I wandered out to treasure hunt Memorial Day morning before the heat became too oppressive. The breeze was blowy and the clouds were bright and the gruff unvoice of Tom Waits spilled out of the speakers and mixed with the wind like days of old. I found some delightful treats (despite the wreckage of the market I so long ago frequented) including some old tins, antique pencils, and these glorious little Japanese scarves from the 1920s made from previously used textiles—some of which are rumoured to be old(er) diapers! (I purchased these from a woman from whom I have bought many a-treasure from over the years!) I absolutely adore these and may have to keep one as a scarf for myself.

I am looking forward to transforming them into something else and filling up our Of A Kind Section!

We are psyched to be included in this month’s Where Women Create magazine which features a story about Margaux and Peg and Awl! Pick up your copy on the Where Women Create website.

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A post shared by Margaux Kent (@pegandawl) on May 16, 2019 at 4:07pm PDT

Last December, just before Christmas, we found ourselves huddled together on blow-up mattresses in the dark. There was no power and the temperature was below freezing in our new home, located in the the country-ish, in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Walter and I either jump into things, or we completely overthink until we agonize. I prefer the jumping in, as that is there where magic is.

We looked at 3 houses with the idea of maybe moving, and within 35 days, we were shivering in our new 18th century living room.

But this isn’t about the 5 Acre Wood in West Chester, or chickens, honeybees, wild plants, or birdsong. Nor is it about the 5 goslings that were just born on the island at the center of our pond! This is about our house in Philadelphia that we’ve been fixing up since we hastily departed last winter.

We are transforming our former home and studio space in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia to the Peg and Awl House, which will be available for rent, come summer. The house was built in the 1850s and was a bootlegger’s home. You can still see the barrel in the basement ceiling and the hole in the steps from where a tap once was! Having lived there for eleven years, we’d slowly transformed the charming row house into a Peg and Awl home, incorporating reclaimed wood throughout the house and chalkboards from an old school into heated kitchen floors, as well as Apothecary Cabinets, built in bookcases, and (coming soon!) Peg and Awl furniture from tables to beds!

We will partner with local artisans to fill the house with handmade sundries, including everything from dishes and dishtowels to ice cream and beer. And the house, of course, will be full of Peg and Awl treasures of the past and future. Fishtown is the perfect neighborhood to visit, balancing history and modernity; it is full of amazing restaurants, bars, and shopping. We are looking forward to sharing our space with others, along with sharing our favourite things to do in Philadelphia!

And of course, we cannot wait to stay there with Søren and Silas. We dream of dinner and movie nights and walks in our already too-distant neighborhood.

We will share updates, but for now, here is a Sneak Peek from when our house was featured in Design Sponge in 2012!

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May the adventures begin...

Last weekend found us in a freshly plowed field of amethysts rising toward the surface, and within a few hours our Hunter Satchels were brimming with earthly magic. Once home, we spread our loot out at our feet and washed away the mud. Like archeologists we examined each piece, drew our favorite specimens, and recorded our day’s excitement in our journals. (Read the full story of our adventure on our blog!)

Whether your spring adventures find you in the field or at your desk, we’ve got you covered!

Small Hunter Satchel	Foundlings Small Desk Caddy: Sage
Foundlings Harper Journal: June	Botanical Dandelion Ring
Olde Fashioned Tree Swing	The Sendak Mini Artist Roll

     There is something about unearthing a thing with your own dirty paws that transforms the simplest of objects into pure magic.

     As we drove past Amish farms and families, on our way to the Amethyst Field (part of a private Amish farm) in Lancaster early Saturday morning in post-rain-perfection, my mind wandered to The Foundlings Collection that we were launching 3 hours from then. We passed horses and buggies, families dressed in black and white, and a very tiny Mennonite school established in the 1800s. Everything was simple and beautiful and open, and the earth smelled clean and loved. It could have been 1919—except for our car and Aldous Harding singing. As we wandered through the Amish community I wondered if any parents or grandparents of the very people we were passing had painted any of the animals and plants and creatures we were celebrating, since they were made 100+ years ago, in this very area. I wanted to ask someone, but I thought it would be intrusive, so we passed through.

     We arrived at the farm that glorious overcast morning and parked in the alfalfa field by the Delaware Mineralogical Society's makeshift cardboard sign. When we stepped onto the freshly plowed and rained-upon field with our antique tools (which had been left in our new old house by the family before us, or the family before them), the earth fairly sparkled with purple gems—but we didn’t see them yet. First you must clear your expectations, then comes a finding, and soon enough, you can’t not see them. Within a few hours our Hunter Satchels were brimming with earthly magic: Amethyst, Smokey Quartz, regular Quartz, Feldspar, and mystery minerals.

     We gathered with some families from Open Connections and within a few hours everyone was sitting in the muddy fields chattering and inspecting their finds. By the time the sun broke through the clouds, Søren and Silas were thirsty and hungry, so we walked back to the alfalfa field where they sat in the trunk of the Subaru and ate lunch. I headed back to the field to retrieve a forgotten antique and found a few groups of determined treasure hunters who remained, one of which found the biggest Amethyst of the day—had Amethyst fever, and couldn't stop searching. Another group was digging a trench that looked more intentional than the rest of the holes scattered throughout the field. I asked about their digging—it turns out they are part of the Friends of Mineralogy, Penna Chapter, and, like so many geologists and rock lovers we’ve encountered, they were happy to share their knowledge. They told me about saddles and folds and intersecting ditches, but, being foundationless in this complex science, the information trickled through me like the dirt through so many sieves that morning.

     I returned to Søren and Silas, who were not bored as I feared, but hanging out with the other boys. We set off for home, covered in dirt, (after stopping for ice-cream of course) where we were greeted by Walter, also covered in dirt (from our garden-to-be) who photographed us as we tooth-brushed our finds.

