The Land I’ve Neglected.
Every year, for eight years, for longer, I’ve moved through the plants and the soil on this land, and the movement planted seeds in me. August comes, and I feel defeated, but this year is worse. I’ve found Bindweed I’ve never seen before. I’ve been sliced by new grasses. My plants are all so tall, and so droopy, from all of the happy invasives, from all of the water, from all of the sun.
It is grey and beautiful today. I tore at the bindweed. At the carpet of another. At the stiltgrass. I so long for the church and its small batch of porous earth. And the biggening of that – but only so much for there is very little of it. I write from the church steps. Traffic passes and it is loud. And I know I am of this world.
DISCOVER TREASURES
Sendak Nutshell in Truffle
Cicada in a Coffee Shop
Field Trip
Walter and I have been wanting to cast bigger things, and so finally visited a local business to start the conversation. The building is one of my favourites in the area. The land was purchased by the current owner’s grandfather in the 1940s, when our new church was being built. I love the tangle of time. Some photographs for now.
The Blackening...
Job cards! Each part has a card with quantity made. They are STILL using this system.
The colours and machinery and even the cardboard boxes were all part of the time machine.
I remember these candies. Probably ages old when I saw them in a little green glass bowl at my granmas house.
The colours and the wear...
This is how Walter learns. Some of the machines were made by Bill when he was in his twenties.
Watermelon. The colours palette.
Substack and YouTube
We’ve been making a lot more for YouTube and Substack lately. Søren has joined Ashley and me in the video-making and will keep at it while he’s at SCAD!
We have more process to share, along with the church transformation, if all goes well. Let us know you are enjoying our YouTube videos by subscribing to our channel!
Your Art Using OUr Treasures
More videos, more art — keep sharing!
Photograph by @annmarie.artworks
Everywhere Ashtonishments
Things found in hidden spaces (base board)
gregory Allan Isakov
church progress and soren video?
Gregory Alan Isakov last night. This summer's music has been exquisite.
Things We’ve Been Making, Watching & Neglecting
The Land I’ve Neglected. Every year, for eight years, for longer, I’ve moved through the plants and the soil on this land, and the movement planted seeds in me. August...
Read The Post-
Church, Farm & Family
Oh, life takes us on miraculous twists and turns. The biggening and the smallening. The wobbling, the breaking. There is a church in West Chester that is sitting empty and we hope to change that soon! Our offer was accepted, now we trudge through zoning and inspection.
On tenterhooks over here!
We have lots and lots of ideas and will wait to share them when all is clear. For now, more peeks into this spectacular little sweetie in the borough of West Chester. It is filled with windows, but very empty of pews and treasure, sniff.
I am hoping the bells are in the belfry.
The Back of the Church
Store Front, Gallery Space, Studio!
So Many Critters Here
Many of us at Peg and Awl went to Ireland this summer, independent of each other’s plans! Natalie made a 6" Anselm journal in the car with this sweet alteration. I cannot wait to see it finished!
Substack and YouTube
We’ve been making a lot more for YouTube and Substack lately. Søren has joined Ashley and me in the video-making and will keep at it while he’s at SCAD!
We have more process to share, along with the church transformation, if all goes well. Let us know you are enjoying our YouTube videos by subscribing to our channel!
Everywhere Astonishments
Grandma and Renee’s Farm. More about this on Substack!
Last Week’s Newsletter!
Thank you for your warm reception of last weekend’s Weathered Blues Of a Kind collection, which sold out quickly!
PS: We are working on the next collection that will be available sometime in October.
LAST WEEK’S NEWSLETTER
PPS: We give two heads-ups in newsletters prior to the drop.
Making Room, A Biggening!
Church, Farm & Family Oh, life takes us on miraculous twists and turns. The biggening and the smallening. The wobbling, the breaking. There is a church in West Chester that...
Read The Post -
NEW Weathered Blues Collection
It has been a long time since we’ve enveloped ourselves in blue. When we started Peg and Awl, we were surrounded by ticking, indigo, and every shade of blue we could find. Then I grew weary and tucked them away for a while – a long while.
But blue has found its way back.
This collection is full of weathered blues and well-loved things: pouches made from orphaned quilt blocks, bags sewn from vintage textiles, lots and lots of tins, money bag Sendaks, and a Dream Journal Bundle for collecting whatever memories of the night may surface.
