A Good Man is Hard to Find

So are good designers, who actually have time to work with you, and bother to LISTEN to you about what you want.

I was lucky to have come across Will of Will Thorpe Intelligent Design via my logo contest. He has great communication and really cared about what worked for me and my business.

He's designed multiple logos for my shop - my two signature favorites are from the black and green series:

He created really wonderful gift certificates for me as well, which I'd show here, but I find figure out how to put a "Void" across them! They'll be in the shop again for the 2012 holiday season.

Best of all, I don't  have to do my own banners anymore. I don't know about you, but I HATE photoshop. He's fast, and has a good eye.

You can see the VAST improvement from my own attempts:

Ugh. Yeah.

I had originally looked for a designer on Etsy, but the rates were outside the range I wanted to pay, and their product looked like cookie cutters, producing essentially the same thing for each client. Need a guy who actually pays attention? Contact Will and see what he can do to make your business a little more polished. Speaking of that, I need to be thinking about my summer banners.

It's just so hard when it's SNOWING in March!

Captured Moment

Cacao

 I love this photo. It reminds me of an Edward Hopper painting, but with more life and joy.

It also captures a moment that defines what I love about the vintage lifestyle. It was the end of a wonderful day exploring architecture and cocktails with friends. And any day that ends surrounded by well-heeled gentlemen - surrounded by friends - is a good one.

Some other moments from the day. (I believe I need to thank Andy Michie for these.)

At the Frank Lloyd Wright House. Showing our puppy-dog-eyes powers.

We make a good team.

It's hard to believe that these were taken nearly a year ago now, and I'm just getting around to sharing! All met (seven of us!) at the Oregon Gardens, and then toured the Frank Lloyd Wright home on the premises, the Gordon House - the only FLW house in Oregon. We followed it up with appetizers and cocktails at the Heathman Hotel - the very definition of luxury and decadence, and then ended at Cacao for drinking chocolate.

The fox-collared coat was an estate purchase about eight years ago for $3. It is still one of my favorites. The ostrich feather hat came with a collection I purchased, and I couldn't bring myself to sell it. The little Deco ring courtesy of my local Goodwill. 

We need to do this again.

And the winner is!

Okay, I am so sorry for the delay! We've just photographed about as many new items as there are currently in the shop, and I'm feeling a tad overwhelmed. The entries were wonderful!

The winner of this fun contest turned out to be a talented professional designer, who does fantastic work, and his gal is a fan of Fab Gabs! Here's the new logo that will be rolling out in the shop and on your packaging. Isn't that swell? I LOVE black and green! Need a logo? Go check out his website.

I'm so impressed. Black and green is a color combination that always says "vintage!" to me.

There were too many other great submissions to pick just two runners up! So, we picked four. All these ladies get a $25 Gift Certificate to the shop!
Sean M.
Simara R.
Anna of Studio by the Forest
Emily S.


Thank you EVERYONE! I love seeing how you see the essence of Fab Gabs. Absolutely everything was swell - some was just straight gorgeous. I'm honored that you spent the time and effort on this contest, and look forward to showing off the results! The winners have received emails, but in case you missed it, message me for the details on your Gift Certificate!