The Still Water Collection – a leather stamping study for Stillwater, Minnesota

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

An August study.

For Stillwater, Minnesota. The town is named for the slack stretch of the St. Croix where the log rafts once came to rest, and we took that as our brief – five original stamps pressed into everyday leather, from luggage tags to journals. We call it the Still Water Collection.

First, the lift bridge. Since 1931 its twin counterweight towers have hauled the center span up for river traffic, and today it anchors the five mile walking loop between the two states. We drew it span raised, cables taut, with MEET ME ON THE BRIDGE beneath – a luggage tag that names the reunion point.

The black tag carries it in gold; the navy and warm tan tags take a blind deboss.

The MEET ME ON THE BRIDGE stamp artwork from the Still Water Collection, a leather study of Stillwater, Minnesota.

Black, navy, and warm tan leather luggage tags carry the lift bridge design from the Still Water Collection of Stillwater, Minnesota.

Next, the birthplace. Minnesota began at the corner of Myrtle and Main, where the 1848 territorial convention met – so the fob stacks the north star above that year, with BIRTHPLACE OF MINNESOTA beneath. The star you steer home by, on the ring that opens the door.

The 1848 BIRTHPLACE OF MINNESOTA stamp artwork from the Still Water Collection, a leather study of Stillwater, Minnesota.

Sangria and caramel leather keychains carry the 1848 birthplace design from the Still Water Collection of Stillwater, Minnesota.

Then the north woods that built the town. White pine came down the St. Croix by the boomful, and a white pine carries its needles five to a bundle – so the kit's corner takes a single five needle sprig with a hanging cone and NORTH WOODS beneath. The bags stack autumn over timber: honeyed russet above, deep espresso below.

Looks great when stamped onto the leather.

The NORTH WOODS white pine stamp artwork from the Still Water Collection, a leather study of Stillwater, Minnesota.

Honeyed russet and dark espresso leather toiletry bags carry a white pine design from the Still Water Collection of Stillwater, Minnesota.

For the tray, the namesake. A catchall is the household version of the river's slack water – the calm spot where the day's cargo comes to rest – so a single drop falls and the rings widen on the waterline, with STILL WATER beneath. Pressed deep into the golden tan.

The STILL WATER ripple stamp artwork from the Still Water Collection, a leather study of Stillwater, Minnesota.

A golden tan leather catchall tray carries the namesake ripple design from the Still Water Collection of Stillwater, Minnesota.

And finally, the one we liked the most. A pine keeps its own journal, one ring a year, written from the inside out – so the journal cover carries a sawn log end, rings within bark, split by a single check, with A RING A YEAR beneath. Chestnut and deep pine green.

It looks genuinely beautiful.

The A RING A YEAR pine growth-ring stamp artwork from the Still Water Collection, a leather study of Stillwater, Minnesota.

Chestnut and deep pine green leather journals carry the growth-ring design from the Still Water Collection of Stillwater, Minnesota.

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.