BROWSE THE COLLECTION SIGNUP TO BE NOTIFIED OF FUTURE OF A KINDSDream Journal Pouches!
We showed you how to make a dream journal, but many of you asked us to make them for you! So we decided to make some dream journal bundles: we bind the book, you add the dreams!
Graphite tin, eraser, and tortillon, cozily contained in an antique quilt block pouch with a 6x9 Dream Journal.
Weathered Blue Dream Journal Bundle
Sendaks, Bags and Pouches
Classic Sendak
Nutshell Pile
Tinned Sketchbooks + Other Art Supplies
Never enough tins! We’ve made more clean-cut watercolour sheets to tuck into vintage tins for your petite paintings, and more tinned bookbinding kits, including a new shape, and blue scrap bundles!
Treasures straight from the flea market
Collections Explained
If you’ve been following along with us for a while, you may have noticed that not all launches are the same – some products stay for years, some fly off the shelves, and others fall somewhere in between. Here are some explanations to distinguish between our various collection types.
Standard Collections: Everything in our standard collections will be ongoing until we decide to stop making them! They may include some vintage or antique materials, (ex. journal fabric lining) but these details will vary subtly to ensure their ongoingness.
Small Batch Collections: Limited batches incorporating vintage or antique materials where larger batches can be made, but are not infinite! The quantity ranges, but we aim for minimum of 100 in these collections.
Of a Kind Collections: Limited batches incorporating vintage or antique materials. Each object will be limited from 1–20 items depending upon our findings.
Substack + YouTube
⚡️ NEW Weathered Blues Of a Kind Collection!
NEW Weathered Blues Collection It has been a long time since we’ve enveloped ourselves in blue. When we started Peg and Awl, we were surrounded by ticking, indigo, and every...
Read The Post
Product Care and Tutorials
-
-
-
One of the key steps to speed up the breaking in process of leather is to simply twist and roll the leather in your fingers. As you use your bag the leather will naturally soften and become much easier to maneuver. Whether you help it out, or simply use your bag, the breaking in process does not take long!!
*What is Vegetable Tanned Leather? Vegetable tanning is a slow, natural, and sustainable process of tanning raw hides with natural, biodegradable extracts derived entirely from vegetable sources such as tree bark.
Our bags are made with full-grain vegetable-tanned leather*, which is a durable leather that develops a lovely patina over time with continued use. It is thicker than conventional, chrome-tanned leather, which also lends it to be more stiff in the beginning. This video shows how to quickly soften the leather, as well as the proper steps for detaching and attaching the leather shoulder strap and front closure on our Peg and Awl bags.
One of the key steps to speed up the breaking in process of leather is to simply twist and roll the leather in your fingers. As you use your bag the leather will naturally soften and become much easier to maneuver. Whether you help it out, or simply use your bag, the breaking in process does not take long!!
*What is Vegetable Tanned Leather? Vegetable tanning is a slow, natural, and sustainable process of tanning raw hides with natural, biodegradable extracts derived entirely from vegetable sources such as tree bark.
Step 1: Detaching the Strap
*The leather is the most stiff when it is new. As you use it and work with it, it will soften.- Hold the button stud and pull the leather strap to bring the button stud into the leather slot.
- Firmly and slowly work the leather over the button stud. Take your time working with the leather as it softens.
Step 2: Attaching the Shoulder Strap-
Twist and roll the strap to soften the leather. It does not take long to break in.
-
Press the leather slot over the button stud. Hold the stud and pull the leather strap to bring the stud into the hole.
Our Leather!
Our first bag – The Waxed Canvas Tote – which we finished with reclaimed military leather slings found at a flea market. Dusty and dull with years of neglect, the leather was unassuming. But with some hot soapy water, perseverance, and beeswax balm, we removed the layers to find stories told through the markings of days past. We were delighted! The usefulness of the leather sent us on a mission to scour flea markets and military shows for as many old slings as we could find. For years we used these relics to finish our bags – until there were no more to be found.
And so, a new mission was soon underway: the search for the right new leather. We began in the UK driving along long and winding roads through the English countryside to visit J&FJ Baker, a 500-year-old tannery. This experience and many subsequent conversations enriched our understanding of a leather world we had known nothing about.
