Featured Artist - Tonjastreasures
www.tonjastreasures.etsy.com
Recently I asked several of our members to write a short blurb about themselves so we can learn a little more about them. Tonja of Tonjastreasures tells us:
I was born and raised in beautiful Washington State. At a young age I became a crafter with the help of my grandmother. She taught me to crochet, knit, macrame and sew. In school, my favorite time was always art class.
In the last few years I’ve discovered that I adore creating jewelry. I saw Donna Kato on the Carol Duvall Show and polymer clay became a big part of my life. I bought a kiln and added silver metal clay and dichroic glass to my list of materials. Every time I open the kiln door and see the results of my designs it’s like Christmas.
Chainmaille jewelry is another thing I hope to perfect. (So many designs, so little time.) It’s quite amazing when you can turn a length of sterling silver wire into a handful of jump rings and create a stunning piece of jewelry.
My accomplishments include:
Being published in Jewelry Crafts Magazine 4 times
- Polymer Cafe Magazine once (on the cover no less)
- My mini masks can be seen in the book Celebrations in Polymer Clay by Sarajane Helm.
- I tied
for 1st place at 3-D Memory Trends 2006 with my project called Fresh Flower Candle Screen, which was placed on display at the Amaco/Fimo booth at CHA. A picture of my project was featured in an Amaco ad that ran for 3 consecutive months in Today’s Creative Home Arts Magazine. You can also find 3 of my polymer clay how-to tutorials online at www.polkadotcreations.com - I have several more articles ideas that I hope will be published in 2009/2010. Not bad for a self taught artist if I say so myself. Now to try the next thing on my to-do list - enameling. Wish me luck. :)
With what we have seen Tonja, you don’t need luck, you already have talent!
August 16th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
Can’t believe I missed this. Thank you so much for the feature. :)
August 19th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
You picked a winner with Tonja. She is extremly talented. I want to be her when I grow up. She is also very kind and helpful on our forum, PCC. When anyone needs something, Tonja either has it, or knows where to get. it. Tonja is hosting a swap on the forum which includes several members in Europe. I’m sure it will be great, with her at the helm.