Artsy Addicts Member Spotlight {1}: Tonya Gibbs

Introducing Tonya Gibbs.
Greetings form Keystone Heights, Florida.  I’m so excited to be chosen for the first round of guest bloggers on Artsy Addicts.  This is an extremely talented group of crafters, and it is a great honor to be among you. I am a 41 year old mother of two, Brittany, 17, and Brighton, 14. I have been happily married to my high school sweetheart, Kenny, for 21 years. I have loved crafting since high school, and picked up photography when my children started school. I paint and paper craft for relaxation.

My blog is http://www.psychomoms.com and I’m known on Youtube as Psychomoms.
When my son was eight, I was dubbed Psycho Mom by his baseball coach; primarily because, I volunteered for everything in order to get the best photo ops. Pictures look much better from the dugout than they do from behind the fence. As a joke I created the logo and a business card for the Psycho Mom's Society (PMS). The name took off, and has evolved into a local brand within my community.

My current loves are mini albums and altered objects. I love that I can shape paper and form 3D works of art that go beyond scrapbooking.  I am a versatile artist and love experimenting with new techniques.  My style is definitely grunge and vintage. While I love pastels, a project isn’t finished without a touch a brown and a ripped edge!

I stumbled across Marion from Youtube and then began following her on Ustream about 2 years ago.  I watch her private channel, and her Live with Prima shows.  I just adore her, and was so excited when I got to meet her this year.  She is very talented, and I consider her one of my mentors.
If I were an embellishment – I believe I would be one of Marion’s trinkets - brassy, flashy and bold but elegant!

I am completely inspired by color and texture.  I think the things that truly inspire me are fabric, nature, and paper.

Without a doubt my favorite manufacturers are Prima and Graphic 45.  Everything Prima does inspire greatness from their products, packaging, to their educators. Graphic 45 – I love the feel of the paper, and the vintage iconic images.  I’m often afraid to cut their paper, but not because I don’t know how to use it, but because it is so inspiring I want to do it justice.
Scrapboking and crafting have changed the way I look at things.  I never leave my house without a camera, and I tend to hoard things that can be recycled, altered, or strike an emotion in me.

Here are my favorite projects of all time:


This is a layout of my niece Adalynn I love it because it is elegant and girly but grungy and dirty

This is a layout of my son that I created 3 or 4 years ago.  It is one of my favorites because of the simplicity and the fact that you don’t often see masculine layouts.  I took this photo of him while we were waiting in a line for breakfast one morning. It is one of my favorite photos of him also.

I think this captured fairy is one of my all-time favs because I hand made every flower, and the details in this piece are just incredible. There is a Yankee candle Fresh Cut Roses Air Freshener nested in the top of the lantern. From sparkly fairy wings to rose scented flowers, you feel like you have stepped into a rainforest when you hold it in your hand.

Besides paper crafting I really enjoy photography. I absolutely love the way light affects an object. I love to capture the wonder on a child’s face, and the surprises found in nature.  You can get a glimpse at a few my photographs here: