I guess it's pretty easy to get me excited about collaborating on new project, but when I met "Birch Bark Beth," I knew the fire would grow bigger than ever. Beth is an extremely talented and motivated artist, who has been weaving with birch bark for the last 3 years after an internship at the North House Folk School in Grand Marais, MN. She sustainably harvests her bark from the forests in northern Minnesota and then processes it with handcrafted tools. She teaches basketry at the Weavers Guild of Minnesota, North House, and the American Swedish Institute. 

In the late summer of 2015, I decided to attend a basket camp, where Beth taught us to make rather large birch baskets. I was determined to use my leatherworking skills to transform my basket into a functional backpack that converted into a tote. In the weeks after the camp, Beth and I began to tweek this design and work together on designing more birch bags. She took our first collection to the Renegade Craft Fair in San Francisco in addition to a holiday show called Julmarknad at the Swedish Institute. All of the bags sold and the "Langley" backpack/tote was very well received! 

Currently, these are made to order because her bark supply is low. Come August, the Langleys should be back in full force.