“It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it... Life is long if you know how to use it.”
–Seneca

We celebrated Søren’s 18th birthday with a trip to Delaware for bike rides and oysters. I am so thrilled that Søren will begin to live a whole new life so soon, but I will miss our art days and dinners and talks. I will miss our bike rides and walks and adventures. We will have to learn to talk on the phone (which sounds strangely fun!) I always look forward to change, but this is a tough one.

It is easy to feel like you haven’t done enough but looking through the abundance of photographs and journal pages, our lives actually feel quite full and wonderful!

On Homeschooling

We always wanted to homeschool, but in 3rd or 4th grade Søren got in trouble for drawing in class. In response, he wrote: “I will draw in class!” on the Peg and Awl reclaimed old school chalkboard. We used it to share our new journals, pouches, and chalk tablets, and took him out of school shortly after, where he drew and drew, happily ever after.

Our Brightest Sendaks – ’Tis the season!

Last week, we launched a small batch of three new Sendak colors – Egg Yolk, Persimmon, and Cochineal. Thank you for your warm reception of these Easter Brights.

We have more in our shop!

Art Days with Søren

Art Day Partner

My Heart

Søren came into this world 5.5 weeks early to Gogol Bordello. Last week saw them in Philadelphia!

Above: Icecland in 2008 when and where Walter and I were married.

On Keeping a Journal

I love looking back at the journals I kept for Søren and Silas when they were so little. I put things they said or did or misunderstood in them. They scribbled on the pages. Here are some favourite funny moments from Søren when he was two and three, that had me laughing til tears this morning.

My Most Popular Instagram post ever was this portrait of Søren and the chess set he made when he was 10!

The Next Littles of Peg and Awl

Ashley makes the videos and helps me with newsletters every week. This is from last Saturday – always last minute chattering and pulling it together with her four kids in and out. We've started getting together at her new old farmhouse some Mondays bringing new energy to our work!

Ashley here. Many hours spent reading aloud to these littles, as did Margaux to the boys when they were the littles. Talking about our favourite picture books (see Margaux's book list below!) I was reminded – we adults must make way for imagination and the paths of childlike discovery, and leave our “well, actually’s” outside. Read The Little Prince! It’s not a hat, it’s an elephant inside of a boa constrictor.

Ex. Well actually, you can’t fly.

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Everywhere, Astonishments

I have a hard time looking back. When I do, it is the hurty kind, with corners. I managed to look through books we read when Søren and Silas were little and pull out some favourites to share.

Each one of these books (and oh so many more) prompt so many memories and adventures — the corners softened!

The Dark | Lemony Snicket and Jon Klassen
The Wonderful Fluffy Little Squishy | Beatrice Alemagna
When the Sky is Like Lace | Barbara Cooney
The Maggie B. | Irene Haas
Frederick | Leo Lionni
The Little Prince | Antoine DeSaint—Exupery
Grandad’s Island | Benji Davies
Outside Over There | Maurice Sendak
Pinocchio Retelling | Roberto Innocenti
The Listz | Kyo Maclear and Julia Sarda

Our brightest colors yet! Like spring flowers pushing through dark earth – our new Poppy Sendak Colours bloom brightest against our earthy hues.

We sent a message out on Instagram asking for help with the naming. Thank you for all the great suggestions! We chose these three sweeties:

• Egg Yolk – a classic cartoony egg or grocery store yolk.
• Persimmon – a favourite fruit that grows abundantly here.
• Cochineal – the colour that comes from bugs used to make paint!

We can customize any Poppy Colour Sendak!

Egg Yolk (Cartoon Eggies)

Classic in Persimmon

After finding this old newsboys bag last autumn in bright orange and yellow, we couldn't resist the waxed canvas colours that have been beckoning for years. We added cochineal due to the endless requests for reds.

What is Waxed Canvas?

Waxed Canvas is a cotton canvas with wax embedded into the fibers. The wax darkens the colour of the textile, and makes it water resistant, giving it protection from the elements. It also shows marks of use, giving it the charming rugged look that we were drawn to sixreen years ago when we started Peg and Awl, and continue to love as we use it throughout the years. The wax reflects lighting differently so the range of tone in the photographs reflects the range of tone you may perceive in life. The colours may vary slightly from batch to batch because they are hand dyed. The wax will fade with use and the colour of the bag will lighten and evolve. We love all of this. Your bags will change through use, giving each one a one-of-a-kind patina with the stories and marks from your life!

