Held to the Light – a leather stamping study of gemstone light and evening ritual – Volume I-C

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

Volume I-C. A September study.

Some stones keep their light on the inside, where it shows only when the piece moves. We took three of those small mineral truths and one evening ritual, and stamped them into a leather line that runs from luggage tags to the tray where the jewelry lands at night. We call the collection Held to the Light.

First, moonstone. Its glow lives between microscopic layers inside the stone and travels whenever the viewer does, so we drew the cabochon mid-turn, crescent of light on the move, and wrote the fact underneath – THE GLOW MOVES WITH YOU. A luggage tag is the right home for that sentence.

Looks great when stamped onto the leather. The black tag carries the words in gold.

Black-and-white moonstone cabochon and THE GLOW MOVES WITH YOU die artwork for the Held to the Light leather collection.

A black leather luggage tag gold-stamped with a moving moonstone glow and THE GLOW MOVES WITH YOU from the Held to the Light collection.

A gray-sand leather luggage tag blind-stamped with a moving moonstone glow and THE GLOW MOVES WITH YOU from the Held to the Light collection.

A lilac leather luggage tag blind-stamped with a moving moonstone glow and THE GLOW MOVES WITH YOU from the Held to the Light collection.

Next, labradorite, which hides its color in thin internal layers and releases it as a flash you catch only at an angle. We tilted the stone so the flash fans off its upper edge, and set the rule beneath – SEEN WHEN MOVED. A keychain spends its whole day turning, so the flash keeps its appointment.

On the black fob the design is pressed in gold, and the foil does what the stone does – it flashes when the fob turns.

Black-and-white flashing labradorite and SEEN WHEN MOVED die artwork for the Held to the Light leather collection.

A black leather keychain gold-stamped with a flashing labradorite and SEEN WHEN MOVED from the Held to the Light collection.

A blueberry leather keychain blind-stamped with a flashing labradorite and SEEN WHEN MOVED from the Held to the Light collection.

Then amethyst, which lays its color down in bands as the crystal grows, densest toward the tip. We cut the point in section so the bands show, and set the moral underneath – IT ADDS UP. A journal works on the same schedule, one page a day.

It looks genuinely beautiful on the dusty lavender, and the deep wine journal might be the best single object in the study.

Black-and-white banded amethyst crystal and IT ADDS UP die artwork for the Held to the Light leather collection.

A lilac leather journal blind-stamped with a banded amethyst crystal and IT ADDS UP from the Held to the Light collection.

A sangria leather journal blind-stamped with a banded amethyst crystal and IT ADDS UP from the Held to the Light collection.

And finally, the evening. We drew a strand of beads just set down, toggle clasp undone, and gave it the words WHERE THE DAY COMES OFF. Centered on the golden tan catchall tray, it waits to receive the jewelry; small in the corner of the toiletry bags, it points at the sink, where the day comes off too.

The bags stack warm gray over deep espresso brown – smoky quartz over onyx, in leather.

Black-and-white unclasped bead strand and WHERE THE DAY COMES OFF die artwork for the Held to the Light leather collection.

An Arizona-tan leather catchall tray blind-stamped with an unclasped bead strand and WHERE THE DAY COMES OFF from the Held to the Light collection.

Country-gray and dark-espresso leather toiletry bags blind-stamped with an unclasped bead strand and WHERE THE DAY COMES OFF from the Held to the Light collection.

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.