hug-me-kittens Archives - Page 3 of 4 - Ruffing’s Artist Dolls and Toys

Posted on January 20, 2012July 30, 2019 by Elizabeth Ruffing

Red-and-pink striped Hug Me Angel Cat and Hug Me Kitten sock dolls

Today, I put the finishing touches on two new sock dolls, a Hug Me Angel Cat and a Hug Me Kitten, both red and pink striped, and photographed them. I think these came out extra cute.

The first is a Hug Me Angel Cat sock doll. Same as before, this kitty is helping out real-life cats and kittens. A portion from his adoption will be donated to an animal charity, Alley Cats and Angels of NC. He (or she) will come with a personalized hang tag too, with his adopter’s choice of a name, or “For + a recipient’s name.” I will be posting my new handmade stuffed animal toys in our Ruffing’s shop.

He has fuzzy white fleece wings and a pink fleece heart. His features are all hand sewn on, with embroidery floss in a blanket stitch.

I’m enjoying how he looks like he is flying here and there in my photos.

I was lucky to have a blue sky and some white clouds just long enough to take his pictures today.

I also made a smaller sock kitten, in the same red-and-pink stripe. He or she also has hand embroidered details, and a pink fleece heart.

I finished him in the nick of time to get his photos too, and then it got all gloomy again outside. I’m glad I was able to get these posted today.

They would both be great Valentine’s Day gifts.

Also perfect for Valentine’s Day are Echo and Tommy. These are new, original, one-of-a-kind black-and-white tuxedo cat art dolls by Max Bailey. I am finally getting to editing some of the doll photos that got backlogged before the holidays. There are quite a few more beautiful and handsome original cat art dolls still to share. Echo can be found here on our Ruffing’s blog, and Tommy can be found here. They each have their own story.

I had been thinking for a long time that I should have business cards for my toys, but couldn’t decide where to order them. So, I designed and printed them myself. Since I love rainbow assortments of things, I ended up making them in several different cheerful colors.

I handed out my first one last weekend, to someone who was feeling blue, and, right away, it made him smile and laugh, even though he’d been wiping tears away a minute before. That reminded me that what I’m doing has a positive impact, and that my toys spread good cheer and comfort. I’ve got toys heading out to people’s Valentines, and I’ve got toys going out to lift the spirits of people who have lost loved ones. Some of them head off to welcome new babies and to help people celebrate birthdays, and they make people smile.

Posted on January 7, 2012July 30, 2019 by Elizabeth Ruffing

Yellow kittens, blue kittens, and slugs

I have more Hug Me Kitten stuffed animal toy kittens. These are fleece and the ones below are sock dolls.

I 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.

I 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.

I’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.

It 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.

This 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.

Bertie and Phoebe are sprouting up. These are the two of them bird watching, from yesterday.

Sunbathing is also popular here.

These 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.

I 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.

This 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.

Posted on December 28, 2011July 30, 2019 by Elizabeth Ruffing

Blue Hug Me Kitten stuffed animal kitten

I’ve had three blue fleece kittens, waiting for me to finish the details on them, and I almost have all three ready. This is the first, with a red heart.

I’ve been playing with my pattern, experimenting with the size, making them just a little taller. I will be posting my new handmade stuffed animal toys in our Ruffing’s shop.

Bertie’s cold is still bad. She looks weepy and sounds snuffly. I hope she feels better soon.

Yesterday, I came across another kitten, orange and white, from the same general location where I picked up our tabby girls. Then today, I found another, the tabby pictured below, in the same spot. She has a serious tail injury. She was circling me, within close range, and meowing at me. She looked like she wanted me to help her, but I couldn’t get my hands on her. I’m hoping she can be trapped, and taken to the vet, but I don’t want to try to catch her myself. I have no safe place to hold her, and I could end up with any number of random cats there, since there are so many, with no clinic appointments for them. The tabby kitten may have to be quarantined if it looks like the injury is the result of a bite wound, as a precaution against rabies. I hope both kittens can be helped.

I feel so terrible every time I visit that location, because there are always more cats or kittens there, living under crummy conditions. Some were TNR’d (trapped, neutered, vaccinated, and returned), last spring, summer, and early fall, but the clinics are infrequent, and there are so many cats everywhere. Please have your pets spayed and neutered, and please spay/neuter/vaccinate any community cats were you live, or ask a rescue to step in to do it. Pet overpopulation and abandonment are really human problems, which is sad and unfair for the animals and the people who care about them.

It’s hard too, seeing cats and kittens out there who all bear a family resemblance to your own pets, in our case, Bertie and Phoebe. This kitten has Phoebe’s face. I still feel so unhappy when I think about their siblings and other relatives that had to stay. I feel sad I couldn’t take their sister, and I worry about how she is doing. I think about that a lot, wondering how many more litters of kittens there have been, and I hope they are okay, especially with the cold, wet weather.

Posted on November 15, 2011July 30, 2019 by Elizabeth Ruffing

Yellow Alley Cat Angel Sock Kitten and Fleece Bunnies

I 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.