The Gulf to Bay Collection – a leather stamping study from Anna Maria, Florida

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

An August study.

Anna Maria, Florida is a narrow bar of sand with the Gulf of Mexico on one side and Tampa Bay on the other. This month we pressed that geography into leather, luggage tags down to a catchall tray – a small collection we call Gulf to Bay.

First, we measured the place: one line from GULF to BAY, interrupted mid-span by the island itself – a clump of sea oats, one low roof – with ANNA MARIA beneath. The waves curl on the Gulf end and lie flat on the Bay end.

The black-and-white Gulf to Bay crossing die for the Gulf to Bay leather collection of Anna Maria, Florida.

On the luggage tags the trio repeats the crossing: pale sea-blue for the Gulf and navy for the Bay, with a sand-pale greige tag standing between them for the island. It looks genuinely beautiful.

Three leather luggage tags in pale sea-blue, sand and navy stamped with the Gulf to Bay crossing from Anna Maria, Florida.

Next, Bean Point, the tip of the island where the two waters finally meet. Gulf swells sweep in from one side, Bay ripples from the other, and a single shorebird stands at the still point where they interlace. We pressed it into the corner of the toiletry bags – navy over chestnut, deep water over pier timber.

The black-and-white Bean Point shorebird die for the Gulf to Bay leather collection of Anna Maria, Florida.

Navy and chestnut leather toiletry bags stamped with the Bean Point design from the Gulf to Bay collection of Anna Maria, Florida.

Then the piers. A keychain lives in a pocket, so the fob carries a standing invitation: a long pier running out to its little house on the horizon, under the words MEET ME AT THE PIER. One fob in warm tan for the planking, one in pale sea-blue for the water beneath it.

The black-and-white Meet Me at the Pier die for the Gulf to Bay leather collection of Anna Maria, Florida.

Two leather keychains stamped with Meet Me at the Pier from the Gulf to Bay collection of Anna Maria, Florida.

After that, the journals. In nesting season the beachfront goes dark so the hatchlings can steer by the moon, and the cover keeps the rule: a crescent moon over a trail of tiny tracks making for the waves, and LIGHTS OUT beneath – which is also, roughly, the hour a journal gets written. One journal in pale greige like the sand the tracks cross, the other in deep sea-grape green. Looks great when stamped onto the leather.

The black-and-white Lights Out turtle-hatchling die for the Gulf to Bay leather collection of Anna Maria, Florida.

Two leather journals stamped with the Lights Out turtle design from the Gulf to Bay collection of Anna Maria, Florida.

And finally, the catchall tray, which does every evening what the beach does at low tide. Around the stamp runs a ring of the island's small findings, whelk to sand dollar, with one ordinary house key hiding among the shells; in the center, WHAT THE TIDE BROUGHT IN. Golden tan leather, pressed deep – it looks absolutely gorgeous.

The black-and-white What the Tide Brought In die for the Gulf to Bay leather collection of Anna Maria, Florida.

A golden tan leather catchall tray stamped with What the Tide Brought In from the Gulf to Bay collection of Anna Maria, Florida.

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