Creature Habits, Volume I-D – a leather gift collection of animal habits

From the Practice Log – an ongoing series of stamping studies. Shops Waterfall, Volume I-D.

A September study.

Creature Habits is a small collection of leather gifts, from luggage tags to journals. Each piece carries one animal and the habit it shares with the person who will own it – so the giver can say I saw you in this without another word.

First, the luggage tags. We sent a skein of seven geese down the length of the tag, above the words MIGRATORY SPECIES – for the traveler who leaves every year and comes home every year.

The black tag carries the geese in gold; deep green and caramel take the blind deboss.

Black-and-white die artwork of seven migrating geese above MIGRATORY SPECIES for the Creature Habits leather gift collection, Volume I-D.

A black leather luggage tag stamped in gold with seven geese above MIGRATORY SPECIES, from the Creature Habits gift collection, Volume I-D.

A forest-green leather luggage tag blind-stamped with seven geese above MIGRATORY SPECIES, from the Creature Habits gift collection, Volume I-D.

A caramel leather luggage tag blind-stamped with seven geese above MIGRATORY SPECIES, from the Creature Habits gift collection, Volume I-D.

Next, the keychain, which is what you hand a new driver. A tortoise mid-stride above the words NO HURRY. Get there when you get there.

Looks great when stamped onto the leather.

Black-and-white die artwork of a walking tortoise above NO HURRY for the Creature Habits leather gift collection, Volume I-D.

An Arizona leather keychain blind-stamped with a tortoise above NO HURRY, from the Creature Habits gift collection, Volume I-D.

A forest-green leather keychain blind-stamped with a tortoise above NO HURRY, from the Creature Habits gift collection, Volume I-D.

Then we gave the toiletry bag to the animal with thirty thousand things to keep in order. A porcupine, every quill in place, and beneath it the verdict: WELL GROOMED. It sits low in the corner of the bag, in honeyed russet and in deep espresso brown.

Black-and-white die artwork of a porcupine above WELL GROOMED for the Creature Habits leather gift collection, Volume I-D.

An Indian Summer leather toiletry bag blind-stamped with a porcupine above WELL GROOMED, from the Creature Habits gift collection, Volume I-D.

A dark-espresso leather toiletry bag blind-stamped with a porcupine above WELL GROOMED, from the Creature Habits gift collection, Volume I-D.

The catchall tray went to the magpie, who settled the question of found things long ago. She stands at the center of the base with a key in her beak, FINDERS arched above her and KEEPERS below – and the tray is where the pockets empty out at the end of the day.

It looks genuinely beautiful pressed into the golden tan.

Black-and-white die artwork of a magpie holding a key between FINDERS and KEEPERS for the Creature Habits leather gift collection, Volume I-D.

An Arizona leather catchall tray blind-stamped with a key-carrying magpie between FINDERS and KEEPERS, from the Creature Habits gift collection, Volume I-D.

And finally, the journal, for the one who writes down every creature they meet. On the cover, three ruled lines with the first already ticked. A chickadee has landed on the second line, waiting to be written in, and LIFE LIST runs beneath. One journal in deep green, the other in pale warm greige.

Black-and-white die artwork of a chickadee on a checklist above LIFE LIST for the Creature Habits leather gift collection, Volume I-D.

A forest-green leather journal blind-stamped with a chickadee checklist above LIFE LIST, from the Creature Habits gift collection, Volume I-D.

A gray-sand leather journal blind-stamped with a chickadee checklist above LIFE LIST, from the Creature Habits gift collection, Volume I-D.

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.