Won't You Be My Neighbor? Day and Fun with Logo Redesign

Won't You Be My Neighbor? Day

Today is Fred Rogers' (Mr. Rogers) birthday, so The Fred Rogers Company celebrates annually with the Won't You Be My Neighbor? Day.  It's still chilly in Chicago, so I happily wore a cardigan in his honor.  

Rogers Park, the Chicago neighborhood I call home, is a pretty friendly neighborhood.  Each morning, Archie and I say good morning to numerous people and pets on the first walk of the day.  If it's nice enough to spend time in the park, Lake Michigan is just a few blocks away.  Rogers Park is far enough away from downtown Chicago that the beach is busy, but not overcrowded.  

My condo is located in a two-building structure that has 12 condos.  The neighbors are all friendly and diverse in background and occupation.  There are quite a few dogs and several small children, so the front yard is active in the spring and summer.  We've had our share of drama and craziness over the years, especially when the housing market collapsed, but, in the end, it's a great place to live.

Tonight was Archie's lucky night.  As we entered the back stairwell, the back door of the first floor condo opened.  My neighbor was cooking dinner and needed to let out some hot air (delicious Chinese food aromas make me want to invite myself in for a meal).  Archie is 100% obsessed with this family because there is a little girl and a little dog.  He loves both of them and always checks on the door to see if it will open when he's outside.  He's been invited in once and "broke" in twice.  If he ever goes missing, this will be the first place I check.  

Fun with Logo Redesign

Etsy is unveiling a new look and feel for all shops on April 5th, so I was inspired to revisit my banner and logo.  When I first opened Occasions by sonjabegonia, I needed something that showcased some of what could be found in the shop.  The resulting banner is a combination of an embroidered tea towel and various crocheted flowers.

It's way past time for a revamp, but I'm not yet ready to go the graphic art route yet.  

This weekend, I decided that needlepoint with yarn on plastic canvas would be a good medium, so I started working on a design.  Everything I'm using I had on hand, so if I end up not using the new logo, I'll only be out time.  

I knew that I wanted to keep OCCASIONS in all caps and by sonjabegonia in lower case.  It's difficult to create a good cursive script on needlepoint, so I decided to use print letters for both lines of text.

I really like the way the lettering turned out and was so pleased to be able to make a balanced center.

Now that the most important part was completed, it was time to embellish.  Of course, flowers needed to be one of the border components.  

Through a bit of trial and error, I now have 12 flowers bordering my shop title.  This week, I plan to complete the border with some smaller yellow flowers and a traveling green vines and stems.  Once the border is finished, I'll figure out if any other colors or designs are desired, then start on the white background.  

So far, I'm excited about the new look!