The Occidental Almanac – a leather collection for Occidental, California
From the Practice Log – an ongoing series of stamping studies of places.
A September study – Volume I-C.
The Occidental Almanac – five leather stamping designs for Occidental, California, the town in the redwoods along the Bohemian Highway. Everything below is pressed into working goods: luggage tags, journals and so on.
First, the freight. Occidental began as a railroad town in 1876, and the crates it shipped out were packed with apples and peaches – so we drew the town a crate label and ran it lengthwise down the luggage tags.
Looks great when stamped onto the leather.
Next, the direction. Four miles west of town the ridges look straight out at the Pacific, so the keychain carries the view – redwood tops in front, and the sun landing on the water behind them.
On the pale sea-blue leather it reads like the water it points to.
Then the trees. We put a stand of redwoods inside a ruled frame and let them grow straight through the top of it, since that is what redwoods do to frames. It sits in the corner of the toiletry bags, one in honeyed russet and one in dark espresso – bark colors, both.
After that, a seed packet for the journals, because a garden journal and a seed packet want each other. Growers around Occidental have kept open-pollinated seed alive for over fifty years, and seed only stays living while someone plants it again – so the packet names its town and its kind.
And finally, the one we liked the most. Saving seed means sorting it every winter, keeping the best for spring – and a catchall tray is where a household does its own small sorting at the end of the day. So the tray carries a ring of seeds around three words: SAVE THE BEST.
On the golden tan leather it looks absolutely gorgeous.
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.
P.S.
