Table of Contents – a leather collection for the reading life – Volume I-D

From the Practice Log.

A September study – Volume I-D.

Table of Contents is a small leather collection about the reading life. Five stamps follow one story in order – from the keychain that opens a first apartment to the luggage tag that leaves town with the plot unresolved.

First, CHAPTER ONE. We set the words the way an old hardcover opens a chapter – a small fleuron above, and where the divider rule belongs, a single long key. A first key deserves a proper opening line.

Black-and-white CHAPTER ONE key-and-fleuron stamp artwork from the Table of Contents leather collection.

It looks genuinely beautiful – here on a navy fob and a golden tan one.

A blueberry leather keychain blind debossed with the CHAPTER ONE design.

An Arizona leather keychain blind debossed with the CHAPTER ONE design.

Next, WHERE YOU LEFT OFF. We laid a book face-down, the tent shape every reader makes to hold a page, and gave the catchall tray the same job – the place where keys and glasses land when the chair wins. Pressed at generous size into the golden tan tray.

Black-and-white WHERE YOU LEFT OFF face-down-book stamp artwork from the Table of Contents collection.

An Arizona leather catchall tray blind debossed with the WHERE YOU LEFT OFF design.

Then, WORTH KEEPING. We borrowed the manicule – the pointing hand readers have drawn in margins for five centuries – and aimed it at two words in the corner of a journal. Whatever gets written there, the hand has already ruled it worth the ink. One journal in deep wine and one in deep green, the colors of the hardcovers it will live beside.

Black-and-white WORTH KEEPING manicule stamp artwork from the Table of Contents collection.

A Sangria leather journal blind debossed with the WORTH KEEPING design.

A Forest Green leather journal blind debossed with the WORTH KEEPING design.

Then, INTERMISSION. Over the word we set a fermata, the hold a musician keeps for as long as the moment deserves. On a toiletry bag it promises the same thing – the nights away are a held note, and the piece resumes at home. The kit stacks honeyed russet over deep espresso brown, like two well-handled bindings.

Black-and-white INTERMISSION fermata stamp artwork from the Table of Contents collection.

Indian Summer and Dark Espresso leather dopp kits blind debossed with the INTERMISSION design.

And finally, TO BE CONTINUED. We ran a ribbon bookmark beneath the words, folded once at the left and forked at the tip, so the luggage tag says what every departure from a good place says – the page is held, the story keeps going.

Black-and-white TO BE CONTINUED bookmark-ribbon stamp artwork from the Table of Contents collection.

The black tag carries the gold; deep wine and warm tan take a blind press. Looks absolutely gorgeous when stamped onto the leather.

A black leather luggage tag stamped in gold with the TO BE CONTINUED design.

A Sangria leather luggage tag blind debossed with the TO BE CONTINUED design.

A Caramel leather luggage tag blind debossed with the TO BE CONTINUED design.

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.