The Bright Star Collection – a Sulphur Springs, Texas leather study

From the Practice Log – an ongoing series of stamping studies on real-world logos.

An August study.

Before 1871, Sulphur Springs, Texas went by another name: Bright Star. We took the long way around that square this month and came home with the Bright Star Collection – five stamps for leather, luggage tags to journals, each one carrying a piece of the town.

First, the namesake. We drew a five-point star standing over its own reflection in still water – the old name looking back out of the new one. It looks genuinely beautiful.

The black tag carries the star in gold, a bright star against night; the magenta and pale sea-blue tags carry it blind.

The Bright Star stamp pairs a solid star with its waterline reflection for the Bright Star Collection of Sulphur Springs, Texas.

Black, magenta and pale sea-blue leather luggage tags carry the Bright Star design from the Bright Star Collection of Sulphur Springs, Texas.

Next, the mirrored pavilions on Celebration Plaza, the town's best joke made of glass. Stand inside one and the whole square is yours to watch; from the sidewalk it is only a mirror. A journal keeps the same arrangement, so we put LOOKING OUT on the cover, with the courthouse tower standing in the pane. One journal in pale greige, one in pale rose.

The Looking Out stamp draws a courthouse clock tower inside a mirrored square for the Bright Star Collection of Sulphur Springs, Texas.

Pale greige and blush leather journals carry the Looking Out courthouse design from the Bright Star Collection of Sulphur Springs, Texas.

Then, STEW WEATHER. Once a year the county argues a single recipe in public, so we drew a stew-pot lid from straight above, knob at dead center, and set the words around the rim with a small star where six o'clock would be. One keychain in stew red, one in cast-iron black. Looks great when stamped onto the leather.

The Stew Weather stamp turns a cast-iron lid into a circular badge for the Bright Star Collection of Sulphur Springs, Texas.

Red and black leather keychains carry the Stew Weather design from the Bright Star Collection of Sulphur Springs, Texas.

Then the toiletry bags, which are how an evening starts. We hung MAIN STREET AFTER SIX under a swag of plaza string lights, one star strung in among the bulbs, and pressed it small in the lower right corner – black over deep brown, night over ground.

The Main Street After Six stamp hangs a star among plaza lights for the Bright Star Collection of Sulphur Springs, Texas.

Black and deep brown leather toiletry bags carry the Main Street After Six design from the Bright Star Collection of Sulphur Springs, Texas.

And finally, the tray that catches the keys. One road takes more bends than the map asked of it and ends at a star – MADE FOR THE LONG WAY HOME, pressed at generous size into the golden tan. This is the one we liked the most.

The Long Way Home stamp sends a winding road toward one star for the Bright Star Collection of Sulphur Springs, Texas.

A golden tan leather catchall tray carries the Long Way Home design from the Bright Star Collection of Sulphur Springs, Texas.

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.