Fall AKA Cross Country Season Has Begun!

My family lives and breathes the sport of cross country.  My husband and I ran in high school and it's how we met - we ran on the same college team.  I coach the middle school squad at our girls' school.  Our oldest daughter ran in high school and now runs for her college.  Our middle daughter has run XC since 7th grade and is currently a junior on the high school team.  Our youngest is a dancer but LOVES attending the meets and is now contemplating running cross country as a freshman this year. 

It's in our blood!

It also means I'm in a fall frame of mind, despite it still being warm enough to develop a tan at practices (a very nice perk to the job of coach).  I made a fall card here, with white pumpkins and a white watercolor pencil.  Very cool technique!  And today I have a fall card with gently falling leaves, touches of gold, and warm colors.

My color palette was inspired by Hand Stamped Sentiments latest challenge.

Because I want this blog to be a virtual classroom for you, I'm offering some tips, along with a card recipe, below.  

Tips:

• Lightly spritz your cardstock before running it through your die-cutting machine when using the Gathered Leaves dies.  The water softens the cardstock fibers and gives a deeper embossed impression (the leaves dies in this set both emboss and cut!).  
• Be liberal with that fun splatter stamp in the Gather Together set!  I used it behind the leaves with Pretty Peacock ink and around the edge of my card base with Versamark ink so I could heat emboss then in gold.
• Create a simple, but striking, frame for your card by making small diagonal snips in each of the four corners.  Then use your bone folder to fold the paper edges up (see the Pretty Peacock cardstock layer in the photo above).  I learned this technique from Elizabeth Price of Seeing Ink Spots.

Putting It All Together:
(* starred products aren't available until September 4, unless you add them to a Starter Kit when you join my team.  Get your Starter Kit here and choose Nicole Steele as your upline.)

• Gather Together stamp set *
• Gathered Leaves Dies *
• Gather Together Bundle (stamp set and dies at a 10% discount) *
• Ornate Frames Dies (used for sentiment) *
• Soft Suede cardstock (4-1/4 x 11, scrap to die-cut label)
• Pretty Peacock carstock (5-1/4 x 4)
• Cherry Cobbler cardstock (scraps to die-cut 3 leaves)
• Crumb Cake cardstock (scrap for wheat sheaf image)
• Very Vanilla cardstock (scrap to die-cut one large leaf)
• Pretty Peacock ink pad (splatter images)
• Cherry Cobbler ink pad (large leaf image)
• Soft Suede ink pad (wheat sheaf image)
• Versamark ink pad (splatter images on card edge and for sentiment)
• Gold Stampin' Emboss powder (sentiment and card edge splatters)
• Heat Tool
• Metallic Brads
• Gold Cord (retired); Linen Thread or Gold Metallic-Edge Ribbon would work 
• Bone Folder
• Paper Snips