The Perennials – a leather stamping study of things that come back

From the Practice Log – an ongoing series of stamping studies on real-world logos.

A September study.

Volume I-B.

We call this collection The Perennials. Every design in it is a thing that comes back – or refuses to leave.

First, the mark that names the collection. We set last year's cut stalk and this year's new shoot on the same root, and wrote PERENNIAL underneath – cut down, comes back.

Black-and-white PERENNIAL regrowth die artwork for The Perennials leather collection.

It sits small in the corner of the toiletry bags, honeyed russet over dark espresso.

Honeyed russet and deep brown leather toiletry bags blind-stamped with the PERENNIAL regrowth mark from The Perennials.

Next, the journals. Below the soil line a bulb waits out the cold; above it, the first sprout – one plant on both sides of winter. NOTES TO NEXT SPRING, because a garden journal is where the plan overwinters.

Black-and-white bulb and sprout die artwork reading NOTES TO NEXT SPRING for The Perennials leather collection.

It looks genuinely beautiful pressed into the deep green and the warm tan.

A deep green leather journal blind-stamped with the NOTES TO NEXT SPRING bulb and sprout design from The Perennials.

A warm tan leather journal blind-stamped with the NOTES TO NEXT SPRING bulb and sprout design from The Perennials.

Then the catchall tray, golden tan, where keys and pocket change land at the end of the day. We ringed THE DAY'S HARVEST in a wreath of leaves and seedheads – the day, gathered in one round.

Black-and-white harvest wreath die artwork reading THE DAY'S HARVEST for The Perennials leather collection.

A golden tan leather catchall tray blind-stamped with THE DAY'S HARVEST inside a leafy wreath from The Perennials.

Then a cardinal for the keychains, perched on a bare twig above STAYS THE WINTER – the one bird that keeps its color through the cold, for the ring that stays in your pocket.

Black-and-white cardinal die artwork reading STAYS THE WINTER for The Perennials leather collection.

The warm red fob takes it blind; the black fob carries it in gold.

A black leather keychain gold-stamped with the STAYS THE WINTER cardinal from The Perennials.

A warm red leather keychain blind-stamped with the STAYS THE WINTER cardinal from The Perennials.

And finally, the one we liked the most. A swallow crosses the luggage tags with its whole flight path drawn behind it – the line loops and comes home to its tail. ALWAYS COMES BACK – the promise every luggage tag wants to make.

Black-and-white homing swallow die artwork reading ALWAYS COMES BACK for The Perennials leather collection.

The deep green and navy tags take the swallow blind; the black tag carries it in gold.

A deep green leather luggage tag blind-stamped with the ALWAYS COMES BACK swallow from The Perennials.

A navy leather luggage tag blind-stamped with the ALWAYS COMES BACK swallow from The Perennials.

A black leather luggage tag gold-stamped with the ALWAYS COMES BACK swallow from The Perennials.

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.