While shipping leather from the UK turned out to be impractical, we left enlightened with the knowledge that there do exist a few companies who produce leather in a sustainable and responsible way. When we returned to America we found Wickett & Craig – only a stone’s throw from our shop in Philadelphia. Their vegetable tanning process is a slow, natural, and eco-friendly process of tanning raw hides with natural, biodegradable extracts derived entirely from vegetable sources such as tree bark. This durable leather breaks in and gathers a gorgeous patina, bearing the marks of the users’ (and makers’) adventures – the very thing we’ve always celebrated! We’ve been using this leather for three years now and love it!
With the transition from using reclaimed WWII era gun straps for our leather handles to using locally-sourced vegetable-tanned leather, we are reaffirming the fellowship between ourselves and the materials with which we make. By creating beautiful and useful objects out of sustainable and responsibly sourced materials, we strive to change the way that we as individuals make, use, repair and reuse everyday objects. As our new bags leave our Philadelphia workshop and arrive at your doorsteps, what adventures will they see in your hands and how will they transform to become truly yours?
Vegetable tanned leather is made with a slow, natural, and sustainable process of tanning raw hides with natural, biodegradable extracts derived entirely from vegetable sources such as tree bark. The more you use your bags and journals, the softer the leather will become. 
This durable leather breaks in and gathers a gorgeous patina, bearing the marks of the users’ (and makers’) adventures! Here, you can see the leather on Walter's Tote and Scout. As you use your bag the leather will naturally soften and become much easier to maneuver. 
We took out Hunter's out on an Amethyst dig! they got pretty dirty, so we turned the bags inside out, tapped out the dirt and wiped the inside with a sponge and put them in the sun to dry. Our Finch is my favourite bag - I carry mine nearly everyday. It holds my books, journal, water bottle, and other bits comfortably. Adjusting the Leather Straps on our Waxed Canvas Bags
One of the key steps to speed up the breaking in process of leather is to simply twist and roll the leather in your fingers. As you use your bag...
Read The Post
One of the key steps to speed up the breaking in process of leather is to simply twist and roll the leather in your fingers. As you use your bag the leather will naturally soften and become much easier to maneuver. Whether you help it out, or simply use your bag, the breaking in process does not take long!!
*What is Vegetable Tanned Leather? Vegetable tanning is a slow, natural, and sustainable process of tanning raw hides with natural, biodegradable extracts derived entirely from vegetable sources such as tree bark.
Our bags are made with full-grain vegetable-tanned leather*, which is a durable leather that develops a lovely patina over time with continued use. It is thicker than conventional, chrome-tanned leather, which also lends it to be more stiff in the beginning. This video shows how to quickly soften the leather, as well as the proper steps for detaching and attaching the leather shoulder strap and front closure on our Peg and Awl bags.
One of the key steps to speed up the breaking in process of leather is to simply twist and roll the leather in your fingers. As you use your bag the leather will naturally soften and become much easier to maneuver. Whether you help it out, or simply use your bag, the breaking in process does not take long!!
*What is Vegetable Tanned Leather? Vegetable tanning is a slow, natural, and sustainable process of tanning raw hides with natural, biodegradable extracts derived entirely from vegetable sources such as tree bark.
*The leather is the most stiff when it is new. As you use it and work with it, it will soften.
- Hold the button stud and pull the leather strap to bring the button stud into the leather slot.
- Firmly and slowly work the leather over the button stud. Take your time working with the leather as it softens.
Step 2: Attaching the Shoulder Strap
-
Twist and roll the strap to soften the leather. It does not take long to break in.
-
Press the leather slot over the button stud. Hold the stud and pull the leather strap to bring the stud into the hole.
Our Leather!
Our first bag – The Waxed Canvas Tote – which we finished with reclaimed military leather slings found at a flea market. Dusty and dull with years of neglect, the leather was unassuming. But with some hot soapy water, perseverance, and beeswax balm, we removed the layers to find stories told through the markings of days past. We were delighted! The usefulness of the leather sent us on a mission to scour flea markets and military shows for as many old slings as we could find. For years we used these relics to finish our bags – until there were no more to be found.
And so, a new mission was soon underway: the search for the right new leather. We began in the UK driving along long and winding roads through the English countryside to visit J&FJ Baker, a 500-year-old tannery. This experience and many subsequent conversations enriched our understanding of a leather world we had known nothing about.
