a birthday recently.

My workroomI’ve almost sewn through my entire stack of fleece. My mom has been giving me a hand, clipping seams and turning toys right side out. I’ve got some sock animals in various stages as well. Again, if you’re looking for a striped kitty or a polka-dotted toad or anything that isn’t there, just contact me and I’ll see what I can do. My turnaround time for custom toys will get longer, the closer we get to the holidays, and so it’s good to let me know as early as you can.

Stack of Hug Me Slug fleece colorsI have a lot of colors for now, in the 9 inch slug size, and a smaller number in the 12 inch size. If you click on the photo above, you can get a bigger version to read. Availability will depend on popularity. I think eventually I will narrow the custom colors down so I can keep them in stock more easily. I went through almost all the colors I had, cutting them up, this time around.

Well, back to the sewing!

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More sock kitties appeared

Hug Me! Sock Kitty by Elizabeth RuffingWhile I was out on the deck with my camera this afternoon, these sock kittens leaped out of the bushes and pleaded with me to take their pictures. They really wouldn’t take no for an answer. So, I did.

Hug Me! Sock Kitty by Elizabeth RuffingHere they are. They want a lot of attention. If you’d like to adopt one, they are over in my Etsy shop.

Hug Me! Sock Kitty by Elizabeth RuffingI added Facebook share buttons to this blog yesterday. They appear under each post, and on each page. I was so surprised to see quite a few of the posts had been shared before, according to the numbers next to the buttons. That’s pretty neat. If you haven’t “liked” our page on Facebook, please do. It’s a good way to keep up with what we’re doing while I’m making the transition for a relaunch with our Ruffing’s site.

Hug Me! Sock Kitty by Elizabeth Ruffing

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And a red sock kitten too

Hug Me! Sock Kittens by Elizabeth RuffingNow there are two sock kittens. Today my turquoise polka-dotted Hug Me! Kitten was joined by a red sock kitten with little multicolored hearts all over her (him?). They’ve been playing together all evening.

Red with hearts Hug Me! Sock Kitten by Elizabeth RuffingThe red sock kitten likes to pretend she can fly.

Hug Me! Sock Kittens by Elizabeth RuffingThe two of them hold onto each other and bounce up and down, pretending they are soaring through the air like super heroes.

Red with hearts Hug Me! Sock Kitten by Elizabeth RuffingI was lucky to catch hold of her to get this picture. They’re very rambunctious.

Red with hearts Hug Me! Sock Kitten by Elizabeth RuffingThe red sock kitten has a gold fleece heart. I think that means she has a heart of gold.

Hug Me! Sock Kittens by Elizabeth RuffingShe certainly makes a good friend. There are rumors that there are more sock kittens hiding in my workroom. I hope they don’t make too much of a racket playing tonight.