Our Handcrafted Jewelry Process and Collections in our Philadelphia Shop!
After years of working with local jewelers who cast, finished, and sized our jewels, which was after years of my finishing the jewelry in our dining room, we finally set up our own jewelry shop at the Peg and Awl building! In addition to designing the jewelry and packaging, we now do the entire lost wax casting process in house – making molds, waxes, casting, and finishing!
Jewelry remains a Peg and Awl outlier (we all need outliers!) as it is not useful like our other objects are useful. It is symbolic, representative, adorning, and meant to be part of an ongoing narrative. I am drawn to making jewelry as objects that continually flow through human hands, like objects at a flea market – all symbolism and storytelling and marks of use from imagined pasts and futures.
We love digging into history and happenstance for our collections, and have been working on a few tricky ideas which we hope to be able to share with you soon! Until then, peak inside our workshop and collections.
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Foundlings Collection
Foundlings is a collection that has come to life through the layering of hands that make.
One end-of-winter morning, we ventured out into the last grey of the season-leaving, amongst sagging time-worn tables that house trash and magic. Flea markets are often secret repositories of history, and we were about to dive backwards some 200 years, as sparkly creatures, patiently waiting out their decades of idleness, nearly rose up from their tattered box to greet us. Farm animals, imagined animals, flowers, and other wonders of the natural world – painted by unknown hands in an unknown time, fairly pulsed with scintillating energy upon nests of scritchy, scratchy handwritten ledgers, lessons, and language, impeccably penned by generations past.
Our discovery of these mischievous old fellows has led to yet another transformation. A select few have been carved and cast to retain their child-like style and to celebrate the expressional whimsy of each nurtured creature.
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All the Names Collection
All the Names incorporates small brass frames from mid-1800s Daguerreotype and Ambrotype hinge cases that once framed faces whose names are forever lost.
In 1847, preservers or brass frames, were added to hinge photograph cases. They wrapped the glass, mat and image to protect the delicate photograph from oxygen. We have taken the cases apart and transformed them into jewelry.
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Poison for Breakfast Collection
I have been lost in a magical world that I can barely believe isn't all in my head. Black and white with lots of exploration and learning. And eggs on repeat. Tis a place I can go when the sun goes down—scribbling, scribbling...
These pieces were made to accompany Poison for Breakfast, written by Lemony Snicket and illustrated by me, Margaux. Pretty sure this was one of the most extraordinary projects I partook in…the reality is coming in and out of focus.
Inspired to continue on, we decided to move the marks on paper into metal pieces for this small collection, which pertains to this enormous philosophical question, "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?"
I love this photograph of Søren. He was so pleased with the final version. Seeing his face made it real-er to me!
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Botanical Collection
Often times our most wonderful discoveries are merely the recognition of what is before us – and in this case under foot! Our botanical jewelry collection was inspired by our unearthing of the usefulness of weeds and pays homage to its winged cultivator.
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*How to (re)oxidize your jewelry! If you are drawn towards the fully oxidized silver variation on the left, it is easy to do yourself (as we no longer offer this version in our shop) – start with smashing a hard boiled egg in a container. Next put the ring into the container with the egg. Close it and let it sit in the fridge for several hours. Take it out when the darkness suits your fancy — the longer it stays in the sulfur, the more oxidized it will become. Then polish with a cloth or the ankle part of your jeans — no one will notice the black spot down there... |
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Suggested Blog Posts
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And here we are, another major transition! We are selling our Philadelphia building and moving Peg and Awl to our barn.
We’re Moving Out of Philadelphia
...and it's bittersweet!We are very fortunate – as a family and small business owners – to be able to follow our curiosities to wherever they may lead. Here we find ourselves in another major transition! We – Walter and I, Søren and Silas too, have decided to sell the Peg and Awl building in Port Richmond Philadelphia, and move our business into our Barn here in Chester County, Penna. It felt like a quick decision, but it was the culmination of much quiet consideration. I have always been spontaneous – or so it seems – so much is accomplished in our sleep.
Yesterday was warm and wondrous. As I walked from Port Richmond to Old City for a last minute hair appointment at Barnet Fair, and to treasure hunt at Vagabond Boutique, I felt the weight of nostalgia for what we would soon be leaving, and a lightness too, as I imagined floating, for the first time in a while, into a new unknown.
Lights off – we were about to leave on Saturday but paused for a quick mirror family photograph! Our barn as seen from the woods! Some Things to Look Forward to in the Coming Year!
- New Website! We’ve been working on it for a long time – we don’t have a launch date yet, but soon!
- New Jewellery! If you’ve been following along on Instagram – you may have seen some glimpses of these projects over the past few years.
- New Of A Kind Adventures! (accompanied by more Flea Market adventures, read here!)
- Exciting Pivots!
We will have a smaller space for to make and to store treasures, which is why we are reducing our catalog to our favourites and yours!
The Foundlings (Peg and Awl) Building: Before and After
Read about the Shop Renovation Project, here!
We’ve put a lot of work into our workshop since we bought the dark and closed-up building in 2016 – from opening cinder-blocked windows and tearing down walls, to transforming the gravel and pavement into gardens. We built and set up a storefront (that we never officially opened) just before the pandemic. We poured concrete floors and filled the wide open space with an abundance of tools and machines and worked with our wonderous crew to design, make, and ship all of the treasures that we share around the world.
We look forward to the next adventure for Peg and Awl and, too, for the building! The dream is always for some magic makers to take the reins and re-imagine a better, brighter, greener, and cleaner corner of Philadelphia.
A lot happens through word of mouth — if you know someone who may be interested, please share!
After
Storefront, trees, plants, and windows!
Before
A lightless old space full of stuff.
After
Employee gardens and honey bees~Before
Concrete slab (though locals told us it was a wading pool in the summers and an ice hockey rink in the winters!)
After
A part of the woodshop!
During
Pouring the concrete floor.
During
Knocking down the in-between wall.
Before 
Renovations and the inhabiting of the nearly abandoned building in Port Richmond, Philadelphia.
The Barn: Our New ShopRead On: Our Barn Restoration Project
We will continue to make treasures in Philadelphia over the next few months. In May, we will be opening our new workspace to the public for a Studio Tour in May! There we will share our art, showroom, and the goings on of the new iteration of Peg and Awl.
This space will be a gallery and showroom.
Walter’s cozy loft studio will remain Walter’s cozy loft studio.
Our Barn Restoration ProjectRead On: Our Barn Restoration Project
“...By the time we had finished removing the rotted bits, the trusses, the rafters, and the floors, it was hard to say if we were reclaiming an old barn, or building a new one in its image. The barn shape – the space within the frame – became one of the few parts I could solidly say remained from the historic place. But over the next few weeks, as I observed the delicate skeleton of the old barn standing strong but precarious in the wind and rain – with day now inside and night inside too – I grew suspicious of this boundaryless thing I wanted to keep. What were we preserving, and more, why?”
The Old Barn from the road. 
Original wall that divides the two parts of the barn. Pearl and Søren, my loves. A new view! We’re Moving Out of Philadelphia, and It’s Bittersweet!
We’re Moving Out of Philadelphia...and it's bittersweet! We are very fortu...
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The Scout Plein Air Box was inspired by our endeavor to make art every day. Each one is handmade in our Philadelphia workshop. Watch our video showing how we make the Scout Plein Air Box!
The Scout Plein Air Box was inspired by our endeavor to make art every day. Each one is handmade in our Philadelphia workshop. It compactly secures all of your essential art supplies for painting outdoors. Fill your box with your favorite colors, paintbrushes, and sketchbook. Find your spot and quickly transform the box into a mini studio. Set it on a flat surface or mount it on a tripod, snap the liquid jars, brush holder, and easel in place, clip on your canvas and you are ready to paint. Watch our video showing how we make the Scout Plein Air Box!
