All Creatures Great and Small Archives - Page 12 of 24 - Ruffing’s

Posted on December 13, 2011July 30, 2019 by Elizabeth Ruffing — 1 Comment

Stuffed animal Hug Me Slug art toys with a donation to help cats and kittens

I have finished a few more 7-inch stuffed animal fleece Hug Me Slug art toys. I will be posting my new handmade stuffed animal toys in our Ruffing’s shop. Right now, a portion from each sale will be going to help cats and kittens in our community, through a local cat rescue, Alley Cats and Angels of NC. There are some sock kittens in the mix as well.

I went to a Christmas party for a local cat rescue group this month. They had a beautiful tree, lots of yummy food, and a secret Santa gift exchange. I brought cat toys, thinking anyone there could use them. I also came home with cat toys. These are handmade by the rescue volunteers.

The catnip squares and cigars were a big hit. They are selling these for fundraising as well. They will ship them too, if anyone is interested in stocking stuffers for their kitties. If anyone would like some, they have an assortment of handmade catnip toys available in the Alley Cats and Angels shop. I also made a tutorial for making catnip toys, including catnip squares, cigars, and kickers, with patterns I made for them.

I’ve been sewing away, and getting behind on posting toys I finish on my blog. As you can see, slugs are coming and going around here. I’ve cut off the custom listings for now, but I still have plenty of ready-made toys available. I ship Priority Mail, within the United States, which usually takes 2-3 to arrive. I usually ship out within a day or two, giving me time to make their personalized hang tags and get to the Post Office.

People can have a name of their choice, or “For + a recipient’s name” on each tag. There is room on the back of the tags for a short message. I even went out and got some gift bags, just in case anyone needed gift wrap. The postage goes up for this, as I need a larger box, but a few dollars usually covers a gift bag, greeting card, and the extra postage.

I’ve been well on schedule. It helps not to pile up on custom orders. I will keep adding more handmade toys to my shop.

Hope everyone is having a good holiday season.

Posted on November 27, 2011July 30, 2019 by Elizabeth Ruffing

Tulip Hug Me Bunnies, Hug Me Slug handmade stuffed animal toys, and a new original tabby cat art doll

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. I got a little sewing in. These are my tulip bunny Hug Me Bunny stuffed animal toys. I’ve had this fabric for a long time, and could never decide what I should make with it. It is very bright, cheerful, and showy, and needed a project where it could stand alone.

These two red rabbits are about 12 inches tall.

I finished some more 12-inch fleece Hug Me Slug handmade stuffed animals as well. This yellow one already has a new home. I’m sending him and some others out tomorrow. I hope the lines at the Post Office will be reasonable. From what I’ve heard, Monday is when people run in to start mailing all the things they braved Black Friday to purchase as gifts.

I’ve been avoiding the stores myself this weekend, but still need to make a run for some food. I’m not crazy about the idea of diving into the crowds.

I will be posting my new handmade stuffed animal toys in our Ruffing’s shop

I did get to the fabric stores this week though, and picked up some pretty new prints I intend to use for more bunnies. I have a couple of sock kittens to dress as well, but I am using solid colors and some decorative machine stitching on their clothes.

We just posted a new original, one-of-a-kind tabby cat art doll named Meredith on our Ruffing’s blog. She is another very pretty doll by Max Bailey.

The kitten sisters had their big spay day on Monday, and they got their microchips and their booster shots. They needed to rest for a couple of days. They are back to their usual selves now, and staying out loose in the house after bedtime. They have been surprisingly well behaved and quiet at night.

They still do plenty of tearing around, in between napping. They’ve been getting along well with the other cats here. Bertie asked for this bath.

They are trying out the various cozy spots for naps. There has been a lot of competition for this one particular perch, which is Josie’s favorite. Phoebe keeps stealing it and will not budge.

Posted on November 2, 2011July 30, 2019 by Elizabeth Ruffing

November is here and my toy workshop is in full swing

This is a small peek into my workroom today, and these are a small number of the Hug Me Slugs and other art toys, waiting for me. This is the time of year when I get very nervous and try very hard to get as much as I can get done, done.

Piles of fleece are cascading from the tops of shelves and other piles of fleece.

I’ve prewashed yards and yards of fabric.

Scraps are organized by color so I can find them for hand-sewn hearts. In between, I tweak my patterns, and try some new things too. This is a new character, my Hug Me Bug. I have to draw his picture for his hang tag.

I received these fantastic photos of my beautiful Hug Me Toad collector, Emily. Emily drew this great family portrait of her Hug Me Toads, all with their names above their heads. I just loved seeing these, and I love that all the Hug Me Toads have their own slippers to nap in.

Emily’s PJ’s and her slippers are perfect too. Those Hug Me Toads are in good company!

I love Emily’s portrait. Look how she got all the details. I just love it. Thank you Emily! Say hello to Davey, Mary, Chloe, and company for me! 🙂

The kittens are now out into the bedroom adjoining the laundry room, during the day. They were excited to discover carpeting, and they love galloping around. They are just finishing up some medicine for Giardia, which they probably got from drinking yucky water when they lived outdoors.

Soon they can go mingle with the other kitties. Phoebe and Bertie both went to the vet and had their vaccines. Phoebe got her blood test and doesn’t have either leukemia or FIV. They didn’t like their vet visit at all, but they seemed to forget all about it in no time, once they were back home.

Phoebe (below) is looking contented now. She doesn’t look like a scared kitten anymore, most of the time. She still doesn’t like to be petted, but she looks happy to see us, and likes to watch us. Bertie (above) is friendly and sociable. She isn’t keen on being picked up, but she loves to sit in my mom’s lap.

They are wonderful at playing together. They will each take one end of this string and pull on it. They’ve been having lots of fun, trying out new things, like sitting on the bed. They’ll get spayed and microchipped later this month. They’ll get their second booster shot then. Soon they will be running all over the house.

Josephine has been waiting for the kittens to come out and play. She has plans, I’m sure, to show them her own games. Josephine has always been an enthusiastic computer-helper, and now she has discovered she likes to help me with my crafts projects too. In addition to stealing ballpoint pens, she now attempts to steal the sports tape I use to protect my fingers when I sew. I won’t let her have it, no matter how cute she is.

Posted on October 6, 2011July 30, 2019 by Elizabeth Ruffing

Twins and triplets

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.

We have a lot of cat dolls to photograph. Please see Max Bailey’s new original, one-of-a-kind gray-and-white cat doll, Ida, here (right). We just posted her story today. Her friend, Lucinda the black cat is here (left).