First Press, Volume II × Leatherius Woodman – a Reno, Nevada leather stamping collection

FIRST PRESS – a leather stamping collection for Reno, Nevada.

Volume II. An August study.

First, the mark the whole collection is named for. Every print begins backwards – the block is carved in reverse so the impression lands true. We cut the letter both ways, the carved block beside its printed twin, above the words FIRST PRESS, and set it in the corner of two journals, one pale gray sand and one black. On the black journal the stamp reads as a quiet shadow relief.

The black and white reverse printing-block stamp artwork for First Press, Volume II in Reno, Nevada.

Two leather journals stamped with the First Press design from First Press, Volume II in Reno, Nevada.

Next, the neighbors. Wild horses still come down from the hills at the edge of town, and nobody has talked them out of it. We set two mustangs at full gallop over the words STILL WILD and ran the design lengthwise down the luggage tags. The trio runs golden tan and navy, with a honeyed russet between them.

The black and white Still Wild mustang stamp artwork for First Press, Volume II in Reno, Nevada.

Looks great when stamped onto the leather.

Three leather luggage tags stamped with galloping mustangs from First Press, Volume II in Reno, Nevada.

Then, the motto for a pocket. Nevada was admitted to the union in the middle of the war, in 1864, and its flag still says so. We arched BATTLE BORN over a single star – a tough phrase for the object that gets dropped and carried every single day. The black fob carries the star in gold; the navy fob takes a plain deboss, the way the star sits on the flag's blue field.

The black and white Battle Born 1864 stamp artwork for First Press, Volume II in Reno, Nevada.

Two leather keychains stamped with Battle Born 1864 from First Press, Volume II in Reno, Nevada.

Then, a hallmark. Silver is graded by the small stamps punched into it, and punching small stamps is our whole trade, so the Silver State earned an assay row of its own. We set it in the lower corner of the toiletry bags, warm gray stacked on deep espresso.

The black and white Silver State hallmark stamp artwork for First Press, Volume II in Reno, Nevada.

Two leather toiletry bags stamped with a Silver State hallmark from First Press, Volume II in Reno, Nevada.

And finally, the one we liked the most. Surveyors fix a place by pressing a bronze disk into the rock, so we pressed one into leather instead. RENO NEVADA rides the rim above ELEV 4506 FT, with the surveyor's triangle at dead center of the golden tan tray. Empty your pockets at a known elevation.

The black and white Reno survey benchmark stamp artwork for First Press, Volume II in Reno, Nevada.

It looks genuinely beautiful.

An arizona leather catchall tray stamped with a Reno benchmark from First Press, Volume II in Reno, Nevada.

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 these made real, or anything here changed – say hello through our contact page.