MADE LAND – leather studies of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia

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

A September study. Volume I-C.

MADE LAND is a small collection of leather goods – luggage tags, journals and so on – rooted in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, where the blocks nearest the Potomac stand on ground the town built for itself.

First, the shoreline. Alexandria was laid out in 1749 above a crescent-shaped bay, and the original water line now lies buried under the streets near Lee Street – so we drew the crescent back where it stood and wrote THE SHORE WAS HERE along the land.

A black-and-white die drawing shows the crescent shoreline and THE SHORE WAS HERE lettering for the MADE LAND leather collection of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

It looks genuinely beautiful. The black tag carries the design in gold; the golden tan and dusty rose tags take a blind press.

A black leather luggage tag carries the crescent shoreline and THE SHORE WAS HERE lettering, from the MADE LAND collection of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

A golden tan leather luggage tag carries the crescent shoreline and THE SHORE WAS HERE lettering, from the MADE LAND collection of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

A dusty rose leather luggage tag carries the crescent shoreline and THE SHORE WAS HERE lettering, from the MADE LAND collection of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

The same shoreline rides low in the corner of the toiletry bag, pressed blind into deep navy.

Navy and dark brown leather toiletry bags carry blind-stamped shoreline designs in their lower corners, from the MADE LAND collection of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

Next, a ring. The quiet appeal of an estate case is an older piece finding another wearer, so we drew an antique ring – oval stone, beaded bezel – and set WORN AGAIN beneath it.

A black-and-white die drawing shows an antique ring and WORN AGAIN lettering for the MADE LAND leather collection of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

The black fob takes the gold pass; the chestnut one, a blind press.

A black leather keychain carries a gold antique ring and WORN AGAIN lettering, from the MADE LAND collection of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

A chestnut leather keychain carries a blind-stamped antique ring and WORN AGAIN lettering, from the MADE LAND collection of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

And on the golden tan catchall tray it sits at generous size – a tray is where rings land at the end of the day.

A golden tan leather catchall tray carries a blind-stamped antique ring and WORN AGAIN lettering, from the MADE LAND collection of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

And finally, the design the collection is named for. The blocks between Lee Street and the river are made land: upright wharf timbers went in at the water's edge, and paving went over the fill – the City's archaeologists have the planks and the stones to show for it. We stacked the die the way they found it, stone over timber, and wrote MADE LAND above.

A black-and-white die drawing shows paving stones over wharf timbers and MADE LAND lettering for the MADE LAND leather collection of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

Looks great when stamped onto the leather – deep brown and pale greige, pressed in the lower right corner of the journals.

A dark brown leather journal carries the MADE LAND stone-and-timber design in its lower right corner, from the MADE LAND collection of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

A pale greige leather journal carries the MADE LAND stone-and-timber design in its lower right corner, from the MADE LAND collection of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

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 in Old Town Alexandria and you'd like these made real, or anything here changed – say hello through our contact page.

P.S.

A black leather luggage tag carries the crescent shoreline and THE SHORE WAS HERE lettering, from the MADE LAND collection of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

A golden tan leather luggage tag carries the crescent shoreline and THE SHORE WAS HERE lettering, from the MADE LAND collection of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

A dusty rose leather luggage tag carries the crescent shoreline and THE SHORE WAS HERE lettering, from the MADE LAND collection of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.