An Autumnal Adventure
The weekends have been our adventure spots lately. We have forgone grand escapes to far-away places, settling for close-by weekend road trips which have proven to be quite extraordinary. Our list is mostly comprised of historic spots which are generally surrounded by nature of one kind or another.
This past weekend found us heading toward Western, PA, a direction I headed once a year, as a child, with my mom and my brother to visit my Grandma and cousins on the Mountaintop upon which they live(d) in Blairsville, PA. A place, my Pop always claimed that had two seasons: August and Winter. This certainly seemed true this October weekend as we drove through hail and snow and sunshine.
Our mission was to collect wood from a friend who called upon us rescue it. Our first stop was Gettysburg. Always fun, though we weren't prepared for 34 degree weather. Cloaked in hoodies and colds, we steered clear of the battlefields and toured the museum. (Which was fantastic!)
We left Gettysburg, a place that changed the course of American history and nearly immediately encountered a very strange and very strangely typical American tourist stop - Mister Ed's Elephant Museum. We couldn't resist. It was a candy shoppe, truly, surrounded by elephant tchotchkes and a mysterious collection of regular human things like hats and flip flops hanging in trees amongst pumpkins, neglected elephants and these Wildermenn:
We were quite fortunate, that evening, to find Horn O' Plenty in Bedford for dinner. Western PA was never, in my childhood anyway, a place for good food. More often, we stuffed ourselves with Blizzards from Dairy Queen and passed by Quick Marts &c). Next stop, and late, was a visit with Grandma, born in 1927 (that makes her 88!), full of pep and so excited for our unexpected visit. When we pulled into her driveway (past the olde shoppe that use to be my Grandpap's, the shoppe my mom painted robin's egg blue when she was 6 or so - she told me this one day when we were visiting and Søren was a baby, and I peeled a peeling layer from the brick and sure enough, robin's egg blue on the inside!) My grandma stood by the door, as I remember her always doing, when we arrived and as we left. We stayed up til midnight talking. I love gathering bits of stories and memories, and neglect this all too often.
The next morning we awoke, played Mille Born, had breakfast and headed toward Indiana. The sun shone bright, though the chill, propelled by the wind, snaked through our hoodies and into our bones as Walter and Joseph cut and sorted slabs of Oak, the boys ran amongst the rows of felled trees as I often did in my Frogger dreams as a kid, and I documented what I could with camera clicks and pen scratches.
We are lucky to have our boys near so often. There is always something to explore, something to learn, and people to meet. Next trip, at the end of November, will find us on the road again, this time heading South for Renegade Austin, followed up by a week in Dallas to set up a Peg and Awl showroom at The Dallas Market along side Coral and Tusk and others we cannot wait to meet!
Søren drawing, Joseph sawing.
Silas draws whilst Exxon looks up for a snuggle.
Suggested Blog Posts
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Whether embarking on a backyard exploration, a community science project, travelling near or far, or identifying mysterious objects around your house, these cards encourage observation, drawing, writing, and a touch of research. However you use them, we hope they inspire you to always keep an eye out for the little things!
The world is bursting with magic, and for anyone looking, it positively pulses. As a family of life-long learners, we felt compelled to share a few of our favourite activities in one compact notebook of removable cards (coming soon!). We are now in our 4th year of officially homeschooling our boys, which means full time of the stuff we did around the edges of their ‘normal’ education at public school.
We love the unknown and the ‘around the edges’ stuff like family bike rides, traveling, and art all day, and have always found places like Kahn Academy and Skillshare, to be grounding companions. With so many students of the world currently homeschooling, or hodge-podge schooling via Zoom and Flipgrid (like we are!), we have decided (thanks Silas!) to unearth this Peg and Awl project have turned it into a free downloadable PDF: Specimen Cards!
Whether embarking on a backyard exploration, a community science project, travelling near or far, or identifying mysterious objects around your house, these cards encourage observation, drawing, writing, and a touch of research. However you use them, we hope they inspire you to always keep an eye out for the little things!
Silas drawing daffodils on a portable desk made by Søren! Silas shows me his mushroom specimen! 
Sampling of the coming soon Specimen Card notebook. Collection of Specimen Cards by Silas! 
Designing the Specimen Card book – including Silas's original drawings! Closeup of updated Specimen Card, nearly finalized! Specimen Cards + Homeschooling (Free Printable)
The world is bursting with magic, and for anyone looking, it positively puls...
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I am sure my right arm* is stronger for all of the writing and stitching and hauling of pages in journals for so many years of my life. So many miles we’ve traveled together, me and my books. I wonder how many miles of words I’ve written if strung end to end? The first journal that I made was stolen in a café in Amsterdam. What the journal thief couldn’t possibly know was that his actions would set me upon a path.
“Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it. Action has magic, grace, and power in it.”
–Johann Wolfgang GoetheI am sure my right arm* is stronger for all of the writing and stitching and hauling of pages in journals for so many years of my life. So many miles we’ve traveled together, me and my books. I wonder how many miles of words I’ve written if strung end to end? I've always made books (I have one from when I was 6!), but I began to keep a journal regularly when I was 12 years old, and started making my journals when I was 25. I won’t do the math, but there are a lot of years of books and a lot of years of scribbling between now and then. I was always stitching a book or filling one up.
Hunter S. Thompson invited me into his limo one day, outside of The Strand in NYC. Actually, it wasn’t me he invited in, but my journal—I was holding it. I didn’t know anything about Hunter beyond Fear and Loathing, but I climbed in and sat next to him—shoulder to shoulder. When he asked if he could see the journal, I handed it over. Then he asked if he could write in it. I said yes, of course. He wrote a message in Latin and I don’t remember what else. I never did get to translate it because I went to Amsterdam shortly after the encounter and my bag—with my journal in it—was stolen.
