cat-art Archives - Page 60 of 76 - Ruffing’s

Posted on November 1, 2010August 21, 2012 by Elizabeth Ruffing

Celeste the Pixie Kitten, Original One-of-a-kind Cat Art Doll by Max Bailey and Elizabeth Ruffing

Celeste is a cheerful, mischievous little sprite. She’s been known to appear when you least expect her.

From far away, Celeste can hear the flowers swaying to the music of the soft summer breeze. She loves music, and the color yellow.

Celeste hovers over the flowers, and flies in amongst them, encouraging each and every bloom to be as beautiful as it can be. Her golden tutu floats around her body like a gauzy, magical cloud.

If you are out in the garden, Celeste may startle you. It’s very like her to suddenly emerge, and then just as suddenly disappear.

You might think you just saw a yellow butterfly, perhaps a tiger swallowtail. It was probably Celeste, playfully flitting from place to place, bringing her blessings and funny little tricks to all those who are fond of her.

Celeste is an original one-of-a-kind work of art, created from our own design and pattern. She is made from 100% cotton fabric which has been sewn, stuffed, and completely hand painted with acrylic paints. She is 8 and 3/4 inches tall, and 6 inches tall when seated.

Celeste’s arms and legs are button-jointed with antique-looking, filigreed silver-colored metal buttons, so she can easily pose. Her tabby kitten face was sculpted from paperclay, smoothed into her fabric head. Her front paws are needle-sculpted, and her whiskers are made from stiffened cotton thread.

Celeste has a striped curly tail than enables her to sit all by herself on a shelf or a table, or in a cabinet. She will also sit on a chair or stand with a doll stand. (Chair and doll stand not included.) Celeste is meant for display only.

Celeste is wearing a delightful tutu made from layers of tulle in two shades of gold. It has a hand-sewn waistband of soft gold that snaps at the back, and has an coral satin rose at the center. Her magical wings are made from cotton fabric, and are completely hand-quilted.

Celeste’s bodysuit is painted in a rich gold color, with a half moon of painted flowers decorating the neckline. Her ballet shoes are painted in rich pumpkin brown to match the same color in her wings.

Celeste is signed and dated, and sealed with matte varnish for protection and preservation. She comes with a hang tag, a certificate of authenticity, and a copy of her story.

Update: Celeste has been adopted. Thank you!

Posted on September 30, 2010September 19, 2013 by Elizabeth Ruffing — 1 Comment

Opal the Pixie Kitten, Original One-of-a-kind Cat Art Doll by Max Bailey and Elizabeth Ruffing

Opal is a magical pixie kitten, seldom seen but well known in folklore.

She dwells in the hemlock forest, where the trees are tall, and the ground is softly cushioned under her little white feet.

Opal whispers to the screech owls, and rides silently through the forest on the backs of the white-tailed deer. She waves her wings to the butterflies, and they wave back.

“She’s a peculiar looking butterfly,” the butterflies say to each other. Yet she is very sweet, and they do have to pause to admire her lovely wings.

Where Opal walks, the grass grows greener, and when Opal flies near to the flowers, they tilt and sway, and bloom in beautiful profusion. If she should pay a visit to your garden, you will truly be amazed!

Opal is an original one-of-a-kind work of art, created from our own design and pattern. She is made from 100% cotton fabric which has been sewn, stuffed, and completely hand painted with acrylic paints. She is 8 1/2 inches tall, and 6 inches tall when seated.

Opal’s arms and legs are button-jointed with antique-looking metal buttons of filigreed silver, so she can easily pose. Her face was sculpted from paperclay smoothed into her fabric head. Her front paws are needle-sculpted, and her whiskers are made from stiffened cotton thread.

Opal’s curled white tail enables her to sit very well all by herself on a shelf or a table, or in a cabinet. She will also sit on a chair or stand with a doll stand. (Chair and doll stand not included.) Opal is meant for display only.

Opal’s delightful lavender-pink tutu is made from layers of tulle, with a hand-sewn waistband of matching pink that snaps at the back and has a soft blue satin rose at the center.

Her beautiful wings are made from cotton fabric, and are completely hand-quilted.

