softies Archives - Page 20 of 23 - Ruffing’s Artist Dolls and Toys

Posted on November 2, 2011July 30, 2019 by Elizabeth Ruffing

November is here and my toy workshop is in full swing

This 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.

Piles of fleece are cascading from the tops of shelves and other piles of fleece.

I’ve prewashed yards and yards of fabric.

Scraps 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.

I 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’s PJ’s and her slippers are perfect too. Those Hug Me Toads are in good company!

I 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! 🙂

The 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.

Phoebe (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.

They 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.

Josephine 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.

Posted on October 14, 2011July 30, 2019 by Elizabeth Ruffing

Big slugs and little slugs, Hug Me Slug handmade stuffed animal toys

I finished four 12-inch Hug Me Slugs and four 9-inch Hug Me Slugs, and got them photographed. I will be posting my new handmade stuffed animal toys in our Ruffing’s shop. These are all made of fuzzy fleece.

The soft rainbow blend below is unusual. I got it a long time ago. I don’t have a lot of it, but it is very pretty. I may see if I can purchase more, or something similar, online.

I am going to try to get as many ready-made toys as I can together before the holidays. I am usually swamped with requests for custom toys at that time, and I can never keep up. Most people wait, and ask all at once. So, I am hoping to have more toys that are ready to go. I will likely cut back on the number of custom colors I offer, just so I can keep track of what I have, and offer more of a variety of ready-mades instead.

I’ve tried to imagine the holidays have been here all year round, to keep myself going. I know I am never ready when they arrive! I am considering putting up the Christmas lights now, for inspiration 🙂 I’ve even made a couple of ornaments, but forgot to photograph them today, with the Hug Me Slugs, and the art dolls.

Posted on October 6, 2011July 30, 2019 by Elizabeth Ruffing

Twins and triplets

I 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.

I 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.

I 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.

I also finished two new pink fleece Hug Me Slugs, a medium pink, and

a deep watermelon pink.

I’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.

We’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.

We 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).

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

Starting to come around

I moved Phoebe and Bertie indoors, into the laundry room, and they are continuing to make progress. Bertie is making great strides, and Phoebe is still the more skeptical kitten. They have been a tremendous amount of work, but seeing each breakthrough is very rewarding. I am so glad to have them out of the rain, and away from the bugs. We’ve had so much rain this past month, which is unusual for us, and cleaning a cage outdoors, even one tucked under a tarp, was no fun at all. They seem to like being inside now.

We got them a bigger cage, a “Cat Playpen“, and they took to the idea of climbing, in a short period of time. My dad helped me put casters on this two-story cage so I can move it around, and I put zip ties all over it to make it secure, so they won’t get their paws caught in any connecting areas. They venture in and out at will now, to explore the room, play, and lounge. These are some photos from today, of my mom feeding them baby food mixed with Fancy Feast. Gerber Chicken and Gravy 2 is indeed enticing to them. It just has chicken and water in it, no seasonings, and so it is safe for them.

Bertie likes being petting and scratched, and I was able to pick him (or her…still can’t get a look) up a few times today, only for several seconds at a time. Phoebe is much more standoffish. I am hoping she will see Bertie trying these things out, and give them a try herself. We aren’t pushing her though We are just letting each one of them learn to trust us, a little at a time. We try each new thing briefly, until they get used to it.

Bertie has been more open-minded all along, and more interested in interacting with us. They both like to play with a feather toy with us, and both kittens get very excited when they see our adult cats. Once they can be checked out by a vet, as long as they each have a clean bill of health, they will enjoy being able to finally reach them and play with them.

These videos (there is a set of three parts on YouTube) have been very helpful! So have the tips from the same incredibly patient man in the videos, Mike Phillips, on the Urban Cat League site.

There are more of their tips on socializing feral kittens here. A big thank you to them for this information! It has not only made a big difference for these kittens, but it made me feel like I could do this. I appreciated the reassurance and the advice. It helps to know that each kitten is different, and that there is no schedule to worry about, if one is slower than the other to want to socialize. They decide on their own what they want to do.

I have also just begun getting back to getting some work done. These are two custom, two-tone Hug Me Slugs, made of coordinating quilting cottons.

I don’t normally do these anymore as they are very difficult to do with my sewing machine. It has “fast” and “stop”, which makes machine appliqué into more of a roller coaster ride. In spite of that, I think they came out nicely. I have some Hug Me Toads waiting to be finished up, and many other art toys, waiting for me. We also have lots of original, one-of-a-kind cat art dolls to photograph. We’ll be posting our new original one-of-a-kind cat art dolls in our Ruffing’s shop.