The Mill Pond Collection – a leather study from Guild, New Hampshire (Volume I-B)

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

An August study – Volume I-B.

The Mill Pond Collection – five stamps drawn from Guild, New Hampshire, the mill village on the Sugar River that wove wool for over a century and says its name with a long I.

First, we let the luggage tag handle the pronunciation. GUILD sits large inside a ruled remnant-ticket frame, and beneath it the correction every visitor needs – RHYMES WITH WILD.

We pressed it blind into deep green and into honeyed russet. The black tag carries the stamp in gold.

Black-and-white stamp artwork for the rhymes with wild design from The Mill Pond Collection of Guild, New Hampshire.

A rhymes with wild luggage tags forest green leather product render from The Mill Pond Collection of Guild, New Hampshire.

A rhymes with wild luggage tags indian summer leather product render from The Mill Pond Collection of Guild, New Hampshire.

A rhymes with wild luggage tags black leather product render from The Mill Pond Collection of Guild, New Hampshire.

Next, we caught a rug hook mid-pull, one plump loop of wool drawn up through the backing, and set ONE LOOP AT A TIME beneath it – the whole craft in a single motion, and a fair way to live. On pale sea-blue and on warm tan.

Black-and-white stamp artwork for the one loop design from The Mill Pond Collection of Guild, New Hampshire.

Looks great when stamped onto the leather.

A one loop keychains turquoise leather product render from The Mill Pond Collection of Guild, New Hampshire.

A one loop keychains caramel leather product render from The Mill Pond Collection of Guild, New Hampshire.

Then a fact we kept circling back to: the Guild mill once wove shirting for steelworkers and draymen, prized because sparks glanced off the wool without catching. So the stamp is a twill swatch shrugging off sparks, with SHEDS SPARKS beneath it, pressed into the black kit over dark espresso.

Black-and-white stamp artwork for the sheds sparks design from The Mill Pond Collection of Guild, New Hampshire.

A sheds sparks dopp kits black dark espresso leather product render from The Mill Pond Collection of Guild, New Hampshire.

And then the pond that names the collection. The looms ran on Sugar River water, and when the pond fell low the mill hands waited on the banks until it filled enough to start them again. We made the tray the pond – ripple rings spreading around a floating shuttle, with WHEN THE POND IS FULL THE LOOMS RUN circling the rim, pressed at generous size into the golden tan tray. A catchall fills the same way, a little each evening.

Black-and-white stamp artwork for the mill pond design from The Mill Pond Collection of Guild, New Hampshire.

It looks genuinely beautiful.

A mill pond catchall tray arizona leather product render from The Mill Pond Collection of Guild, New Hampshire.

And finally, the one we liked the most. Sarah Josepha Hale taught school in Guild before the world knew her for “Mary had a little lamb”. So the journal carries a small lamb whose fleece is hooked from wool loops, standing over her line – ITS FLEECE WAS WHITE AS SNOW. On pale warm greige and on deep green.

Black-and-white stamp artwork for the white as snow design from The Mill Pond Collection of Guild, New Hampshire.

Looks absolutely gorgeous when stamped onto the leather.

A white as snow leather journals gray sand leather product render from The Mill Pond Collection of Guild, New Hampshire.

A white as snow leather journals forest green leather product render from The Mill Pond Collection of Guild, New Hampshire.

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.