Raylyn

Hi, my name is Laura and I love to make all kinds of crafts. I have an entire room devoted to them in my apartment, and I'm currently working on about 7 different projects, including fabric pins, dotee dolls (newest craze for me!), a recipe scrapbook, jewelry and Christmas ornaments. I'm always open for a swap, and I'd love to challenge myself with something new and different.

Along those same lines, I just got a sewing machine, and am playing around with it. So far, I can't even sew a straight line, but I'm sure that will change!

I collect rubber ducks of any shape, size and sort. My favorite one is a ballerina, complete with tutu, and a "suave" male duck with red jacket and cool 'do. I also collect elephant figurines, my favorite being one in a bathtub with bubbles and his own rubber duckie.

I also like penguins of any type! I have a large, 3 foot tall stuffed santa penguin that's my favorite, but any type is wonderful and fun. They don't have to be winter themed, either, just a cute, tuxeoded (is that even a word? lol!) friends. Monkies are fun, too, and I have lots of those hanging around my apartment. They get along really well with my Hello Kitty toys, lol. I collect those, too!

I am also in love with cartoons, ranging from Fraggle Rock to She-Ra to Garfield and Friends to Dexter's Laboratory. I mainly enjoy old 80's cartoons (smurfs rock!), but newer ones like the Simpsons and Spongebob are fun, too. I am also an avid Disney Princess fan, with Aurora being my favorite. Alice in Wonderland if my favorite Disney movie, though she isn't a princess. Basically I'm a big kid at heart, and wish I could stay young forever!

My favorite colors are pink, black, any shade of blue and yellow. I am fond of patterns, anything from polka dots to flowers to cartoon characters to stripes.

I also enjoy trying new recipes, making candles and soap, and spending time with my kitten Zelda, and my two ferrets Lola and BeBe. They are big helpers in adding that special "touch" to my projects. Every piece I send as a result will be thoroughly inspected and guaranteed to be quality controlled.

BTW, I am not easily offended, so if you think something is questionable, you have a 99.9% chance that I'll be ok with it! This can range from pictures to jokes to books to anything you can imagine.

1) Recipe Scrapbook: I am making my own recipe scrapbook out of recipes I have gathered through the internet, old cookbooks and family and friends. It's an ongoing project that I don't think will ever be finished, but it's been lots of fun adding as I get time.

2) Fabric Pins: I make pins out of fabric. Basically it entails finding a pattern, usually of animals, flowers, butterflies, cartoons, etc. cutting the piece out, and putting them on a cardstock background.

3) I make jewelry out of beads, basically like all other designers. I make necklaces, bracelets and earrings, and use wire twist as part of the design.

4) My biggest project I picked up recently is Christmas ornament kits. I've gathered beaded projects, foamie kits and styrofoam bases to make a ton of Christmas ornaments.

I love reading! I have tons of favorite authors, including Orson Scott Card, Candace Bushnell, Jeffry Lindsay, Raymond E. Feist, John Grisham and Catherine Coulter are just a few.

My favorite book: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Favorite Series: the Dexter books by Jeffry Lindsay.

Latest Read: Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clark ( a great read, though a bit daunting for some people, I'm sure!).

Currently Reading: Tropical Depression by Jeffry P. Lindsay

I enjoy almost any type of movie, although 10 Things I Hate About You and the Resident Evil movies are my current favorites. I also enjoy cartoons and Disney movies.

As much as I hate to admit it, I'm a reality tv addict (mainly American Idol, Survivor, etc). I watch almost all reality TV shows (except the Bachelor / Bachelorette and the ones on MTV). I also enjoy crime dramas and some comedy shows, including The Bill Engval Show.

I listen to all types of music, ranging from Broadway to classical to pop to oldies. I don't much care for the Blues, or R & B, but classic rock is my absolute favorite. I rock out to Aerosmith and Metallica whenever possibe!

I love eating chicken, pasta, anything with hamburger, steak (of course!) and absolutely any desserts. My favorite flavors are lime, lemon, watermelon and by far the best is strawberry. I don't really care for artificial cherry or apple flavors, but I love eating cherries and apples... Go figure!

I don't care for spicy foods, or anything with peppers / pimentos, and olives are gross.

Crafts:

• Any kind of patterned fabric I can use for pins.

• Assorted jewelry beads

• Paper of any type. I make my own, and am always looking to mix new types

• New patterns or project ideas

• Coloring pages. I am on the lookout constantly for new pages to color, anything ranging from animals to cartoon characters to geometric patterns.

Cooking:

• Recipes of any kind! I don't prefer spicy foods, but if it's adaptable so I can make it without the peppers, etc, all the better

• Pictures of food for my scrapbook

A list of my likes (quick reference!)

• Hello Kitty

• Care Bears

• Disney movies (all!)

• Disney Princesses (Aurora is my fav)

• Rubber Ducks

• Penguins

• Monkies

• Colors: Pink, Blues, Black, Yellow

• Recipes of any kind

• Alice in Wonderland

• 80's Cartoons (Smurfs, She-Ra, Rainbow Bright, etc.)

• Gel Pens

• Scents: Strawberry, lavender, berry, Midnight Pomegranate from Bath and Body Works, cucumber-melon (no vanilla, please)

• Chocolate of any kind (fruits and nuts ok, too!)

• Fairy Tales

• Stickers

• Any fabric that is visually interesting

• Rubber Stamps and Stamp Pads