While shipping leather from the UK turned out to be impractical, we left enlightened with the knowledge that there do exist a few companies who produce leather in a sustainable and responsible way. When we returned to America we found Wickett & Craig – only a stone’s throw from our shop in Philadelphia. Their vegetable tanning process is a slow, natural, and eco-friendly process of tanning raw hides with natural, biodegradable extracts derived entirely from vegetable sources such as tree bark. This durable leather breaks in and gathers a gorgeous patina, bearing the marks of the users’ (and makers’) adventures – the very thing we’ve always celebrated! We’ve been using this leather for three years now and love it!
With the transition from using reclaimed WWII era gun straps for our leather handles to using locally-sourced vegetable-tanned leather, we are reaffirming the fellowship between ourselves and the materials with which we make. By creating beautiful and useful objects out of sustainable and responsibly sourced materials, we strive to change the way that we as individuals make, use, repair and reuse everyday objects. As our new bags leave our Philadelphia workshop and arrive at your doorsteps, what adventures will they see in your hands and how will they transform to become truly yours?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Adjusting the Leather Straps on our Waxed Canvas Bags
One of the key steps to speed up the breaking in process of leather is to simply twist and roll the leather in your fingers. As you use your bag...
Read The Post-
It is Storming with Thunder
Happy 18-year anniversary to us!
Lives built on happenstance and spontaneity —Walter and I made quick decisions when we met, including making two humans, travelling, getting married in Iceland, and starting Peg and Awl — all within two and a half years. And for one of those years, Walter was in Iraq with the military.
From my journal shortly after meeting him.
It is
“There are few things as comforting as well-linked humans.”Then,
“It is true that I will always love thunderstorms. I will also love perfectly falling drops of music and certain walks.”And,
“At the seashore again, a perfect day. We barely know each other (I say, I say) but we talk about faraway things. We decided to see the world by sea. We need to figure out how, now.”
The Guests Arrived, One by One
Our Journaling Tutorials, Gathered
Having one page left in my current journal, I must make a new one. I shall record.
Until then, we’ve gathered some of our favorite journaling how-tos – ways to begin, continue, collect, and keep your own pages. And if you aren’t inspired to make your own (or need one sooner), we always have some in our shop.
SHOP JOURNAL COLLECTIONNew Blue Of a Kinds in the Works!
I over-blued myself in the early days of Peg and Awl and shelved it for a long time. Happy to have them back! This collection will drop next Saturday, August 8, at 10ish am EST!
Classic Totes
Classic Sendaks
Nutshells!
Back in Stock!
Scraplings, made from the leftovers from Sendaks, are back in stock along with the discontinued Helen Painter’s Palette as we’ve made a bunch for Jackson’s Art and have a few left over:)
Helen Painter’s Palette
Substack
Everywhere Astonishments
Continuing to look at new and mysterious buildings for unknown ideas, but looking at all of these weirdos is a pleasure!
All of This, and We Barely Knew Each Other
It is Storming with Thunder Happy 18-year anniversary to us!Lives built on happenstance and spontaneity — Walter and I made quick decisions when we met, including making two humans, travelling,...
Read The Post -
Thoughts While Hiking
“The object isn’t to make art, it’s to be in that wonderful state which makes art inevitable.”
–Robert HenriThoughts and ideas steadily flow when you’re in the mountains. It may be the elevation, or the isolation, or the walking. Even with each foot fall, weighed down by heavy packs and the slow, earthy, grounding act of hiking, there is an otherworldy transformation at work. As my fellow travelers and I trekked over mountain passes and into lake-spotted basins, living by the adage of Robert Henri grew more and more effortless.
I have been dreaming of through hiking the Pacific Crest Trail with my Scout Plein Air box in tow, walking, painting and camping somewhere new each day. So when I realized the trail I was actually backpacking, converged and shared paths with the John Muir Trail and the PCT, I was ecstatic! It was only a few miles that my current path, Rae Lakes Loop, traversed alongside those two famed walkways, but my mind was brimming with ideas.
I dreamt of a series of paintings chronicling a hike through the majesty and untamed beauty of the Sierra Nevada mountain range and beyond. I would start with the John Muir Trail, all 211 miles, and after would find a local coffee shop or gallery to show the work. Maybe I would compile a book of the adventure with trail logs, notes, portraits of fellow travelers, nature sketches, journal entries! How would I pack all my supplies for that long trek? How would I store the wet canvases after the four slots in my Scout box were full? How would I be able to stay on course and not be distracted by something new to paint at every bend? If all went well the PCT would be next!
