I finished four 12-inch Hug Me Slugs and four 9-inch Hug Me Slugs, and got them photographed. I will be posting my new handmade stuffed animal toys in our Ruffing’s shop. These are all made of fuzzy fleece.
The soft rainbow blend below is unusual. I got it a long time ago. I don’t have a lot of it, but it is very pretty. I may see if I can purchase more, or something similar, online.
I am going to try to get as many ready-made toys as I can together before the holidays. I am usually swamped with requests for custom toys at that time, and I can never keep up. Most people wait, and ask all at once. So, I am hoping to have more toys that are ready to go. I will likely cut back on the number of custom colors I offer, just so I can keep track of what I have, and offer more of a variety of ready-mades instead.
I’ve tried to imagine the holidays have been here all year round, to keep myself going. I know I am never ready when they arrive! I am considering putting up the Christmas lights now, for inspiration 🙂 I’ve even made a couple of ornaments, but forgot to photograph them today, with the Hug Me Slugs, and the art dolls.
I just finished a red polka-dotted Hug Me Toad for my number one toad collector. I made “Davey”, on the left, a toad sibling, on the right, for good measure. I will be posting my new handmade stuffed animal toys in our Ruffing’s shop.
I had to sew these toad triplets by hand because the pattern on the socks was so complicated that was the only way I could line up the stripes and flowers.
I like stripes, and often pick up socks with striped patterns, even though I know I will need to sew them by hand. My toys take a lot longer to make than people probably imagine! I use a lot of hand sewing and hand embroidering. I’ve realized that things take as long as they take to make. Rushing never works for me.
I also finished two new pink fleece Hug Me Slugs, a medium pink, and
a deep watermelon pink.
I’m tempted to call these two twins as well, but they are more likely part of quadruplets or even sextuplets. Phoebe, on the left, and below, is still withdrawn, but she is starting to run away less. Bertie is making great strides. Even though she is still skittish, she comes up to us for pets and snacks. We were able to get her to the vet to get checked out, and she is negative for leukemia and FIV, which is great.
We’ve been giving them some medicine for the past week to clear up a little bacteria that was causing minor digestive tract issues, and they are doing well. We’re hoping Phoebe will come around in the next couple of weeks and let us pet her too. Then they can both go in for vaccines. Once they have they vet work done, they will enjoy playing with the other cats in the house.
Ida is a handmade original, one-of-a-kind gray-and-white anthropomorphic cat art doll, hand painted and hand sculpted in paperclay by artist Max Bailey.
Ida is a grey and white cat with yellow-green eyes and a pretty pink nose. She prides herself on being organized.
Ida’s kitchen is as neat and clean as a kitchen could be. Her little cans of food are alphabetized by flavor and sit neatly in her cupboard. Her bowls are stacked according to size and color.
Ida’s pinafores are all starched and pressed and arranged in the closet by color. Her shoes are clean and polished, and lined up under the pinafores with which she wears them.
Ida holds choir practice at her house every Thursday evening. (She sings high soprano.) All choir members must bring their best voices and remove their shoes at the door. Ida is quite sure this practice of being barefoot will not only keep her floor clean, but will improve the tone of their voices.
It appears that this is the case, as on Thursday nights, everyone in the town steps out onto their front porches to listen to the choir rehearsing. To date, there have been no complaints.
Ida looks very nice today in her crisp white pinafore sprinkled with a pattern of blue roses and pale green leaves. With it she’s chosen to wear her white high-button shoes with scalloped tops and gold buttons. Her blue blouse has white bands around the collar and cuffs, edged in darker blue scalloped braid.
Ida wears white pantaloons with pale blue polka dots, from which her grey kitty tail emerges. She’s as pretty as a summer day.
Ida is an original one-of-a-kind work of art, created from my own design and pattern. She is made from 100% cotton fabric which has been sewn, stuffed, and completely hand painted with acrylic paints. Her whiskers are made from stiffened cotton thread.
Ida’s paws are needle-sculpted, and her arms are button-jointed so that she can pose. Her face was sculpted from paperclay smoothed into her fabric head.
Ida’s curled tail enables her to sit by herself on a shelf or a table, or in a cabinet. She can also sit on a chair, or stand with a doll stand. (Chair and doll stand not included.) Ida is meant for display only.
Ida is signed and sealed with matte varnish for protection and preservation. She is 8 and 1/2 inches tall.
I moved Phoebe and Bertie indoors, into the laundry room, and they are continuing to make progress. Bertie is making great strides, and Phoebe is still the more skeptical kitten. They have been a tremendous amount of work, but seeing each breakthrough is very rewarding. I am so glad to have them out of the rain, and away from the bugs. We’ve had so much rain this past month, which is unusual for us, and cleaning a cage outdoors, even one tucked under a tarp, was no fun at all. They seem to like being inside now.
We got them a bigger cage, a “Cat Playpen“, and they took to the idea of climbing, in a short period of time. My dad helped me put casters on this two-story cage so I can move it around, and I put zip ties all over it to make it secure, so they won’t get their paws caught in any connecting areas. They venture in and out at will now, to explore the room, play, and lounge. These are some photos from today, of my mom feeding them baby food mixed with Fancy Feast. Gerber Chicken and Gravy 2 is indeed enticing to them. It just has chicken and water in it, no seasonings, and so it is safe for them.
Bertie likes being petting and scratched, and I was able to pick him (or her…still can’t get a look) up a few times today, only for several seconds at a time. Phoebe is much more standoffish. I am hoping she will see Bertie trying these things out, and give them a try herself. We aren’t pushing her though We are just letting each one of them learn to trust us, a little at a time. We try each new thing briefly, until they get used to it.
Bertie has been more open-minded all along, and more interested in interacting with us. They both like to play with a feather toy with us, and both kittens get very excited when they see our adult cats. Once they can be checked out by a vet, as long as they each have a clean bill of health, they will enjoy being able to finally reach them and play with them.
There are more of their tips on socializing feral kittens here. A big thank you to them for this information! It has not only made a big difference for these kittens, but it made me feel like I could do this. I appreciated the reassurance and the advice. It helps to know that each kitten is different, and that there is no schedule to worry about, if one is slower than the other to want to socialize. They decide on their own what they want to do.
I have also just begun getting back to getting some work done. These are two custom, two-tone Hug Me Slugs, made of coordinating quilting cottons.
I don’t normally do these anymore as they are very difficult to do with my sewing machine. It has “fast” and “stop”, which makes machine appliqué into more of a roller coaster ride. In spite of that, I think they came out nicely. I have some Hug Me Toads waiting to be finished up, and many other art toys, waiting for me. We also have lots of original, one-of-a-kind cat art dolls to photograph. We’ll be posting our new original one-of-a-kind cat art dolls in our Ruffing’s shop.
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We will be posting our creations in our Ruffing’s shop, here on this website, and are in the process of moving everything here. If you are looking for something and don’t see it yet, please feel free to ask!
I finished four 12-inch Hug Me Slugs and four 9-inch Hug Me Slugs, and got them photographed. I will be posting my new handmade stuffed animal toys in our Ruffing’s shop. These are all made of fuzzy fleece.
The soft rainbow blend below is unusual. I got it a long time ago. I don’t have a lot of it, but it is very pretty. I may see if I can purchase more, or something similar, online.
I am going to try to get as many ready-made toys as I can together before the holidays. I am usually swamped with requests for custom toys at that time, and I can never keep up. Most people wait, and ask all at once. So, I am hoping to have more toys that are ready to go. I will likely cut back on the number of custom colors I offer, just so I can keep track of what I have, and offer more of a variety of ready-mades instead.
