Our theme for this swap was "John Deere". I signed up for it only because I just recently purchased the two main images you see here.
Both stamps arrived unmounted, as requested. I started out using watercolor markers directly on the rubber, but I'm not a big fan of this method--especially with tight spots like you see on the tractor (between the chassis and the tires).
Instead of fussing with the markers, I cut the stamp apart! Now I can ink the parts on
ink pads, which makes me a happy stamper.
I did the same thing to the corn stalks, but with perhaps less success. The tassels seem a bit wobbly in places. This image came as a single stalk.
On the (tiny) farm of my youth, we did not own any John Deere equipment, but we did have an old Ford tractor, a Farmall A, and a Farmall H.
No, I'm not an octogenarian. I remember those tractors as being antiques before we owned them. My Dad frequented auction sales, and these were some of his more useful acquisitions, once he got them up-and-running that is. To get one tractor that worked, he'd buy two broken ones. My brother, Neal would then combine parts from each into one machine that worked.
Neal was the mechanic of the family. He spent all of his after-school free time tinkering with engines of all types in the backyard barn. He is the one that kept the tractors running for all the years I was at home, old as they were.
Stamps Used:
Picture Show (tractor, corn stalk),
Hero Arts (tiny alpha)
