Worth Keeping, Volume I-C – oak and dragonfly designs stamped into leather

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

A September study. Volume I-C.

Worth Keeping is a small exhibition of leather goods – journals and luggage tags among them – for people who love slow, honest making. Oak lends most of the imagery, and a dragonfly closes the show.

First, the namesake. A frame is a declaration that something deserves to stay in view, so we drew a small mission frame with squared corners and let it hold the words WORTH KEEPING.

Black-and-white WORTH KEEPING mission-frame die artwork for the Worth Keeping leather collection, Volume I-C.

On the golden tan catchall tray it presides over whatever the day empties out of your pockets.

An Arizona leather catchall tray blind-stamped with the WORTH KEEPING mission-frame design.

Next, the luggage tags. An acorn is how an oak travels, so we drew a pair of white-oak acorns under their leaf and wrote it plainly beneath – HOW OAKS TRAVEL.

Black-and-white white-oak acorn and HOW OAKS TRAVEL die artwork for the Worth Keeping leather collection, Volume I-C.

We pressed it into three leathers, from warm caramel tan to deep wine. Looks great when stamped onto the leather.

A caramel leather luggage tag blind-stamped with white-oak acorns and HOW OAKS TRAVEL.

A forest-green leather luggage tag blind-stamped with white-oak acorns and HOW OAKS TRAVEL.

A sangria leather luggage tag blind-stamped with white-oak acorns and HOW OAKS TRAVEL.

Then, the journals. An oak keeps its own diary, a ring for every year, so the cover corner carries a slice of trunk above the words EVERY YEAR LEAVES A RING. A journal does the same work in pages.

Black-and-white oak-ring and EVERY YEAR LEAVES A RING die artwork for the Worth Keeping leather collection, Volume I-C.

It looks genuinely beautiful in warm tan and in deep brown.

A caramel leather journal blind-stamped with oak growth rings and EVERY YEAR LEAVES A RING.

A dark-espresso leather journal blind-stamped with oak growth rings and EVERY YEAR LEAVES A RING.

And finally, the one we liked the most. A dragonfly spends years in the water before it ever flies, so ours hovers above the words YEARS IN THE MAKING.

Black-and-white dragonfly and YEARS IN THE MAKING die artwork for the Worth Keeping leather collection, Volume I-C.

On the pale sea-blue keychain it hangs over its own pond; the deep brown one keeps things earthbound.

A turquoise leather keychain blind-stamped with a dragonfly and YEARS IN THE MAKING.

A dark-espresso leather keychain blind-stamped with a dragonfly and YEARS IN THE MAKING.

The same dragonfly rides the corner of the toiletry bags – golden tan over chestnut brown.

An Arizona and Sicilian-brown leather dopp kit blind-stamped with a dragonfly and YEARS IN THE MAKING.

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.