Between River & Dome – a Des Moines leather stamping collection

From the Practice Log – an ongoing series of place-rooted leather stamping studies.

An August study.

This one is for Des Moines – the short walk down East Locust in the Historic East Village, river at one end, gold dome at the other. We designed a small leather collection for the cooks who live along that line, and named it BETWEEN RIVER & DOME.

First, the namesake stamp. Three short waves hold the left edge and the Capitol dome closes the right. East Locust runs between them as a single ruled line, with BETWEEN RIVER & DOME standing on it the way the shopfronts stand on the street.

The Between River & Dome black-and-white leather stamp design traces East Locust from the river to the Capitol in Des Moines, Iowa.

On the luggage tags it runs lengthwise, one tag in golden tan for the dome by day and one in navy for the river. The black tag carries the dome in gold. Looks great when stamped onto the leather.

Three leather luggage tags carry the Between River & Dome design in black, golden tan, and navy for Des Moines, Iowa.

Next, ONE MORE PINCH – a cook's fingers caught mid-pinch inside a ring, four grains falling. It is the last gesture before tasting, and every kitchen worth visiting knows it.

The One More Pinch black-and-white leather stamp design shows a cook's hand releasing four grains in the Between River & Dome collection of Des Moines.

On the toiletry bags it sits low in the right corner, pressed blind into honeyed russet over chestnut.

Two leather toiletry bags carry the One More Pinch stamp from the Between River & Dome collection of Des Moines.

The keychains take it in paprika red and herb green, and they look just awesome.

Red and forest-green leather keychains carry the One More Pinch stamp from the Between River & Dome collection of Des Moines.

Then the tray. The Raccoon and the Des Moines meet just south of downtown, so we let the two rivers merge and pour into one shallow bowl – TWO RIVERS above, ONE TABLE below. A catchall is where everything ends up anyway.

The Two Rivers One Table black-and-white leather stamp design joins two Des Moines rivers above a shared bowl.

A golden tan leather catchall tray carries the Two Rivers One Table design from the Between River & Dome collection of Des Moines.

And finally, for the recipe keepers. FROM THE KITCHEN OF, and beneath it a rule left blank – the oldest opening line in Iowa, waiting for a name. We pressed it into the corner of the journals, one in pale greige like the cream card and one in deep espresso like the cabinet it lives in. Looks absolutely gorgeous when stamped onto the leather.

The From the Kitchen Of black-and-white leather stamp design recalls an Iowa community cookbook card in the Between River & Dome collection.

Dark espresso and pale greige leather journals carry the From the Kitchen Of stamp in the Between River & Dome collection of Des Moines.

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 this is your corner of Des Moines and you'd like these made real, or anything here changed – say hello through our contact page.