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Menagerie

White ducksI was happy to see the sun shining today, not just because it makes me feel more upbeat than I feel on rainy days, but because we’ve been waiting to photograph Max’s new cat art dolls. Max made some smaller cats in dresses, while I’ve been making toys. I still have some Pixie Kitten bodies in progress that I need to finish, but I keep getting orders for toys, which has left Max at the sewing machine. We will be posting our new creations in our Ruffing’s shop.

The ducks enjoy rainy days, and will come visiting no matter. We enjoyed a visit from them this afternoon. They are wandering more, now that the weather has become warmer, the grasses are growing, and there is more to forage.

Light yellow fleece Hug Me Slug by Elizabeth RuffingI finished this light yellow fleece Hug Me Slug today, while Max was busy working on the doll stories to go with the new kitties. I was on a sunshine theme, I think, or it felt like a good day for yellow.

Light yellow fleece Hug Me Slug by Elizabeth RuffingBelow is a sneak peek at Max’s new dolls, Zelda the tuxedo cat, Melody the Siamese, and Amy the white cat. They are about 7 1/2 to 8 1/2 inches tall. Max made their clothes. I did have a hand in resizing Amy’s pinafore, in between my making slugs. I think they are all very sweet. Once I am finished editing their photos, we’ll put them up in our Ruffing’s shop.

Zelda the Tuxedo Cat, Melody the Siamese Cat, and Amy the White Cat, original one-of-a-kind cat art dolls by Max BaileyWe had an extra assistant today, in the form of Santana the Peeping Tom Cat. Santana is well-known to my Facebook friends. He comes over to our house almost every day, to look in all our windows and doors. I’d never seen anything like that before. He has climbed up on garbage cans to get a look in the kitchen window. He lives one house away, and is apparently very curious about his cat neighbors. Today he was curious about cat dolls. He was even trying to get in the house.

Santana the Peeping Tom Cat comes to help photograph new dollsSome of our cats do not enjoy his visits, but he couldn’t care less, from the look of him. He loves to taunt. He will stare in, or punch at, the doors or windows for as long as he likes. Here are a couple of videos of him taunting one of our cats.

Below is one of my favorite photos of Santana staring in the house from the back door. I love the look of determination on his face. What a character. Surprisingly, since Santana has been watching us, at least two other cats have shown up to look in the doors or windows too. All our cats, and Santana, are fixed, and so it isn’t due to anything like that. I had no idea we were so interesting. One morning recently, the ducks were on the deck looking in the back door too, in the dark of the early morning. I opened the door, and was surprised to find them there. Someday I may open the door and have a rush of animals run inside.

Santana the Peeping Tom Cat stares in our back doorTomorrow, I am heading out on another cat-catching adventure. This time we are picking up little Gyspy for his big vet day. Should be fun. I hope I can get myself up and awake early, with the Daylight Savings Time change!

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Opal the Pixie Kitten

Opal the Pixie Kitten, Original One-of-a-kind Cat Art Doll by Max Bailey and Elizabeth RuffingOpal the Pixie Kitten’s web page is up. I just finished editing her photos, and you’ll find more of them there. We were lucky enough to find her floating around a bunch of lavender chrysanthemums, which set off her tutu quite well.

Opal the Pixie Kitten, Original One-of-a-kind Cat Art Doll by Max Bailey and Elizabeth RuffingHer tutu was made from four layers of tulle (more details on making the tutu can be found here), and her body was sewn from cotton fabrics. Her face was completely hand sculpted from paperclay, and then her whole body was hand painted. She’s a collaborative creation by Max Bailey and myself, and she’s a one-of-a-kind.

Opal the Pixie Kitten, Original One-of-a-kind Cat Art Doll by Max Bailey and Elizabeth RuffingPlease be sure to visit our Ruffing’s site to read Opal’s story and find out more about her, and please join our Ruffing’s Facebook page, if you haven’t already. I’m continuing to post our new work there.

We All Sew I’d like to extend a special welcome to readers from WeAllSew.com. The very nice folks with Bernina wrote to say they’ll be featuring my blog there the week of October 1st to the 8th. What a nice compliment.

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Catching up with the kitties

Sunflower the Orange Tabby Kitten, Original One-of-a-kind Folk Art Doll Figurine by Max BaileyI’m moving right along now, getting things done, like editing new doll photos and making up their web pages. These two kittens are Max Bailey‘s latest original one-of-a-kind folk art doll figurines.

Katie the Tabby Kitten, Original One-of-a-kind Folk Art Doll Figurine by Max BaileyThis is “Katie the Tabby Kitten“, and below is “Sunflower the Ginger Tabby Kitten“. Katie’s brother gave her is kite because she admired it so much. She painted flowers all over it to make sure he didn’t ask for it back!

Sunflower the Orange Tabby Kitten, Original One-of-a-kind Folk Art Doll Figurine by Max BaileyA sunflower farmer gave Sunflower her gift, which she is certain was named after her. She’s very flattered that all the flowers on his farm were named after her too. That’s a pretty big compliment.

Sunflower the Orange Tabby Kitten, Original One-of-a-kind Folk Art Doll Figurine by Max BaileyKatie and Sunflower join “Violet the Siamese Kitten” in Max’s series of Itty Bitty Kitties. I can tell you, Max’s eyes are aching for something larger, and his next creations are going to be a bit bigger. I have to supply him with some more doll bodies to get him going on some other jointed original one-of-a-kind folk art dolls we have planned as well.

To see more of Katie, Sunflower, and Violet, and read their stories, please visit the links below:

Katie the Tabby Kitten

Sunflower the Ginger Tabby Kitten

Violet the Siamese Kitten

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Super Slugs and Super-sized Slugs

12 inch Super Slugs by Elizabeth RuffingAs promised, I have some toys to show for myself today. We went out into the heat and took some photos. These two 12 inch tall “Super Slugs” are over in my Etsy shop right now.

14 inch Hug Me! Slug by Elizabeth RuffingThis is the first time I’ve done a 14 inch “Hug Me! Slug”. He looks like he might be the real super slug here, but he’s already on his way to his new home. He’s a Father’s Day surprise for a dad who surprised his wife and son with their own personalized slugs. They wanted an even bigger one for him. He’s supposed to be “Dad sized”.

12 inch Super Slug by Elizabeth RuffingAs you can see, the 12 inch slugs look dainty compared to him.

9 inch Super Slug by Elizabeth RuffingI also sewed up a 9 inch tall “Super Slug”. He flew off a few days ago to help look after a new baby. These slugs keep busy.

Blue 12 inch Super Slug by Elizabeth RuffingI should have taken one of them to the Post Office with me today. I could have used some assistance. I got a flat tire. I thought I heard a funny flapping noise over the air conditioning, and just as I approached the shoulder-less road home, the noise got louder.

Blue 12 inch Super Slug by Elizabeth RuffingI didn’t really have a safe place to pull over, and so I drove the rest of the way home. Luckily, it wasn’t far. The tire is still on the car, because it is just too hot out there right now to touch it, but, hopefully, there’s no damage to the rim. That’s a project for tomorrow.

Bright light green 12 inch Super Slug by Elizabeth RuffingWe also photographed some of Max Bailey’s kitten figurines. I’ll get to work on editing those photos and putting up their web pages too. They’re very cute.

Bright light green 12 inch Super Slug by Elizabeth RuffingUp, up, and away!