Angelica the Gumdrop Baby

I thought I'd finish a doll, rather than just do a little on this one and a little on that one, so I'd have something to show for myself! This is Angelica.

She reminds me of Little Red Riding Hood, only as a baby.

We ran outside to try to photograph her before the rain started. The sun was shining here this morning, but it's been getting darker. We have rain so far, but no strong winds from Hanna yet. Here's hoping it won't amount to anything serious.

I have so many projects going on right now, I'm not even sure what I will finish next. Most likely, I will start a few things too. I've been putting my cloth dolls and toys over in my Etsy shop.

Still fusing the world together, one piece at a time

Okay, yeah, that would be an ambitious project, and I'm not sure a necessarily good one to take on. I am, however, still fusing my appliquéd pieces together for my Lucy dolls. I know these don't look all that different here from the last time I posted about them, but I've gotten more done on them. They just don't look like "something" until they come together, all sewn and stuffed, and they take a long time to make. I'll be embellishing them next.

Thanks everyone who wrote to tell me they voted for my "Hug Me! Slug" in Etsy's Handmade Kids Challenge, and thanks to everyone who didn't write to tell me they voted too ;) The polls are open until September 8th. You can still vote for my Gerard the "Hug Me! Slug" here (if you haven't already)...I really appreciate it!

Please vote for me!!!

I'm a finalist in the Etsy Handmade Kids Challenge! I'm so happy! Gerard, my "Hug Me! Slug" is is in the toy category. Please, please, please go vote for him (and me!) here. All you need is an Etsy user ID. It's free and easy to get one. You can vote only once in each category and, by voting, you get a chance to win an Etsy shopping spree. You can read all about the Handmade Kids Challenge and Sweepstakes here.

This is Gerard. He has already found a home, but you can still see his listing here.

The photos on the voting page rearrange themselves, and so you might have to look for him a little on the page. Etsy will be having a guest panel of judges from Boingboing, Cookie, decor8, Martha Stewart Living, Ohdeedoh, Parents and Treehugger. I'm so excited. I have been on Etsy for some time now, hoping to be found amidst the many handmade items by all sorts of artists and craftspeople. Thanks Etsy!

Gerard is happy about it too, or I'm sure he would be. I hope someone will tell him!

I'm still making my dolls. They got dresses, stockings, and shoes today, or some of them did. I'm making progress.

I have big shoes and a messy room

I'm still working on a bunch of dolls all at once. They were all getting appliquéd hair today. That is a pile of ponytails-in-progress in the upper right of the top photo with my "Gumdrop Baby" faces.

This one is a Lucy doll in progress. I pull the paper backing off my fusible web as I go, and drop it on the floor. I know that isn't so nice, but there isn't anyone here who is going to complain about it. As long as no paper-chewing pets are in there, it's okay for a while. We have one cat who will chomp on all sorts of weird things if we're not careful. He's not allowed in there. It's important to keep pets away from art and craft supplies they might eat. You just never know what might be intriguing to them and it's best to be safe.

My floor looks like this until I come through with a waste paper basket. I don't like to trip over anything extra in that room. So it's easier for me to leave the waste paper basket somewhere else and come through with it when I need to. I am a clutter-aholic.

I also finally got new sneakers. I have been putting that off for months. I think I mentioned before that I hate to buy new sneakers. Don't you know, they redesigned them, and made the toe area bigger. I am floating in the usual size I get, which I ordered by mail. I don't think I mentioned before that I also hate to return things, and so I will be floating in these for a good long time! I wear sneakers most of the time, even with sundresses. That should be an even better look for me now ;)

"Babushka Babies" Treasury on Etsy

My Gumdrop Baby was featured in this treasury on Etsy today. I think it will be up until Friday. Thanks Susan, for including her! It's always a really nice surprise for me when people pick one of my dolls or prints out of the blue like that to share with other people. I appreciate it a lot.