Original Plein Air Oil Paintings by Walter Kent
“It has been nearly three years since I returned from a painting workshop in Italy, taught by Jeremy Mann and Nadezda, hosted by Art Escape Italy. This was my first experience plein air painting and once I returned home I immediately made my own pochade box, the Scout. During the last three years I have gone out on many painting adventures, both alone and with my family, with the Scout over my shoulder.
When I wander out into the world to paint, there is a game of tug of war twisting knots in my stomach, with my hopes and fears digging their heals in on either side. After the first few strokes of paint, the excitement of possibility takes over. These attempts at capturing the fleeting moments of the world around me line the windowsills of our studio.I’ve selected some of my favorite Plein Air oil paintings, breadcrumbs of my path as an artist, and we are excited to share them with the everyone. Each painting has been varnished for protection and is signed and marked with its location and date and is fitted with a ready-to-hang frame made of reclaimed blackened walnut.” –Walter
Indian Lake, New York 2022 Shaw’s Bridge, Pennsylvania 2021 
Delaware Water Gap No. 3, Pennsylvania 2021
Barnegat Bay, New Jersey 2020 Starr Farm, Pennsylvania 2021 
Kaaterskill Falls, New York 2022
Lake Superior, Wisconsin 2020 Kerhonkson, New York 2022 
Ready-to-Hang frames are made of reclaimed blackened walnut.
How We Make the Scout Plein Air Box and Original Paintings by Walter Kent
The Scout Plein Air Box was inspired by our endeavor to make art every day....
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After many prototypes, countless customer requests, and an endless search for sustainable leather, The Franklin Makers Apron is finally here! Our Apron champions the virtues of hard work, curiosity, ingenuity, and industriousness, and it has quickly become one of our favorite companions while working in the studio or at home.
After many prototypes, countless customer requests, and an endless search for sustainable leather, The Franklin Makers Apron is finally here!
On our first trip to England together, Margaux and I discovered a magical art supply shop on a small cobblestone street. Like something pulled out of Diagon Alley, it was lined with dark oak, floor-to-ceiling shelves overflowing with pigments of all kinds: oil paints, pastels, watercolors, and more. Ladders and spiral staircases led to stacks of dusty boxes each holding the possibilities of masterpieces yet to be made. We spent hours exploring the nooks and crannies, and amongst all the treasures, we discovered two artist aprons, the last from a company no longer in existence. They looked like relics of a bygone era, plucked from the studio of Sargent or Klimt. We left the shop, each with an apron, and though Peg and Awl hadn’t yet begun, the seed to someday make our own version, had been planted.
Our Apron champions the virtues of hard work, curiosity, ingenuity, and industriousness, and has quickly become one of our favorite companions while working in the studio or at home. Its durable canvas armor protects against dirt, paint, liquids and debris, and with multiple waist and chest pockets it provides ample storage so tools are secure and conveniently accessible. The Franklin is available in two sizes, and the suspender-style vegetable tanned leather straps and belt have multiple settings to comfortably fit a variety of statures. Once on, The Franklin Maker’s Apron becomes a part of you, bringing the perfect mix of order, utility, and aesthetics to the creative chaos of a maker’s daily routine!
The Franklin Maker’s Apron
After many prototypes, countless customer requests, and an endless search fo...
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In the beginning of September, I (Walter) felt the call of adventure, packed my Scout Plein Air Box and art supplies, a few changes of clothes and set out – this time a little further from home. An early morning Uber drive, two plane rides across the country, and a 4-hour van trip later, I found myself in the high country of Yosemite National Park, with a 50 lb pack on my back accompanied by three fellow adventurers and our guide.
Adventures with the Scout Plein Air Box
In the beginning of September, I (Walter) felt the call of adventure, packed my Scout Plein Air Box and art supplies, a few changes of clothes and set out – this time a little further from home. An early morning Uber drive, two plane rides across the country, and a 4-hour van trip later, I found myself in the high country of Yosemite National Park, with a 50 lb pack on my back accompanied by three fellow adventurers and our guide. We were on a 5-day hike into the wilderness to escape the crowds of people and the endless demands of our busy lives, to camp under millions of stars that illuminated the night sky, to swim in the refreshingly freezing lakes fed by melting snow, to climb Vogelsang Peak, and for me to plein air paint.
Finding a nice spot to paint
Vogelsang is the one on the left
Painting by Fletcher Lake
The sunriseA journal entry during the trip
I saw a bear yesterday! We were sitting drinking coffee and in the distant clearing a bear was moseying up the hill towards the lake. I burst out, “There’s a bear, there’s a bear!” We all jumped up and followed him. For a moment we lost him in the brush and when we got to the lake, he had somehow crossed from the left side of us to the right and he was super close! Preoccupied with breakfast, his head was down in the water. Occasionally he popped up with a mouthful of small fish. Chomping away, he looked around slowly then got back to snacking. When the water hole no longer proved satisfactory to his appetite, he turned away from us and went further into the reeds. We could see the tops of the tall grass shaking and hear the water splashing. He seemed to be having a grand time!
After breakfast we packed our day bags. With a few snacks, a rain jacket, and my paint box, I was ready. We set out through the meadow over a creek and began to climb a winding trail up to Vogelsang Lake. After a quick swim, we continued the trek to Vogelsang Summit. The going was steady but gradually slowed as the path steepened. When we reached the pass, we transitioned into rock scrambling. Loose gravel made for unsteady steps, and I stuck to boulder hopping, avoiding the gravely path as much as possible. On the final ascent we trail blazed through thick low piney brush. We bushwhacked our way up, intermittently discovering a patch of bare rock only to lose it again under the gnarly needled thicket.
The last few feet we had to hoist ourselves up onto rock ledges using the cracks as holds. As we scrambled up the final rock the world opened around us. Below lay a vast array of granite peaks dotted with ice melt lakes. The pine trees stitched each mountain together and the range went on as far as our eyes could see, disappearing into the hazy horizon. We could see Half Dome jutting up from the rest, completely bald, a formidable hunk of granite! We sat up on that razor edge ridge for a while and I attempted to capture the land below with my paints, brushes and canvas. During the descent we stopped at Vogelsang Lake for a late lunch and an invigorating swim before heading back to camp. What a day! How amazing life can be!
Rock scrambling
Painting atop Vogelsang
Leaving Vogelsang Summit
The Bear!
Vogelsang Lake in the distance
First painting of the trip
Right outside my tent
Goodnight!
Coming Soon: Postcards and Prints of the Yosemite National Park Plein Air Paintings!
Toulomne Meadows 
Vogelsang Summit 
Fletcher Lake 
The view from my tent
The Scout Plein Air Box: A Backstory
The Scout Plein Air Box was inspired by our endeavor to make art every day. Each one is handmade in our West Chester, Pennsylvania workshop. It compactly secures all of your essential art supplies for painting outdoors. Fill your box with your favorite colors, paintbrushes, and sketchbook. Find your spot and quickly transform the box into a mini studio. Set it on a flat surface or mount it on a tripod, snap the liquid jars, brush holder, and easel in place, clip on your canvas and you are ready to paint. Read our earlier blog post for more of the Scout's story, or dig into its features and uses with our video walkthrough!
Painting Yosemite National Park
Adventures with the Scout Plein Air Box In the beginning of Sep...
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Our Adventure to Baker Leather!Every adventure we embark upon opens our world and our yearning for more. With that, the things we make broaden too, and how we use them – all is ongoing and interconnected. Everything blooms from everything.
In 2017, we began our search for sustainable leather, starting in the UK. We drove along narrow and winding roads of the countryside, enveloped in greenery. We were greeted and enchanted by the Tannery Cat, who showed us around the 500-year-old tannery nestled along a river. All was luminous in the glowing light – like the light after a storm. The cat paused mid-tour, to devour a headless rabbit that he had hidden under a car for later – now, the later.
He finished supper and we continued our wandering through whitewashed buildings full of old machinery, piles of tanned bellies, well-worn wooden what’s-its, and a large pool of oak bark soup with hides draped in rows for a long soak. Everything is worn and weathered, like the paths along the edges of farmlands; the stiles polished smooth and shiny from centuries of passers-by.
