Sunflower the Ginger Tabby Kitten, Original One-of-a-kind Folk Art Doll Figurine by Max Bailey

This ginger tabby kitten was named Sunflower, perhaps because of her bright little face and her sunny disposition, or perhaps just because there was a sunflower farm nearby. The name seemed to suit her.

When Sunflower was told the giant and impressive flowers had the same name as her own, she marched off to visit them. She thought she might pick one to bring home, but most of the flowers were far bigger than her head, and way too heavy to carry.

Seeing her problem, the sunflower farmer found the littlest sunflower, and presented it to her.

“Thank you kindly” Sunflower said to him. “I am very pleased and honored that all these wonderful flowers were named after me.”

With a big smile, Sunflower headed for home, and with a big smile, the farmer watched her go.

Sunflower is an original one-of-a-kind work of art, and is meant for display only. No molds are ever used in my work. She and her sunflower are hand-sculpted from paperclay, and are entirely hand painted with acrylic paints.

Her bright yellow dress is patterned with little blue flowers, and the soft blue jumper she wears over it has scalloped sleeves and a scalloped hem. It ties in a big bow at the back. Her striped orange tail emerges from the white petticoats that show beneath her dress. Sunflower’s whiskers are made from stiffened cotton thread.

Sunflower is signed and dated and sealed with matte varnish for protection and preservation. She rests firmly on a turned wooden base that is stained and sealed in golden oak.

Sunflower is an itty bitty kitty. She stands only 4 and 5/8 inches tall.

Sunflower is available for $120 plus shipping. Please inquire with your zip code for a shipping quote to ruffings@ruffings.com Sunflower's kitten friends are Katie the Tabby Kitten (left) and Violet the Siamese Kitten (center).

Katie the Tabby Kitten, Original One-of-a-kind Folk Art Doll Figurine by Max Bailey

Katie is a tabby and white kitten. She loves to go up to the top of the hill on a windy day and watch her brother and his friends fly their kites.

Her brother’s blue kite is her favorite. It sails recklessly in the wind, swaying back and forth in the sky. It is so beautifully blue that it sometimes disappears against the blue of the sky, and Katie holds her breath until it reappears against a white cloud.

One morning, Katie’s brother handed her his blue kite. “You can have this one,” he said. She was greatly surprised, but she thanked him for his generosity, took the kite, and ran home.

No one saw Katie all afternoon. While Katie isn’t very athletic, she is very artistic. She took out her paints and brushes and painted all her favorite flowers on the blue kite, until it was as flowery as a kite could be. She made pretty little bows out of her favorite hair ribbons and tied them on the tail of the kite.

“There!” said Katie, when she was satisfied with her creation. “Now he won’t ask for it back!”

Katie is an original one-of-a-kind work of art, and is meant for display only. No molds are ever used in my work. She and her kite are hand-sculpted from paperclay, and are entirely hand painted with acrylic paints. Katie’s soft pink dress has puffy sleeves, and smocking on both the front and the back. It ties at the back with a big bow. Her striped tabby tail emerges from the white petticoats that show beneath her dress. Katie’s whiskers are made from stiffened cotton thread.

Katie is signed and dated, and sealed with matte varnish for protection and preservation. She rests firmly on a turned wooden base that is stained and sealed in golden oak.

Katie is an itty bitty kitty. She stands only 4 and 1/2 inches tall.

Katie is available for $120 plus shipping. Please inquire with your zip code for a shipping quote to ruffings@ruffings.com

Violet the Siamese Kitten, Original One-of-a-kind Folk Art Doll Figurine by Max Bailey

Violet is very shy.

When guests arrived this morning, she hid behind her mama and peeked at them from around her mama’s skirt.

“Don’t be such a shrinking violet,” her mama said to her.

Before she went to sleep that night, Violet worried. “What if I am shrinking?” she asked herself. “What if I become really tiny? What if I disappear altogether?”

Just as the sun was coming up, she nudged her little sister.

“Can you see me?” she asked.

“Yup. You’re as big as life,” answered her sister, yawning and barely opening one eye.

Violet was not reassured. She went to the measuring mark her mother had made on the wall and put a little book on her head, squishing her ears down. Surprisingly, she was taller than the mark!

Violet went to the edge of the woods and picked some violets. She carried the violets around all day. They didn’t shrink either.

“It’s just a figure of speech,” her mama later explained. “You aren’t really shrinking. You’re just shy, and we absolutely love you just as you are.” Mama put the violets in water and put them on the kitchen table, and smiled to herself.

Violet is an original one-of-a-kind work of art, and is meant for display only. No molds are ever used in my work. She and her violets are hand-sculpted from paperclay, and are entirely hand painted with acrylic paints. Violet’s dress is painted lavender, with dark violet trim and a dark violet bow at the back. She wears white petticoats, from which her little dark tail emerges.

Violet is signed and dated, and sealed with matte varnish for protection and preservation. She rests firmly on a turned wooden base that is stained and sealed in golden oak.

Violet is an itty bitty kitty. She stands only 4 and 5/8 inches tall.

Violet is available for $120.00 plus shipping. Please inquire with your zip code for a shipping quote to ruffings@ruffings.com

Violet's friends, Jessie and Jeannie (above left), have already been adopted.

