May to Frost – a New Hampshire wildflower collection in stamped leather

May to Frost – a New Hampshire wildflower collection. Volume I-A.

A September study.

New Hampshire keeps its wildflowers in the openings. True meadows are rare in a state this wooded, so the flowers take what the forest gives – edges and old pasture, roadsides and wet ground. We drew a collection from what blooms there, May to frost, and pressed it into leather.

First, the whole season in one line. We stood five wildflowers on a single baseline in the order they bloom – red columbine opens in May, New England aster holds on until frost – and set MAY TO FROST beneath the row. The frieze runs lengthwise along the luggage tag.

Black-and-white MAY TO FROST five-wildflower frieze die artwork for the New Hampshire Wildflowers leather collection, Volume I-A.

Looks great when stamped onto the leather. It travels the three tags – navy and deep wine, with golden tan between.

A blueberry navy leather luggage tag blind-stamped with the MAY TO FROST New Hampshire wildflower frieze, Volume I-A.

An Arizona golden-tan leather luggage tag blind-stamped with the MAY TO FROST New Hampshire wildflower frieze, Volume I-A.

A Sangria wine-red leather luggage tag blind-stamped with the MAY TO FROST New Hampshire wildflower frieze, Volume I-A.

Next, we took swamp milkweed apart and put it back together. Each floret is a small five-pointed crown, and a few dozen of them pack into one round cluster – the flower's own geometry, enlarged until it behaves like pattern.

Black-and-white SWAMP MILKWEED flower-cluster die artwork for the New Hampshire Wildflowers leather collection, Volume I-A.

On the golden tan of the catchall tray it looks genuinely beautiful.

An Arizona golden-tan leather catchall tray blind-stamped with the SWAMP MILKWEED flower cluster, Volume I-A.

Then, a lupine for the pocket. One spire of stacked flowers, one palmate leaf at its foot, LUPINE beneath – on dusty lavender, close to the flower's own blue-violet, and on deep green.

Black-and-white LUPINE flower-spire die artwork for the New Hampshire Wildflowers leather collection, Volume I-A.

A lilac leather keychain blind-stamped with the LUPINE flower spire for the New Hampshire Wildflowers collection, Volume I-A.

A forest-green leather keychain blind-stamped with the LUPINE flower spire for the New Hampshire Wildflowers collection, Volume I-A.

Then, the rarest thing in the collection. The pink lady's slipper has been New Hampshire's official state wildflower since 1991, and it can take a decade to bloom – so we drew it big and strange, the inflated pouch and the two petals curling away like ribbons, with NEW HAMPSHIRE arched above and STATE WILDFLOWER set below. A flower this slow belongs on the cover of a journal.

Black-and-white NEW HAMPSHIRE STATE WILDFLOWER lady's-slipper die artwork for the New Hampshire Wildflowers leather collection, Volume I-A.

Looks absolutely gorgeous when stamped onto the leather – dusty rose first, deep woodland green second.

A Parisian Blossom pink leather journal blind-stamped with the NEW HAMPSHIRE STATE WILDFLOWER lady's-slipper design, Volume I-A.

A forest-green leather journal blind-stamped with the NEW HAMPSHIRE STATE WILDFLOWER lady's-slipper design, Volume I-A.

And finally, the line that explains the whole collection. The flowers arrive where the forest gives way, so we arched WHERE THE WOODS OPEN over a single aster and pressed the badge into the corner of the toiletry bags – a navy bag over a deep brown one.

Black-and-white WHERE THE WOODS OPEN aster-badge die artwork for the New Hampshire Wildflowers leather collection, Volume I-A.

Blueberry navy and dark-espresso leather dopp kits blind-stamped with the WHERE THE WOODS OPEN aster badge, Volume I-A.

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.