Elizabeth Ruffing, Author at Ruffing’s | The Little House of Cats

Posted on January 11, 2011January 11, 2020 by Elizabeth Ruffing — 4 Comments

Feral Cheryl, TNR Demo Cat

Feral Cheryl is a sock kitten with a job to do. She’s the brainchild of my friend Marie, who commissioned me to find a sock kitten with the courage to help show people how to TNR, which stands for Trap Neuter and Return. It’s really Trap Vaccinate Spay/Neuter and Return, sometimes called TVNR. Cheryl isn’t afraid of traps. She’s not afraid of anything.

Feral Cheryl will be joining the Alley Cats and Angels’ TNR task force, for the TNR 101 workshops Princess Marie is leading. Cheryl will fearlessly enter the safety traps they use to capture real-life feral kitties, so that this knowledge can be passed on to others, and other feral cats can be saved from the cycle of over population. It’s a serious job.

Cheryl is fully prepared. Marie thought it would be a good idea if Feral Cheryl were to show her fierceness a little, just so people would be reminded not to hug a feral cat. So, Cheryl obliged and displayed her teeth and claws.

Cheryl also told me she wanted a tattoo. So, I did my first tattoo! It says “Tom”, some guy Cheryl knows, I guess.

I even did a little digital editing on her hang tag, so the picture would share her left ear crop. For anyone who might not be familiar with the ear crop, it’s a way to identify cats in feral colonies who have already been spayed and neutered. It lets rescue groups know to re-release a feral cat who has already received his or her trip to the veterinarian.

If you’d like to learn more about Alley Cats and Angels and their TNR program, please visit their web site by clicking here. They also have lots of friendly cats and kittens who are up for adoption. They are a great group of people and kitties.

In other news, this is our deck today. A sheet of ice. We will have to wait for it to melt before any toys are delivered to the Post Office or anywhere else. I’m sure Cheryl will keep them all entertained while they wait.

Posted on January 1, 2011January 11, 2020 by Elizabeth Ruffing

New Etsy shop for a new year

Happy new year everyone! In honor of 1/1/11, I got up this morning and opened a new collective Etsy shop for Ruffing’s. Now we won’t have to debate over whose shop should have whose jointly-made art. This shop will be for all the fine art by myself, Elizabeth Ruffing, my mom, A E Ruffing, Max Bailey, and Abby Laurence, and everything made by any combination of the aforementioned thereof 🙂 Since we share a workspace, supplies, and advice for each other, it makes sense. Update: All our art will now be on our Ruffing’s website. Please visit our Ruffing’s shop.

We’ll be migrating our art, including all my whimsical, play-with-me-type art and toys, from my Etsy toy shop and our Ruffing’s Etsy shop, over to our Ruffing’s shop on this website, until it is all organized.

I even made a new banner for our Ruffing’s shop this morning before I had breakfast. How is that for tackling a new Year’s resolution? I hope 2011 is full of wonderful things to come!

Posted on December 26, 2010January 11, 2020 by Elizabeth Ruffing

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.

Posted on December 25, 2010January 11, 2020 by Elizabeth Ruffing

Christmas Angel

Merry Christmas, everyone! I was thinking about angels this morning and I remembered a quilt block that I had never finished. I think I began it on my birthday, a few years ago. All I remember was that I had it in my mind, at the time, that I would only work on it on a holiday. So here it is, several holidays later! I just finished the central part of the design.

I also found a Christmas tree quilt block, which may have been from one of the quilt classes I used to go to. It was in with a pile of other quilt blocks, which I should probably photograph as well. They never seemed to fit together in any logical way. I could see the angel placing her star on the tree though.

The angel was meant to be part of a larger design, judging from my sketch that I stored with it. At first, I couldn’t remember if it was my own original design or one from a magazine. It didn’t look entirely like my work.

I found a copy of Fons and Porter’s Love of Quilting magazine, from September/October 2005, on my book shelf, and sure enough, my reinterpretation of a design by Lori Smith was inside. The original design was a witch, and I drew an alternate head, added wings, and and extra arm and leg.

I prefer angels to witches, and you may have already guessed from my paintings, such as the one below, which is a detail of Angels’ Kiss.

I hope you are all enjoying your holiday. I am still debating over whether or not to make cookies. In spite of all the sewing I’ve been doing for the holiday rush, that’s what I most felt like doing as soon as I decided to relax. I suppose I should take that as a sign that I am working at something I really like to do. I hope you are spending time on things that you like to do too. Don’t let anyone intimidate you out of doing that. I know I’ve had my share of nay-sayers come along. Don’t listen to them. Surround yourself with supportive people who appreciate you for who you are and what you do. I think I’ve had one of the best years I’ve had in a long time, and I believe a lot of that has to do with taking that advice.

I am thinking about those cookies now, and the snow we might get. Snow would be lovely, in moderation, of course! Have a happy Christmas, one and all.