The Crossing – a West Seattle, Washington leather collection

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

An August study.

For West Seattle, Washington – five stamps in leather, a collection we call The Crossing.

First, the origin mark. In 1907 two streetcar lines crossed at California and Alaska, and the Junction grew up around the X. We pressed that crossing onto the keychains – two slender ladders of rail and tie meeting under a small spark, THE LINES CROSSED HERE arched over the top.

The black fob carries the crossing in gold, old streetcar brass. Its partner is a warm poppy red.

The Lines Crossed Here stamp design for The Crossing, a West Seattle leather collection.

Black and poppy red leather keychains stamped with The Lines Crossed Here for The Crossing in West Seattle.

Next, the crossing every Westsider makes. On the luggage tags a small ferry pulls away, its wake trailing the full length of the tag beneath ACROSS THE WATER. The trio runs from Sound-deep navy through pale sea-blue to a pale sand greige.

Looks great when stamped onto the leather.

The Across the Water ferry stamp design for The Crossing, a West Seattle leather collection.

Three leather luggage tags stamped Across the Water for The Crossing in West Seattle.

For the toiletry bags, the joke locals tell kindly. We drew a hill of evergreens ringed by water, one thin bridge holding it to the mainland, and wrote the verdict beneath: PRACTICALLY AN ISLAND. It sits small in the lower corner of each bag, Sound navy over chestnut.

The Practically an Island stamp design for The Crossing, a West Seattle leather collection.

Two leather toiletry bags stamped Practically an Island for The Crossing in West Seattle.

Then, the oldest story on the peninsula. Before there was a Junction there was a bog, remembered as Spring Hill Pond – the swamp that became the gathering place. So the catchall tray became the pond, ripples spreading from the spot where something small just landed, EVERYTHING GATHERS HERE arched around the rim. Your keys finish the story every evening. The tray comes in golden tan.

The Gathering Pond stamp design for The Crossing, a West Seattle leather collection.

An Arizona leather catchall tray stamped with Gathering Pond for The Crossing in West Seattle.

And finally, the one we liked the most. Two dashed paths wander in from opposite corners of the stamp and meet at the middle. From there they go on side by side, FIND YOUR PEOPLE written beneath – the neighborhood's own instruction, and a good line to keep in the corner of a journal. One journal in deep evergreen, the other in blush pink.

It looks genuinely beautiful.

The Find Your People stamp design for The Crossing, a West Seattle leather collection.

Forest green and blush leather journals stamped Find Your People for The Crossing in West Seattle.

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