–Walter
Hiking up Glen Pass
“In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks.” –John Muir
Which Art Roll Shall I Get?
Back at home, we are inundated with our own ideas and desires. There is so much to do, and so much to want to do. There has been lots of experimenting this summer:
All the Sizes!
The Sendak that started it all!
New Blue Of a Kinds in the Works!
Our next collection is in the works. We will share the date and time of the drop next week!
You asked for it!
Tinned Sketchbooks...
Orphan Square Bundles
Substack and YouTube
Watch on YouTube
Everywhere Astonishments
I had the pleasure of riding on the back of a motorcycle this week. Something I haven’t done in years. More, please. Also, I’ve been in pen purgatory for a long time as I tried to find a new favourite. I returned to my tried and true: A Vintage Rapidograph pen. They need all the TLC, but worth it. They have a truly thin line and ink that lasts for days!
My face poison ivy has kept me out of the pond and the sun this week, much to my sorrow and sleeplessness. But it is healing and I am ready to jump in!
Exploring and Dreaming of Staying Out Longer
Thoughts While Hiking “The object isn’t to make art, it’s to be in that wonderful state which makes art inevitable.” –Robert Henri Thoughts and ideas steadily flow when you’re in...
Read The Post
Press
-
-
Press: Cultivating Place Podcast
Cultivating Place: Natural History & Our Gardens The Adventurous Art of Cultivating Place, with Peg & Awl
Read The Post -
Press: Leslie Stroz
Scout Plein Air Box Review The Sendak Artist Roll Review More Leslie Stroz Videos Featuring Peg and Awl! Rating ALL of My Travel Watercolor PALETTES (the BEST and WORST) BEST...
Read The Post
Press: Cultivating Place Podcast
Cultivating Place: Natural History & Our Gardens The Adventurous Art of Cultivating Place, with Peg & Awl
Read The Post
Press: Leslie Stroz
Scout Plein Air Box Review The Sendak Artist Roll Review More Leslie Stroz Videos Featuring Peg and Awl! Rating ALL of My Travel Watercolor PALETTES (the BEST and WORST) BEST...
Read The Post-
-
The Sendak Artist Roll: A Walkthrough Video
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...
Read The Post
Bookbinding Tutorials
We have put together a long overdue tutorial on bookmaking. I have prepared a list of things you will need to make your first notebook. This is a very simple start—you can use materials that you have at home and anyone, any age can join in!
So, let’s make books!
-
Explore Our Tutorial Series to Bind Your Own Journal. You can use materials that you have at home, and anyone of any age can join in!
Photo by @holddear
Share your Peg and Awl with #quarantinebookbindingclub to be featured!
Bookbinding Tutorials
Read The Post -
So here we are again – still at home and pleased to share our next installment of our Bookbinding at Home series! We hope you have found some small things to enjoy in this time of truly slooooowing down. For me it is always the small things that brighten my days, like watching Toots and Yedda – our goose landmates – and transforming a pile of field stone into an elegant yet makeshift garden path!
As for the tutorials, we are learning a lot (we hope you are too) and are so grateful for everyone who is joining us!
Bookbinding at Home: Part 2
So here we are again – still at home and pleased to share our next installment of our Bookbinding at Home series! We hope you have found some small things to enjoy in this time of truly slooooowing down. For me it is always the small things that brighten my days, like watching Toots and Yedda – our goose landmates – and transforming a pile of field stone into an elegant yet makeshift garden path!
As for the tutorials, we are learning a lot (we hope you are too) and are so grateful for everyone who is joining us!
Project No. 2: Stitching Signatures for a Coverless Sketchbook
Here is what you will need:
1. Needle – bookbinding needles have roundy tips and big eyes, but most needles will work!
2. Thread – any thread will do. If it is super thin, double it up.
3. Pencil – grab your favourite pencil to plot your stitching holes.
4. Paper – this is for the inside. Do you like lined paper, sketch paper, the back of used paper, graph paper? Gather your favourites, mix ’em up or stick to one!
