Made by Water – a Minneapolis leather stamping study

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

Volume I-B · Commercial-Fit Independent Study

A September study.

Minneapolis was made by water twice – the falls milled its flour, the lakes made its evenings. We took five of the city's water stories and pressed them into leather, from luggage tags to a catchall tray. The collection is called Made by Water.

First, the Stone Arch Bridge, drawn the way the river sees it – each arch meets its own reflection and closes into a full circle, with MINNEAPOLIS riding the span. The design runs lengthwise along the tag, in gray sand for the limestone and in blueberry for the river at dusk.

The black tag carries the design in gold foil.

Black-and-white Stone Arch Bridge die artwork for the Made by Water Minneapolis leather collection.

A gray-sand leather luggage tag blind-stamped with the Stone Arch Bridge for the Made by Water Minneapolis collection.

A blueberry leather luggage tag blind-stamped with the Stone Arch Bridge for the Made by Water Minneapolis collection.

A black leather luggage tag gold-stamped with the Stone Arch Bridge for the Made by Water Minneapolis collection.

Next, we forged the Chain of Lakes into an actual chain – five shorelines joined link to link, from little Brownie down to Lake Harriet, with CHAIN OF LAKES beneath. A keychain is the honest place for it: pale sea-blue for the water, forest green for the parkways that string the lakes together.

Keychains wearing the chain look just awesome.

Black-and-white five-lake chain die artwork for the Made by Water Minneapolis leather collection.

A pale sea-blue leather keychain blind-stamped with the Chain of Lakes design for the Made by Water Minneapolis collection.

A forest-green leather keychain blind-stamped with the Chain of Lakes design for the Made by Water Minneapolis collection.

Then, the catchall tray. Minneapolis counts its lakes at twenty-two, so we scattered them across the golden tan tray, Bde Maka Ska and Lake of the Isles drawn true to their shorelines, with CITY OF LAKES arcing above. Whatever lands here at the end of the day lands in good company.

Black-and-white field of 22 lake silhouettes for the Made by Water Minneapolis leather collection.

An arizona leather catchall tray blind-stamped with 22 lakes for the Made by Water Minneapolis collection.

And then, the journals. Fifty-some inches of snow settle on this city in an ordinary year, and we hold that this is precisely what journals are for. One fine snowflake, ringed by the words WINTER IS FOR WRITING – a journal in gray sand for the drifts outside, and one in deep wine for the lamp you write them down by.

Looks great when stamped onto the leather.

Black-and-white winter writing snowflake seal for the Made by Water Minneapolis leather collection.

A gray-sand leather journal blind-stamped with the winter writing seal for the Made by Water Minneapolis collection.

A sangria leather journal blind-stamped with the winter writing seal for the Made by Water Minneapolis collection.

And finally, the dopp kit. For fifty years Minneapolis was the flour capital of the nation, and its flour left town in sacks wearing proud round marks. A dopp kit is a sack too, so we gave it a mark of its own – crossed wheat under MILL CITY, pressed into honeyed russet over dark espresso.

Black-and-white Mill City wheat-and-flour-sack die artwork for the Made by Water Minneapolis leather collection.

Indian-summer and dark-espresso dopp kits blind-stamped with the Mill City mark for the Made by Water Minneapolis collection.

P.S.

An alternate gray-sand Stone Arch Bridge luggage-tag render from the Made by Water Minneapolis collection.

An alternate blueberry Stone Arch Bridge luggage-tag render from the Made by Water Minneapolis collection.

An alternate black and gold Stone Arch Bridge luggage-tag render from the Made by Water Minneapolis collection.

We made this out of love. Leatherius Woodman is on a mission to create and share artifacts of beauty, craft and love – this Minneapolis 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 the Made by Water collection made real, or anything here changed – say hello through our contact page.