Wiregrass Gifts, Volume I-D – a Dothan leather stamping study

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

A September study – Volume I-D.

Wiregrass Gifts is a small leather collection for Dothan. Five original stamps, pressed into everything from luggage tags to journals – each one a piece of the town you can hold.

First, we drew the city the way it draws itself – as a circle. A dashed road swings out of the ring, sees the world and comes back around, and underneath we set the promise: BACK BY SUPPER.

The black tag carries the promise in gold – it looks genuinely beautiful. The warm red and golden tan tags take a blind press.

The black-and-white Back by Supper stamp plate from the Wiregrass Gifts leather collection for Dothan, Alabama.

A black leather luggage tag stamped in gold with the Back by Supper design from Wiregrass Gifts.

A Poppy Red leather luggage tag blind stamped with the Back by Supper design from Wiregrass Gifts.

An Arizona leather luggage tag blind stamped with the Back by Supper design from Wiregrass Gifts.

Next, the keychains. We tied a tuft of the grass this whole region is named for above four plain words – GROWN IN THE WIREGRASS. On the black fob the tuft goes down in gold; on deep green it sits in the leather like the pine flats it grows under.

The black-and-white Grown in the Wiregrass stamp plate from the Wiregrass Gifts leather collection for Dothan, Alabama.

A black leather keychain stamped in gold with the Grown in the Wiregrass design.

A Forest Green leather keychain blind stamped with the Grown in the Wiregrass design.

Then the toiletry bags. Peanuts do their growing out of sight, so we drew the whole plant with its harvest – leaves above the ground line, peanuts hanging below it – over the words SALT OF THE EARTH. For the man who is exactly that. The stack renders in honeyed russet over deep espresso brown, roasted-peanut colors.

The black-and-white Salt of the Earth peanut plant stamp plate from the Wiregrass Gifts leather collection for Dothan, Alabama.

Indian Summer and Dark Espresso leather toiletry bags blind stamped with the Salt of the Earth peanut plant design.

After that, the tray. Dothan keeps everything it loves inside one big circle, and a catchall tray works the same way – so we ran a two-lane ring around the words INSIDE THE CIRCLE, on golden tan leather. Your keys come home to it every evening.

The black-and-white Inside the Circle stamp plate from the Wiregrass Gifts leather collection for Dothan, Alabama.

An Arizona leather catchall tray blind stamped with the Inside the Circle design.

And finally, the journals. Before Dothan was Dothan, it was Poplar Head – a spring in a clearing of trees. We pressed the tree and its rising water into the corner of the cover, with WHERE IT ALL BEGAN beneath, because that is what a blank book is. In pale rose and in deep wine.

The black-and-white Poplar Head stamp plate from the Wiregrass Gifts leather collection for Dothan, Alabama.

A Blush leather journal blind stamped with the Poplar Head tree and spring design.

A Sangria leather journal blind stamped with the Poplar Head tree and spring design.

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.