Kept by Hand – pressed flowers and small talismans, a leather stamping study (Volume I-D)

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

A September study – Volume I-D.

Kept by Hand is a small collection about making things and keeping small treasures – a hammered flower, a fern still coiled, and the words worth saying while handing something over. We stamped its five designs into leather, from journals down to keychains.

First, the emblem the whole collection presses under. We kept a coreopsis exactly the way the hammer leaves it on cloth – ragged petals and an open pale center, with the stem still attached – and set GATHERED BY HAND beneath it. On the toiletry bags it sits small in the corner, honeyed russet over dark espresso, blind debossed.

Black-and-white die artwork of an eight-petal coreopsis above GATHERED BY HAND for the Kept by Hand leather stamping study.

Indian Summer and dark espresso leather dopp kits blind debossed with the GATHERED BY HAND coreopsis design.

Next, for whoever drives out to a market weekend or a two-day workshop, we hung the old shop-door excuse on a luggage tag: a mallet caught mid-strike on a bloom, and GONE MAKING beside it, running lengthwise along the tag. We rendered it in deep navy and golden tan, then once more in dusty rose.

Looks great when stamped onto the leather.

Black-and-white die artwork of a flower struck by a mallet beside GONE MAKING for the Kept by Hand leather stamping study.

A blueberry leather luggage tag blind debossed with the GONE MAKING flower-hammer design.

An Arizona leather luggage tag blind debossed with the GONE MAKING flower-hammer design.

A Parisian Blossom leather luggage tag blind debossed with the GONE MAKING flower-hammer design.

Then a keychain-sized encouragement. Two mushrooms, one a head taller than the other, and STILL GROWING beneath the ground line – for anyone quietly becoming something. We pressed it into chestnut leather.

Black-and-white die artwork of two mushrooms above STILL GROWING for the Kept by Hand leather stamping study.

A Sicilian Brown leather keychain blind debossed with two mushrooms and STILL GROWING.

Then the journal design. A fiddlehead carries a whole frond wound into one spiral, so we set it above BEGIN AGAIN – the promise every blank page makes. Deep green for the gardeners, dusty lavender for the dream keepers, and the same fern on a deep green keychain for beginnings that fit in a pocket.

It looks genuinely beautiful.

Black-and-white die artwork of a fiddlehead fern above BEGIN AGAIN for the Kept by Hand leather stamping study.

A Forest Green leather journal blind debossed with a fiddlehead fern and BEGIN AGAIN.

A Lilac leather journal blind debossed with a fiddlehead fern and BEGIN AGAIN.

A Forest Green leather keychain blind debossed with a fiddlehead fern and BEGIN AGAIN.

And finally, the catchall tray got its own standing instruction. Around EMPTY YOUR POCKETS we circled what a good day actually brings home – a quartz point, an old key and so on – each drawn solid on the golden tan base.

Looks absolutely gorgeous when stamped onto the leather.

Black-and-white die artwork of six small keepsakes around EMPTY YOUR POCKETS for the Kept by Hand leather stamping study.

An Arizona leather catchall tray blind debossed with six keepsakes around EMPTY YOUR POCKETS.

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.

P.S.

Alternate black-and-white coreopsis die study with GATHERED BY HAND.

Alternate black-and-white flower-hammer die study with GONE MAKING.

Alternate Indian Summer and dark espresso dopp-kit render for the GATHERED BY HAND coreopsis design.