The Shaded Street – a leather collection from Reno's historic home streets

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

A September study – Volume I-A.

The Shaded Street is a small collection drawn from Reno's old residential blocks, where gabled houses sit behind lawns and the street trees have had a century to meet overhead. Everything below was designed for those streets and for the people who come home along them.

First, the collection's title stamp – a whole block run lengthwise along the luggage tag, house fronts and street trees taking turns above the word RENO, the way the old streets actually run.

Black-and-white die artwork of three Reno house fronts and street trees above RENO for The Shaded Street collection.

The black tag carries the block in gold, the street at lamplight.

A black leather luggage tag gold-stamped with three Reno house fronts, street trees and RENO for The Shaded Street collection.

A forest-green leather luggage tag blind-debossed with three Reno house fronts, street trees and RENO for The Shaded Street collection.

A gray-sand leather luggage tag blind-debossed with three Reno house fronts, street trees and RENO for The Shaded Street collection.

Next, Riverside Drive – seven blocks of homes under one canopy since the 1880s. We set the avenue in perspective on the catchall tray, trunks and curb lines running back to a single far house, so the keys land at the end of a shaded street.

Black-and-white die artwork of tree-lined Riverside Drive in Reno above RIVERSIDE DRIVE for The Shaded Street collection.

It looks genuinely beautiful on the golden tan leather.

A golden-tan leather catchall tray blind-debossed with tree-lined Riverside Drive in Reno for The Shaded Street collection.

Then the keychains, which meet a front door more often than anything else we make. We drew a paneled door with the porch lantern already lit, and set ALMOST HOME beneath it.

Black-and-white die artwork of a paneled Reno doorway and lit porch lantern above ALMOST HOME for The Shaded Street collection.

On the black fob, the lantern and the letters carry the gold.

A black leather keychain gold-stamped with a paneled doorway, lit porch lantern and ALMOST HOME for the Reno-inspired Shaded Street collection.

A forest-green leather keychain blind-debossed with a paneled doorway, porch lantern and ALMOST HOME for the Reno-inspired Shaded Street collection.

After that, the toiletry bags. A small gabled house with one curl of chimney smoke, and MAKE IT HOME beneath – because that is the whole job of a toiletry kit: it makes a borrowed sink feel like yours.

Black-and-white die artwork of a small gabled Reno house with chimney smoke above MAKE IT HOME for The Shaded Street collection.

Looks great on the stack – warm mid-gray over chestnut, painted siding over brick.

Country-gray and Sicilian-brown leather toiletry bags blind-debossed with a small house and MAKE IT HOME for the Reno-inspired Shaded Street collection.

And finally, the journals go wordless. We carved a porch bracket – the curved piece of carpentry that has held up Reno porches for a hundred years – and set it into the lower corner of the cover, doing the same quiet work it does under a roof.

Black-and-white die artwork of a curved historic Reno porch bracket for The Shaded Street collection.

A dark-espresso leather journal blind-debossed with a historic Reno porch bracket for The Shaded Street collection.

A gray-sand leather journal blind-debossed with a historic Reno porch bracket for The Shaded Street collection.

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 any of these made real, or anything here changed – say hello through our contact page.