52 million years of patience.
Ten years of work.
Moments In Stone began where most fossil art ends — in the field. Before a single sticker was designed, there were a decade of seasons in Wyoming's Green River Formation, hands in the rock, learning every species, every stratum, every story the limestone was willing to give up.
10
Years in the field
2019
FBNM placement begins
28
Original designs
52M
Years in the making
The formation
Where it all begins
The Green River Formation spans parts of Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah. Roughly 52 million years ago this entire region was covered by a vast, warm, shallow freshwater lake system — Lake Gosiute and Lake Uinta — teeming with life. When animals died, they sank into the fine-grained sediment at the lake bottom, where the calm, oxygen-poor conditions preserved them in extraordinary detail.
What emerged over millions of years of compression and uplift is one of the most scientifically significant fossil deposits on Earth. Fish preserved mid-swim. Insects with every wing vein intact. Birds. Bats. Snakes. Plants. A complete snapshot of an ancient world, locked in limestone.
This is where Moments In Stone begins. Not in a studio. Not with a reference book. In the field, with the actual rock.
The process
How a fossil becomes a sticker
01
The specimen
A specific documented Green River Formation specimen. Not a cast, not a reconstruction, not a reference photo. The actual animal preserved in actual rock, 52 million years old.
04
The colorization
Each species is colorized using scientifically informed choices — referencing related living species, fossil evidence, and the paleontological record where available.
Every design in the Moments In Stone collection follows the same rigorous process — the same one used by scientific paleontological illustrators for over a century.
02
The tracing
Archival mylar film laid directly over the fossil. Every visible bone traced by hand with archival India ink — the same technique used in scientific paleontological illustration.
05
The production
Finished artwork is sent to print as waterproof UV-resistant die-cut vinyl. Every sticker includes the genus and species name, formation, and geological age — accurate to the specimen it was traced from.
03
Digitized & printed
Tracing scanned, digitized, colorized, and produced as waterproof UV-resistant die-cut vinyl. Each sticker carries the species name, formation, and geological age.
06
The set
Individual stickers are packaged into retail-ready sets with custom printed header cards. Every pack is a curated collection — a small museum of the ancient lake system in your hand.
"These are the only commercially available sticker designs of several Green River Formation species — hand traced from actual specimens."
Blake -- Founder, Moments In Stone
The timeline
How we got here
Moments In Stone did not begin in a design studio. It began in the field, and it took years of patient work to become what it is today.
2009
First season in the Green River Formation
First of ten field seasons in Wyoming's most celebrated fossil deposit — learning the formation from the ground up, one specimen at a time.
2018
First mylar tracings and first six designs
The tracing process began — archival mylar film over actual specimens, archival India ink following every bone. The first six Green River Formation designs were completed the same year: Knightia eocaena, Diplomystus dentatus, Priscacara serrata, Cockerellites liops, Mioplosus labracoides, and Phareodus encaustus. Pack #1 was born.
2019
Fossil Butte National Monument — placement begins
Pack #1 was accepted into the Fossil Butte National Monument gift shop. Moments In Stone product has been continuously available at FBNM every year since 2019 — including the present season.
2019
Moments In Stone LLC founded
The business was formally established in Tucson, Arizona. The full 28-design collection was in development.
2020
Pandemic. Pivot. Persistence.
Travel plans were shelved by circumstances beyond anyone's control. The collection continued growing quietly. The work never stopped — it just waited.
2024
28 designs. Ready.
The complete Green River Formation collection — 28 original species, hand traced, digitized, and colorized — is the most comprehensive commercial fossil art collection focused on a single formation ever produced.
Now
Bringing ancient life back to the surface
Moments In Stone is actively expanding wholesale placement to natural history museums, science centers, national parks, and educational retailers across the country.
What we believe
The values behind the work
Scientific Accuracy
Every bone. Every time.
We do not estimate, stylize, or approximate. If a bone is present in the specimen it is in the design. The mylar and India ink process exists precisely to enforce this discipline.
Authentic process
No shortcuts.
The hand tracing process takes significantly longer than digital illustration from reference photos. We do it anyway because the result is fundamentally different — and because the specimens deserve that level of attention.
Honest storytelling
The story is the product.
Every species in this collection has a story. We believe that story is as important as the sticker itself and we work to make sure it reaches the people who hold these things in their hands.
Education first
Built to teach.
Every sticker carries the genus and species name, the formation, and the geological age. Not as fine print — as the point. We want the person who buys this sticker to know what they are holding.
The ancient lake is waiting.
Shop the Green River Formation collection, explore wholesale partnership, or reach out directly. We respond to every inquiry personally within 48 hours.