Whilst there, we were able to procure some organic animal hides from local Devonshire farms. These special requests, we were told, bore the marks of the animal’s lives lived outdoors — evidence of small battles, bug-swatting, and fence run-ins — things most people don’t prefer to see in their new leather. But this is all part of the story.
The leather took a long time travelling to Pennsylvania, and when it made it, we held onto it, savouring it for seven years. We have finally transformed it into something new — our Crow’s Feet Journals — made to house new adventures and layers of life’s patina!
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... ... On This Same UK Adventure...
I have a recurring dream in which I am sucked into a body of water with my journal; I flop around in the water – my journal just out of reach. Yesterday, when Søren and Silas’s eyes lit up at the prospect of venturing down the algae-covered steps to the Thames, one would have expected warning signals to ignite my brain, struck with horror from my dream. The warnings came, but not on my behalf. I warned the boys to take the skinny, dry path – to avoid the slippy algae and save themselves from the off color and smell of an unexpected dip in the Thames. They carried on as originally planned, and I proceeded to greedily take photographs and videos of their adventure down the slippy, algae side. Losing my feet from underneath me, I went down fast and uncontrollably!
All I could think of were my dreams, and the journal in my backpack as I flew down. I dug my nails into the green muck, trying to stop my momentum. I could hear Silas screaming, horrified, in the background. Turns out, I pressed record as I fell, my phone capturing the Blair Witch-Like audio that had us all in stitches afterwards. As it goes, spread out like a starfish, I didn’t make it into the Thames that day; I stopped my descent and rose up, green with algae – nails broken and knuckled bloodied, laughing my hearty laugh for the unexpected.
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Our Adventure to Organic Baker Leather
Our Adventure to Baker Leather! Every adventure we embark upon opens our wor...
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Of a Kinds, Radish, Ink...
Happy New Year!
“Turn it and turn it,
for everything is in it.”
–Ben Bag BagGrowing and flourishing are not always analogous.
Join us for a quick wander through 2023, the year we smallened Peg and Awl, and moved out of Philadelphia. Also the year where we found ourselves finding ourselves again. The ‘smallening’, as I’ve been calling it, is a bit vague. I’m an open book when it comes to most things, and would love to engage in conversation on the topic, but mostly, I know neither where to begin, nor how to distill it. The simplest version is this: Peg and Awl was a thriving small business with twenty-five people at our height, reaching sales numbers we’d never imagined nor planned for. But the joy of having a small business, being curious, and exploring this weird world with family and friends, became secondary as our responsibilities to maintain this monster perpetuated. Somehow growing and flourishing are not always analogous.
And here we are in 2024, returning, already, to what matters most! We’ve ventured south for a little warmth and a lot of biking, I went north for a mini retreat in the snow. We’ve been working on new Peg and Awl treasures, building our barn storefront and workshop, and working on the land.
We cannot wait to share our progress – there are so many stories to tell!
Our 14th Anniversary was January 10th!
I love the weirdness of quilts – especially those that appear to be constructed of spectacularly odd combinations of colour and pattern, perhaps the result of making with what was on hand!
Scholar Pouches (Sold Out) The Small Hunter Satchel (Sold Out) 
The Mini Tote (Sold Out) The Maker Pouch (Sold Out) ***
Jewellery
Solvitur Ambulando Ring Opal Earrings 
Terran Necklace All the Names Collection ***
Some Classics Reframed
Specimen Cards
I received these cards from Søren and Silas for Christmas and they are wondrous. They’ve celebrated aspects of the Five Acre Wood. Gift them blank, or fill them in!The Sendak Mini
Ah, the many ways to fill a Sendak. Here is a Spice Mini, with a new project palette, ready for an outdoor adventure.
The Finch Satchel in Red Maple
We are down to the last few Red Maple Bags including The Finch!Foundlings Prints
Foundlings originals and prints in a frame or out add mystery to any space!* * *
A Rural Pen Ink is Back in Stock!
A Rural Pen Ink made from guns! I love how this ink mixes with others – the granulation is an experience! ***
Everywhere, Astonishments!
Movie: Poor Things! Have you seen it? It has created quite a tension in our house with dramatically different interpretations!
PI started reading Kaveh Akbar’s new book, Martyr! It is the first book in ages that I’ve had a hard time putting down.
“He studied himself in the mirror, thought his teeth looked sharper.”
and
“For as long as he could remember, Cyrus had thought it unimaginably strange, the body’s need to recharge nightly.”The Snowdrops started to bloom a month and a half-ish early. Here they are, the morning after the snow melted away. Small, Small Batch and Valentine's Day Gifts!
Happy New Year!“Turn it and turn it,for everything is in it.”–Ben Bag Bag Gr...
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Specimen Cards and a Closer Look Around
Specimen Cards
I look forward to the coming weeks here, the hopeful explosion of plants! Until then, here are some Specimen Cards that Søren (15) and Silas (13) made for me for Christmas, which include a variety of plant friends and creature friends who share the land with us!See more of their work on Instagram: @sorenscoutkent and @koshooniart
We have Garter and Northern Water Snakes here... And a variety and abundance of frogs and toads! 
We also have a family of Painted Turtles! All of these creatures live by and in the untended to ponds. 
Our Pearl! Piplup is the last of our many chickens and guineas. She has somehow survived the many attacks of foxes, &c.At Home Exploration
We’ve returned home from Florida, where winter’s end, hormones, lawn talk, and chain stores wreaked havoc on my mood the first day. Fortunately, for myself and everyone around me, a walk around Wakodahatchee Wetlands quickly settled my inner chaos. Florida, like anywhere, can be so many things at once!
Back home, at the Five Acre Wood, Pearl and I awoke early to sunshine and went outside to visit all the plants’ changes during our weekend away. The three small Witch Hazel transplants survived: their tiny yellow flowers small and sparkly in the woodland. A few Squill, Hellebores, and Crocuses have flowered. Snowdrops have bloomed by the thousands, the snow drop math proving successful here though when I step back, the little clumps have a lot of multiplying to do before they change this comparatively expansive landscape! Even more Daffodils are about to burst, whilst Hepatica, Foam Flower, Geraniums, and other greenies have sent their distinct tops out of the soil and into the sun! A few years ago, I couldn’t have identified these plants by their flowers, and here I am, calling them by their names so soon. It feels magical, this ever-learning.
I’ve planted thousands of plants since we moved here five years ago. Some will take five years to bloom; others have already started on their journey, only to be destroyed by my rambunctious Pearl or over-eager deer families, hopping the fence when Pearl is elsewhere.
Snowdops by Silas Jack-in-the-Pulpit by Søren 
May Apple by Søren Daffodils (most abundant) by Silas 
Bamboo by Silas Virginia Bluebell by Søren* * *
Our Specimen Card Notebook! Story on the back! 
Some of the boys’ early drawings on the end pages! It fits inside our Sendaks!Our Boys Document Creatures and Plants with their Specimen Card Notebooks!
Specimen Cards I look forward to the coming weeks here, the hopeful explosio...
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This Of a Kind launch was meant for last year, in Winter, but we got tangled in the decision we shared in our last newsletter (if you missed it, you can read here!) And so here we are, ending winter with an abundance of scrumptious old blacks and blues!
Excitingly, in the time between meant-to and are, we’ve added some fun extras, including gorgeous Handmade Ink by A Rural Pen, Tintype Journals, and Alternative Sketchbook Tins!
Each new Of a Kind collection allows us to dig around and find treasures within treasures. Every discovery holds a bit of the past, and the story and marks accumulated. They are a joy to put together and harken back to the best part of our origin story – the gathering of old things and the reimagining and reworking of them into once again useful objects.
We have a handful of One of a Kind Custom* Pouch Sizes – this one is made with an 1800s Quilt Block! We have a selection of Hand-Bound Tintype Journals in this collection – read more below!*Custom Pouch Size: We have 7 pouch sizes in our Peg and Awl catalog, but when we find a quilt block or scrap that is perfect as is, we make the pouch match its size!
