Three Waters – a Branson, Missouri leather stamping study

From the Practice Log – Volume I-C of an ongoing series of leather stamping studies.

A September study.

Three Waters is a small leather collection made for Branson, Missouri – luggage tags and keychains for the trip, journals and a catchall tray for the water. Every piece is pressed from a hand-cut stamp.

First, we drew the whole system as one line. Around Branson every famous lake is the White River wearing a different name – the two short bars are the dams where one water becomes the next. We set ONE RIVER beneath it.

The Three Waters One River leather stamp design

One water per tag. The navy and the deep forest green carry it darkest; the pale sea-blue one reads like the cold water itself.

One River design stamped on a blueberry leather luggage tag

One River design stamped on a forest green leather luggage tag

One River design stamped on a turquoise leather luggage tag

Next, the trout. Taneycomo comes out of the bottom of Table Rock Dam and stays cold all year, and cold water means trout – an angler knows which lake this is before reading the word.

The Three Waters Taneycomo trout leather stamp design

Looks great when stamped onto the leather.

Taneycomo trout design stamped on a turquoise leather keychain

Taneycomo trout design stamped on a gray sand leather keychain

Then the bass got the dopp kit. Table Rock is world-class bass water, and the fish jumps the way it does when the hook is set. We pressed it on a stack of navy over chestnut – open water over wooded shore.

The Three Waters Table Rock bass leather stamp design

Table Rock bass design stamped on blueberry and Sicilian leather dopp kits

A journal is where good water gets remembered. We nested the contour rings the way an angler reads a depth map – the fish holds inside the tightest ring – and set GOOD WATER beneath.

The Three Waters Good Water contour leather stamp design

Looks absolutely gorgeous when stamped onto the leather.

Good Water design stamped on a forest green leather journal

Good Water design stamped on a caramel leather journal

And finally, the one we liked the most – the emblem of the whole collection. Three waters held in one ring, with BRANSON below. The tray is where the day lands: keys, and whatever else came home from the lake.

The Three Waters Branson emblem leather stamp design

Three Waters Branson emblem stamped on an Arizona leather catchall tray

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.