That was the first proper journal I had built. I’ve made hundreds since then. But the first one was stolen in a café in Amsterdam. What the journal thief couldn’t possibly know was that his actions would set me upon a path, for despite my initial despair, I struck out in search of a book bindery. After a day of walking and asking nearly every stranger I could make eye contact with about the shop, I’d finally found it. And what a magical place it was! I stocked up on supplies I’d never known existed then went to an upholstery shop up the street, where I discovered antique leather in a dusty floor corner removed from a chair made in the 1800s! With tools and material from the bindery, I set to work making my second journal, using my thighs as a book press. The result, with its battered old leather, looked like it had travelled through time many hundreds of years, and its pages begged for stories like that of The Journal Thief.
The very objects that started this adventure are a foundational piece of our shop. Putting these Tomes into production was no easy task and after much planning, many trials and many years, we’ve got the process down and have been able to explore with variations in headband, textiles, and leather! I appreciate everyone’s questions and interest in these Monsters!
Hand-stitched headbands adorn each Tome. I use all kinds of medium and make all kinds of marks within my journals! 
Working on sketches for Poison for Breakfast by Lemony Snicket! Harper and Jackson Tome Stack! 
Sign up for our newsletter if you haven’t already!
*since writing this, I've been using my left hand for drawing - beginning with the #100dayproject 2021! I'm still at it, so my left hand is catching up a little.
Handbound Leather Tomes
“Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it. Action has ...
Read The Post
Suggested Blog Posts
Whether embarking on a backyard exploration, a community science project, travelling near or far, or identifying mysterious objects around your house, these cards encourage observation, drawing, writing, and a touch of research. However you use them, we hope they inspire you to always keep an eye out for the little things!
The world is bursting with magic, and for anyone looking, it positively pulses. As a family of life-long learners, we felt compelled to share a few of our favourite activities in one compact notebook of removable cards (coming soon!). We are now in our 4th year of officially homeschooling our boys, which means full time of the stuff we did around the edges of their ‘normal’ education at public school.
We love the unknown and the ‘around the edges’ stuff like family bike rides, traveling, and art all day, and have always found places like Kahn Academy and Skillshare, to be grounding companions. With so many students of the world currently homeschooling, or hodge-podge schooling via Zoom and Flipgrid (like we are!), we have decided (thanks Silas!) to unearth this Peg and Awl project have turned it into a free downloadable PDF: Specimen Cards!
Whether embarking on a backyard exploration, a community science project, travelling near or far, or identifying mysterious objects around your house, these cards encourage observation, drawing, writing, and a touch of research. However you use them, we hope they inspire you to always keep an eye out for the little things!
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Specimen Cards + Homeschooling (Free Printable)
The world is bursting with magic, and for anyone looking, it positively puls...
Read The Post
I am sure my right arm* is stronger for all of the writing and stitching and hauling of pages in journals for so many years of my life. So many miles we’ve traveled together, me and my books. I wonder how many miles of words I’ve written if strung end to end? The first journal that I made was stolen in a café in Amsterdam. What the journal thief couldn’t possibly know was that his actions would set me upon a path.
“Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it. Action has magic, grace, and power in it.”
–Johann Wolfgang Goethe
I am sure my right arm* is stronger for all of the writing and stitching and hauling of pages in journals for so many years of my life. So many miles we’ve traveled together, me and my books. I wonder how many miles of words I’ve written if strung end to end? I've always made books (I have one from when I was 6!), but I began to keep a journal regularly when I was 12 years old, and started making my journals when I was 25. I won’t do the math, but there are a lot of years of books and a lot of years of scribbling between now and then. I was always stitching a book or filling one up.
Hunter S. Thompson invited me into his limo one day, outside of The Strand in NYC. Actually, it wasn’t me he invited in, but my journal—I was holding it. I didn’t know anything about Hunter beyond Fear and Loathing, but I climbed in and sat next to him—shoulder to shoulder. When he asked if he could see the journal, I handed it over. Then he asked if he could write in it. I said yes, of course. He wrote a message in Latin and I don’t remember what else. I never did get to translate it because I went to Amsterdam shortly after the encounter and my bag—with my journal in it—was stolen.
That was the first proper journal I had built. I’ve made hundreds since then. But the first one was stolen in a café in Amsterdam. What the journal thief couldn’t possibly know was that his actions would set me upon a path, for despite my initial despair, I struck out in search of a book bindery. After a day of walking and asking nearly every stranger I could make eye contact with about the shop, I’d finally found it. And what a magical place it was! I stocked up on supplies I’d never known existed then went to an upholstery shop up the street, where I discovered antique leather in a dusty floor corner removed from a chair made in the 1800s! With tools and material from the bindery, I set to work making my second journal, using my thighs as a book press. The result, with its battered old leather, looked like it had travelled through time many hundreds of years, and its pages begged for stories like that of The Journal Thief.
The very objects that started this adventure are a foundational piece of our shop. Putting these Tomes into production was no easy task and after much planning, many trials and many years, we’ve got the process down and have been able to explore with variations in headband, textiles, and leather! I appreciate everyone’s questions and interest in these Monsters!
|
|
|
|
Sign up for our newsletter if you haven’t already!
*since writing this, I've been using my left hand for drawing - beginning with the #100dayproject 2021! I'm still at it, so my left hand is catching up a little.
Handbound Leather Tomes
“Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it. Action has ...
Read The Post
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