I asked my mom to take a couple of pictures of me today. Today didn't seem like a good day for that, since I haven't been feeling well and just yesterday I was struggling to eat Saltines, but...I actually look pretty healthy. Yay!

I cut my hair recently, and I think I might be close to my natural hair color now. Why is this of interest to me? I don't know...sometimes I can't remember what it looks like and it's come a long way from last summer. Actually, so have I. Maybe that's why I wanted some new pictures, so I can have a new look at myself :)

Plush Treasury on Etsy

My "Hug Me! Slug" is in an Etsy treasury today. Thanks sarihihi! And thanks, Maia, for letting me know.

Dollies look back

Now there can be a two-way staring contest. Eleven faces made it to this point, without my goofing anything else up. All that is left is to heat set them with the iron, and then I can begin to match them up with fabrics for dresses, stockings, and boots. I should be having fun right now, but, honestly, I am having such an off weekend. I'm not feeling well, and my car is out on loan, standing in for one that needs repair. So I am cooped up. I have had every intention of turning that into a positive, by getting lots done, which I am doing, but the cooped up part is getting to me. Everyone I know seems to be away for the weekend, and I am imagining them all having fun at the beach or doing something entertaining, which I hope is true. Still, I'm feeling a bit like Cinderella, in more ways than one.

That reminds me...I have been having some very strange nightmares. The other night I dreamt I was getting married. I was wearing a full-length satin gown and all the guests were there, but I had to go talk to a couple of people in a back room. When I came back, most of the guests had gone home, and all the decorations were gone. Only a handful of people had waited for me, to tell me they were sorry. I said that was okay; I wanted to go ahead and get married anyway since whoever would be performing the ceremony was still there and we didn't need the rest. The remaining people thought that was very sweet that I'd still want to get married, without any frills and even though almost everyone had left. I was standing there with a bouquet, wondering what I was supposed to do, and I looked over at the groom. I had no idea who he was! He looked familiar, but I didn't know him. I was panicking and thinking maybe I should call it off, but I felt weird about it after saying I still wanted to go through with it. I couldn't figure out who the guy was. Geez...I guess that's sort of funny, but, it's also kind of terrible! Ha! Thank goodness I woke up!

Dolly Onlookers

I've been painting new doll faces today with my other dolls looking on. The slugs seem the most curious and eager to see what I'm up to. I need some shelving, maybe stadium seating.

I was making good progress until I had to take allergy medication for a bad insect bite I have on my foot. Nothing else seems to control the awful itching and the swelling, but then I nearly nodded off right in the middle of my faces. I kept going, but one or two didn't come out the way I planned. I hate doing "negative work", a phrase a friend uses for creating more work for yourself by making mistakes. I cut one up just to stop myself from continuing to try to fix it. I always feel compelled to try to fix everything, but sometimes it is just better to start over. Besides, most of them came out quite well. I've always been a perfectionist in regard to what I make, and that can make things unpleasant for me sometimes. I've been told that by the time I reached my current age, lots of things that bothered me before wouldn't bother me so much anymore. In some ways that is true, but I haven't shaken the perfectionist drive.

Owlie Art Toys

I am still at work on my Lucy dolls, but I only managed to simplify my pattern by eliminating a seam or two...not much of a difference. I decided she was just going to remain complicated to make, and so I am slowly making progress on those. In the meantime, I took a mini detour and made an Owlie. I made up the pattern myself, fiddling around until I liked the shape.

I added some machine appliquéd details and sewed him up. I made two cute yellow feet for him too. I used some natural, undyed cotton fabric I had from a few years ago for his body. It has a lovely texture with a diagonal woven design. It is the color of oatmeal and is very soft.

Although I tried as many things as I could think to try, I could not get this red polka dot fabric color to show up right in the main photos of my owl. It is a dark red, but it looks too dark in my owl photos. It looks about right, on my monitor anyway, in this photo below:

Mr Owl is about 8 1/2 inches wide by 6 1/2 inches tall.

