Celtic Apothecary × Leatherius Woodman – a leather stamping study

From the Practice Log – an ongoing series of stamping studies in leather.

An August study.

For Celtic Apothecary.

This time we designed a small collection for the shop's customers and named it WHERE WATER OPENS – the village historians' reading of Suwassett, the oldest name this harbor carries. First, the title design: two headlands part and the water opens toward the Sound. At the mouth of the harbor stands a single flame.

Where Water Opens original stamp design for Celtic Apothecary's Port Jefferson collection

We pressed it on a trio of luggage tags – deep green for the salt marsh, pale warm greige for poured wax and schooner sail. The black tag carries the design in gold foil, one lit flame in a dark room.

Looks great when stamped onto the leather.

Where Water Opens stamped on black, forest green, and gray-sand leather luggage tags

The same opening travels to the toiletry bags, blind-debossed in the corner – Sound navy over deep ship-timber brown.

Where Water Opens blind-debossed on blueberry and dark espresso leather toiletry bags

Next, a candle that has decided to be a schooner. The wick runs up into a mast, the flame flies from the masthead like a pennant, and DOWN PORT is how locals point at the harborfront where the shop stands – a nod to the century when this village launched four of every ten ships built in the county.

Down Port candle-schooner stamp design for Celtic Apothecary's customer collection

On keychains, in navy and golden tan, the little ship looks just awesome.

Down Port stamped on blueberry and arizona leather keychains

Then she sails across the catchall tray in golden tan, where the day's keys and coins come to anchor.

Down Port blind-debossed on an arizona leather catchall tray

And finally, the one we liked the most. Before the causeway of 1836, Main Street was a salt meadow the tide flooded twice a day, and the village went by Drowned Meadow. We set the old name above marsh grass standing in tidewater – a journal cover ought to remember what lies under the street.

Drowned Meadow marsh stamp design inspired by Port Jefferson's earlier name

Bound in deep green and pale sea-blue – the meadow, and the tide that stood in it.

Drowned Meadow stamped on forest green and pale sea-blue leather journals

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're Celtic Apothecary and you'd like these made real, or anything here changed – say hello through our contact page.