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I am getting many inquiries about my Iris Painter’s Palette and the paints that are in it. I shall get to that, but first I have a little story to tell…

We are very psyched to announce our only batch of tin type journals for the year! I’ve collected more historic tins for what has become an annual event at Peg and Awl.

This past weekend, the Peg and Awl team traveled back in time with @gilesclement and his partner Kendra, witnessing and partaking in many tin type and ambrotype sessions at the Peg and Awl workshop (read our blog post about that here). When I pour over each portrait from the 1800s, choosing the right one for each journal, giving them new names, I wonder about the day, the preparation, who the photographer was. I wish I had a time machine to hear their conversations, to witness their awkwardness and unexpected giggles, that nearly always ended with a grim countenance.

Browse our newest Tin Type collection here, and sign up for our newsletter to be notified of the launch time! Go ahead, find your favourite, and fill the pages within with your stories and let us wonder what another 150 years will bring.

Read more about our Tin Type Journals here.

This past weekend, the Peg and Awl team traveled back in time with @gilesclement and his partner Kendra, witnessing and partaking in many tin type and ambrotype sessions at the Peg and Awl workshop. The smell of collodion was intoxicating, as Giles expertly poured it onto the plates and gently tilted each one until fully coated, finally tipping one corner into the well-used bottle to collect the excess. The tiny makeshift darkroom housing developer was like a time machine. In the age of digital photography, we snap-snap-snap, hoping 1 in million will be good enough for a quick digital edit and a push to Instagram. For me, seeing Giles set up each portrait with care and shoot at the precise right moment, yanked me back into my olden days, where I had 12 shots per roll of film and a week to wait for the results. Patience, time, care, seem nearly lost to me now, but I suppose our new way is just a different path to the same point. We don’t have to head into a studio, wash behind our ears, and make sure our Sunday best is spotless. We get to snap-snap-snapping in the midst of the action, dirt and all.

Here is to the old and the new, and how lucky we are to be at the crossroads.

Click below to see the process and final photographs!

Vanessa Langton made a wonderful video unboxing and filling up our Sendak Mini Artist Roll! Visit her YouTube channel Pen Gangsta and follow her on Instagram @vanessa_langton