Other than playing with toys, I got to play with kids this weekend, which was a lot of fun. I think we crammed every kid activity possible into one afternoon. We played with toy trains (I managed to fix the engine part), flew kites, ate ice cream, looked for real trains, played on the caboose at the park, rode on a miniature train, rode the carousel (I picked a bunny), and played tag. And I'm sure I'm leaving things out. I also learned that I am sorely outmatched both in ice cream eating abilities and in superhero powers by a five and a six year old. I needed a lot of pizza to refuel afterwards, but I couldn't help but feel happier when they were around.

Super Slug Comes to Save the Day

My "Hug Me! Slugs" are taking on mutant superhero powers.

This one has an attached cape in case he needs to fly.

He's also got a bit of a potbelly. So, I don't know how much altitude he is going to achieve. He has high hopes, at the very least.

Thanks, G.B., for the "Super Slug" suggestion.

I think today, I am going to take another look at my Lucy doll pattern and see if I can simplify it somehow. She seems to be well loved, but she's a little complicated to make. I can't say, as of yet, I know how to make her less complicated, but my mind is on it.

Gumdrop Babies

This is the new pattern I've been working on. I saw them all sitting on my table and they reminded me of gumdrops. So, they became "Gumdrop Babies". I think they are sweet.

They are original, one-of-a-kind, art toys. I hand painted and heat set each one of their pleasantly smiling faces. They are about 10 3/4 to 11 inches tall and they have no removable or loose parts, making them safe for little ones. They are meant to be played with and loved and hugged. I prewashed the fabrics I used, mostly cotton quilting fabrics, with a little rayon on their faces. So they can be gently spot cleaned, rinsed, and set to dry. BTW, I've been using Tide Free for Sensitive Skin when I prewash my fabrics. I like to get that factory smell out of fabrics in addition to making sure they won't shrink or run later.

I'm finding toy making to be therapeutic. No wonder Santa is a jolly guy. I'm not quite jolly yet, but I'm hoping to get there.

Baby faces

I've been working on a new doll pattern, and these are my experiments so far with their baby faces. Two are on cotton and two are on rayon. So far, the rayon is bleeding less when I use my Pigma pens and acrylic paint on it. I'm going to cut these out and do some appliquéing next. Right now, however, I am going to run in to town...more later.

"So you like slugs?" Feature

My "Hug Me! Slugs" have just been featured on firrkids.com, a review site for children's fiction and non-fiction books, DVDs, toys and games. You can see the feature here: So you like slugs? Thanks so much, Jennifer! I've been feeling blue, and that really made my day.

"Hug Me! Slugs", First Photo Shoot

Here they are...all neat and orderly, with their hang tags tied on, smiling for the camera.

Once I write a few ads, I'll be putting these five up for adoption over in my Etsy shop.

"Hug Me! Slug" Invasion

This is what my workroom looks like this week. My mom came in and started to talk to me the other day, without even noticing them, apparently, because all of a sudden she let out a big, "AH!"

They kind of stare at you like Hypnotoad, only in a completely benign way. We hope...

I've also been putting together their hang tags and experimenting with making my pattern over in different sizes. I want to make another, one step down in size from this one, but I'm not sure if I can turn those antennae right side out if I go too small. I guess the only way to know is to try one.

"Hug Me! Slug" and "Hug Me! Creatures" Original Art Toys

Here is a sneak peek at my new "Hug Me! Creatures" original art toys. S.B.'s "Huggy Slug" suggestion finally came to fruition after a lot of procrastinating by me, and, don't you know, while I was fiddling around, someone went and trademarked a very similar name :( So, we've all been tossing slug name ideas around, and the "Huggy Slug" was reborn as the "Hug Me! Slug", part of the "Hug Me! Creatures" family, previously known as the "Huggy Creatures" family.

I really don't like to step on anyone's toes! Huggy Bunny and Huggy Kitty now have a cousin, with more on the way.

My "Hug Me! Creatures" are sewn by me, using my own designs and my own original patterns, copyright Elizabeth Ruffing. No two are exactly alike.

