August 6, 2018

Budget Travel featured our Hunter Satchel in their article What’s Your “Day Bag Personality”?

Carry It Crossbody
For years, I’ve been searching for a day bag to fit a book, a water bottle, over-ear headphones, and sunglasses, plus the wallet, organizational pouch, and lip balm that I always carry. It needs to be something big enough to hold it all without having to Tetris it in, but not so big that it weighs me down, and this no-frills satchel from Peg and Awl ticks all the boxes. Designed to carry the essentials and inspired by purpose-driven vintage bags like colonial-era satchels and the military map cases of World War II, the Hunter is made from sturdy, waterproof waxed canvas, with a brass rivets and studs for a modest flash of bling and a wide leather shoulder strap that stays put and doesn’t dig in. The interior pocket is just the right size for a wallet, keys, and a battery pack, and the main compartment is roomy enough for everything else. It's a utilitarian number with a few subtly clever details, from the smart placement that keeps the strap from twisting to a flap you can close with one hand (and a bit of dexterity).

Read the full article on Budget Travel.

Since the early days of civilization, pouches have been a necessary part of everyday living. Used for holding money or other personal items, they preceded pockets on clothing and hung from belts with draw string fasteners. Our shapes and closures have changed to fit our times, but the utility remains constant. With the launch of 3 new pouches we now offer 8 different styles, each named for a variety of uses but all ready to hold your prized possessions!

No. 1: The Spender	No. 2: The Saver
No. 3: The Scribbler	No. 4: The Drafter
No. 5: Scholar	No. 6: The Keeper
No. 7: The Maker	Bloom Pouches

Be sure to also check out our Of a Kind section where our remaining pouches with antique leather are on sale!

July 26, 2018

Check out Apartment Therapy’s article about food blogger Modest Marce’s beautiful house featuring our Mess Hall Knife Rack!

Photograph by Craig Kellmann

Read the full article on Apartment Therapy.

When I was young my dad would take me to the local art store. I loved walking up and down the massive aisles overloaded with colourful tools and materials to make things with. I felt like Pippi Longstocking in the candy shop!

My challenge has never been acquiring supplies, but organizing them. Our boys, Søren and Silas, and I create Great Chaos across all surfaces with our collection of olde and new materials. We have desk caddies loaded with tools, scissors, pens, and pencils, and now, fitting in right alongside them, is our new Beatrix Artist Caddy. Named after Beatrix Potter – beloved in our house for her illustrations, storytelling, and her love of nature – our new caddy has been a great addition to our studio, adding another level of order to tame the chaos!

And for organization on the go, we’ve made some new pouches and updated classics. From our wallet-sized pouch to our tablet-sized pouch, our seven options will serve most of your traveling and tidying needs.

Be sure to check out our Of a Kind section where our remaining pouches with antique leather are on sale!

The Beatrix Artist Caddy in Maple	Beatrix Artist Caddy in Oak
Beatrix Artist Caddy in Walnut	Blackened Beatrix Artist Caddy

No. 1: The Spender Pouch
No. 2: The Saver Pouch	No. 3: The Scribbler Pouch
No. 4: The Drafter Pouch	No. 5: The Scholar Pouch
No. 6: The Keeper Pouch	No. 7: The Maker Pouch

I first started making tiny books 11 years ago to give my favourite itty bitty leather scraps a proper home. Tiny beckons. The mini books lured people in at craft shows and fueled conversation. Soon after I added chains and the useable book necklace came to life!

We continue to make new book necklaces with our favourite vintage leather scraps, adding new collections into the mix as the small batches of the olde are used up! We are also psyched to present some new classics using our brown and black veg tanned scraps – Harper and Jackson Book Necklaces and Mini Artist Sketchbook!

Over the years people have shared the mini projects they have created with their book necklaces or mini sketchbooks with us, ranging from exquisite tiny drawings to collecting signatures and doodles at concerts, to gathering kids’ fingerprints – one woman even wrote her will on the pages of her Library necklace!

With the launch of our Harper and Jackson Book Necklaces and Mini Sketchbooks, Walter and I decided to embark on our own mini project that we’ve entitled The Tiny Portrait Project! Join us or follow along @pegandawlbuilt and @thebrotherskent, and of course @pegandawl on Instagram.

We cannot wait to see what you come up with! Share your work with #pegandawlmini and #pegandawlbinds and we’ll pick a few to share every week!

Harper and Jackson Book Necklaces

New book necklaces made with our popular vegetable-tanned leather.

The Harper Book Necklace with Tie	The Jackson Book Necklace

Of a Kinds Book Necklaces

Refreshed Of a Kind book necklaces made with reclaimed leather.

Book Necklace: Shale	Book Necklace: Squill

Mini Artist Sketchbook

Reintroducing a niche favourite from Peg and Awl’s early years.

