The Sandy Bay Almanac – a leather stamping study for Rockport, Massachusetts

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

An August study.

We drew a small almanac for Rockport, Massachusetts – the Sandy Bay Almanac, five stamps for the town at the end of Cape Ann – and pressed it into leather, from luggage tags to journals.

First, the most painted building in America. We took Motif No 1 down to what the painters keep – a gable on pilings and one long line of water – and ran it lengthwise along a luggage tag. The warm red tag is for the shack, the pale greige one is for the granite under it. The black tag carries the design in gold.

Black-and-white Motif No 1 stamp art from The Sandy Bay Almanac leather collection of Rockport, Massachusetts.

Red, gray, and black leather luggage tags stamped with Motif No 1 from The Sandy Bay Almanac collection of Rockport, Massachusetts.

Next, Bearskin Neck. We built the bear out of granite blocks, so the legend and the quarries share one animal.

Keychains with the granite bear turned out awesome – one in chestnut, one in the warm gray of the stone.

Black-and-white granite bear stamp art from The Sandy Bay Almanac leather collection of Rockport, Massachusetts.

Brown and gray leather keychains stamped with the Bearskin Neck granite bear from The Sandy Bay Almanac collection of Rockport, Massachusetts.

Then, the twin lights of Thacher Island, the pair sailors steered Cape Ann by. BOTH LIGHTS BURNING is the entry we imagine every keeper hoped to write, and the two towers hold the corner of the toiletry bags – navy over dark espresso.

Black-and-white twin lighthouse stamp art from The Sandy Bay Almanac leather collection of Rockport, Massachusetts.

Blue and brown leather toiletry bags stamped with the twin lights from The Sandy Bay Almanac collection of Rockport, Massachusetts.

Then, the beach rose that grows wild along the shore here. A flower is usually pressed between the pages of a book. We pressed ours into the cover instead, with PRESSED IN ROCKPORT underneath – on deep green and on pale rose, the two colors of the plant.

Black-and-white beach rose stamp art from The Sandy Bay Almanac leather collection of Rockport, Massachusetts.

Green and blush leather journals stamped with a beach rose from The Sandy Bay Almanac collection of Rockport, Massachusetts.

And finally, the one we liked the most. The moon pulls the tide, and the tide leaves things on the sand – the way a day leaves keys and coins in a tray. So the tray got a medallion: a crescent over three lines of swell, ringed by WHAT THE TIDE BRINGS IN, with SANDY BAY at the foot of the circle.

It looks absolutely gorgeous pressed into the golden tan.

Black-and-white Sandy Bay tide medallion stamp art from The Sandy Bay Almanac leather collection of Rockport, Massachusetts.

Golden tan leather catchall tray stamped with the Sandy Bay tide medallion from The Sandy Bay Almanac collection of Rockport, Massachusetts.

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.