Fiona's web page is finally up

I've been terribly behind trying to update our online doll gallery, but Fiona's web page is finally there!

She's a one-of-a-kind, original folk art kitten doll. I've included all the details about her and her brother Ziggy. And there are plenty of pictures of them riding their bicycles :)

Transferring my owl

I transferred my owl onto Claybord today. I even filmed myself for the video I plan to make for the painting. It was hard to get myself to do that. It takes away the whole joy of not caring what you look like when you're working at home. At least it was a short segment!

My bunny was today's featured listing in the Prim and Whimsy Girls eBay group. I was so surprised this morning to to her furry face looking out at me when I signed in. Thanks, Becky!

I joined the group just recently. You can find members' eBay listings by searching titles and descriptions on eBay for "PWGL".

I also joined the Rags to Riches Dolls eBay group recently. You can find those members' eBay listings by searching titles and descriptions on eBay for "R2RD".

Here is a close-up of my bunny's lace collar and trim. I made up some detail shots for my print ad. I'm trying it out on eBay this week, and it will continue to be available on Etsy. The lace is the part I scratched out of the Claybord with a dental pick and some of the Claybord tools. I'll be trying this technique while making my owl's feathers.

Coffee with Tea

The very talented and creative Jo James invited me to join "Coffee with Tea", an eBay group "Where Yesterday's Dolls & Today's Doll Artists Meet." Thanks Joee!

I am just reading..."The goal of the Coffee with Tea group is to bring together a small gathering of kindred spirit doll artists for the sole purpose of sharing ideas, information, tips & techniques as they relate to the art of doll making. Group membership is by invitation only." This should be fun :)

Thanks to everyone there for the warm welcome and all the nice compliments too!

Cats On Bikes

I'm so glad I found these bikes. I had no idea how much kitten dolls enjoyed bikes until I got them. They actually got a bit rowdy.

They had a game of Chicken.

Their mama managed to redirect them.

Then they rode tandem. No hands! Er, paws.

Then they rode off on their own.

I'm not sure where they went.

If you see them, let me know.

They're about, well, kitten-sized...several inches tall, and not considered dangerous.

Special thanks to Max Bailey's cat Hedda for minding them as best she could.

"Fiona" the Calico Kitten

Here is "Fiona" my one-of-a-kind, original folk art kitten doll, finally all painted and dressed and photographed!

She looks very alert, mischievous, and ready to play, as a kitten should.

I put her with "Ziggy", her little brother, on the handmade doll quilt I made for her. They played with Ziggy's toy car.

Then they had a game of Patty-cake.

Fiona modeled her dress. Three-quarter view...

Front...

And back.

I took a better photo of her butterfly quilt.

And got a closeup of the hand embroidered butterfly I designed for the center block.

Now Fiona needs a webpage in our doll gallery, which I will try to get to soon!

Emerging Art

I think I painted about eight million hairs on this kitten doll, when two million might have done just as well. I have her shoes, socks, and pantaloons left to paint and I'm feeling terribly slow. I may be coming down with a cold. It's gotten everyone else here so far. I really want to get my doll done so I can photograph her with Ziggy. They look great together.

I don't think that I believed how labor-intensive this kitten-making would be. Max had moved on, at least temporarily, from making the sewn, stuffed, and dressed dolls because, with all the sewing, they were extra involved and time consuming to make, and because Max prefers the sculpting and painting end of things to the sewing and stuffing end. I thought since I enjoy sewing, it would be right up my alley, which it may be. Oh, but all these hairs...I think I went a little nuts.

Doll Bicycles

I found these great bicycles on Easter clearance. They had bunnies attached, but I carefully removed them, along with the candy that came in the baskets.

I used some paint and epoxy remover to get the glue off the seats, eventually managed to pick it off. I then patched, sanded, and painted the seats over, closely matching the the bike frames.

I think they are so charming, and they fit my kitten just right.