5. Thumbtack – or something sharp to poke holes through paper and cardstock.
6. Scissors – for snipping your thread.
7. Fabric – this will serve as your linens that will hold the book together. Happy treasure hunting!
8. Glue – to glue your fabric to the front and back covers of your book. Elmers works!
We get most of our bookbinding tools and materials from Talas, including needles, thread, linen tape and other materials we haven’t explained yet. The waxed thread that I am using is a 3 ply waxed Irish Linen thread.
We love Strathmore drawing paper for our journals and find that and other supplies through Artist & Craftsman. Both the latter and Talas are small companies who have shut down their physical locations but are currently taking online orders and shipping!
As for covers, vintage textiles, needle boxes and vintage tools – you can find all kinds of unexpected magic at home as well as on Etsy and eBay. We at Peg and Awl absolutely encourage creativity in materials and tools, and finding vintage stuff is a nice way to reclaim some of the excess of items that already exist on our planet. This is also a way to make your project and your desk specifically yours!
Bookbinding Glossary
Sheet: The unfolded paper pages that you start your project with
Folio: A folded sheet
Signature: Gathering of folios
Leaf: One half of a folded sheet
Page: Each side of each leafPlease share your little books with us with hashtag #quarantinebookbindingclub – we’d love to see what you are making, and share the results!
The Next Step…
Continue on with our next bookbinding project: covering a coverless book! We will only be covering a book, so bring your coverless book from this project to the next installment.
And While You’re at Home…
If you are housebound or feeling antsy, there are oodles of projects online and on Instagram. I’ve found inspiration from The Good Ship Illustration’s drawing guide The Sketchbooker’s Friend. The first tip is pretty great:
NO PHONES. Don’t take a photo, then draw from it. Don’t finish your drawing at your desk later. It is NOT ALLOWED and we are very strict!
Bookbinding at Home, Part 2: How to Stitch a Coverless Journal!
Read The Post -
Here is the last video in our first bookbinding tutorial series: Bookbinding at Home. Thank you all for following along and sharing your books. We are so psyched to see all of the books that have come out of these tutorials!
Here is the last video in our first bookbinding tutorial series: Bookbinding at Home. Thank you all for following along and sharing your books. We are so psyched to see all of the books that have come out of these tutorials! We hope you find comfort in the process of binding your books as well as filling them. There is certainly a lot to document right now— in both pictures and words.
We love seeing your books and sharing in our Instagram stories and posts (@pegandawl) – be sure to use #quarantinebookbindingclub and/or #pegandawlbinds on your social media posts so we can find you!Project No. 3: Covering a Journal with Leather
Here is what you will need:
Leather – If you have scrap, an old jacket or wallet, anything soft and malleable, have it ready! Scraps of many colors are also available from many sellers on Etsy.
Fabric – This will replace mull (a starched cheesecloth) that will be glued directly to your book block to strengthen your book.
Thread – For the headband. Aim for something thick that will take up space. You can also use a pre-made headband.
Scissors – For trimming your cover. If you are using leather for your cover, make sure they are sharp!
Hammer – For shaping your book block. Be sure it is clean as it will be coming in contact with your paper! (I used a rock hammer and my pages don't hide it!)
Glue – For gluing your leather to the front and back covers of your book. Elmers works!
Heavy Book – This will be your book press! Any heavy book will do, though I find art books (and their dense pages) perfect for the job!Bookbinding at Home Part 3: Covering a Journal with Leather
Read The Post -
We’ve made another video installment to our Bookbinding Tutorials – this one is in response to all of the detailed questions you’ve been asking about our materials. I’ve also shared a little of my bookbinding history—where you can see my old falling apart journals as well as some insides and a variety of antique leather outsides!
We’ve made another video installment to our Bookbinding Tutorials – this one is in response to all of the detailed questions you’ve been asking about our materials. I’ve also shared a little of my bookbinding history—where you can see my old falling apart journals as well as some insides and a variety of antique leather outsides!
Chapters:
0:00 List of Materials
0:32 How Margaux Got Started Bookbinding
1:37 Margaux’s Early Journals
2:59 Overview of Materials
3:31 Thread
4:07 Needle
4:38 Tape
5:14 Headband
5:38 Mull
5:49 Glue
6:03 Cover
8:32 Paper
9:07 ConclusionBookbinding at Home Part 4: Materials and Meanderings
Read The Post
-
Life, Uncooperative, is Still Beautiful
Under an uncanny sky, smoke drifting down from wildfires in Canada, life has carried on around the pond in all its unruly abundance.