Jessie and Jeannie, Original One-of-a-kind Folk Art Cat Doll Figurine by Max Bailey

When Jessie woke up this morning, her soft little kitty doll Jeannie was right next to her, just where she was supposed to be.

"What do you want to do today?" asked Jeannie, who is one of those dolls who can talk, and always does.

"Sleep some more," mumbled Jessie, opening one eye. But it was such a lovely spring day, filled with sunshine and adventures yet to happen. Jessie took Jeannie over to the window to look out on the garden below, and they purred together at the beauty and excitement of their little world.

Jessie dressed Jeannie in her favorite blue dress, the one with the lilac ruffles at the neck and at the bottom of the sleeves, with matching lilac pantaloons and little black shoes. She picked out the pale pink petticoats that exactly matched her own. Jessie dressed herself in a light beige dress with blue flowers and pink polka dots. Over it she wore a rosy pink jumper that she tied in the back with a big bow.

Jessie and Jeannie are original one-of-a-kind works of art, and are meant for display only. No molds are ever used in my work. They are hand-sculpted from paperclay, and are entirely hand painted with acrylic paints. Jessie's whiskers are made from stiffened cotton thread.

Jessie is signed and dated, and sealed with matte varnish for protection and preservation. She rests firmly on a turned wooden base that is stained and sealed in golden oak.

Jessie is an itty bitty kitty. She stands only 4 3/8 inches tall.

Update: Jessie and Jeannie have already been adopted. Thank you!

Tulip the Dutch Bunny, Original One-of-a-kind Folk Art Rabbit Doll Figurine by Max Bailey

I am pleased to introduce Tulip, a hard working Dutch bunny with a very serious nature.

Tulip was named after her very great great grandmother Tulip, the illustrious founder and President of Tulip’s Tulip Farm, where the most spectacularly beautiful tulips in all the world are grown.

Someday, Tulip will be President of the farm. For now, she loves to go out into the fields in the fall, and dig perfect little holes with her front paws. Her brothers and sisters follow along behind her, rolling tulip bulbs carefully into the holes. Cousins and second cousins follow along behind them, filling in the holes with dirt to cover the bulbs.

In the spring, when the tulips burst into bloom, all the Dutch bunnies dance through the fields in celebration of the beauty they have helped to create. Tulip loves the lavender tulips the most. You can tell from the lavender tulip pockets she has sewn on her sky blue dress.

Tulip is an original one-of-a-kind work of art, and she is meant for display only. No molds are ever used in my work. She is hand-sculpted from paperclay, and entirely hand painted with acrylic paints. Her whiskers are made from stiffened cotton thread.

Tulip is signed and dated, and sealed with matte varnish for protection and preservation. She rests firmly on a turned wooden base that is stained and sealed in golden oak.

Tulip is an itty bitty bunny. She stands only 4 1/4 inches tall.

Tulip is available for $120.00 plus shipping. Please inquire with your zip code for a shipping quote to ruffings@ruffings.com Her friend, Matilda the Tuxedo Kitten, on the right, has already been adopted.

Just a note to let you know we're in the process of moving our blogs

We are in the process of moving our blogs, due to the recent changes at Blogger.com. Over the next two months, or more, we'll be making the switch to Wordpress, to create our blog posts and our web pages, for our Ruffing's web site and for The Art of Elizabeth Ruffing web site.

We're going to try to keep as many blog post pages and web site pages, as possible, where they are right now, but we will be changing our main blog addresses to the home pages of their corresponding web sites. Elizabeth's blog has already been moved to elizabethruffing.com and the Ruffing's blog will soon be located at ruffings.com.

Please check the home page of either ruffings.com or elizabethruffing.com or our Ruffing's Facebook page for any announcements. Some content may not be readily available during the switch, because we'll be reworking our web site navigation as well. Hopefully, the move will ultimately make our web sites easier to use, but during the move, things may get a little confusing. Please contact us at ruffings@ruffings.com, if you need any help at all finding anything on our site.

(Copies of our blogs will temporarily be located at blogspot.com addresses so that we can import them to their new locations, if you are reading this there.)

Matilda the Tuxedo Kitten, Original One-of-a-kind Folk Art Doll Figurine by Max Bailey

Matilda is a tuxedo kitten who charms everyone she meets. Her bright amber eyes are alert and honest, and she is always exquisitely polite.

Today Matilda has been invited to an afternoon garden party, and is properly dressed for the occasion in a pale green dress. Over the dress she wears a darker green polka dot pinafore that ties in a big bow at the back.

To keep the sun from freckling her little pink nose, Matilda plans to wear her best summer straw hat. It is decorated with pink and white flowers on a dark green band. Her white petticoats swirl about below her hemline. She will be a much admired guest.

Matilda is an original one-of-a-kind work of art, and she is made for display only. No molds are ever used in my work. She and her straw hat are hand sculpted from paperclay, and entirely hand painted with acrylic paints. Her whiskers are made from stiffened cotton thread.

Matilda is signed and dated, and sealed with matte varnish for protection and preservation. She rests firmly on a turned wooden base that is stained and sealed in golden oak.

Matilda is an itty bitty kitty. She stands only 4 ½ inches tall.

Update: Matilda has already been adopted. Thank you!