Small Rituals × Leatherius Woodman – a fly-fishing leather stamping study

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

A September study.

Volume I-B. Most of fly fishing happens around the fish – the mend thrown upstream, the story that grows a little with each telling. We pressed five of those small rituals into leather and called the collection Small Rituals.

First, the luggage tags. We sent one continuous fly line down the long axis, lifting into the upstream mend an angler throws to buy the fly a longer honest drift, and set GONE TO MEND beneath it. Anyone who has ever needed a river will read it correctly.

Looks great when stamped onto the leather.

The GONE TO MEND die plate traces an upstream mend to a dry fly for the Small Rituals leather collection.

A forest-green leather luggage tag carries the GONE TO MEND fly-line design from the Small Rituals collection.

A pale turquoise leather luggage tag carries the GONE TO MEND fly-line design from the Small Rituals collection.

A parisian-blossom leather luggage tag carries the GONE TO MEND fly-line design from the Small Rituals collection.

Next, the toiletry bags, warm gray over dark espresso. Half a sun on the waterline and one mayfly already up – UP BEFORE THE HATCH, for everyone whose alarm is set to the river.

The UP BEFORE THE HATCH die plate pairs a rising mayfly with a sun on the waterline for the Small Rituals collection.

Country-gray and dark-espresso leather toiletry bags carry the UP BEFORE THE HATCH design from the Small Rituals collection.

Then the keychains. We drew the improved clinch knot with diagram honesty, five wraps and the tag end home, above the words TIE ONE ON. A gift buyer gets the joke at the counter; an angler counts the wraps and approves.

It looks genuinely beautiful.

The TIE ONE ON die plate shows a wrapped fishing knot and hooked dry fly for the Small Rituals collection.

A black leather keychain carries the TIE ONE ON knot-and-fly design from the Small Rituals collection.

A caramel leather keychain carries the TIE ONE ON knot-and-fly design from the Small Rituals collection.

For the catchall tray, we opened a whole fly box across the golden tan base – eleven compartments each holding a different fly, and the last one standing empty. ONE ON THE WATER says where it went. By the door or at the tying bench, the tray keeps the same promise: it holds everything until it is needed.

The ONE ON THE WATER die plate opens a fly box with eleven filled cells and one empty cell for the Small Rituals collection.

An arizona tan leather catchall tray carries the ONE ON THE WATER fly-box design from the Small Rituals collection.

And finally, the journals, in dark espresso and forest green. The same trout three times, a little longer with each telling, above EVERY FISH GETS BIGGER IN HERE. A fishing log honest enough about what fishing logs are for.

Looks absolutely gorgeous when stamped onto the leather.

The EVERY FISH GETS BIGGER IN HERE die plate stacks three trout of increasing size for the Small Rituals collection.

A dark-espresso leather wrap journal carries the EVERY FISH GETS BIGGER IN HERE design from the Small Rituals collection.

A forest-green leather wrap journal carries the EVERY FISH GETS BIGGER IN HERE design from the Small Rituals 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 these made real, or anything here changed – say hello through our contact page.