Our Wintery 2023 Of a Kind Collection!This Of a Kind launch was meant for last year, in Winter, but we got tangled in the decision we shared in our last newsletter (if you missed it, you can read here!) And so here we are, ending winter with an abundance of scrumptious old blacks and blues!
Excitingly, in the time between meant-to and are, we’ve added some fun extras, including gorgeous Handmade Ink by A Rural Pen, Tintype Journals, and Alternative Sketchbook Tins!
Have a wander through our collection of bags and pouches made with homespun linen, quilt blocks, prints from the 1800s, feedsacks, and 1930s dressmakers cotton, along with some of our favourite scraps of scraps, with which we made a variety of littles. Some of the bags are made with our classic waxed canvas colours, and others with our Autumn colours — so many hoorahs!
Here we are, ending winter with an abundance of wintry blues when all I feel is colour!
A Rural Pen Handmade Ink!
View in our ShopThis ink is handmade, bottled, labeled, and waxed by alchemist Thos. Little of A Rural Pen. I was so enamored with the ink, and when I learned I couldn’t purchase a bottle directly, I decided to order some for all of us! The ink is made using a historic formula of extracting and dissolving the iron from guns with Sumac, instead of Galls. The ink goes on as a pale, smoky, cool grey, and quickly oxidizes on the page; the shade and depth varies depending on the paper used.
This ink is for dip pens only – it cannot be used in fountain pens.
Note: The ink is hand bottled, labeled, and waxed. Some bottles have a little leakage through the wax. When you use the ink, it will also get on the label so please accept this possibility, as we do not consider it a defect.
Handmade Ink by A Rural Pen Playing with the ink for the first time! 
Testing this magical ink – drawing paper (Left) and watercolor paper (Right)! Inky left-handed Witch Hazel – watch my drawing video, here! Crossbody Bags made with Vintage Textiles!
View in Our Shop
Standard Tote with Feedsack: Wylie Mini Tote with 1800s Homespun: Edward 
Small Hunter with 1800s Quilt Block: Astrid Heavy homespun linen blanket transformed into a Hunter Satchel lined with Truffle. 
I found two full bolts of this textile from the 1800s long ago. The width was 36" which was the width of the looms then. I've been savouring it, and we may have some small bits for bookbinding linens, but mostly, this is its last hoorah! Hunter Satchels are my favourite hiking and flea market bag — carry only what you need!
Pouches made with Vintage Textiles!
View in Our ShopWe’ve been finding so many gorgeous textiles at Flea Markets lately and have to tame the scale of each collection. We’ve transformed the gathering of patchwork and scrap into useful pouches, giving them new life.
These pouches are perfect for art supplies, make-up, and anything else that needs organizing in your bag or on your desk — they’re hard to be without and you can never have too many!
This feedsack was washed again and again until its printing faded to just a subtle reminder of days past. 
Custom Pouch with 1800s Quilt Block: Mackenzie Essentials Pouch with 1800s Dressmaker’s Fabric: Dolly 
We reserved some Elderberry before it sold out for this collection! Scribbler Pouch with 1800s Antique Cotton: Sinclair 
Keeper Pouch with 1930s Dressmaker’s Fabric: Delia Spender Pouch with Early 1900s Scrap Bundle: William 
Hand Stitched Custom Quilt Block – perfect for small things, fits inside our bags’ pockets! Saver Pouch with Early 1900s Scrap Bundle: Joanna Edgeworth Tin: Alternative Sketchbook!
View in Our ShopWe have 6 blue tins in stock – they are nearly 100 years old and have varying degrees of rust and marks of past lives. Each tin comes with 100 sheets of Strathmore drawing paper in celebration of the upcoming 100 Day Project, which begins on February 22.
My Non-Dominant Hand 100 Day Project from Last Year
We don’t have many of these tins, and we are always looking for more, but in the meantime – grab your favourite tin, cut your favourite paper and voila! Here is our short video on cutting your own paper.
Tintype Journals!
View in Our ShopRead More About Tin Types!
One of a kind tintype journals are back! The cover is black vegetable-tanned leather, and is paired with some of our favourite antique black and white textiles from the 1800s. Beneath oval frames we’ve set enduring portraits of nameless faces newly christened. The insides, as always, are made of hand-stitched Strathmore drawing paper and work wonderfully with a variety of drawing and writing materials.
Standard Tintype Journal: Noam Standard Tintype Journal: Gertrude 
Companion Tintype Journal: Shirley + Jasper Companion Tintype Journal: Ethel + Timmy
The Secret to a Good Flea (Market) Day is a Good Friend!
Sneak Peak into our Wintery 2023 Of a Kind Collection
Each new Of a Kind collection allows us to dig around and find treasures wit...
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We’ve watched all of the YouTube reviews of our Sendak Artist Roll (thank you!) and have made our own video to answer some questions and share our experience!
We are grateful for all the wonderful Sendak reviews, and for sharing videos and spreading the word!
We’ve watched all of the YouTube reviews of our Sendak Artist Roll (thank you!) and have made our own video to answer some questions and share our experience!
We are grateful for all the wonderful Sendak reviews, and for sharing videos and spreading the word!
Video Transcript
Hello, everyone! I wanted to give you a little walkthrough of our Sendak Artist Roll. I've been seeing a lot of other people's video walkthroughs and it's been inspiring me to do the same.
Introduction
Here is my very well-loved and very well-used Sendak. This is the first "right one" that we made. We went through a lot of trial and error to get to this, so I want to show you what it has the potential to hold.
Supplies in my Sendak: Scissors and Glue (0:30)I always have glue with me because I do a lot of messy collage work, so I love to glue things and I also have scissors for that same reason. I use small scissors if I'm traveling anywhere where I'm getting on a plane, and I use big scissors if I'm just traveling in a car. Both sizes fit into the Sendak nicely. I tend to put the big scissors on an end, in one of the smaller pockets. The smaller scissors fit anywhere, it just depends what else I have in my Sendak.
The Pencil Pockets (0:55)
One of the most common requests that we get and one of the things that people tend to comment on is that these pencil pockets are too small for fountain pens. While that's true of this Kaweco cap (the bottom fits, the top doesn't), this vintage technical pen is pretty chunky, and I put it in there all the time. I carry two or three. You can see how it kind of draws the Sendak together, so ultimately there's going to be a little bit less room in other pockets. It's making other things more tight, but really, it's fine.
When the Sendak is new, the waxed canvas might be tight to even just fit a pencil, but as you use it, it breaks in and loosens up, and then it doesn't loosen any further – that's where it's going to stay. Once you use it more, you can easily fit two standard pencils or paintbrushes into each slot, so it's really not a too small slot once you break it in.
Supplies in my Sendak: Pencils (1:35)I love these beginners pencils that have really soft lead. I love making marks that are a little less particular than, for example, when I'm using my mechanical pencils (which I also love).
So, these are some of the supplies that I carry every day. I think where the variation comes in, is in which pencils I want, which softness levels, or if I want a water soluble pencil. I'll put the pencils together in this end pocket. It's important to note that the Blackwing fits in. This Blackwing pencil was sharpened once and it makes it a perfect fit. This one was never sharpened, and the eraser is worn down a bit, so it's just above that folding point (the Sendak measures 7.75″ tall at the folding point). The taller one will obviously still work, but I know these are awesome pencils that a lot of people have, so I wanted to show you that.
Supplies in my Sendak: Pens (2:15)
Another thing that I carry are dippy pens. I will put pen nibs into a tin. I love using antique tins to store pen nibs, and in this case, a kneaded eraser. These tins are great for little art supplies, and I just put them into the zipper pocket.
The Zipper Pocket (2:30)
In addition to the vintage tin, I put another regular eraser. When pencils get too small for the pencil pockets, then I'll put them in the zipper pocket. I also have some extra lead for my mechanical pencils, a pencil sharpener, and I often have a whitewash in there as well. You can fit a lot in this zipper pocket.