We use two different canvas weights for our Sendaks and Bags. The Sendak canvas is thinner and lighter to acommodate so many pockets and treasures. The colours vary between the weights.

All About Our Canvas and Colours!

Our Leather

We use black and brown vegetable-tanned leather from Wickett and Craig for our bags and Sendaks. Fog and All Black are paired with black leather and all other colours are paired with brown leather.

We can do any leather and canvas combination that you wish!
Just email us or write your request in your order notes.

Our 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.

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Everywhere, Astonishments

“In going where you have to go, and doing what you have to do, and seeing what you have to see, you dull and blunt the instrument you write with. But I would rather have it bent and dull and know I had to put it on the grindstone again and hammer it into shape and put a whetstone to it, and know that I had something to write about, than to have it bright and shining and nothing to say, or smooth and well-oiled in the closet, but unused.”
–from The Preface of The Short Stories by Ernest Hemingway

I am currently reading A Moveable Feast. I remember struggling through Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea in our shitty apartment that flooded regularly when I was a kid. And then struggling through the sun also rises. But I am loving this one.

I don’t often listen to a book without also having a hardcopy, so I spent some time going through boxes of my old books that don’t have a place yet in our home – though we’ve been here eight years. Walter built the library (above and below), in our old Philadelphia home. I miss it, the library. In moods like this I wonder why I keep so many books I’ll never reread. And then I found a slipcover-less hardbound copy of Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore with two pages of scrawl written by an old boyfriend who still plays in a band I still love. This is why. The objects we keep are infused with meaning and stories and are often the time machine I dream of – spontaneously digging up long forgotten memories and bringing them back to life.

I ended up buying A Moveable Feast, though I did not make it through all of the boxes. I must see the words of books on paper for some reason – even though I pause, write, rewind, and write again, just as I did with lyrics from tapes when I was really young.

What’s in My Bag?

Exciting to read about Hemingway’s well-worn leather satchel filled with much of the same stuff I carry.

“Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.”

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Here is what I packed in my Finch all week for my daily hikes:

1. Journal – nearly finished. I’ve begun working on my next one.
2. Anselm-style Journal – tutorial coming soon, promise!
3. A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway, though I am listening too – I love the reader James Baughton.
4. Side Pocket Pens and Pencils for easy access
5. Keys
6. Water Bottle – kid size!
7. Another book – often for changing moods :)
8. Knife – a gift I didn’t know I needed!
9. Lip balm/hand salve from Mellow Root Herbals
10. Sendak Nutshell for spontaneous self-portrait!
11. Peg and Awl prompt cards
12. Writing Projects Printed
13. Wallet

Same, same. Bag with worn leather straps, notebooks, pencil, sharpener..! Comfort in the familiarity. My animal feet, however, are on my living animal - so I have four of them for good luck! *see marked up book below

*Always scribble in your books!

Coming Soon!

We’ve been working on some fun new treasures. The new Bright Sendak colours! We are currently liking the names Egg Yolk (grocery store), Persimmon, and Cochineal, but these may change. They will be available Saturday, March 28 at 10:00 am EST!

My Substack

The Rat Room Update

Whenever I share glimpses of Walter’s woodworking in Instagram stories, it brings in far more views than anything else. His skill comes from another time altogether. When the inspector came to the old Peg and Awl shop, he was surprised and impressed by the craftsmanship throughout the building – which Walter did not claim – because he didn’t have the proper permits or licenses, or all the other drivel the world requires.

Everywhere, Astonishments

Listening: Michael Pollan on Joe Rogan and Stephen Fry with Oxford Writing House

Book: Leslie Stroz has published a book on tiny painting and Peg and Awl treasures are strewn throughout its pages. If you are eager to jump into making tiny paintings, have a look!

Sendaks filled in so many ways – I love how she shows the contents on top of the pockets!

Video by Natasha Newton on the Sendak Nutshell

Video by Kevin Ratcliffe on the Classic Tote

Video by Peter McKinnon on the Sendak Artist Roll

Video by InsainHusain on the Sendak Artist Roll

Video by Leslie Stroz on the Sendak Nutshell

Video by me, Margaux, on waxing my Finch Satchel

Is it This Cold Finally Coming to an End?

It has been a harsh, cold winter. I imagine that it will be the most magical spring – contrast does wonders for the soul!

