Greetings! We're glad you've dropped in!

Here in Rayn Valley, by far the craziest crafter you'll encounter would be me, and I go by the name Rayna (mostly because it's what my Mama named me convenient, yes?). For the past eight years, I have been married to my treasure of a husband, Greg, who is supportive of my craftiness, even when I'm on the verge of driving him crazy. He's my sanity.

We have been blessed with two remarkably healthy, amazing children, an 8yo boy, Mason, and a 6yo girl, Olivia. They are a little Greg and a little Rayna, and each uniquely their own self. I'm quite crazy about them. They love to get crafty with me, especially when I'm mixing up some salt dough. Can't go wrong with ooey gooey dough and cookie cutters!

The other members of our cozy little family are Daisy, Charley, and the newest, 8 week old Autumn. They are our purr-babies. Daisy and Autumn are calicos, and Charley is a big black tuxedo. The sometimes help with the crafting by making sure my yarn or thread is thoroughly unspooled, or that my ribbons are properly frayed. And naturally, those pompom projects I thought would be fun for the kidswell, the cats reminded me that no, poms are not for projects. They are cat toys.

I have a variety of hobbies that I have accumulated over the years. I used to draw, sculpt, and paint regularly. I also learned to hand sew when I was five and crochet when I was eight. I started using a sewing machine when I went to college. For a while, I put together puzzles, and then decided to take up cake baking. What I'd really like to do is the kind of cakes you can see on FoodTV's "Ace of Cakes". Wow! Or those FoodTV cake challengesI don't do cakes anymore.

My most recent hobbies are two that I absolutely love (or maybe they sort into more than two): Soapmaking and Jewelry making. I started out stringing simple bead bracelets. Then, I discovered wire! I could make my own findings, earring hooks, jump rings! Talk about hooked! And on top of that, I ran across polymer clay. For a gal who used to sculpt, polymer clay was icing! The soap came before the wire and clay, though. I make it from scratch oils and lye. The chemical process fascinates me (pardon me, my geek is showing!). I make sure that my formulas are "superfatted" so they're very mild once they're completely cured, with no excess lye. No lye.

In addition to my soaps, I put together bath salts, body scrubs, and primitive rooms sprays. And occasionally just occasionally I'll sew something. I love the finished product, especially primitive folk art crafts. I have to admit, though, that my love of prim is a recently acquired appreciation, mostly by seeing all the amazing projects put forth by the talented and creative members of the eBay group Age *Before* Beauty. If you'd like to see some of their work, type AB4B into the eBay search bar. I'm honored to be included with so many talented folks.



We appreciate you taking the time to read a bit about us. We hope you enjoy your browse through Rayn Valley. Blessings to you and yours.