I like to not overstuff my Sendak so that it folds nicely. I really like it to fold up rather than to roll up, which happens when it is very stuffed.
The Interior Pockets (2:55)
We have 16 pen and pencil slots in the front, and then we have four pockets behind those. So these four are varying widths – you could see the width of the smaller ones that I use for scissors or pencils, which measure 2.5″ wide. The larger two measure 4.25″ wide. I use these two bigger pockets for sketchbooks.
We make these Landscape Orra Sketchbooks in our shop. We designed them to fit into both this Sendak and the Mini Sendak. They can also serve as a tool protector if you need it, for example, if I was putting in a dippy pen whose nib needed protecting, or paint brushes, that would be a great tool protector. We also sell acrylic tool protectors separately if you don't want to carry a Sketchbook or Painter's Palette.
The Iris Painter's Palette is another product that we make. It is for squeezing in tube paints, watercolors, or in this case, making your own paint and filling up these wells with homemade paint. This was made to fit in both the Classic Sendak and the Mini Sendak as well, in these large interior pockets.
I'm going to put my palette here, and these pens in the back here with some small scissors. I want to have another paint brush and then whatever colors I want to bring. Sometimes I get really organized and other times I just put stuff in. You don't have to be crazy overthinking this. It's just really supposed to hold what you need – what you need for the day, what you need for a week, what you need for a trip.
I also often have a bookbinding needle held in the top flap here, and I'll put some bookbinding thread here in the zipper pocket, in case I want to make a book. I'll also prepare by having folded paper here in these exterior pockets.
The Exterior Pockets (4:30)
These two outside pockets otherwise are great for random sized sketchbooks like this – this would have been one of those random ones that I made. I also love this tin. It's for 15 neocolors, but I've had it for years and I move pastels or other more delicate stuff into here that I don't want to crumble in the pen pockets. It's a really nice fit for these back pockets.
This is our Orra Portrait Sketchbook, which we made to fit into the Classic Sendak. We have three sizes of these sketchbooks – the Portrait, the Large Portrait, and the Landscape.
Closing the Sendak (5:00)
So when I fold up the Sendak – this one is pretty full with everything that I just stuffed into the outside pockets – but when I fold it up, I will hold everything down and pull down this top flap so that it folds nicely. Then I roll in the sides, starting with the zipper pocket, so that all the parts of my Sendak are where they should be. Then I just synch it closed with the leather strap and buckle.
I'd say this is pretty full – I have stuff in every pocket. In some instances, I have more than one thing in a pocket. There's still a lot of room on this leather strap. So that's it! This will fit nicely into my bag, and I've got what I need for a long time.
The Buckle Closure
Another question that we've had is about this buckle. This comes from a gun sling from maybe the forties, and it was intended to function exactly as we use it. We found that it just really holds the Sendak together nicely, and of course, we love incorporating old bits wherever we can, into whatever we make.
So there you have it! My Sendak, lovingly worn in and full of life.
Mentioned in this video:
From Our Shop:- The Classic Sendak Artist Roll
- The Sendak Mini Artist Roll
- Iris Painter’s Palette
- Landscape Orra Sketchbook
- Portrait Orra Sketchbook
- Acrylic Tool Protects (Out of Stock)
From Other Shops:- Blackwing Pencils
- Kaweco Pens
- Neocolor
- Vintage art supplies (dippy Pens, technical pens, tins) are from flea markets and sometimes eBay!
Related Blog Posts:
The Sendak Artist Roll: A Walkthrough Video
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And here we are, another major transition! We are selling our Philadelphia building and moving Peg and Awl to our barn.
We’re Moving Out of Philadelphia
...and it's bittersweet!
We are very fortunate – as a family and small business owners – to be able to follow our curiosities to wherever they may lead. Here we find ourselves in another major transition! We – Walter and I, Søren and Silas too, have decided to sell the Peg and Awl building in Port Richmond Philadelphia, and move our business into our Barn here in Chester County, Penna. It felt like a quick decision, but it was the culmination of much quiet consideration. I have always been spontaneous – or so it seems – so much is accomplished in our sleep.
Yesterday was warm and wondrous. As I walked from Port Richmond to Old City for a last minute hair appointment at Barnet Fair, and to treasure hunt at Vagabond Boutique, I felt the weight of nostalgia for what we would soon be leaving, and a lightness too, as I imagined floating, for the first time in a while, into a new unknown.
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Some Things to Look Forward to in the Coming Year!
- New Website! We’ve been working on it for a long time – we don’t have a launch date yet, but soon!
- New Jewellery! If you’ve been following along on Instagram – you may have seen some glimpses of these projects over the past few years.
- New Of A Kind Adventures! (accompanied by more Flea Market adventures, read here!)
- Exciting Pivots!
The Foundlings (Peg and Awl) Building: Before and After
Read about the Shop Renovation Project, here!
We’ve put a lot of work into our workshop since we bought the dark and closed-up building in 2016 – from opening cinder-blocked windows and tearing down walls, to transforming the gravel and pavement into gardens. We built and set up a storefront (that we never officially opened) just before the pandemic. We poured concrete floors and filled the wide open space with an abundance of tools and machines and worked with our wonderous crew to design, make, and ship all of the treasures that we share around the world.
We look forward to the next adventure for Peg and Awl and, too, for the building! The dream is always for some magic makers to take the reins and re-imagine a better, brighter, greener, and cleaner corner of Philadelphia.
A lot happens through word of mouth — if you know someone who may be interested, please share!
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Storefront, trees, plants, and windows! |
A lightless old space full of stuff. |
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Employee gardens and honey bees~ |
Concrete slab (though locals told us it was a wading pool in the summers and an ice hockey rink in the winters!) |
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A part of the woodshop! |
Pouring the concrete floor. |
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Knocking down the in-between wall. |
Renovations and the inhabiting of the nearly abandoned building in Port Richmond, Philadelphia.
The Barn: Our New Shop
Read On: Our Barn Restoration Project
We will continue to make treasures in Philadelphia over the next few months. In May, we will be opening our new workspace to the public for a Studio Tour in May! There we will share our art, showroom, and the goings on of the new iteration of Peg and Awl.
This space will be a gallery and showroom.
Walter’s cozy loft studio will remain Walter’s cozy loft studio.
Our Barn Restoration Project
Read On: Our Barn Restoration Project
“...By the time we had finished removing the rotted bits, the trusses, the rafters, and the floors, it was hard to say if we were reclaiming an old barn, or building a new one in its image. The barn shape – the space within the frame – became one of the few parts I could solidly say remained from the historic place. But over the next few weeks, as I observed the delicate skeleton of the old barn standing strong but precarious in the wind and rain – with day now inside and night inside too – I grew suspicious of this boundaryless thing I wanted to keep. What were we preserving, and more, why?”
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We’re Moving Out of Philadelphia, and It’s Bittersweet!
We’re Moving Out of Philadelphia...and it's bittersweet! We are very fortu...
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The Scout Plein Air Box was inspired by our endeavor to make art every day. Each one is handmade in our Philadelphia workshop. Watch our video showing how we make the Scout Plein Air Box!
The Scout Plein Air Box was inspired by our endeavor to make art every day. Each one is handmade in our Philadelphia workshop. It compactly secures all of your essential art supplies for painting outdoors. Fill your box with your favorite colors, paintbrushes, and sketchbook. Find your spot and quickly transform the box into a mini studio. Set it on a flat surface or mount it on a tripod, snap the liquid jars, brush holder, and easel in place, clip on your canvas and you are ready to paint. Watch our video showing how we make the Scout Plein Air Box!
Original Plein Air Oil Paintings by Walter Kent
“It has been nearly three years since I returned from a painting workshop in Italy, taught by Jeremy Mann and Nadezda, hosted by Art Escape Italy. This was my first experience plein air painting and once I returned home I immediately made my own pochade box, the Scout. During the last three years I have gone out on many painting adventures, both alone and with my family, with the Scout over my shoulder.
