Twenty-First & X – a Sacramento leather stamping study

From the Practice Log – Independent Shops Waterfall, Volume I-B.

An August study.

Sacramento's old grid runs numbers one way and letters the other, and down where 21st crosses X, the hunting is good. So we cut a small collection in leather for that corner of town and named it Twenty-First & X.

First, we drew the corner the way 1848 drew it – a fragment of the city plat, with a dashed trail wandering down X Street to the crossing at 21st. X marks the spot.

The X Marks the Spot black-and-white stamp plate from the Twenty-First & X leather collection of Sacramento, California.

The black tag carries the gold.

A black leather luggage tag with a gold X Marks the Spot street-grid stamp from the Twenty-First & X collection of Sacramento, California.

Blueberry answers the cornflower-blue building standing on that exact corner; caramel is the warm old oak waiting inside.

A blueberry leather luggage tag with the X Marks the Spot street-grid stamp from the Twenty-First & X collection of Sacramento, California.

A caramel leather luggage tag with the X Marks the Spot street-grid stamp from the Twenty-First & X collection of Sacramento, California.

The same map rides the keychains. Looks great when stamped onto the leather.

A blueberry leather keychain with the X Marks the Spot street-grid stamp from the Twenty-First & X collection of Sacramento, California.

An Arizona leather keychain with the X Marks the Spot street-grid stamp from the Twenty-First & X collection of Sacramento, California.

Next, a skeleton key with a compass star cut into its bow, over the one thing every collector eventually learns – IT FINDS YOU.

The It Finds You skeleton-key black-and-white stamp plate from the Twenty-First & X leather collection of Sacramento, California.

The black fob carries the gold, so the key presses like old brass.

A black leather keychain with a gold It Finds You skeleton-key stamp from the Twenty-First & X collection of Sacramento, California.

Sangria runs oxblood-deep, the color of the textile reds a few aisles in.

A sangria leather keychain with the It Finds You skeleton-key stamp from the Twenty-First & X collection of Sacramento, California.

Then we stenciled the dopp kit the way a crate gets stenciled before an ocean crossing – the fragile-goods goblet over HANDLE WITH CARE. Sound advice for razors, and for whoever receives the gift.

The Handle With Care shipping-stencil black-and-white stamp plate from the Twenty-First & X leather collection of Sacramento, California.

Caramel and Sicilian brown leather toiletry bags with Handle With Care stamps from the Twenty-First & X collection of Sacramento, California.

Then, for the journals, we borrowed an escutcheon off some mahogany drawer, keyhole and all, and set it above WHAT THE DRAWER KEPT. It looks genuinely beautiful.

The What the Drawer Kept escutcheon black-and-white stamp plate from the Twenty-First & X leather collection of Sacramento, California.

Dark espresso for the mahogany; forest green for the bottle glass.

A dark espresso leather journal with a What the Drawer Kept escutcheon stamp from the Twenty-First & X collection of Sacramento, California.

A forest green leather journal with a What the Drawer Kept escutcheon stamp from the Twenty-First & X collection of Sacramento, California.

And finally, the tray where the day empties out. We set a slow orbit of pocket things around the words – a skeleton key, a pocket watch and so on – because EVERYTHING ENDS UP SOMEWHERE. Around that corner, most things eventually do.

The Everything Ends Up Somewhere black-and-white stamp plate from the Twenty-First & X leather collection of Sacramento, California.

An Arizona leather catchall tray with an Everything Ends Up Somewhere stamp from the Twenty-First & X collection of Sacramento, California.

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 keep this corner of Sacramento and you'd like any of these made real, or anything here changed – say hello through our contact page.