Karl Wasson × Leatherius Woodman – a leather stamping study

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

An August study.

For Karl Wasson.

First, we took “slow-cooked”, your word for leather done the right way, and let the picture finish the joke: the bag itself is in the pot, handle out and lid ajar, a low flame underneath. The tag trio reads as one tag aging – warm tan at the start, deep espresso at year ten, with the chestnut pull-up carrying the middle years.

Looks great when stamped onto the leather.

Black and white SLOW COOKED leather stamp design created for Karl Wasson.

Caramel, chestnut and dark espresso leather luggage tags stamped SLOW COOKED for Karl Wasson.

Next, the keychains, because nothing in a pocket wears in faster. The stamp is a thumbprint drawn as growth rings – the mark a hand leaves on leather – over BETTER IN TEN YEARS. One in chestnut pull-up that will prove the point, one in deep green for the adventure-tourism years.

Black and white BETTER IN TEN YEARS fingerprint stamp design created for Karl Wasson.

Chestnut and forest green leather keychains stamped BETTER IN TEN YEARS for Karl Wasson.

Then the toiletry bag, the one bag that actually rattles, got NO JINGLE JANGLY PARTS – a bell with its clapper taken out and set down beside it. The stack is honeyed russet over chestnut, both pull-up leathers.

Black and white NO JINGLE JANGLY PARTS bell stamp design created for Karl Wasson.

Honeyed russet and chestnut leather toiletry bags stamped NO JINGLE JANGLY PARTS for Karl Wasson.

The catchall tray is where everything you carry gets judged at the end of the day, so we cut your five-part verdict into an inspection seal – the criteria run the rim, and the middle says HOLDS UP.

Black and white HOLDS UP inspection stamp design created for Karl Wasson.

Arizona leather catchall tray stamped HOLDS UP for Karl Wasson.

For the journals: RIVETS AT THE STRESS POINTS is construction advice that holds off the page too, so a single rivet pins a crack shut in the corner where the writing happens. Navy for the denim beat, warm tan for the classic.

Black and white RIVETS AT THE STRESS POINTS stamp design created for Karl Wasson.

Blueberry and caramel leather journals stamped RIVETS AT THE STRESS POINTS for Karl Wasson.

And finally, the one we liked the most. THE LONG WAY – a road switchbacking through the mountains between two small dots, roughly China and Vietnam. A decade of wear tests and workshops on two continents; the long way is the method. It went on the passport covers, deep green for the highlands and pale sea-blue for the coast.

It looks genuinely beautiful.

Black and white THE LONG WAY mountain-road stamp design created for Karl Wasson.

Forest green and pale sea-blue leather passport covers stamped THE LONG WAY for Karl Wasson.

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