Thanks for stopping by to check out my blog.

Today is a new beginning for GAB designs. I have thought about making this blog for months, ok maybe a couple of years. I just didn't do it. Well here I am ready to share with you the creative side of my life. 

Let me take a minute or two and introduce myself...

Photographer at work...     Photo Credit: Mark Byers

I am a daughter, sister, wife, mom, grandma, aunt and friend. Family is one of the most important and favorite things in my life. I love spending time with them making memories. I try to share my love of art with my grandkids whenever possible. I Thank God everyday for my family and all the talents and gifts he has given me. 

I am a Photographer. I don't particularly care to take photos of people, unless they belong to me. I do like photographing my grandchildren and children. I have a passion for Moose as you will learn through my blog and this is the subject I like to photograph the most. I am always on the lookout for Moose, which sometimes requires a drive to find them. I love to photograph all wildlife and nature. I am also a lover of dragonflies which is a more difficult subject to photograph.

I am an Artist. I have dabbled in various forms of art since I was in High School (a long time ago). As my kids were growing up I had a successful craft business. Currently My interest are in Mixed Media Painting and art journaling. Art Journaling is a little hard for me because I'm such a.... not sure the right word. Anyway I'm learning to paint more freely and seeing what happens, this is hard to for me to do. I have taken a couple of Art courses online; 'Hello Soul, Hello Mantras' with Kelly Rae Roberts. LifeBook 2015 and 2016 with Tamara Laporte and the other great teachers that teach with her. I also have done the Documented Life Project. These courses have nourised my soul and helped me to truly feel like an artist.

I am a Designer. A few years ago I graduated with a Digital Design Certficate from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh online. It was very intimidating to go back to school but I loved every minute of it and plan to share some of my design skills here on the blog.

I am a Do it Yourself kind of girl. I like to take on simple projects as well as large and extensive projects such as home renovations. In the past year we have remodeled 2 rooms in our house and completely moving the kitchen to another room. Best thing we every did. I hope to share some of my DIY projects with you.


You may or may not wonder how I came up with the name Gabbie Made. Several years ago... quite a few years ago in fact, there was a brand of clothing called GAB and I became fascinated with the label because this was my initals. I know not that cool. Well when I was growing up I wasn't that found of my name because I thought it was boring. People would ask me if my name was Gwendolyn, Gwenyth or Gwenaver and my reply would always be, nope, it's just plain old Gwen (which is in the description of my blog by the way... Plain and Simple). I also didn't really know anyone else by the name of Gwen except an older lady who lived near us, I always felt like I had an old lady name. I think I'm finally growing into my name and feeling comfortable with it. So anyway when I found the GAB label I bought a few shirts that had my initials and gave myself the nickname of GAB although no one called me this except me. Over the years I came to use gabbie on a lot of things in referring to myself. That is how my business came to be GAB designs and my blog Gabbie Made. I was concerned with using Gab or Gabbie because I wondered if people would know who I was, but I've used GabbieByers for so long it's kind of stuck. I'm also using GwenAByers for my web address so I can be found either way.

During the next few weeks I am going to transform this blog into my own personal creation. I hope you'll stick around long enough to watch it take life. 






My little Disclaimer..."I hope you'll read my posts for what they are, plain and simple. I am not a writer or grammar expert. Unless other wise noted, I am the legal copyright holder for the content and photos posted on this blog. Please don't post or reprint any of my personal content and photos without my written consent."