The Midway Collection × Rockford, Illinois – a leather stamping study

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

An August study.

For Rockford, Illinois – the Midway Collection, five original stamps cut for leather.

First, the namesake. Before Rockford was Rockford it was Midway, the halfway mark between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi – so we drew the whole distance as one surveyor's line and set a star where the city sits.

It looks genuinely beautiful.

The MIDWAY survey-line stamp design from the Midway leather collection of Rockford, Illinois.

The tags run golden tan and pale sea-blue. The black tag carries the gold.

Black, golden tan and pale sea-blue leather luggage tags stamped MIDWAY, from the Midway Collection of Rockford, Illinois.

Next, we split the name itself across the water that gave it. ROCK holds one bank, FORD the other, and a path of stepping stones carries the eye over the crossing where the whole city began. A journal opens the same way – at a first crossing.

The ROCK FORD river-crossing stamp design from the Midway leather collection of Rockford, Illinois.

Pressed on deep green and warm tan.

Deep green and warm tan leather journals stamped ROCK FORD, from the Midway Collection of Rockford, Illinois.

Then the sock monkey, the city's soft-hearted classic, redrawn stitch by stitch in solid black for the key fob.

The BORN IN ROCKFORD sock-monkey stamp design from the Midway leather collection of Rockford, Illinois.

One fob wears warm tan for the sock; the other wears warm red for the famous heel.

Warm tan and red leather keychains stamped with a Rockford sock monkey, from the Midway Collection of Rockford, Illinois.

Rockford furniture once filled the country's parlors, and the joint that held every good drawer together was the dovetail – it grips harder the more you pull. We cut it as a stamp with the only words it needs, and set it in a golden tan catchall tray that does the same nightly work of holding on.

The ROCKFORD HOLDS FAST dovetail-joint stamp design from the Midway leather collection of Rockford, Illinois.

A golden tan leather catchall tray stamped ROCKFORD HOLDS FAST, from the Midway Collection of Rockford, Illinois.

And finally, the paired arches of the State Street bridge, with the Rock sliding underneath. It rides in the corner of the toiletry bags, golden tan stacked over deep espresso.

Looks absolutely gorgeous when stamped onto the leather.

The STATE STREET OVER THE ROCK bridge stamp design from the Midway leather collection of Rockford, Illinois.

Golden tan and deep espresso leather toiletry bags stamped STATE STREET OVER THE ROCK, from the Midway Collection of Rockford, Illinois.

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