Bella Tonski had a skill for making things with her hands, whether it was crocheting a hat or baking a cake. More than that, she had taught herself how recreate a crocheted item just using a picture as reference, working without any sort of a pattern. Those who are crafters themselves will realize just how impressive this skill is. Bella is a visionary. On her website’s about page, she says,
“I’m a wife, a crafter & creator, a baker, a lover of both eating & cooking, connoisseur of written word, adorer of cats & critters, a Connecticut-dweller, & most important of all, a follower of Christ. I believe that I was created by a creative God to create creative things & crochet is my go-to method to reflect that!”
Though Bella has always been creative, she was not always interested in creating her own business. The encouragement of her husband that caused her to even consider it. Now she has a website, a Facebook page, and an Etsy shop for patterns that she has created.
I find her work to be an inspiration as I am a crafter myself. I admire her abilities and her open commitment to Christ through her life and work.
Find Bella’s Custom Crochets Etsy shop here.
As a person who has tried to start up on Etsy, I can say this is impressive. There are so many users on Etsy these days, and it requires heavy marketing skills to take off. The one thing I love about her shop is her business is based off sharing skills, and not making something and keeping it a secret. I have tried to network with other artists over the years and they are very defensive about their techniques, so I think it is cool that her goal is to educate others on something she loves.
I think this is a very cool representation of the things we talked about in class with the Kolbe A index. Bella is most certainly a high implementor and she used this natural talent, with the help of her husband, to create a successful business within a very competitive environment.