Fatboy, although I do appreciate your gratitude, I can tell you that I do not sit at the very top. I know of quite a few other designers on this forum who make me look just okay on any given day. I just happen to have the luxury of free time to screw off doing something that gives me pleasure, designing. So when these others do find a few minutes free to offer up advice and examples, we should all be thankful. These others I speak of are more than likely working on real paying task and I respect that. But I have seen the work of Rick, Joe, Deaton, Signmeup, Tiki, Jill, Dan and several others who on any given day can run circles around me. And I know there are other designers who may lurk this site and never submit anything, but trust me, some of them are the best you will find anywhere in the world. What I do is a burning passion that is sometimes a curse at times. Because I see all the little details in life that turn ordinary things into eyesores. You have no idea how frustrating it can be. I no doubt have a severe case of OCD and it drives me nuts and those around me nuts.
I will say, you certainly have a creative gift with words. So if there's any way you can transfer some of that creativity energy into sign design, then you have a good chance of improving considerably. Some of us in life are fortunate to have a creative side but most in life do not. It's true when most people you meet tell you they can't draw a straight line with a ruler.
I'll say this to you and anyone else following this thread, it's not much of a secret to those of us who take design very serious, fonts can make a huge difference in the outcome of your work... For those of you who are still working with only a few pre-installed MS publisher fonts on your computer, it's time to invest in some better fonts. As long as you keep using them, your work will look like the signs of everybody else.
The top font designers websites have all been mentioned here many times. Steve from SignFonts is a member here and many of his fonts are a must have. Think about it, if you should only spend $200 bucks a year on some new ones, in four years time you will have an outstanding collection. I'm sure everyone here on this site throws away $200 a year on everyday crap that does not pay returns on you investment. I myself wish I had a font for every beer I've drank over a lifetime. I would be the worlds richest font king! But even so, you still must learn how to use these awesome fonts in your designs. That is an art in and of itself.
If you take the design I created here and substitute every line of text with Times Roman, Brush Script and Avant Garde, it would not have the same feel or affect. Believe me when I say, the wrong font can ruin any good design.
Anyway, I hope you can glean some knowledge from all the submitted designs in this post. Each designer has their own style and interpretation of how your label should be laid out. None of them are right or wrong, just different interpretations...