When I wander out into the world to paint, there is a game of tug of war twisting knots in my stomach, with my hopes and fears digging their heals in on either side. After the first few strokes of paint, the excitement of possibility takes over. These attempts at capturing the fleeting moments of the world around me line the windowsills of our studio.
I’ve selected some of my favorite Plein Air oil paintings, breadcrumbs of my path as an artist, and we are excited to share them with the everyone. Each painting has been varnished for protection and is signed and marked with its location and date and is fitted with a ready-to-hang frame made of reclaimed blackened walnut.” –Walter
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Delaware Water Gap No. 3, Pennsylvania 2021
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Kaaterskill Falls, New York 2022
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Ready-to-Hang frames are made of reclaimed blackened walnut.
How We Make the Scout Plein Air Box and Original Paintings by Walter Kent
The Scout Plein Air Box was inspired by our endeavor to make art every day....
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After many prototypes, countless customer requests, and an endless search for sustainable leather, The Franklin Makers Apron is finally here! Our Apron champions the virtues of hard work, curiosity, ingenuity, and industriousness, and it has quickly become one of our favorite companions while working in the studio or at home.
After many prototypes, countless customer requests, and an endless search for sustainable leather, The Franklin Makers Apron is finally here!
On our first trip to England together, Margaux and I discovered a magical art supply shop on a small cobblestone street. Like something pulled out of Diagon Alley, it was lined with dark oak, floor-to-ceiling shelves overflowing with pigments of all kinds: oil paints, pastels, watercolors, and more. Ladders and spiral staircases led to stacks of dusty boxes each holding the possibilities of masterpieces yet to be made. We spent hours exploring the nooks and crannies, and amongst all the treasures, we discovered two artist aprons, the last from a company no longer in existence. They looked like relics of a bygone era, plucked from the studio of Sargent or Klimt. We left the shop, each with an apron, and though Peg and Awl hadn’t yet begun, the seed to someday make our own version, had been planted.
Our Apron champions the virtues of hard work, curiosity, ingenuity, and industriousness, and has quickly become one of our favorite companions while working in the studio or at home. Its durable canvas armor protects against dirt, paint, liquids and debris, and with multiple waist and chest pockets it provides ample storage so tools are secure and conveniently accessible. The Franklin is available in two sizes, and the suspender-style vegetable tanned leather straps and belt have multiple settings to comfortably fit a variety of statures. Once on, The Franklin Maker’s Apron becomes a part of you, bringing the perfect mix of order, utility, and aesthetics to the creative chaos of a maker’s daily routine!
The Franklin Maker’s Apron
After many prototypes, countless customer requests, and an endless search fo...
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In the beginning of September, I (Walter) felt the call of adventure, packed my Scout Plein Air Box and art supplies, a few changes of clothes and set out – this time a little further from home. An early morning Uber drive, two plane rides across the country, and a 4-hour van trip later, I found myself in the high country of Yosemite National Park, with a 50 lb pack on my back accompanied by three fellow adventurers and our guide.
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Adventures with the Scout Plein Air Box
In the beginning of September, I (Walter) felt the call of adventure, packed my Scout Plein Air Box and art supplies, a few changes of clothes and set out – this time a little further from home. An early morning Uber drive, two plane rides across the country, and a 4-hour van trip later, I found myself in the high country of Yosemite National Park, with a 50 lb pack on my back accompanied by three fellow adventurers and our guide. We were on a 5-day hike into the wilderness to escape the crowds of people and the endless demands of our busy lives, to camp under millions of stars that illuminated the night sky, to swim in the refreshingly freezing lakes fed by melting snow, to climb Vogelsang Peak, and for me to plein air paint.
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Finding a nice spot to paint |
Vogelsang is the one on the left |
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Painting by Fletcher Lake
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The sunrise
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A journal entry during the trip
I saw a bear yesterday! We were sitting drinking coffee and in the distant clearing a bear was moseying up the hill towards the lake. I burst out, “There’s a bear, there’s a bear!” We all jumped up and followed him. For a moment we lost him in the brush and when we got to the lake, he had somehow crossed from the left side of us to the right and he was super close! Preoccupied with breakfast, his head was down in the water. Occasionally he popped up with a mouthful of small fish. Chomping away, he looked around slowly then got back to snacking. When the water hole no longer proved satisfactory to his appetite, he turned away from us and went further into the reeds. We could see the tops of the tall grass shaking and hear the water splashing. He seemed to be having a grand time!
After breakfast we packed our day bags. With a few snacks, a rain jacket, and my paint box, I was ready. We set out through the meadow over a creek and began to climb a winding trail up to Vogelsang Lake. After a quick swim, we continued the trek to Vogelsang Summit. The going was steady but gradually slowed as the path steepened. When we reached the pass, we transitioned into rock scrambling. Loose gravel made for unsteady steps, and I stuck to boulder hopping, avoiding the gravely path as much as possible. On the final ascent we trail blazed through thick low piney brush. We bushwhacked our way up, intermittently discovering a patch of bare rock only to lose it again under the gnarly needled thicket.
The last few feet we had to hoist ourselves up onto rock ledges using the cracks as holds. As we scrambled up the final rock the world opened around us. Below lay a vast array of granite peaks dotted with ice melt lakes. The pine trees stitched each mountain together and the range went on as far as our eyes could see, disappearing into the hazy horizon. We could see Half Dome jutting up from the rest, completely bald, a formidable hunk of granite! We sat up on that razor edge ridge for a while and I attempted to capture the land below with my paints, brushes and canvas. During the descent we stopped at Vogelsang Lake for a late lunch and an invigorating swim before heading back to camp. What a day! How amazing life can be!
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Rock scrambling |
Painting atop Vogelsang |
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Leaving Vogelsang Summit |
The Bear! |
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Vogelsang Lake in the distance |
First painting of the trip |
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Right outside my tent |
Goodnight! |
Coming Soon: Postcards and Prints of the Yosemite National Park Plein Air Paintings!
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The Scout Plein Air Box: A Backstory
The Scout Plein Air Box was inspired by our endeavor to make art every day. Each one is handmade in our West Chester, Pennsylvania workshop. It compactly secures all of your essential art supplies for painting outdoors. Fill your box with your favorite colors, paintbrushes, and sketchbook. Find your spot and quickly transform the box into a mini studio. Set it on a flat surface or mount it on a tripod, snap the liquid jars, brush holder, and easel in place, clip on your canvas and you are ready to paint. Read our earlier blog post for more of the Scout's story, or dig into its features and uses with our video walkthrough!
Painting Yosemite National Park
Adventures with the Scout Plein Air Box In the beginning of Sep...
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Every adventure we embark upon opens our world and our yearning for more. With that, the things we make broaden too, and how we use them – all is ongoing and interconnected. Everything blooms from everything.
In 2017, we began our search for sustainable leather, starting in the UK. We drove along narrow and winding roads of the countryside, enveloped in greenery. We were greeted and enchanted by the Tannery Cat, who showed us around the 500-year-old tannery nestled along a river. All was luminous in the glowing light – like the light after a storm. The cat paused mid-tour, to devour a headless rabbit that he had hidden under a car for later – now, the later.
He finished supper and we continued our wandering through whitewashed buildings full of old machinery, piles of tanned bellies, well-worn wooden what’s-its, and a large pool of oak bark soup with hides draped in rows for a long soak. Everything is worn and weathered, like the paths along the edges of farmlands; the stiles polished smooth and shiny from centuries of passers-by.
Whilst there, we were able to procure some organic animal hides from local Devonshire farms. These special requests, we were told, bore the marks of the animal’s lives lived outdoors — evidence of small battles, bug-swatting, and fence run-ins — things most people don’t prefer to see in their new leather. But this is all part of the story.
The leather took a long time travelling to Pennsylvania, and when it made it, we held onto it, savouring it for seven years. We have finally transformed it into something new — our Crow’s Feet Journals — made to house new adventures and layers of life’s patina!
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On This Same UK Adventure...