The heat has brought on the stinkiest algae bloom, earning me my title of Ungardener once again. Each day I am in pond, net in hand, gathering long strands and cauliflower blooms.
I empty the net on a rock and sift through finding tiny surprises: tadpoles with varying numbers of limbs, and salamander larvae wriggling. All are delighted to return to the water. The bee balm has exploded and is alive with critters, including a hummingbird moth again. A daytime bat circled above me whilst in the pond, swooping low for a drink.
In the small milkweed patch I claimed years ago from incessant mowing, a monarch flits about.
Oh, and I have weeping poison ivy on my face.
Classic Sendak is back on my desk!
Stacks of Anselms
This Incredible Sky
Chaos and Small Victories
The Scout is Out Again!
Meanwhile, on their annual canoeing trip at the Delaware Water Gap, the boys and men of the family fish and chatter. Walter, in setting up his Scout before the storm blew in, dropped it into the river.
A little river baptism!
P.S. I forgot to mention that in Ireland, his pannier popped off over a bump, hurling his Scout into the road where it bounced multiple times. It wasn't built with these particular experiences in mind — but the Scout endures!
SHOP THE SCOUT
A Few Hours Closer to Canada, the Sky is Clear!
Substack and YouTube
Watch on YouTube
Everywhere Astonishments
“If we don’t really, in our time, have an awareness of what we lost then, what is it we’ve lost? – Anthony Metivier in conversation with Rick Rubin
Widow’s Bay Looking forward to Episode 8 tonight:)
@ehaidle mushroom 🍄
The World Refuses to Stay Tidy
Life, Uncooperative, is Still Beautiful Under an uncanny sky, smoke drifting down from wildfires in Canada, life has carried on around the pond in all its unruly abundance. The heat...
Read The Post -
I love the Finch Satchel. The familiarity of its shape against my body, holding what I need for the day. It is a good size, but I will always jam it – things rising out over the edge, the weight of it. Over the years we’ve been Smallening everything. We have a Mini Tote, a Small Hunter, two smaller Sendaks — and now, alas, a Small Finch. The comfort of the Finch, with the nudge to carry less.
Coal, Spice, Moss, Truffle, Slate, All Black
Classic Finch and New Small Finch!
Impromptu Bookbinding Workshop + One in the Works!
I was so lucky to have spent a day with these five – Andrea Bruce, Claire Rosen, Maggie Steber, Adriana Zehbrauskas, Kirsten Luce – just scratching the surface of stories. Claire, who has known them for years and taught photography alongside them around the world, brought them to the Five Acre Wood for a bookbinding and paint making workshop.
Photographs by Claire Rosen
Sitting on the floor around our Kino Coffee Table to work!
Sewing Details
Making Little Things
I’ve been making little things for little things.
Another Small Brush
We love Customer Photographs
Thank you always for your generous feedback! We love reading, seeing, and sharing it. (And my parents love reading it too — the sweetest!)
Photographs by Suzanne N.
Family Stuff
My view through the screen during our meetings. Still zooming.
Ashley and Eden
Gilbert and his Desk Caddy
Sub 5 Mile!
Eden Fishing
Substack + YouTube
Everywhere Astonishments
Music: New Mick Flannery and Aldous Harding. Re-obsessing with an old favourite likely responsible for some the ringing in my ears from so many right-in-front-of-the-speaker nights: PJ Harvey. Prayer at the Gate, is perfect during my wild wavy weather wanderings!
Podcast: The Nature Of Podcast with Suzanne Simard
I was walking in the woods last night with Pearl, slurping honeysuckle and enjoying the cool night when Walter sent a song suggestion: Spitting of the Edge of the Earth by The Yeah Yeah Yeahs with Perfume Genius! It struck all the right chords and I danced with Pearl on the path as the sun set. A reminder to share things we love!
Storefront
The Peg and Awl Storefront is open for visitors! Come see our treasures in person along with other maker’s treasures and vintage finds.
Monday–Friday 10–5
The Littling: New Small Finch
I love the Finch Satchel. The familiarity of its shape against my body, holding what I need for the day. It is a good size, but I will always jam...
Read The Post
