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Yellow kittens, blue kittens, and slugs

Light blue fleece Hug Me Kitten, original art toy by Elizabeth RuffingI have more Hug Me Kitten stuffed animal toy kittens. These are fleece and the ones below are sock dolls.

Yellow Animal Print Hug Me Sock Kittens, original art toys by Elizabeth RuffingI was curious to see what would happen if I modified my Hug Me Kitten pattern to make a sock kitten, and they came out pretty cute.

Gray Fleece Hug Me Slug, original art toys by Elizabeth RuffingI also finished some more 12-inch fleece Hug Me Slugs. I will be posting my new handmade stuffed animal toys in our Ruffing’s shop.

Magenta Purple Fleece Hug Me Slug, original art toys by Elizabeth RuffingI’ve been sewing whatever I feel like sewing, while watching movies. Today, I added a few custom toy listings, since the holiday rush is no longer a worry.

Orange Fleece Hug Me Slug, original art toys by Elizabeth RuffingIt was strange to have some free time around the holidays, after the past two years. It was much easier to handle just making the custom tags for the toys, without having the time crunch to finish any custom colors.

Looking in my workroom window, photo by Elizabeth RuffingThis is my workroom, without me sitting at my table. We came back from a walk the other night and this looked cozy and inviting. So, I took a photo.

Tabby kittens bird watching at the door, photo by Elizabeth RuffingBertie and Phoebe are sprouting up. These are the two of them bird watching, from yesterday.

Cats sunbathing in the window photo by Elizabeth RuffingSunbathing is also popular here.

Feral cats sunbathing, photo by Elizabeth RuffingThese are a couple of the cats from the feral colony near the area where I picked Phoebe and Bertie up, sunbathing outdoors. I think the one on the right may be a sister of theirs. We looked for the injured kitten, but couldn’t find her. Marie picked up three other cats to be spayed and vaccinated. I haven’t heard back if this is one of them, but I hope so. She said she picked up a kitten too, that may be tamable, but I haven’t heard if it was one I saw, or a new one. It’s been so upsetting thinking about the kitten out there, and the others that will likely be born there too. I kept checking, but didn’t see her.

Feral cat in brush, photo by Elizabeth RuffingI photographed some of the other cats while I was there. I wondered if this girl is a relative of Phoebe and Bertie too. She has eyes a bit like Bertie’s. There are so many cats there with a family resemblance. I hope they can be helped out, and that they can get spayed/neutered and vaccinated soon. There is so much demand everywhere.

Nice stray tom cat, photo by Elizabeth RuffingThis nice tom cat sits with me when I change the water bowls. I think he must have wandered into the colony looking for girl cats, since he seems tame. The past couple of times I have gone down to check, someone has thrown the feeders’ bowls and my water bowls into the ravine. Having food in bowls, and fresh water helps prevent sickness in the cats. Eating off the ground and drinking filthy water is very unhealthy. That is probably how Phoebe and Bertie got Giardia, which needed to be treated. It’s so disheartening when people are uncaring.

The manager at this location, another restaurant not far from the steakhouse where our kittens were, had seemed fine about the cats being there, when we talked to him, but maybe there is someone else there at a different time of day, who feels differently. It is very frustrating when you are trying to help animals in need, and it really is beneficial to everyone to have the cats healthy and fixed, instead of scrounging in dumpsters, etc. I hope things will get straightened out for everyone’s sake. It makes no sense to interfere with a rescue trying to help you with your problem. The cats are there because there are multiple restaurants with open dumpsters, not because of a couple of bowls of clean food and water.

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Yellow Alley Cat Angel Sock Kitten and Fleece Bunnies

Yellow animal print Alley Cat Angel Sock Kitten by Elizabeth RuffingI photographed and posted a new Alley Cat Angel Sock Kitten today. This one is yellow with an animal print, kind of like a leopard, only yellow on yellow, with a red fleece heart. She (or he) has soft stuffed fleece wings, and comes with a hang tag that can be personalized. Ten dollars from the adoption of this sock kitten will go to a local cat rescue, Alley Cats and Angels of NC.

Yellow animal print Alley Cat Angel Sock Kitten by Elizabeth RuffingI will be posting my new handmade stuffed animal toys in our Ruffing’s shop.

Yellow animal print Alley Cat Angel Sock Kitten by Elizabeth RuffingI have been sewing away, trying to make a variety of animals.

Yellow animal print Alley Cat Angel Sock Kitten by Elizabeth RuffingI also finished some new fleece Hug Me Bunnies.

Assorted colors of fleece Hug Me Bunnies by Elizabeth RuffingAnd I picked out a limited number of colors for custom bunnies.

Assorted colors of fleece Hug Me Bunnies by Elizabeth Ruffing, in light blue, lavender, light pink, and daffodil yellow

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November is here and my toy workshop is in full swing

Fleece Hug Me Slugs, assorted colors, by Elizabeth RuffingThis 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.

Fleece, assorted colors, by Elizabeth RuffingPiles of fleece are cascading from the tops of shelves and other piles of fleece.

Rainbow fleece, by Elizabeth RuffingI’ve prewashed yards and yards of fabric.

Fleece, assorted colors, by Elizabeth RuffingScraps 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.

Green Fleece Hug Me Bug by Elizabeth RuffingI 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 with her drawing of her Hug Me Toad collectionEmily’s PJ’s and her slippers are perfect too. Those Hug Me Toads are in good company!

Emily with her drawing of her Hug Me Toad collectionI 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! 🙂

Emily with her drawing of her Hug Me Toad collectionThe 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.

Tabby kittens explore the hallPhoebe (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.

Phoebe the tabby kittenThey 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.

Bertie and Phoebe the tabby kittens play with stringJosephine 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.

Josephine kitty with pretty blue eyes

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Twins and triplets

Hug Me Sock Toads, Dark red and red polka dots with orange hearts, by Elizabeth RuffingI 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.

Hug Me Sock Toads, Lavender, light blue, pink, and yellow by Elizabeth RuffingI 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.

Hug Me Sock Toad, Lavender, light blue, pink, and yellow by Elizabeth RuffingI 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.

Fleece Hug Me Slugs, Pink and light green, by Elizabeth RuffingI also finished two new pink fleece Hug Me Slugs, a medium pink, and

Fleece Hug Me Slugs, Dark Pink and Medium Pink, by Elizabeth Ruffinga deep watermelon pink.

Two tabby kittens on a cat bed, photo by Elizabeth RuffingI’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.

Tabby kitten lying in a cat bed, photo by Elizabeth RuffingWe’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.

Lucinda and Ida, Original One-of-a-kind Black and Gray-and-white Cat Art Doll by Max BaileyWe 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).