Beyond the Mountain – a leather collection for Great Barrington, Massachusetts
From the Practice Log – an ongoing series of leather stamping studies.
An August study.
Beyond the Mountain is a small leather collection we designed for Great Barrington, Massachusetts – five stamps for the things a Berkshire day actually carries, from the luggage tag on the weekend bag to the tray that catches the keys at night.
First, the namesake. Housatonic is the old name of the river here, said to mean the place beyond the mountain. So we drew the folded ridge of Monument Mountain and let the river slip behind it and come out the other side, still going – BEYOND THE MOUNTAIN, pressed the length of the tag, on the one object in the house that actually gets there. The trio pairs warm tan and deep green with a pale warm greige straight off the fleece.
It looks genuinely beautiful.
Next, the morning bag. In 1886 Main Street here became one of the first streets anywhere to be lit by alternating current, so the kit that opens first each morning carries an early glass bulb, filament still glowing, with MAIN STREET above and LIT SINCE 1886 below. The stack comes in honeyed russet over deep espresso, the colors of the brick blocks those first lamps found.
Then the keychains. A small alpaca in a hand-knit scarf, fringe and all, above the only standing instruction a Berkshire winter gives – STAY WARM. One fob in pale warm greige, the other in deep navy.
Looks great when stamped onto the leather.
After that, the tray by the door. We wound a ball of yarn and let its loose end trail down to underline the words – IT ALL WINDS UP HERE. The keys wind up there, and the day with them, pressed generous into the golden tan of the tray.
And finally, the one we liked the most. A journal fills the way knitting does, line under line, so the cover carries rows of knit stitches with the last row unfinished and the strand still running – ONE ROW AT A TIME, set in the lower corner where a maker's mark belongs. One journal in true black, where the deboss reads as a quiet shadow relief, and one in warm tan.
Looks absolutely gorgeous when stamped onto the leather.
We made this out of love. Leatherius Woodman is on a mission to create and share artifacts of beauty, craft and love – this study is one of them, and we hope the feeling is mutual. Every image is a render – how we prototype before cutting a die.
If you'd like any of these made real, or anything here changed – say hello through our contact page.