The Good Paper – a leather gift collection for people who make things – Volume I-D

From the Practice Log – an ongoing series of leather stamping studies. Shops Waterfall, Volume I-D.

A September study.

The Good Paper is a small collection of stamped leather gifts for people who make things – the ones who carry a sketchbook everywhere and save the best sheet for later. Five designs, one for each object, each a line a friend would recognize them by.

First, the design that named the collection. Anyone who makes things keeps a sheet too good to use, so we folded down the corner of a small page and wrote THIS IS THE GOOD PAPER across it – the journal grants permission on the day it is opened.

It looks genuinely beautiful on the deep wine, and on the pale greige it reads like a sheet of the paper it names.

Black and white THIS IS THE GOOD PAPER with a folded sheet stamp artwork for a leather journal in The Good Paper collection about art making.

A deep wine leather journal blind debossed with THIS IS THE GOOD PAPER with a folded sheet, from The Good Paper collection about art making.

A pale warm greige leather journal blind debossed with THIS IS THE GOOD PAPER with a folded sheet, from The Good Paper collection about art making.

Next, a fair warning for whoever travels beside a sketcher. We laid a pencil along the length of the tag and let its point draw the line under WILL STOP TO DRAW – the honest itinerary of anyone who packs a sketchbook.

On the deep wine and the pale sea-blue the line is pressed blind into the leather. The black tag carries it in gold.

Black and white WILL STOP TO DRAW with a pencil stamp artwork for a leather luggage tag in The Good Paper collection about art making.

A deep wine leather luggage tag blind debossed with WILL STOP TO DRAW with a pencil, from The Good Paper collection about art making.

A pale sea blue leather luggage tag blind debossed with WILL STOP TO DRAW with a pencil, from The Good Paper collection about art making.

A black leather luggage tag gold stamped with WILL STOP TO DRAW with a pencil, from The Good Paper collection about art making.

Then, the sign every studio has taped up somewhere. We hung WET PAINT from its own string on the fob – keys for the person whose hands are rarely dry.

Looks great when stamped onto the leather, in warm red and warm gray alike.

Black and white WET PAINT on a hanging sign stamp artwork for a leather keychain in The Good Paper collection about art making.

A warm red leather keychain blind debossed with WET PAINT on a hanging sign, from The Good Paper collection about art making.

A warm gray leather keychain blind debossed with WET PAINT on a hanging sign, from The Good Paper collection about art making.

After that, a bag for the maker who packs brushes in beside the toothpaste. We drew a small folding easel holding an empty canvas and wrote EVERYTHING BUT THE EASEL beneath it – the bag admits the one thing it had to leave at home.

Looks absolutely gorgeous when stamped onto the warm tan, and on the deep brown the relief reads as a quiet shadow.

Black and white EVERYTHING BUT THE EASEL with a small easel stamp artwork for a leather toiletry bag in The Good Paper collection about art making.

A caramel leather toiletry bag blind debossed with EVERYTHING BUT THE EASEL with a small easel, from The Good Paper collection about art making.

A dark brown leather toiletry bag blind debossed with EVERYTHING BUT THE EASEL with a small easel, from The Good Paper collection about art making.

And finally, the one we liked the most. Whatever lands in a tray at the end of the day becomes an arrangement, so we gave the golden tan base an empty frame with a museum plate reading STILL LIFE, with ARRANGED DAILY in small capitals beneath – the keys and rings do the rest.

Black and white STILL LIFE on an empty picture frame stamp artwork for a leather catchall tray in The Good Paper collection about art making.

A Arizona tan leather catchall tray blind debossed with STILL LIFE on an empty picture frame, from The Good Paper collection about art making.

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.