I have a recurring dream in which I am sucked into a body of water with my journal; I flop around in the water – my journal just out of reach. Yesterday, when Søren and Silas’s eyes lit up at the prospect of venturing down the algae-covered steps to the Thames, one would have expected warning signals to ignite my brain, struck with horror from my dream. The warnings came, but not on my behalf. I warned the boys to take the skinny, dry path – to avoid the slippy algae and save themselves from the off color and smell of an unexpected dip in the Thames. They carried on as originally planned, and I proceeded to greedily take photographs and videos of their adventure down the slippy, algae side. Losing my feet from underneath me, I went down fast and uncontrollably!
All I could think of were my dreams, and the journal in my backpack as I flew down. I dug my nails into the green muck, trying to stop my momentum. I could hear Silas screaming, horrified, in the background. Turns out, I pressed record as I fell, my phone capturing the Blair Witch-Like audio that had us all in stitches afterwards. As it goes, spread out like a starfish, I didn’t make it into the Thames that day; I stopped my descent and rose up, green with algae – nails broken and knuckled bloodied, laughing my hearty laugh for the unexpected.
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Our Adventure to Organic Baker Leather
Our Adventure to Baker Leather! Every adventure we embark upon opens our wor...
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Happy New Year!
“Turn it and turn it,
for everything is in it.”
–Ben Bag Bag
Growing and flourishing are not always analogous.
Join us for a quick wander through 2023, the year we smallened Peg and Awl, and moved out of Philadelphia. Also the year where we found ourselves finding ourselves again. The ‘smallening’, as I’ve been calling it, is a bit vague. I’m an open book when it comes to most things, and would love to engage in conversation on the topic, but mostly, I know neither where to begin, nor how to distill it. The simplest version is this: Peg and Awl was a thriving small business with twenty-five people at our height, reaching sales numbers we’d never imagined nor planned for. But the joy of having a small business, being curious, and exploring this weird world with family and friends, became secondary as our responsibilities to maintain this monster perpetuated. Somehow growing and flourishing are not always analogous.
And here we are in 2024, returning, already, to what matters most! We’ve ventured south for a little warmth and a lot of biking, I went north for a mini retreat in the snow. We’ve been working on new Peg and Awl treasures, building our barn storefront and workshop, and working on the land.
We cannot wait to share our progress – there are so many stories to tell!
Our 14th Anniversary was January 10th!
I love the weirdness of quilts – especially those that appear to be constructed of spectacularly odd combinations of colour and pattern, perhaps the result of making with what was on hand!
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Jewellery
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Some Classics Reframed
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I received these cards from Søren and Silas for Christmas and they are wondrous. They’ve celebrated aspects of the Five Acre Wood. Gift them blank, or fill them in! |
Ah, the many ways to fill a Sendak. Here is a Spice Mini, with a new project palette, ready for an outdoor adventure. |
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We are down to the last few Red Maple Bags including The Finch! |
Foundlings originals and prints in a frame or out add mystery to any space! |
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A Rural Pen Ink is Back in Stock!
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Everywhere, Astonishments!
Movie: Poor Things! Have you seen it? It has created quite a tension in our house with dramatically different interpretations!
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“He studied himself in the mirror, thought his teeth looked sharper.” and “For as long as he could remember, Cyrus had thought it unimaginably strange, the body’s need to recharge nightly.” |
Small, Small Batch and Valentine's Day Gifts!
Happy New Year!“Turn it and turn it,for everything is in it.”–Ben Bag Bag Gr...
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Specimen Cards
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Our Pearl! |
Piplup is the last of our many chickens and guineas. She has somehow survived the many attacks of foxes, &c.
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At Home Exploration
We’ve returned home from Florida, where winter’s end, hormones, lawn talk, and chain stores wreaked havoc on my mood the first day. Fortunately, for myself and everyone around me, a walk around Wakodahatchee Wetlands quickly settled my inner chaos. Florida, like anywhere, can be so many things at once!
Back home, at the Five Acre Wood, Pearl and I awoke early to sunshine and went outside to visit all the plants’ changes during our weekend away. The three small Witch Hazel transplants survived: their tiny yellow flowers small and sparkly in the woodland. A few Squill, Hellebores, and Crocuses have flowered. Snowdrops have bloomed by the thousands, the snow drop math proving successful here though when I step back, the little clumps have a lot of multiplying to do before they change this comparatively expansive landscape! Even more Daffodils are about to burst, whilst Hepatica, Foam Flower, Geraniums, and other greenies have sent their distinct tops out of the soil and into the sun! A few years ago, I couldn’t have identified these plants by their flowers, and here I am, calling them by their names so soon. It feels magical, this ever-learning.
I’ve planted thousands of plants since we moved here five years ago. Some will take five years to bloom; others have already started on their journey, only to be destroyed by my rambunctious Pearl or over-eager deer families, hopping the fence when Pearl is elsewhere.
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Bamboo by Silas |
Virginia Bluebell by Søren
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It fits inside our Sendaks!
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Our Boys Document Creatures and Plants with their Specimen Card Notebooks!
Specimen Cards I look forward to the coming weeks here, the hopeful explosio...
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This Of a Kind launch was meant for last year, in Winter, but we got tangled in the decision we shared in our last newsletter (if you missed it, you can read here!) And so here we are, ending winter with an abundance of scrumptious old blacks and blues!
Excitingly, in the time between meant-to and are, we’ve added some fun extras, including gorgeous Handmade Ink by A Rural Pen, Tintype Journals, and Alternative Sketchbook Tins!
Each new Of a Kind collection allows us to dig around and find treasures within treasures. Every discovery holds a bit of the past, and the story and marks accumulated. They are a joy to put together and harken back to the best part of our origin story – the gathering of old things and the reimagining and reworking of them into once again useful objects.
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We have a selection of Hand-Bound Tintype Journals in this collection – read more below!
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*Custom Pouch Size: We have 7 pouch sizes in our Peg and Awl catalog, but when we find a quilt block or scrap that is perfect as is, we make the pouch match its size!
Our Wintery 2023 Of a Kind Collection!
This Of a Kind launch was meant for last year, in Winter, but we got tangled in the decision we shared in our last newsletter (if you missed it, you can read here!) And so here we are, ending winter with an abundance of scrumptious old blacks and blues!
Excitingly, in the time between meant-to and are, we’ve added some fun extras, including gorgeous Handmade Ink by A Rural Pen, Tintype Journals, and Alternative Sketchbook Tins!
Have a wander through our collection of bags and pouches made with homespun linen, quilt blocks, prints from the 1800s, feedsacks, and 1930s dressmakers cotton, along with some of our favourite scraps of scraps, with which we made a variety of littles. Some of the bags are made with our classic waxed canvas colours, and others with our Autumn colours — so many hoorahs!
Here we are, ending winter with an abundance of wintry blues when all I feel is colour!
A Rural Pen Handmade Ink!
View in our Shop
This ink is handmade, bottled, labeled, and waxed by alchemist Thos. Little of A Rural Pen. I was so enamored with the ink, and when I learned I couldn’t purchase a bottle directly, I decided to order some for all of us! The ink is made using a historic formula of extracting and dissolving the iron from guns with Sumac, instead of Galls. The ink goes on as a pale, smoky, cool grey, and quickly oxidizes on the page; the shade and depth varies depending on the paper used.
This ink is for dip pens only – it cannot be used in fountain pens.
Note: The ink is hand bottled, labeled, and waxed. Some bottles have a little leakage through the wax. When you use the ink, it will also get on the label so please accept this possibility, as we do not consider it a defect.
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Crossbody Bags made with Vintage Textiles!
View in Our Shop
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Pouches made with Vintage Textiles!
View in Our Shop
We’ve been finding so many gorgeous textiles at Flea Markets lately and have to tame the scale of each collection. We’ve transformed the gathering of patchwork and scrap into useful pouches, giving them new life.
These pouches are perfect for art supplies, make-up, and anything else that needs organizing in your bag or on your desk — they’re hard to be without and you can never have too many!