Kitty Couture

I designed and made this dress for my latest kitten doll. I went way overboard altering the outer and inner bodice pieces to give a faux piping effect around the neck and armholes. In reality, the thin line of turquoise fabric that shows is about 1/16 of an inch wide! A matching band of turquoise is set in along the bottom hem too, with a row of light blue Rick Rack anchoring it in place.

I hand stitched a blue ribbon at the waistline and tacked on a matching bow. I find the dress captivating all by itself and its small size makes it even cuter.

Mr Buskit, the Birthday Slug

This is S.B.'s birthday slug. He's based on the pattern for my Valentine bird, with a few alterations. He's got a little painted wooden birthday present in his "mouth", and pipe cleaner antenae with painted wooden beads at their ends. His birthday hat is topped with a tiny pom pom.

S.B. had been suggesting for some time that I make a "Huggy Slug" to go with my other huggy creatures.

His name, Mr Buskit, was revealed during the course of a confused driving conversation:

Elizabeth: "What are we waiting for?"

S.B.: "We're waiting until this bus gets by."

Elizabeth: "Who's Mr Buskit?"

S.B.: "What?"

Elizabeth: "We're waiting until Mr Buskit's by?"

S.B.: "We're waiting until this bus gets by us."

Elizabeth: "Oh."

S.B.: "Who's Mr Buskit?"

Elizabeth: "I don't know. I thought maybe he was a neighborhood pet."

S.B.: "A neighborhood pet?... Maybe that's the slug's name."

Happy birthday, S.B...from me and Mr Buskit :)

Furry and having fun

I added some sculpted fur to my second kitten doll. She looks a little less like a space alien today.

I also edited a bunch of Ziggy photos, probably too many, and put them up on Flickr. I made up Ziggy's web page on our Ruffing's site too.

I really like the photos where he is riding his car. I hadn't thought about putting him on the car and was just fooling around in between setting up poses for him.

He came to life when I started having him interact with the car.

Some of the photos are pretty amusing.

Ziggy will be available for adoption over on his webpage. Please visit our doll gallery and our the Ruffing's blog to see our latest available art dolls.

My second kitten doll in progress

It is very dark and rainy today, but I started in on my second kitten-sculpting project. I will add more sculpted fur another day. It's hard to see details today.

I got better photos of Ziggy using a tan backdrop, and the spot metering and white balance bracketing settings on my camera. You can see his whites now.

Other than that, I am doing some boring-to-me things like editing web pages. I'm trying to get a more comprehensive online doll gallery together for our main Ruffing's site. Max, in particular, has a lot of cute stories to go with all the art doll photos we have accumulated. There are so many cat doll photos on our Flickr doll pages at this point, that we thought it would be more entertaining if they were put back in their original contexts, with the stories that go along with them. I still have to edit Ziggy's photos for his page...

Still playing with lighting

Ziggy needed an accessory and so I painted a little car for him. He seems to like it. I think it sets off his onesie nicely anyway.

I experimented with a white background for photographing him today, and I am still struggling to get it right. I think I will go with tan when I set up the tripod and photograph him for real. I need to raise him up on a stand first too. If I can muster some patience, perhaps I will try to learn to use manual light metering. I'm always trying to fix things in Elements instead. I'm sure the camera can do all kinds of wonderful things if only I would learn to press the right buttons and turn the correct dials.

"Ziggy" the Tuxedo Kitten

Granted, I wish I had taken these in better light, but I wanted to show you Ziggy as I just finished painting him. He still needs to be varnished, and then we'll get some better photos of him...I hope!

I don't know why he makes me think of Little Bear. That's Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik, with pictures by Maurice Sendak in the background. Maybe it's the slope of his nose, or his amusing, but charming, overbite. I don't know, but I think at the very least, Ziggy and Little Bear could be good friends.