Postscript: I posted this on Instagram @thebrotherskent and on FB and received a lot of questions (public and private) about the site. This is private land, and the family was kind enough to share it. I would recommend you look into mineralogical societies near you. There are chapters all over the US, and they are amazing resources! The PA and DE chapter cost $25 per family for a year. There are many field trips and educational meetings. Links are above!

Foundlings is a collection that has come to life through the layering of hands that make: those that have caused to exist that which has been made and remade.

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 children during The Great Depression, fairly pulsed with scintillating energy upon nests of scritchy, scratchy handwritten ledgers, lessons, and language, impeccably penned by their grandparents, or great-grandparents.

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, others have been selected to adorn walls, desk caddies, and journals.

Now, in the 21st century, you bring your story to each piece, thus intertwining yours with theirs. What will future generations add to this great tapestry?

Are we The Foundlings or are they?

Journals

Foundlings Harper Journal: Dahlia	Foundlings Harper Journal: Ash

Desk Caddies

Foundlings Medium Desk Caddy: Amaryllis	Foundlings Small Desk Caddy: Poppy

Art Prints & Frames

Foundlings Art Print: Opal | Peg and Awl	Foundlings Art Print: Juniper

BloodMilk Botanical Market

Come visit us on April 20, 2019 at The Botanical Market presented by BloodMilk!

Sphinx and Snakeskin
Saturday, April 20, 2019
12–5 pm ET

March 19, 2019

Etsy featured our Shepherd’s Purse botanical ring (also see on Etsy) in their Etsy Spring Accessories Trends video!

Our new Spring Essentials Pouches combine antique textiles inside and waxed canvas outside or vice versa. Each is paired with a springy vintage zipper. Another Choose Your Own Adventure!

Last summer we found a little stack of antique German textiles that was irresistible – there were blues and reds, a variety of plaid pillow shams and bedspreads. They were used to pack antique furniture en route from Germany to America, and after transport, were sitting neatly folded and severely neglected – until I spied them.

If you love pouches then you are in for a treat! We cut up the textiles and incorporated them into our Essentials Pouch. Use one for pens, pencils and art supplies and another for balms and tinctures. Pouches help to organize our bags and lives into satisfying little pockets – it is hard to be without them and you can never have too many.

Scarlet No. 1	Scarlet No. 2

Blue No. 1	Blue No. 2

Scarlet No. 3	Scarlet No. 4

Shop our other pouch styles!

The Studio is our favorite room. It is filled to the brim with paints, brushes, pens, pencils, journals, blank canvases and possibilities. Books of artists who have struggled through paint and brush long before us lay open to inspire and mentor. Each material and tool is waiting to be used, standing impatiently in their caddies, artist rolls and pouches. Our journals, beckoning from our desks, extract what is trapped in our minds as each day begins with hopes of greatness!

Need Inspiration to help fill your blank pages? Join us as we participate in two instagram challenges: #marchmeetthemaker and #100dayproject.

Lewis and Clark Expedition Stool	Waxed Canvas Tote

Medium Desk Caddy in Maple	The Harper Journal

Anselm Landscape Journal	Landis Wall Caddy

Beatrix Artist Caddy	Drafter Pouch

Sendak Mini Artist Roll	Mini Artist Sketchbook

I have been determined to write outside of my journal more and share on our blog, but paralyzed with this need to find a beginning. There is no beginning, just an ongoing. I have to jump in. It feels a little like double dutch, which I was never very good at.  But here it goes...

Last Monday — a bitter cold and damp Monday — Søren, Silas, Jacey, Ted, Shep, and I went in search of a mineral dump from the French Creek Mines at St. Peters Village. We heard of Magnetite and Calcite and Malachite buried there — unwanted minerals from the old iron ore digs. We found a deer skull (the entire deer skeleton buried beneath a blanket of rotting leaves), Jacey fell in the frigid creek, and we met a Woodsman Uncle with his niece and nephew – he was teaching them how to find shed antlers. He told us all about collecting things from the earth - from Native American arrowheads on the farm he grew up on in Phoenixville, Penna, to bottles from privies, naturally shed antlers and rocks. He went on about his love for digging and the past and the woods, and how he lines his multi-coloured bottles on his windowsills so that when the sun comes through multi-coloured light spills into his house. He boasted of a collection of thousands of bits and ended his monologue exclaiming, “I love this world.” What a joy it was to meet Carl.

After 5 hours of wandering through endless Japanese Barberry, Multi Flora Rose, and brambles, we exited through the corn field and ended our search with a much needed cold picnic.

This is our first year of homeschooling, but we've been explorers all along. The search for minerals began with Silas finding quartzite in a flea market parking lot* and quickly also became one with a Peg and Awl project in the works (for 2 years!) I shall not yet divulge our plan, but for now wish to share our adventures.

We would love to hear about your expeditions near or far! The blog thing is new to me, let's see how this goes... It feels like a journal — without the satisfying scritchy scratchy of pen and paper.

-Margaux

*3 May, 2018 Instagram @thebrotherskent

Stepping out of our car on a breezy Sunday morning into a parking lot full of regular parking lot rocks, Silas spied a slightly green one. He put in in his pocket and upon returning home put some lemon juice on it. He and Søren identified it as Green Quartzite and that marked the beginning of our new adventure – or re-adventure – into the world of rocks! This summer will now include a gem show and a dig in North Carolina. It will involve handmade Rock books and magnifying glasses and an even closer look at the ground. And, as always, heavy Hunter Satchels. I cannot wait. And the best part of this journeying is we need not stop when summer is over. #homeschooling , we’ve got this.