Practice Makes – a leather stamping collection for people who make things

From the Practice Log – an ongoing series of stamping studies on real-world logos.

A September study. Volume I-B.

A small collection called Practice Makes, for people who make things and for everyone who loves one of them. Three designs about the habit itself – the practicing, and the little parts that keep it going.

First, the namesake. We set PRACTICE MAKES in two lines of hand-cut capitals and ended the sentence early – the full stop is a four-hole button. Everyone hears the missing word. The button answers with a better one: practice makes things.

Practice Makes button-period leather pressing die in black on white

On the journals it sits in the lower corner of the front panel, right where the next project gets its first sketch – one in deep green, one in pale warm greige.

It looks genuinely beautiful.

Practice Makes button-period design stamped on a deep green leather journal

Practice Makes button-period design stamped on a pale warm greige leather journal

The same button rides the keychains, in warm red and in golden tan.

Practice Makes button-period design stamped on a warm red leather keychain

Practice Makes button-period design stamped on a golden tan leather keychain

Next, we borrowed the plain voice of a shipping label – CONTENTS in small letters up top, WORK IN PROGRESS in stencil capitals below. On a luggage tag the label describes whoever is carrying the bag, and it happens to be true of everyone worth giving a gift to.

Work in Progress shipping-label leather pressing die in black on white

Two of the tags are warm tan and pale sea-blue. The third is black, and the black tag carries the design in gold.

Looks great when stamped onto the leather.

Work in Progress shipping-label design stamped on a warm tan leather luggage tag

Work in Progress shipping-label design stamped on a pale sea-blue leather luggage tag

Work in Progress shipping-label design gold stamped on a black leather luggage tag

The label lands in the corner of the toiletry bags too, warm tan stacked over chestnut – the grown-up kit for a person whose projects travel with them.

Work in Progress shipping-label design stamped on warm tan and chestnut leather toiletry bags

And finally, the catchall tray in golden tan. THE LITTLE THINGS at the center, ringed by the little things themselves – a four-hole button, a thimble and so on. Set it by the worktable or the door, and the tray does exactly what it says.

The Little Things maker-object leather pressing die in black on white

Looks absolutely gorgeous when stamped onto the leather.

The Little Things maker-object design stamped on a golden tan leather catchall tray

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.