It's all in the composition

Jack Jack is absolutely my muse. He inspires me to be a better person, take more pictures, be more thoughtful, and makes my heart ache. Maybelle the Weimaraner used to be the subject of my best photographs, but now Jack steals the show. Some incredible pictures have come from a dual photo shoot...but whatever the subject, it's all about the composition.


Try taking photos where the subject is not in the center of the frame...this leads the eye through the picture in a new way. Also, defy your brains tendency to apply gravity by placing a heavy object above a lighter one; see how the hulking eyeball sculpture is in the top of the frame while little Jacky Boy is in the bottom right?


Another technique to try is an open composition. This is when part of the subject is intentionally cut off for the sake of visual interest. On the contrary, a closed composition is when the subject is neatly packaged within the confines of the frame.

Easy stroller cover

I got a gorgeous pram at a tag sale for $40. And that was the asking price! I was so excited that I didn't even attempt to negotiate a better deal. The best part is that I was able to take all the fabric pieces off and run them through the wash; it literally looked brand new. I love everything about it: the big white rubber tires, the comfy suspension that reminds me of a ride in my Gramps pick-up, the navy blue quilted fabric with sweet white polka dots, and let us not forget the generous basket and sun canopy!

I keep this beauty safe and clean on the front porch by storing it under an outdoor chair cover. I got mine at Walmart for about $10....well worth the investment when baby has a dry ride that is ready to go.

Talavera bathroom sink

This sink was a labor of love that began on the streets of Playa Del Carmen. Out of all the street vendor items I was bound and determined to come home with a Talavera sink because the price was right...about $60 USD. After negotiating for hours, I finally decided on this lovely sink because the pattern is incredible. Yes, I carried it on the ferry back to Cozumel. Yes, it was my carry-on for two connecting flights back to Boston. Yes, it came to western Massachusetts to live in our new house. And yes, I needed to find the perfect sink cabinet to install it. I found a great IKEA free-standing kitchen base cabinet on craigslist, and I also managed to find the faucet too.

My mom and I made a template of the sink by flipping it onto paper and tracing around it, and then we came in about an inch to compensate for the lip around the perimeter. We cut out the shape with a jigsaw, and then put on three coats of marine-grade polyurethane to seal the wood top. Next we inserted the sink and sealed around it with plumber's putty. We cut a hole for the faucet and did all the plumbing inside the cabinet. When everything was in working order we caulked around the sink and the faucet.

I LOVE this sink. But, my husband and I just bought a new house that was a total dumpsville. It's being rehabbed, and the new bathrooms are really small, too small for this awesome custom sink cabinet. So now I have to decide if I take the sink with me and start a new version of this project all over, or leave it here to live with future tenants. I do have another Talavera sink, because my auntie also bought one in Mexico. Once the margaritas wore off she realized what in the world am I gonna do with this sink? The sink she picked out is cobalt blue and white. What do you think?

latest from Woolytown

I updated the woolytown.com and the etsy shop to reflect the change in season...I'm thrilled to welcome spring! We are making booties for the spring and summer season out of lighter weight recycled wool sweaters. It seems counterintuitive, but wool is so breathable that it keeps feet warm in cold weather and cool in the warm weather. This model is called Elliot Drive, and features a sweet eyelet pattern down the center and chocolate brown recycled suede soles----too cute!

While working on the new booties, I'm also busy pruning and starting to think about gardens and landscaping at our new house. The contractor is busy with the inside and I'm obsessing about the grounds since gardening is my summer passion. When I was walking around the property I tried to identify some of the shrubs, and think I found several azaleas and a substantial forsythia cluster---yay!

custom onesies

Babies grow so fast, like exponentially fast. My son hardly wore most of his 0-3 mos. clothes because he literally outgrew somethings overnight---just another reason I'm such a huge fan of secondhand stuff. But, everybody likes to buy something special for their sweet pea. One of my favorites purchases was a pack of plain white long-sleeve onesies filled with potential. I had other materials for this project on hand, like fat quarters of great fabrics, Heat N Bond, colorful buttons, and a bit of time while Big Boy was napping.

I made three different designs, but felt that two were really special; the skull + crossbones and the Mom tattoo. Both were made by ironing the adhesive to the fabrics, then drawing out a design and cutting it out. For the skull head and the heart I made the design layered by using two different fabrics, one slightly larger than the other. I had to write "Mom" on the tattoo using a black fabric paint marker, which is supposedly permanent. They both held up to the limited wear received before they too were outgrown, but in retrospect there are a few things I would do differently:

1. no buttons for eyes on older babies
2. use the sewing machine to go around the design for longevity
3. make them ahead of time for kickin' gifts

frame pretty paper

One thing I always look for are nice wooden frames. Frames are expensive, and if you don't feel like shelling out $15 a frame, then make it part of your routine to always check the clearance sections and tag sales...even ugly art on clearance may be worth buying just for the frame. When I saw these frames at Sears for $2.75 a piece in 3x5, 5x7, and 8x10 I bought all of them. They've been hanging around waiting for the perfect use, and this project was one of them.

I was nesting, big time. I furnished my nursery with secondhand items from summer tag sales and craigslist finds. But, I couldn't figure out how I wanted to decorate the walls for my baby with an unknown gender. I had planned a trip to visit my sister-in-law in Northampton, and knew we would visit Essencials, that cool store with all the incredible paper no one knew what to do with. Meanwhile, the frames whispered to me from the closet. Ding! It became so simple and charming to decorate the nursery with framed decorative paper. It's easy to change out, costs less than $3 a sheet, and I already have the frames.

Another great find, wee gallery cards. Since the day we brought him home, my son has enjoyed a long gaze at these black-and-white images---I can almost hear the connections being made in his brain. I used poster gum to stick some by his crib, changing table, and on the wall where he nurses.

sand display from beach vacations

I love beach vacations. I love sand, I love shells, I love the ocean. This idea came from a visit to a teacher across the hall. She has this bookshelf in her room that is lined with jars of all sizes filled with sand. When her students go on vacation they bring back sand, I guess because the rock cycle is part of fifth grade curriculum. Now I knew what to do with the sand that I collect from our vacations.

The display came together mostly from items I had around the house. The box was an organizer of some sort that a teacher was throwing out; of course I had to have it because it reminded me of the antique wooden letterpress boxes that I haven't figured out what to do with. In lieu of a hodge podge of jars, I opted for a couple spice jars from the Crate & Barrel outlet. I think they're less than $2 each, and because they were now purposeful I had to buy more on a later visit to the outlet. The vellum tags I had to go out and buy at Target as a pretty way to record the location and year of the beachy vacation. Lastly, I painted the back of the display box a blue that represents the ocean with leftover paint we had in the basement from when we did our living room.

I scattered some of my favorite shells among the spaces, and arranged everything in a random pattern. I love the empty spaces as much as the filled ones because they are a reminder of beautiful things to come. If you can't find something to work as a display box, this sand collection would look lovely lining a shelf, window sill, dresser, or mantel.