Tagsmith

On the front of “Due North”, I created a diamond shape made up of nine small diamond stamps. On the back, I made a large diamond shape out of sixteen stamps. Each stamp is applied to the leather, one hammer strike at a time. Each tag is hand dyed with a piece of cloth wrapped around a block of wood, hence the term “block dyed”. Skilled block dying gives incredible shades and hues to the leather, while accenting the tooling, making each tag unique. The back and sides of the leather are left the natural color, giving a nice contrast. The edges of the strap and tag are burnished to a slick golden brown. Warning: Not to be used as a real compass.