Category: Art Dolls

Original, one-of-a-kind, art dolls

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Some frost and a whole lot of work later

When I opened my curtains this morning, and saw the soft, white light coming in, I was reminded of winter up north, when it has just snowed. It made me feel so happy. It wasn’t snow though, just frost, but it was so pretty that I went outside in my pajamas to take a picture.

This doesn’t really convey how the grassy lawns all faded to white in the distance, but you can imagine it 🙂
And…we FINALLY finished updating our online doll gallery! All of the currently available dolls now have web pages, and some of the adopted dolls do too. At least every doll on the page has a link now, and what a big page! I will, at some point, have to separate the dolls into categories rather than have a page that scrolls into infinity, but, for now, we are so relieved to have it up to date.


Of course, I still have to fix all the print pages up. It seems to be a never-ending job. Just looking at the sheer size of the doll gallery, I am reminded that I need to focus on what I have already started and not take on more than I can handle. My current plan is to focus on making original, one-of-a-kind folk art dolls and paintings, and consolidate what we have available for sale on the Ruffing’s site, instead of all the EBaying and Etsying, not to mention the MySpacing and whatever mulitude of other sites I have been trying to cover. I will try to finish the play dolls/toys I have started, but I think I will be doing those for more fun in the future. I’ll see what I have time for without making myself crazy with too many projects.
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North Carolina back roads

I have now linked all the thumbnail photos that are currently on our online doll gallery page to actual webpages! “Sigrid the Star Baby” was the last to get her own link. There are still those six finished dolls to post…but let’s concentrate on what I got done, for now 😉

And we have perfect, beautiful weather here. The leaves are still turning, the sky is an intense blue, and the temperature is just right. We took a little trip to the library today, and I stopped along the back roads to take some photos.

I’ve just finished reading Where Angels Fear to Tread, and now I’m starting on A Room with a View, both by E. M. Forster. I had asked for Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay, through Interlibrary Loan, but I’m not sure I will ever see it. The librarian I spoke to didn’t seem to be able to translate spoken English into written English very well. I’ve never encountered that before at a library. I did my best to write out what I wanted and rephrase what I was saying a couple of different ways, but the whole exchange was a bit surreal. Perhaps she will surprise me. We will see. Or maybe they will make the Interlibrary Loan form available online soon. That would be nice too.

Anyway, the drive was pretty.

Yesterday, I was still nervous over the election, even though it was over and I was relieved by the results. I must have just been that nervous, so much so that I had residual nervousness! Today, I feel much more like it’s a new day, and I’m hoping people everywhere are feeling more positive and optimistic.

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The Great Web Marathon continues

We’re getting together some images of our original folk art cat dolls to make into prints, which we will start putting in our eBay store soon. We’ve still got six finished dolls to get into our online doll gallery as well. It will be a great relief to get back to creating something other than web pages soon! Above are my “Fiona” and “Ziggy” kittens, and below are “Ginger and George“, “Crabby Alice and Ruthie“, and “Hedda and Hopper” by Max Bailey. These jointed, cloth-and-clay dolls are the kinds of dolls we are planning to collaborate on soon.

We all went to vote this morning, before any big lines occurred. I was voter number 320. I am so nervous waiting for the election results. I’ve been reading while we were taking turns at the computer. This time I went with E. M. Forster, even though I know how those stories turn out, having seen so many of the movie adaptions. Familiarity is comforting right now.
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Kitty Doll Dress Inspiration

We’ve been updating our online doll gallery all this week, and I’ve been pouring over the April Cornell online catalog, getting some inspiration for kitty doll dresses.


I can’t help but think how I’d love to make clothes like these for a little girl, if I had one. All the details are amazing, pin tucks, lace, embroidery.

Over the years, I’ve accumulated a lot of things like toy and clothing patterns, and partially done projects of my own, that I’ve thought about making for my own children, should I have them someday. These make me feel inspired. I’ve saved a lot of things from my own childhood, not just out of nostalgia, but out of a desire to share them with my own kids. These dresses have that kind of nostalgic feel to them. They remind me of my own childhood for some reason.

There used to be an April Cornell store near here, and I loved to go in and study all the clever combinations of fabrics she has. I’m glad to see her clothing, accessories, and home decor are available online.

I’m going to be experimenting with little girl dresses in miniature for now. Max and I are talking over the details of our collaborating on some jointed cloth-and-clay folk art dolls. It should be fun.