Next week we will be sharing a new Of a Kind collection featuring Sendaks, Tins, Pouches, Journals and more! Have a peek below and treasures to come...

The luminous winter nights were quite spectacular.

Of a Kinds – Coming March 1, 2026!

We’ve been delighted and horrified by this winter, but the colours that have emerged have been lovely and inspiring. Though the dominating colour this season – which we aren’t so used to here – was snow, warmth via light and other dollops have been a delight.

Lots of Alternative Sketchbook Shapes

Big Orphan Square Pouches

Our 100 Day Projects

We’ve begun. I am bumbling through. Søren has found a ritual, Walter wandered off with an abundance of work beckoning...

Sketchbook specifically made for project. Video coming soon!

Me in My Studio

We are Going a Little Stir Crazy Here...

Something wild is coming into Sendakland...

So we added brighty bright colours

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Everywhere, Astonishments! Letters and Books

• Book: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami. Listened on Audible and didn’t love the reader, but really enjoyed this short book about writing and movement and their symbiotic relationship.
• Book: Finally reading Bird By Bird by Anne Lamott and enjoying the familiar wisdom of it.
• Podcast: Also, Rick Rubin had George Saunders on Tetragrammaton. So much process has been a wonderful pairing with the 100 Day Project, which is all about little by little makes a lot!

Leaving the Cold to Find More Cold

I am in New Mexico visiting Deborah J. Stein in her cozy old rambling New Mexico house filled with books and colour and art and art supplies, and so many words between us that the windows and doors were bulging, which was fine because it let in the cool desert air which I so desperately needed for my lungs.

I brought a Nutshell for Deb and she instantly made it look a thousand years old!

Now Deb has one of each and a Maker’s Pouch and so, so many delectable art supplies that she shared all week long.

New Mexico Light

Every day’s light was better than the previous day’s light. In sun and hail and snow and rain, scrumptious light. Can I stay? I am aching to stay.

Daily Walks, Loving the Very Rural Ramshackle

Drawing night in the snuggliest room.

Meanwhile, Back at the Five Acre Wood...

I fled the cold and damp and haha, jokes on me, arrived to another cold and damp that promises warmth beginning tomorrow. My crew stayed home and finally got to work on a long overdo project, read made art, and delicious dinners. I smelled it through the phone.

Walter’s kitchen desk full of books and words and sketches

Our Classic Sendak

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Everywhere, Astonishments! Letters and Books

Shops and Treasure in Santa Fe and visiting Eli Levin’s Studio in Dixon, NM. More on that at Substack this week, (fingers crossed. I never really know what I'll write but, oh my goodness, so much magic!)

“People try to get away from it all–to the country, to the beach, to the mountains. You always wish that you could too. Which is idiotic: you can get away from it anytime you'd like. By going within.”
–from Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

“People try to get away from it all–to the country, to the beach, to the mountains. You always wish that you could too. Which is idiotic: you can get away from it anytime you'd like. By going within.” –from Meditations by Marcus Aurelius I never read this and am only picking through it this morning. I laughed out loud at this, trusting the translator.

“People try to get away from it all–to the country, to the beach, to the mountains. You always wish that you could too. Which is idiotic: you can get away from it anytime you'd like. By going within.” –from Meditations by Marcus Aurelius I never read this and am only picking through it this morning. I laughed out loud at this, trusting the translator. Everywhere I turn people have been talking about journaling and letter writing. In yoga, at the coffee shop, on my phone. So many want to do it and no one knows how to begin. It is inspiring me – the conversation, the struggles, the desire. My pages are filling, and I am making more books. I am an avalanche.

Simple (Dream Journal) Tutorial Coming Soon!

Useable and Wearable Book Necklaces

Sauna Charcoal from Peg and Awl Scrap

We like to use up every last splinter, shaving, and scrap of material that we bring into the shop. Sawdust makes our woodland trails, scrap makes smaller objects, and the smallest heat our sauna. Now we are making Sauna Charcoal with some tinies! Its been a week of experimentation and extra heat in the snow (and eating the snow, too, yum!) as we test the charcoal making process. We’ve not yet made the perfect batch but Walter is already drawing with it for his already begun #the100dayproject of portraits. (follow along @pegandawlbuilt on Instagram:)

Portrait of Me, Margaux by Walter with Sauna Charcoal!

On Walter’s Desk

Nutshells!

