Blue Stripe Flower Card - Before and After

Before (left) and after (right)

This is my second makeover card for the Operation Write Home (OWH) "Saturday Seminar" on the Stars and Stamps blog. The first seminar is "Creating a Focal Point," and the assignment is to rework and improve some of our old cards, using the seminar principles.

My "before" card isn't terrible, but I thought I could do better. Although the twill ribbon was narrow, it still looked heavy compared with the flower. And the bright color was distracting, though I meant it to echo the turquoise in the stripes and the flower. The card didn't have a clear focal point.

For my "after" version, I made the following changes:

• Narrowed the section of striped paper to tighten up the focus area.
• Moved the sentiment up and printed it with a lighter, more turquoise ink. Also it changed from "thanks" to "hello," but that was just me being confused :-)
• Used a shorter and more delicate ribbon, to complement the flower instead of competing with it.
• Moved the flower down and left a bit, closer to the sentiment.
  

I think it makes a nicer card now. Thank you all for your comments on my last week's "round rainbow card - before and after!" I'm looking forward to everyone's impression of this one.

Card details are in my original post. Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (041b)