Springs in the Dale – a leather collection for Springdale, Arkansas

An August study.

In 1872, needing a name the postal service would accept, this Arkansas town chose a phrase – Springs in the Dale. We took Springdale at its word and pressed six pieces of its story into leather, from luggage tags to journals.

First, the phrase itself. We set the words above a dale of our own, the spring branching into five streams between two hills, with the date of the christening beneath. It looks genuinely beautiful.

The Springs in the Dale stamping die from the Springs in the Dale leather collection of Springdale, Arkansas.

The trio runs pale sea-blue and navy for the water. The black tag carries the design in gold.

Three leather luggage tags stamped with branching spring water from the Springs in the Dale collection of Springdale, Arkansas.

Next, the name it replaced. Before 1872 the settlement was Shiloh, and the name still keeps its place on the square downtown. We drew the old meeting hall's gable over the word and pressed it into the corner of a journal – a good place for first names.

The Shiloh meeting hall stamping die from the Springs in the Dale leather collection of Springdale, Arkansas.

Two leather journals stamped with the old Shiloh place name from the Springs in the Dale collection of Springdale, Arkansas.

Then the Greenway, forty miles of trail threading seven towns through the hills, with Springdale near the middle of the line. Seven stops on one path – the solid one is home. Looks great when stamped onto the leather.

The seven-stop Greenway stamping die from the Springs in the Dale leather collection of Springdale, Arkansas.

Three leather luggage tags stamped with the downtown Greenway trail from the Springs in the Dale collection of Springdale, Arkansas.

Ozark quilters have been piecing a block called Arkansas Traveler for better than a century – triangles wheeling around a still center. On a keychain the name works twice, since the block goes wherever the keys go. We pressed it on warm red and navy.

The Arkansas Traveler quilt stamping die from the Springs in the Dale leather collection of Springdale, Arkansas.

Two leather keychains stamped with an Arkansas Traveler quilt block from the Springs in the Dale collection of Springdale, Arkansas.

Next, the orchards. Springdale's first boom was apples, shipped out by the crate under stencilled labels, so we cut a crate stencil of our own and set it in the base of a golden tan catchall tray – where the day's pocket harvest lands every evening.

The Ozark Grown apple-crate stamping die from the Springs in the Dale leather collection of Springdale, Arkansas.

An Arizona leather catchall tray stamped with an Ozark apple roundel from the Springs in the Dale collection of Springdale, Arkansas.

And finally, the railroad, which leaves town and climbs straight over the Boston Mountains on trestles worth the ride just to see. We set the crossing low on the corner of a toiletry bag, honeyed russet over dark espresso, blind debossed. Looks absolutely gorgeous when stamped onto the leather.

The mountain railroad stamping die from the Springs in the Dale leather collection of Springdale, Arkansas.

Two leather toiletry bags stamped with a mountain railroad trestle from the Springs in the Dale collection of Springdale, Arkansas.

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.