Opal’s bodysuit is painted soft lavender-pink, with a half moon band of flowers and leaves at the neckline. Her ballet shoes are painted blue.

Opal is signed and dated, and sealed with matte varnish for protection and preservation. She comes with a hang tag, a certificate of authenticity, and a copy of her story.

Update: Opal has been adopted. Thank you!

Posted on September 1, 2010January 9, 2019 by Elizabeth Ruffing

Took a break and made some appliqué designs

I got one of those long-running headaches last week, and decided to let up on my push to get our web site relaunched this week or next. I’ve gotten a lot done, but I was working too hard. My eyes needed a break from the computer too. While surfing the web (I know…I never really leave the computer for good), I was inspired by some fun throw pillows by Robin’s Egg Blue and so I wanted to give that idea a try with my own designs. I found my own favorite throw pillow, and used its 13 x 14 inch size for my drawings.

These are the first four designs I’m working on, “Hug Me! Bunny”, “Hug Me! Kitty”, “Hug Me! Puppy”, and “Hug Me! Slug”. I think throw pillows are good for hugging too. These have been modified from previous designs I’ve made of the same characters. I may modify them some more, depending on how they look once they are done up in fabric. I’m starting by picking out quilting cottons for the appliquéd parts, and I’ve got a few yards of a natural cotton I’m using for the background. I’ve been debating over whether to make the pillows with an insert so the covers can be washed, or making them spot clean only, without the insert. Personally, I really like things to be washable, but I know I’d have to charge a little more for the time and supplies involved. Given my own inclination, I will most likely start with covers with pillow inserts.

I can imagine these as quilted wall hangings also, or maybe even painted designs with a name incorporated somewhere.

My dad was given seventeen pounds of pears recently, and I tried my best to do something with them. My first challenge was a pear pie. The recipe was very much like one for an apple pie, only my pears needed extra cooking time. They were very crunchy to start with, the homegrown kind you see in lots of back yards in our neighborhood. A friend suggested poaching them first, which would probably have been a good idea. I put apricot preserves in the bottom of the crust, before layering in the pears, to waterproof it a bit. I got my recipe from The Perfect Pie by Susan G. Purdy.

My second challenge was going to be pear jam, but that’s when my headache got me. I’m feeling better now, but the pears are passing their prime. I think I may just eat some, and share the rest with the wildlife.

I will continue to work on our web site, but I’m going to alternate doing that and sewing. I will be happier that way. As much as I’ve been excited about having a newly designed site, mixing things up works a lot better for me.

Posted on August 20, 2010January 9, 2019 by Elizabeth Ruffing

Still organizing the past, hoping to catch up soon

I’ve been very busy trying to get our Ruffing’s site organized for a relaunch. I still have a whole lot of work to do. I think it took me six months to build the site in the first place, and it’s grown since then. I’m going through and sprucing up what I can for now. Once I make the switch to using WordPress for the site, the navigation will be a bit “mixed” for a while, with some pages leading to older pages, until I can get all the links updated. I hope to start that transition in early September. Crybaby, above, by Max Bailey, is one of our already adopted dolls who got her photos spruced up and resized today.

I have some sock kittens I was working on, but I’ve put them aside for the past week or so to concentrate on the web site. I turned my back just for a minute, before taking this photo, and a very real-looking sock kitten showed up to snuggle with this pink-striped one. My kittens must be very convincing. I hope to get back to more sewing soon!

I’ve also put my Apple One to One sessions on hold this week, so I can hurry my web site extravaganza along. The photo above was from my last class. I brought my camera along so they could give me some photography tips. I have homework! Needless to say, I haven’t had time to do it yet. Once I have a little more time to take some photos, I’ll explore my camera’s manual settings some more. That is something I never learned, and really need to.

I picked up Margaret Atwood’s Cat’s Eye at the library, weeks ago, hoping to get a chance to read more of it than I have. I was inspired to pick it up after taking one of those Facebook quizzes where I was told my writing style was more like hers than Stephen King’s, but only by a little.

Well, I admit I need a computer break right now. Have a great weekend!