We plough the fields and scatter

Yet another scheduled post as we are still on our travels and our itinerary for today, which is our Wedding Anniversary, takes us to Valletta in Malta, we have never been there before so are looking forward to exploring what it has to offer. Our daughter who spent her honeymoon there wasn't over impressed with it, but we shall see.

It's time for our challenges at Stamping Sensations and Penny Black and More where our themes are 'Autumn Glory and 'Close to Nature'. As always there are wonderful prizes to be won at both. 

Confronted with some of my favourite themes it was a real dilemma and in the end I had four cards and unable to choose I am sharing them all.

The top one uses the lovely plouging image from Stamp Addicts which always reminds me of the lovely Harvest Hymn 'We Plough the Fields and Scatter'. My paternal great grandfather and grandfather as with my Dad were all farmers and there are a few sepia photos of my Grandfather as a very young man if only thirteen or fourteen ploughing the fields with heavy horses and I have often wished I could have witnessed the scene. Although my Dad died at Christmas we sung this hymn at his funeral as he always loved harvest time and some of my fondest childhood memories are of days spent with him in the dusty harvest fields.

As well as the focal image I have used a collection of other stamps to build up the scene onto a backgrond created with DI's.

My second Stamping Sensations piece using that lovely Stampers Anonymous face stamped onto an Oxide ink background, an Inkylicious sentiment and a really old Judikins wheat stamp across the bottom and more wheat across the top using a Sweet Poppy stencil and copper paste.

For my Penny Black piece I have used the lovely Stately tree stamp inking with Distress Markers and spritzed with water before stamping twice. As per usual I created the sky first using distress inks, lots of water and bleach, then the stamping followed by creating the grass and hills with a brush and watered down DI's. Finally the PB Birds on a Wire stamp, extended through the trees with a fine line pen and then inking just one birdie to add the the other side of the trees................nicknamed Billy (no mates) by hubby and some flora to the front using PB Aspire stamp.

One more Stamping Sensations share using the lovely leaves from Stamp Addicts, a DI background, some stencilling and stamping around the edges, then the leaves stamped onto offcuts of card and coloured with the same DI's, seam binding dipped into watery DI's and SA words.