stuffed-toys Archives - Page 18 of 26 - Ruffing’s

Posted on March 3, 2012July 29, 2019 by Elizabeth Ruffing

Still stuffing, and stuffing

I’ve been accumulating stuffed toys, and photos to edit and post. The chubby bodies above will be sock kittens once they get their eyes, noses, mouths, and hearts sewn. I have many “sleeping” toys lying around. My two helpers and my sock cats below look like they’ve passed out simultaneously, right in the middle of all my activity.

I made some big Hug Me Bugs this time around, twelve inches tall, like the slugs and bunnies.

I made some twelve-inch Hug Me Slugs too.

I printed a couple sheets of hang tags for Max Bailey’s dolls. I cut them out, and threaded them with gold yarn

Three new Max Bailey dolls are finihsed. We will be posting our new original cat art dolls in our Ruffing’s shop. Below is Pamela, a dollhouse-sized miniature kitten.

The Birman cat below is Deirdre. She is especially pretty.

Bertie recently swiped a dollhouse kitten of her own. She was singing to it in the hallway, when we discovered her. She thought she had a great treat and was very excited about it. She didn’t harm the doll at all, but she had to trade for some cat toys instead.

I picked these catnip mice up at PetSmart, because they were so cheerful, and they were on clearance. They’re some of the Martha Stewart pet toys. We have cat toys everywhere, but it’s fun to add new ones.

The cats and kittens enjoyed them, along with their assorted empty boxes. They never seem to tire of playing with empty boxes.

We had a birthday celebration since I last posted.

It was my mom’s birthday. That’s my mom, above, on the left, along with my aunt, uncle, and grandma. My mom never wants to me to take or post photos of her! So, a childhood photo will have to do.

My mom got snow for her birthday also. This has been the only snow we had all this season. It came at night. I was waiting up for it, so I could at least get a couple of photos of it.

The snow had disappeared by mid-morning, the next day.

Chilly damp weather makes me want to make cookies and take naps. I’ve discovered that a small nap, even an attempted nap, is pretty nice. I get so tired. I was surprised when my mom told me both my aunt and grandma have always taken naps. That made me feel better about my sleepiness.

Posted on February 19, 2012July 29, 2019 by Elizabeth Ruffing

Stuffing stuff

This is what I’m up to this week.

I’d been feeling rundown, and it was nice to sit and watch movies while stuffing toys. I’ve got some Hug Me Slugs, Hug Me Bugs, Hug Me Toads, and a Hug Me Kitten in that mix.

I took at least one day where I mostly rested. Gray days are nice for that.

We just posted a new original cat art doll entry on our Ruffing’s site. Marjorie is up on our Ruffing’s blog with more photos. She a miniature Himalayan kitten art doll by Max Bailey. She comes with a cradle so she can nap too.

These are original cat art dolls by Sandy Mastroni. I got the one on the left this year for Valentine’s Day, and the one of the right last year. I think I will name the new one Babette. I named last year’s addition Nanette. I ate so much chocolate this time around.

This is Bertie. She eats everything she can get her paws on. She’s getting so big. She was just eating while lying down, when I took this photo. She likes to experiment with various ways to eat. Sometimes she picks food up with her paw and puts it in her mouth, like a person.

I finally learned how to use the video on my camera, and took some of the kittens. Too big to post here, but I’m glad I finally tried it. It should be fun catching them at play.

Posted on February 11, 2012July 29, 2019 by Elizabeth Ruffing

Slug, bunny, bunny, bunny, slug, bunny, bunny, bunny

I finished some Hug Me Bunnies, and a couple of Hug Me Slugs this week. I will be posting my new handmade stuffed animal toys in our Ruffing’s shop.

I had a stack of mostly twin-sized sheets in assorted colors, and I cut a yard of fabric off the bottom of each of them to use as backdrops for my toy photos.

The bright colors help the tiny thumbnail photos pop, and I know I can see them better.

I rephotographed some of my Hug Me Bugs too. I haven’t rephotographed all of my toys, but I will continue with more. Ironing each sheet is extra work, but I’m hoping it will be worth doing.

I have been sitting in front of the television, watching movies, while I do my hand sewing, or while I stuff toys.

I am reading my way through a book on digital photography, and finished another on Photoshop Elements. I was happy to find I was familiar with most of the information on Elements, because I realized I’ve learned a lot so far, but the photography book has been much too basic to be useful.

Last night, I was looking for my small stamp collection, having seen pretty stamps at the Post Office yesterday afternoon. I found them, and in the same box, I found a box of drawings from a children’s book I had been working on, years ago. I found other drawings I didn’t remember well. I will have to scan them and start organizing them on the computer. I am still hoping to save up for a second computer to put in my workroom, so I can experiment with digital art and writing in a quiet, undisturbed place.

I have been so tired lately. I hope to sleep better and to get a burst of energy.

This super-adorable tabby-and-white kitten doll is by Max Bailey. Her name is Millie. Millie’s story is here on our Ruffing’s blog today.

Posted on February 4, 2012July 29, 2019 by Elizabeth Ruffing

Working on getting organized

These are some of the custom handmade Hug Me Slug stuffed animal toys that I sent out this past week. I’m trying to decide what to work on next, maybe some bunnies. I will be posting my new handmade stuffed animal toys in our Ruffing’s shop

I got part of my workroom more under control than it was. My clothes are now barricaded into the closet in the corner though. It’s hard to cram all that I have into a small area.

I have more boxes to fill, and am hoping to get more of the piles of fabric organized.

I experimented with the remote control I had for an older SLR camera I have, to see how it worked on the newer camera. I took photos of myself surrounded by my supplies.

That is Beau Bear sneaking up on me, above. I made him a long time ago, from a Vogue pattern. Josephine used to nap on him when she first came here.

I am also working on the backlog of doll photos I have to edit. These are Randolf and Maizie, original, one-of-a-kind ginger tabby cat art dolls by Max Bailey. We posted Randolf here on our Ruffing’s blog, and Maize has her own post here.

This is Ginnie, a miniature version of Max’s art dolls. She comes with a dollhouse cradle. I talked Max into trying mini dolls in cradles, and so I hope people enjoy her and her mini-kitten friends we have to photograph next. Ginnie can be found here on our Ruffing’s blog. I have seven more sets of art doll photos to get edited and posted.

Our real-life kitties are doing well. Bertie is getting so big, we will soon be calling her Big Bertha instead. Phoebe is smaller, and shyer. Bertie has come into her own and is pretty confident. She wants to eat first and she wants the other cats to give her baths. Phoebe is making her own progress, visiting me at the computer and watching things I do.

Yesterday morning, I got a call from Princess Marie saying that two feral cats were being released from the Wake County Animal Shelter to go to Operation Catnip, which is an all-volunteer group with a clinic that spays and neuters and vaccinates feral cats. She was going to pick them up and asked if I could go along to take some photos. There has been some controversy over the cats, and whether they could be released, which hopefully is all worked out now, although there are policy issues still to be discussed, regarding feral cats in the community. From what I understand, these two cats will now be living in an outdoor home, instead of being returned to the colony where they were originally trapped. The people at the shelter were nice to us while we were there, and let me take some photos of the kitties’ big day. Lots of people are happy about the cats getting to go free. They have already been to the vet, and are now settling in comfortably in a safe place.