Found in Lynn – a leather stamping collection

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

A August study.

Found in Lynn is a small leather collection rooted in Lynn, Massachusetts – five original stamps drawn from the city's own stories, pressed onto luggage tags, journals and the rest of a traveler's kit.

First, a true story from High Rock. On clear nights the telescope in the tower shows Saturn's rings hanging over the rooftops of the old shoe city. We drew the planet above a row of factory windows and set SATURN OVER THE SHOE CITY beneath. The black tag carries the stamp in gold foil; the navy and the dusty lavender take a blind deboss.

It looks genuinely beautiful.

The Saturn Over the Shoe City stamp design from the Found in Lynn leather collection of Lynn, Massachusetts.

Black, navy and dusty lavender leather luggage tags stamped with Saturn Over the Shoe City, from the Found in Lynn collection of Lynn, Massachusetts.

Next, the woods. Asked what should become of Lynn Woods, Frederick Law Olmsted advised keeping it a rugged and wild forest, and it stayed one. We grew a single pine straight out of a split granite boulder and set his words under it, stamped small in the corner of the toiletry bags – warm granite gray over deep espresso brown.

The Rugged and Wild stamp design from the Found in Lynn leather collection of Lynn, Massachusetts.

Warm granite gray and deep espresso leather toiletry bags stamped Rugged and Wild, from the Found in Lynn collection of Lynn, Massachusetts.

Then, the legend. Dungeon Rock has kept Thomas Veal's pirate treasure since an earthquake sealed the cave over him, or so Lynn has told it for generations. We cut a keyhole into the heart of the rock, so the keys on the ring finally have somewhere to belong. On the black fob the stamp is pressed in gold foil – the treasure showing through the stone; the warm granite-gray fob takes a blind deboss.

Looks great when stamped onto the leather.

The Dungeon Rock stamp design from the Found in Lynn leather collection of Lynn, Massachusetts.

Black and warm granite gray leather keychains stamped with Dungeon Rock, from the Found in Lynn collection of Lynn, Massachusetts.

After that, one for field notes. The Lynn Exploring Circle, founded in 1850, is counted as New England's first hiking club. We closed a dotted footpath into a circle, set a compass star where north should be, and put the club's name inside – a walking badge for the corner of a journal, in deep pine green and warm tan.

The Exploring Circle stamp design from the Found in Lynn leather collection of Lynn, Massachusetts.

Deep pine green and warm tan leather journals stamped for the Exploring Circle, from the Found in Lynn collection of Lynn, Massachusetts.

And finally, the one that names the collection. A catchall tray is where the day's finds land, so we ringed FOUND IN LYNN with what this city actually gives up: a scallop shell and a sea-worn pebble from the shore, a pine cone and an acorn from the woods, a quartz point and a feather, and one old key still waiting for its rock. Pressed at a generous size into the golden tan tray.

Looks absolutely gorgeous when stamped onto the leather.

The Found in Lynn stamp design from the namesake leather collection of Lynn, Massachusetts.

A golden tan leather catchall tray stamped with seven Lynn finds, from the Found in Lynn collection of Lynn, Massachusetts.

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