Well that was something extraordinary. We sold all that we made and made a mad dash to catch up on the rest. We cannot wait to hear what you think of them. We only have 3 reviews so far and look forward to more. In addition to our excitement for reading them, you’ll get a code for 10% off of your next order with each review left for us.

Coal Nutshell filled with Treasure!

Our Classic Sendak

Substack and YouTube

Everywhere, Astonishments! Letters and Books

“I’m the type of person who journals every morning.”
In Atomic Habits, James Clear says to identify with the habit you want to develop. Every morning that I wake up and journal is a vote for being that person. Recurring, but seemingly insignificant, incremental change is the most impactful. I have been journaling first thing every morning, sometimes a whole page, sometimes not. When the kids wake up, they join me – even Eden has marks to make!
–Ashley

“We find ourselves only by looking out at what looks back.”
–David Whyte

The Nutshell – this oft' asked for little wonder – is in stock and in our permanent collection! Thank you for all of your eagerness. We’ve never in all of Peg and Awl had so many requests for one thing!

What else should we smallen?!

Available in the full colour array!

Nutshell and Classic

The smallest in our collection – here next to the Sendak Mini and Classic.

Snowed In(ish)

It is cold and icy. The paths with their sharp shoveled edges knock me around when I wobble, which I am doing because I am weary in the stillness. It is beautiful, the light is luminous. En route to yoga I saw a pile of breath-taking (alway) firey black vultures consuming a frozen deer. Beauty and darkness side by side. What is one without the other?

Søren got his official acceptance into SCAD, but we still have some months left and are filling them with art days when we can.

Stomp Stomp!

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Everywhere, Astonishments!

“You know that the antidote to exhaustion is not necessarily rest? ... The antidote to exhaustion is wholeheartedness.”
–David Whyte

As with most of our best decisions, it was a spontaneous one that brought us to Costa Rica to see David Whyte – specifically his podcast on Tetragrammaton.

I have much to distill from our time here in the Blue Zone and will share it in dribs and drabs as I do. For now, we wait to board the plane and hope to beat the storm…

Imploring Your Reluctant Side

Walter painted water and clouds. He brought only new-to-him oil-based watercolours, which was a challenge he came to enjoy. He also filled pages of his journal with portraits and sketches!

Spectatoring

Pause for Announcement — the Nutshell is returning!

We’ve NEVER received as many enthusiastic inquiries as we have for the Nutshell. We are thrilled by your enthusiasm and are bringing them back permanently next Saturday!

Where to Dig and What to Bury

As for me, I’ve been filling more pages than usual. We’ve met so many people, all with fecking wild stories. Some told with the comfortable rhythm of the practiced storyteller, others shyly – all bringing me awe. David Whyte draws an incredible group of humans. I aam grateful to have been one of them.

I struggle with normal portraiting at sunset. #normalshing

Finishing newsletter on the bumpy bus ride, exhausted from the year of no sleep. This is a typical not shared page of notes and scribbles!

My twice or thrice daily snuggle with the ocean.

Substack

Everywhere, Astonishments!

At Long Last

“Titchy little snapperwhippers like you should not be higgling around with an old sage and onions who is hundreds of years more than you.”
–from The BFG, by Roald Dahl

And then, it was clean. Thanks to Ashley for the organization suggestion for this week’s newsletter, which finally made it happen – except for my desk which I’ve left out.

The Springhouse Studio at the Five Acre Wood

My studio is full of natural light that has the space positively glowing in winter. And when the sun is out, Pearl chases it around the room.

My howling hound in my now-clean studio!

Peg and Awl Party in Our Cozy 1818 Home!

The Peg and Awl team and families fit snuggly into our home last Saturday, the evening of 16th anniversary. Broken-footed Walter put together a slideshow sharing what we accomplished in the year – which is always so fun!

As I type this, I think of all of the people – over 50! – who made Peg and Awl what it is now. What an incredible and enduring adventure – a testament to using hands and minds to build one small treasure at a time. Humans need this, I need this. I am grateful for this life!

The kids outnumbered the adults.

Journaling

As for me, I’ve returned to my favorite ritual – writing in the morning and drawing in the evening – filling pages at both ends of the day.

I am moving through this journal rather quickly and must begin to build the next. Too, the 100 Day Project begins on the 23rd of February. Will you join this year?

This morning’s desk.

Substack

Everywhere, Astonishments!

Pecan and Dijon – this week's favourite snack – atop a gorgeous and new Jockum Nordström book, which I shall share next week!