Come Visit Our Barn Shop!
Come Visit Our Shop!
Come say hey and pick up a treasure if you are in the area. Email us to make an appointment.
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Vignettes of our Actual Messies!
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Walter’s Original Oil Paintings
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Our Bookbinding Kits
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Of a Kind Book Necklaces Along with Our Classics.
Everywhere, Astonishments!
Søren, Silas, and I went to Philosophical Hall in Philadelphia with Katie to hear Catherine McNeur talk about her new book Mischievous Creatures. The title was enough to draw back to the city – and my homeschoolers are up for most adventures. Catherine, Margaretta, and Elizabeth’s stories were full of magic and wonder, local history and mischievous creatures! The erasure of these two women scientists came undone through Catherine's excavation, as one unexpected finding after another revealed their story.
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Suggested Blog Posts
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Views of the Store Front!August marks a full year for Peg and Awl in the barn at the Five Acre Wood in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and we just had our third studio tour. Each one sees wild change as the space evolves, but I hope settling in doesn’t stop that!
This year Walter showed his “Crossing the North Sea” paintings, which we will share in detail soon. Søren showed parts of many projects he’s been working on this past year, he debuted stickers which will be available for sale through his IG. Silas shared some pen and ink portraits and opened up commissions — his first will be a parrot named Loki! And I shared Shimmera, work from my poetry project, in side an old Post Office Station.
In addition to all of this, Peg and Awl treasures were fully stocked, and we shared some new experiments in colour. And we brought in some of our favourite art supplies from makers around the world. We will be expanding on these offerings, though most will be available for in-store purchase, we will be offering some online as we can!
Beam Paints were much loved during the tour as visitors got to play with all of the colours at our Risko Table from Art Graf! We will be bringing more of their colours in, including their new mineral palette, some new — not-yet-launched colours — and we will be working on some long-dreamed of collaborations! I’ve been using Noodler’s Ink for years – Catfish Black – but have been intimidated by the options! We ordered a variety of inks and I was lost in the swatching. I’ll share more on this in the future as well.
A Rural Pen Ink, ever a favourite. Restocked in our storefront and our online shop! After reading Breath by James Nester I took up chewing gum again! I do not like chewing plastic (most gums – even those found in my favourite local makets – are made of a plastic gum base.) When I found Refresh last winter whilst visiting New England, I found my gum! I found an old Necco Wafer store display at a Flea Market and couldn’t resist filling it with Refresh. Ever a Flea-Marketer, I’ve been gathering vintage and antique art supplies and am working out ways to share the treasures both online and in our shop. [Below]
Vintage Pens! We have a variety in our store front and will share them on our website from time to time with our of a kinds. Sign up for our newsletter for the announcement! Vintage Pencils 
I have been loving Art Graf for years, and was thrilled to meet Jose and Patrice in New Orleans in April! We brought in a lot of their goodies including a Risko desk — the new demo area in the shop!
Photograph by Emma of Skippy Cotton loving the Graphite PowderPenco tape dispensers are perfect for washi tape and are in use at our work stations and available in the shop! 
A corner in progress! Søren doodling with Noodlers!
A close-up of the community art project, the result of art supply testing! Our old general store filled with new Peg and Awl treasures! 
Walters well-worn Scout and some new colour adventures! Pine and Wineberry (maybe, or help us name!) My Marigold Finch. Marigold, our most recent small batch colour! Art Supplies from other Makers, and our Storefront!
Views of the Store Front! August marks a full year for Peg and Awl in the ba...
Read The Post -
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!
Søren and Silas made me a bunch of Specimen Cards of the Five Acre Wood for Christmas! I continue to fill sketchbooks and journals, and am designing some new books and journals that will be available soon! 
One of the most thrilling parts of 2023 was finally launching our long-in-the-works Solvitur Ambulando ring – and with much success! We appreciate all of your shared stories. Thanks to Claire of Warwick Furnace Farm for modeling for me!
We opened up our barn shop which we look forward to stocking with Peg and Awl treasures and more. We are heading to New Orleans for the NAMTA show in March! We made new treasures out of Sendak scraps, and small batch colours, a puzzle of a kind! 
We spent a week on a cargo ship during a storm on the North Sea – there were two visible twisters at one point! By the fourth day a calm settled over the sky, and the water, and the few floating birds, and we jumped into the cold sea. (no showers on board!)
So often I wish to jump back in, to return to the cold depths in that utter post-storm quiet. We went from thinking we’d made a big mistake in booking this trip, to longing to do something like this again – such a harrowing and magical adventure!
Here in Whitby England, where we wandered in the glorious and misty rain. Before the storm and the reality of our upcoming adventure, Walter painted and Søren drew. ps: Walter began to work on a larger Scout! 
We discontinued 3/4 of our catalog – both daunting and freeing! Inevitably, once we sell out, the inquiries start pouring in. We still have some Rogues and Weekenders and more available in our Last Chance! section.
(Here, in Amsterdam on gigantic rented bikes!)
Søren, Silas, Pearl, and I moved our studios back into the cozy Springhouse! We opened our barn for the Chester County open studio tour. Come visit us May 18 and 19! 