This feedsack was washed again and again until its printing faded to just a subtle reminder of days past.
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Edgeworth Tin: Alternative Sketchbook!
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We have 6 blue tins in stock – they are nearly 100 years old and have varying degrees of rust and marks of past lives. Each tin comes with 100 sheets of Strathmore drawing paper in celebration of the upcoming 100 Day Project, which begins on February 22.
My Non-Dominant Hand 100 Day Project from Last Year
We don’t have many of these tins, and we are always looking for more, but in the meantime – grab your favourite tin, cut your favourite paper and voila! Here is our short video on cutting your own paper.
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Tintype Journals!
View in Our Shop
Read More About Tin Types!
One of a kind tintype journals are back! The cover is black vegetable-tanned leather, and is paired with some of our favourite antique black and white textiles from the 1800s. Beneath oval frames we’ve set enduring portraits of nameless faces newly christened. The insides, as always, are made of hand-stitched Strathmore drawing paper and work wonderfully with a variety of drawing and writing materials.
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The Secret to a Good Flea (Market) Day is a Good Friend!
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Sneak Peak into our Wintery 2023 Of a Kind Collection
Each new Of a Kind collection allows us to dig around and find treasures wit...
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We’ve watched all of the YouTube reviews of our Sendak Artist Roll (thank you!) and have made our own video to answer some questions and share our experience!
We are grateful for all the wonderful Sendak reviews, and for sharing videos and spreading the word!
We’ve watched all of the YouTube reviews of our Sendak Artist Roll (thank you!) and have made our own video to answer some questions and share our experience!
We are grateful for all the wonderful Sendak reviews, and for sharing videos and spreading the word!
Video Transcript
Hello, everyone! I wanted to give you a little walkthrough of our Sendak Artist Roll. I've been seeing a lot of other people's video walkthroughs and it's been inspiring me to do the same.
Introduction
Here is my very well-loved and very well-used Sendak. This is the first "right one" that we made. We went through a lot of trial and error to get to this, so I want to show you what it has the potential to hold.
Supplies in my Sendak: Scissors and Glue (0:30)
I always have glue with me because I do a lot of messy collage work, so I love to glue things and I also have scissors for that same reason. I use small scissors if I'm traveling anywhere where I'm getting on a plane, and I use big scissors if I'm just traveling in a car. Both sizes fit into the Sendak nicely. I tend to put the big scissors on an end, in one of the smaller pockets. The smaller scissors fit anywhere, it just depends what else I have in my Sendak.
The Pencil Pockets (0:55)
One of the most common requests that we get and one of the things that people tend to comment on is that these pencil pockets are too small for fountain pens. While that's true of this Kaweco cap (the bottom fits, the top doesn't), this vintage technical pen is pretty chunky, and I put it in there all the time. I carry two or three. You can see how it kind of draws the Sendak together, so ultimately there's going to be a little bit less room in other pockets. It's making other things more tight, but really, it's fine.
When the Sendak is new, the waxed canvas might be tight to even just fit a pencil, but as you use it, it breaks in and loosens up, and then it doesn't loosen any further – that's where it's going to stay. Once you use it more, you can easily fit two standard pencils or paintbrushes into each slot, so it's really not a too small slot once you break it in.
Supplies in my Sendak: Pencils (1:35)
I love these beginners pencils that have really soft lead. I love making marks that are a little less particular than, for example, when I'm using my mechanical pencils (which I also love).
So, these are some of the supplies that I carry every day. I think where the variation comes in, is in which pencils I want, which softness levels, or if I want a water soluble pencil. I'll put the pencils together in this end pocket. It's important to note that the Blackwing fits in. This Blackwing pencil was sharpened once and it makes it a perfect fit. This one was never sharpened, and the eraser is worn down a bit, so it's just above that folding point (the Sendak measures 7.75″ tall at the folding point). The taller one will obviously still work, but I know these are awesome pencils that a lot of people have, so I wanted to show you that.
Supplies in my Sendak: Pens (2:15)
Another thing that I carry are dippy pens. I will put pen nibs into a tin. I love using antique tins to store pen nibs, and in this case, a kneaded eraser. These tins are great for little art supplies, and I just put them into the zipper pocket.
The Zipper Pocket (2:30)
In addition to the vintage tin, I put another regular eraser. When pencils get too small for the pencil pockets, then I'll put them in the zipper pocket. I also have some extra lead for my mechanical pencils, a pencil sharpener, and I often have a whitewash in there as well. You can fit a lot in this zipper pocket.
I like to not overstuff my Sendak so that it folds nicely. I really like it to fold up rather than to roll up, which happens when it is very stuffed.
The Interior Pockets (2:55)
We have 16 pen and pencil slots in the front, and then we have four pockets behind those. So these four are varying widths – you could see the width of the smaller ones that I use for scissors or pencils, which measure 2.5″ wide. The larger two measure 4.25″ wide. I use these two bigger pockets for sketchbooks.
We make these Landscape Orra Sketchbooks in our shop. We designed them to fit into both this Sendak and the Mini Sendak. They can also serve as a tool protector if you need it, for example, if I was putting in a dippy pen whose nib needed protecting, or paint brushes, that would be a great tool protector. We also sell acrylic tool protectors separately if you don't want to carry a Sketchbook or Painter's Palette.
The Iris Painter's Palette is another product that we make. It is for squeezing in tube paints, watercolors, or in this case, making your own paint and filling up these wells with homemade paint. This was made to fit in both the Classic Sendak and the Mini Sendak as well, in these large interior pockets.
I'm going to put my palette here, and these pens in the back here with some small scissors. I want to have another paint brush and then whatever colors I want to bring. Sometimes I get really organized and other times I just put stuff in. You don't have to be crazy overthinking this. It's just really supposed to hold what you need – what you need for the day, what you need for a week, what you need for a trip.
I also often have a bookbinding needle held in the top flap here, and I'll put some bookbinding thread here in the zipper pocket, in case I want to make a book. I'll also prepare by having folded paper here in these exterior pockets.
The Exterior Pockets (4:30)
These two outside pockets otherwise are great for random sized sketchbooks like this – this would have been one of those random ones that I made. I also love this tin. It's for 15 neocolors, but I've had it for years and I move pastels or other more delicate stuff into here that I don't want to crumble in the pen pockets. It's a really nice fit for these back pockets.
This is our Orra Portrait Sketchbook, which we made to fit into the Classic Sendak. We have three sizes of these sketchbooks – the Portrait, the Large Portrait, and the Landscape.
Closing the Sendak (5:00)
So when I fold up the Sendak – this one is pretty full with everything that I just stuffed into the outside pockets – but when I fold it up, I will hold everything down and pull down this top flap so that it folds nicely. Then I roll in the sides, starting with the zipper pocket, so that all the parts of my Sendak are where they should be. Then I just synch it closed with the leather strap and buckle.
I'd say this is pretty full – I have stuff in every pocket. In some instances, I have more than one thing in a pocket. There's still a lot of room on this leather strap. So that's it! This will fit nicely into my bag, and I've got what I need for a long time.
The Buckle Closure
Another question that we've had is about this buckle. This comes from a gun sling from maybe the forties, and it was intended to function exactly as we use it. We found that it just really holds the Sendak together nicely, and of course, we love incorporating old bits wherever we can, into whatever we make.
So there you have it! My Sendak, lovingly worn in and full of life.
Mentioned in this video:
From Our Shop:
- The Classic Sendak Artist Roll
- The Sendak Mini Artist Roll
- Iris Painter’s Palette
- Landscape Orra Sketchbook
- Portrait Orra Sketchbook
- Acrylic Tool Protects (Out of Stock)
- Blackwing Pencils
- Kaweco Pens
- Neocolor
- Vintage art supplies (dippy Pens, technical pens, tins) are from flea markets and sometimes eBay!
Related Blog Posts:
The Sendak Artist Roll: A Walkthrough Video
We’ve watched all of the YouTube reviews of our Sendak Artist Roll (thank you...
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