Mini Artist Sketchbook	Mini Artist Sketchbook

Better Homes & Gardens’ Do It Yourself magazine featured our Anselm Bookbinding Kit in their Fall 2018 issue! Click here to see the feature.

Last week’s Birthday and Father’s Day adventuring led us to a farm house in PA built in the 1700s. I must confess, while the art of slow living sounds delightful, I wouldn’t know where to begin. I just spent 5 days with my family shuffling from one adventure to another. We all love moving – seeing all that we can see and doing all that we can do – until we collapse.

Our work is often disguised as adventure and vacation, or the other way around. I cannot quite tell which way is up, but it gives me purpose. And, of course, everything in life is how you frame it. I believe we divide too much in our modern world. We’ve got time for work and time for school, and if we are lucky – time for family and if we are REALLY lucky, time for ourselves. So happy that I can call drawing and journaling with Søren, Silas, and Walter in Kempton, PA – along with fossil finding, kayaking, flea marketing, Crystal Caving and concert going – work, school, AND family time.

Small Hunter Satchel	Leather Journals
Anselm Bookbinding Kit	Little Rogue Backpack
The Sendak Artist Roll	Weekender

We have always been inspired by nature and are so happy to have begun transforming our Philadelphia acre of concrete jungle into green space filled with life! So far we’ve planted veggies and herbs and flowers, and introduced two honey bee hives (and Walter and Silas have fallen in love with Bee Daddying!). Slowly but surely, each little change is brightening up our space and the neighborhood! Neighbors have been stopping by to chat, ask questions, or simply say “hello!”

The Peg and Awl gardens will no doubt influence future products, but until then, find inspiration in some of our nature-inspired classics!

Bloom Pouches	Botanical Coptic Journal
Botanical Jewelry	Botanical Desk Caddies

For most of my life I’ve carried things to keep me occupied – often in the form of books. They offered entertainment when stuck in a line or having arrived somewhere early – which I always did. I was pleased to be lost in a story or scribbling in a journal – unaware of the wait.

So, when the idea for The Sendak took hold, I was excited at the thought of bringing more organized ‘things to do’ on outings. And we’ve discovered, whilst perfect for the solo artist, The Sendak also turns out to be a sensational family centerpiece! For us it’s been fun way to engage with hungry boys during The Waiting at a restaurant, a lifesaver on long car rides, and ever-exciting to unfold and repack for each excursion.

The more often we open our Sendak, the less often we get caught ‘Blue-facing’ – our family name for phone and tablet excess. Our hands criss-cross as we reach for coloured pencils, pens, erasers, and our minds ignite – pass your paper to the right, a round of exquisite corpse anyone?

Whether your Sendak brings your own family together or accompanies you on solo en plein air excursions we know one thing: People dig ’em, ’cause we’ve been sending them out as quickly as we can make them!

The Sendak Artist Roll	All Black Sendak Artist Roll

We’ve been delighted to see everyone sharing their Sendaks in the wild and are psyched to share some of the amazing artists + makers who have put theirs to good use!

Don’t forget to #pegandawl so we can share yours!

Darla’s work is among my very favourite! I love seeing her All Black Sendak all clay-y and Darla-style. See a video of her and her latest project here and visit her website here!

Thanks to Luna Howell for this thorough and beautifully photographed review of the Sendak! So nice to see her work and read her feedback!

Lovely Samantha Dion Baker, whom I met this winter at the Philadelphia Flower Show (I knew her via IG only prior!) never ceases to amaze with her Sketch Journal pages. And she has a new book coming out called Draw Your Day! Preorders are awesome for artists, so if this sounds awesome, get yours here!

Yulia, one of the most enthusiastic Peg and Awl supporters was invited to Japan to participate in New York Fair and her and her husband are exploring Japan for the month completely bedecked Peg and Awl!

I always enjoy following along with fellow daily journaler Catharine MiSook and her endless stream of analog love!

It is always a delight to converse with Moneeza, Founder of Lotus Blu Book Art, A small family run artisan bindery based in West Yorkshire England. The Sendak looks right at home here!

Thanks to everyone who is sharing photograph of their Sendaks in use! Use #pegandawl or tag us @pegandawl ! I LOVE sharing your beautiful photographs and spaces in my stories and feed and am always on the lookout for more!

May 15, 2018

Luna Howell wrote an excellent review and took beautiful photographs of our Sendak Artist Roll. Read the review on her blog!

“Not only is it beautiful, but it is also sturdy! The waxed canvas feels very durable, like it will age well. I also enjoy the fact that the Sendak has a big carrying capacity compared to most rolls I’ve seen around. It keeps my favorite art supplies organized, which is a big relief for a messy person like me. That means that it also makes the art making process easier. Now, when I draw or paint I always know where everything is! It’s a wonderful feeling!”

Read Luna’s full review here.