We traveled! Here we are, on the other side of our wild cargo boat trip after wandering down the coast of England. We spent a quick couple of days in London!
We cold plunged in Virginia when it was 29 degrees outside and were tingling and spectacularly warm when we climbed out onto the previously cold rock to shake off. Walter bringing flowers over to the barn to brighten the wet and wintry gloom. 
Solviture Ambulando (It is solved by walking)! A Christmas Eve post dinner walk and view of the Peg and Awl Barn from the street.
I started 2024 with a retreat with my friend, Deb, in CT during a snowstorm! Making progress of a kind on a project. I share bits on my Substack and @beingmargauxkent We did a few shows – here we are at Wintherthur, which we shall partake in again in 2024! 
One of our last family photographs in our Philadelphia workshop!
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Everywhere, Astonishments!
I was working on this newsletter at Lentil & Co, and this song came on. It comes and goes as songs do, but this one every time, crawls into that place where only certain songs crawl.
No Hard Feelings by The Avett Brothers
When my body won't hold me anymoreAnd it finally lets me freeWill I be ready?When my feet won't walk another mileAnd my lips give their last kiss goodbyeWill my hands be steady when I lay down my fears, my hopes, and my doubts?The rings on my fingers, and the keys to my houseWith no hard feelings.
This paired well with the essay Who Will Mourn Them When They Are Gone? from Margaret Renkl’s new book, The Comfort of Crows.Also reading Planting in a Post-Wild World which is a really hopeful and process heavy take on regeneration!
Planting in a Post-Wild World The Comfort of Crows Our Year (2024) in Photographs and Words!
Happy New Year!“Turn it and turn it,for everything is in it.”–Ben Bag Bag Gr...
Read The Post
Suggested Blog Posts
August marks a full year for Peg and Awl in the barn at the Five Acre Wood in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and we just had our third studio tour. Each one sees wild change as the space evolves, but I hope settling in doesn’t stop that!
This year Walter showed his “Crossing the North Sea” paintings, which we will share in detail soon. Søren showed parts of many projects he’s been working on this past year, he debuted stickers which will be available for sale through his IG. Silas shared some pen and ink portraits and opened up commissions — his first will be a parrot named Loki! And I shared Shimmera, work from my poetry project, in side an old Post Office Station.
In addition to all of this, Peg and Awl treasures were fully stocked, and we shared some new experiments in colour. And we brought in some of our favourite art supplies from makers around the world. We will be expanding on these offerings, though most will be available for in-store purchase, we will be offering some online as we can!
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| Beam Paints were much loved during the tour as visitors got to play with all of the colours at our Risko Table from Art Graf! We will be bringing more of their colours in, including their new mineral palette, some new — not-yet-launched colours — and we will be working on some long-dreamed of collaborations! |
I’ve been using Noodler’s Ink for years – Catfish Black – but have been intimidated by the options! We ordered a variety of inks and I was lost in the swatching. I’ll share more on this in the future as well.
|
|
|
|
Ever a Flea-Marketer, I’ve been gathering vintage and antique art supplies and am working out ways to share the treasures both online and in our shop. [Below]
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|
|
Photograph by Emma of Skippy Cotton loving the Graphite Powder |
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| A corner in progress! |
Søren doodling with Noodlers!
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Art Supplies from other Makers, and our Storefront!
Views of the Store Front! August marks a full year for Peg and Awl in the ba...
Read The Post
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!
|
|
|
One of the most thrilling parts of 2023 was finally launching our long-in-the-works Solvitur Ambulando ring – and with much success! We appreciate all of your shared stories. Thanks to Claire of Warwick Furnace Farm for modeling for me!
|
|
|
We spent a week on a cargo ship during a storm on the North Sea – there were two visible twisters at one point! By the fourth day a calm settled over the sky, and the water, and the few floating birds, and we jumped into the cold sea. (no showers on board!)
So often I wish to jump back in, to return to the cold depths in that utter post-storm quiet. We went from thinking we’d made a big mistake in booking this trip, to longing to do something like this again – such a harrowing and magical adventure!
|
|
|
We discontinued 3/4 of our catalog – both daunting and freeing! Inevitably, once we sell out, the inquiries start pouring in. We still have some Rogues and Weekenders and more available in our Last Chance! section.
(Here, in Amsterdam on gigantic rented bikes!)
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|
|
We traveled! Here we are, on the other side of our wild cargo boat trip after wandering down the coast of England. We spent a quick couple of days in London!
|
|
Solviture Ambulando (It is solved by walking)! A Christmas Eve post dinner walk and view of the Peg and Awl Barn from the street.
|
|
|
One of our last family photographs in our Philadelphia workshop!
* * *
Everywhere, Astonishments!
I was working on this newsletter at Lentil & Co, and this song came on. It comes and goes as songs do, but this one every time, crawls into that place where only certain songs crawl.
No Hard Feelings by The Avett Brothers
This paired well with the essay Who Will Mourn Them When They Are Gone? from Margaret Renkl’s new book, The Comfort of Crows.
|
|
|
Our Year (2024) in Photographs and Words!
Happy New Year!“Turn it and turn it,for everything is in it.”–Ben Bag Bag Gr...
Read The Post
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