Christmas Elf from Yesteryear!

Last year Liz Thayer did a little elf card at her 2015 Totally Lovin' Christmas, which was colored with Stampin' Up markers.  I promptly ruined my stamped image trying to color and blend with these pens.  I have never been very good getting a good color result using these water-based pens.  It's just me, as I have seen some beautiful coloring jobs achieved by others.

I decided that since I had purchased this stamp set already, I would take my salvageable pieces home and re-do my card in the quiet of my craft room.  Well, that did not happen last year, but I made a goal for this year:  I would try to finished my Christmas cards in my "To Do Stash" that were totally unfinished kits or half-started.  Since little elf fell into one of these categories, he was in luck to be finished this year!

I re-stamped my elf image and colored him using Copic markers, which is my pen of choice.  I like the way they shade and blend and the richness of color that you can achieve.  I also wanted the edges of my mat layers to be more visible to bring out the colors used on my elf's clothing, so I decided to start with a new green card base that would be slightly larger rather than cut down the size of all the layers on top of the cardbase.  I prefer the color edges of my layers to be from 1/8" to 3/16" wide instead of the narrow, almost invisible 1/16" that many cardmakers use.  I also decided to put a green mat layer under my little sentiment tag for even more green accents. 

Liz's original design is so very cute and cheerful, and the stamp set is also very cute and cheerful; thus, the resulting card is sure to make its recipient feel very happy when they open their card!  Take a peek below at both the finished exterior results and the inside design that I made to compliment the front.

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up - Cardstock:  Very Vanilla, Garden Green, Real Red, Whisper White, Watercolor paper.  Holiday Fancy Foil Vellum (2015 Holiday). Stamps: Christmas Cuties (2015 Holiday).  Dies:  Top Note BigZ (retired).  Punch: Decorative Label (modified).  Ribbons: 1/8" Red Stripe; 5/8" Vanilla Satin ribbon (retired).  Dazzling Diamonds Glitter (hat trim).  Dazzling Diamonds Gold Glitz glitter adhesive (elf bells).  Stash: Gold sequins.  Size: 4-1/2" x 5-3/4".