Rawhide, Waterfall Volume I-C – a leather collection for Cuero, Texas

From the Practice Log – an ongoing series of stamping studies. Waterfall Volume I-C.

A September study.

For Cuero, Texas – the town whose name means rawhide. We named the collection after it.

First, we strung the herd along the tag's long side – five longhorns walking beneath the words POINTED NORTH, with CUERO 1866 under their feet. Near this town, on the first of April, 1866, about eighteen hundred head set out at a walk for St. Joseph.

Looks great when stamped onto the leather.

The Pointed North stamp plate for the Rawhide leather collection of Cuero, Texas.

A caramel leather luggage tag stamped Pointed North for the Rawhide collection of Cuero, Texas.

A navy leather luggage tag stamped Pointed North for the Rawhide collection of Cuero, Texas.

A dark brown leather luggage tag stamped Pointed North for the Rawhide collection of Cuero, Texas.

Next, we cut a spur rowel for the keychains, CUERO arched over the wheel and TEXAS under it – a nod to the spur wall, where Texas makers still turn these by hand.

The black fob carries the stamp in gold, the way bright metal is laid into blued steel.

The Cuero rowel stamp plate for the Rawhide leather collection of Cuero, Texas.

A black leather keychain gold-stamped with a Cuero rowel for the Rawhide collection of Cuero, Texas.

A caramel leather keychain blind-stamped with a Cuero rowel for the Rawhide collection of Cuero, Texas.

Then the toiletry bags. A chuck wagon carried everything a crew needed on the road, so we pressed one into the corner with SEVEN MONTHS OUT beneath it – roughly the length of the walk to Missouri.

It looks genuinely beautiful.

The Seven Months Out chuck-wagon stamp plate for the Rawhide leather collection of Cuero, Texas.

Two leather toiletry bags stamped Seven Months Out for the Rawhide collection of Cuero, Texas.

Then the journals. The count was kept in a tally book, four strokes and a fifth across, so the cover's corner carries three counted fives above the words TALLY BOOK.

The Tally Book stamp plate for the Rawhide leather collection of Cuero, Texas.

A dark brown leather journal stamped Tally Book for the Rawhide collection of Cuero, Texas.

A pale gray-sand leather journal stamped Tally Book for the Rawhide collection of Cuero, Texas.

And finally, the one we liked the most. A catchall tray is where the day comes off – keys and pocket change landing in one place – so we stamped a stock saddle thrown over a fence rail across the base, with one word beneath it: UNSADDLE.

Looks absolutely gorgeous when stamped onto the leather.

The Unsaddle stamp plate for the Rawhide leather collection of Cuero, Texas.

A golden-tan leather catchall tray stamped Unsaddle for the Rawhide collection of Cuero, Texas.

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