Painting my kitten doll

I'm pokey, but I am making progress. Little Ziggy (I've decided he's a boy now) has been coming right along. He's got a pastel yellow onesie with a periwinkle blue collar and buttons down the front. I'm having quite a time keeping his whiskers white. I've had to repaint them a couple of times and I'm sure I will again. Painting thread is not as easy as I might have thought. I think what takes the most time, aside from painting his multitude of kitten hairs, is deciding how I want him to look. He is a stylized version of a kitten after all, and there are plenty of choices to make about how I want to do that. All in all, he's a cute fellow.

Just an aside...Those are my African violets in the background. They are getting what looks like white mildew on them. I was so glad to be able to get them to survive, and I am not happy about this new turn of events. Does anyone have any experience with this? I read keeping a fan going helps, but it is cold for that! I've been trying to get rid of the infected parts, but I seem to be losing the battle :(

Another aside...We're on "vacation" from our eBay store this week, in sympathy for the current eBay boycott. We'll be posting our new dolls over on our main website. I'm working on expanding our art doll pages over there so people can visit, take a look at available and already adopted dolls, and read their stories. I don't know if a boycott will have any effect, as I imagine eBay will continue to cost sellers more and more, but I do think the changes to the feedback system are insulting. In the coming months, sellers will no longer be able to leave negative feedback, but buyers will continue to be able to. Personally, we have never left any or received any negative feedback, but whether buyer, seller, or both, we should all be subject to the same policies. To do otherwise is to invite abuse. If eBay wants to reform its feedback system, I believe it would be more fair to do away with the positive, negative, and neutral signs, and just have plain, honest feedback. I believe if eBay users don't feel threatened by potential punishment for saying what they think, that they will leave more accurate accounts of their transactions. I think that would be much more valid and much more fair to everyone.

Kitten in Black and White

Here is my little kitten, with his/her (still haven't made up my mind) face sculpted and dry, and some basic lines marked with pen. I'm going to use that adorable tuxedo kitten to the left as a model when I paint.

It was bound to happen some day...I've been tagged. I may be the last person who hasn't been tagged yet, ever. I think I just passed my first year blogging anniversary too, roughly. I erased my first post that said something like, "Just testing." So, no accurate date there. I digress...I've been tagged by Annie Oakleaves (I like saying that. It makes me smile.) Here goes... five random facts about myself:

1. I am an only child. People have always asked me, "Did you miss not having brothers and sisters?" I never understand this question, but I try to answer it politely. The truth is that I never had them, and so I have no idea what it is like to miss having them.
2. I like to watch campy TV. My dad says that my mom and I will watch anything that "sparkles". Dancing with the Stars, American Gladiators, Passions, Dr Who...if it has some element of the ridiculous, I'm in.
3. I hate to buy new sneakers. I will wear them until they die. I've been known to strap them back together with duct tape. I really need a new pair right now.
4. I am a pack rat. I had to reduce the number of my possessions when we moved several years ago, and it still pains me to think about it. I must have saved everything I had ever had, including piles of junk mail.
5. I usually remember to take the laundry out of the washing machine, but I usually forget to take it out of the dryer.

Okay. Since I can't believe I am not the last person to have been tagged ever, I will leave it up to anyone who hasn't been tagged and who would like to be tagged, to volunteer five random facts about themselves. Or even one random fact. I'm not fussy about rules. Even if you don't blog, you can just leave one or more in the comment section :)

Brownies

They may not be fancy, but they are good. These are the made-from-scratch kind of brownies. I got the recipe right off the box of my Baker's unsweetened baking chocolate squares, Baker's One Bowl Brownies. I never have pecans around, and so I always go for the chopped walnuts instead. Quick and easy.

I had my first sculpting lesson from Max today. I was told that I behaved myself and didn't yell, although I did get a little frustrated at points. All in all, we both thought I did pretty well, better than I expected. Hence the need for a brownie reward. I was going to take a picture of my first kitten, but I was afraid to touch him/her because he/she wasn't dry enough. At some point I will have to decide on a gender. It is always hard to tell with kittens, isn't it ;) So far my kitten makes me think of what a Maurice Sendak version of a kitten might look like, which is good, I think. Quirky, cute, a little odd.