i have two sisters with birthdays in june, so i'm busy trying to make cards for them. one of them is called "beautiful butterfly" in swedish by one of her friends, so i thought a fake watercolour style butterfly might be good for her. i've got this far and now i don't know what choice i'll make - stay with original colours or go with the plasma cloud colours. i think the original will be more my sisters colours, but i'm not sure. i like the plasma cloud colours better myself. i also think i should soften the background a bit and brighten the dark twig in the background, it seems to take a bit too much attention. any opinions?

Those are very pretty.

They are both beautiful; if I had to choose I would pick #1.

They are very pretty. I wouldn't water the twig down too much, it offsets the colors. A kind of dark charcoal color maybe, but not too much lighter than that. As for the butterfly colors, I'd pick the second one.

The twig is fine but softening the background might improve things. I like both of them equally - they are both excellent.

They are both nice - pick the colour you think she will like. If you are worried about the twig don't remove it. Maybe make it thinner.

Very nice.

I love both of them equally. For the twig, I might just give it a bit of hi-light on the edge, or down the center to give it some shape, other than that, I am sure your sister will love them.

Love them both. They are beautiful. Leave the twig as it is. It gives an Oriental flavor to the card.

I like them both, and the twig is fine.

thanks, everyone! i'd sort of hoped there would be an overwhelming majority of votes for one of the colour settings, then i wouldn't have to decide myself .

rod, odinbc, he4rty: thank you for the comments!

ek22, erisian. sallyanne, molly, O and mokonafan: hehe, i hear you on the twig, people ! i've decided to let it stay as it is. i experimented a bit with making it thinner like sallyanne proposed and i changed the colours a little bit but i didn't like it. ek22 definitely has a point on the offsetting of colours and i agree with O that the twig gives an oriental touch - that got lost when i had made the branch thinner. i will keep trying to soften the background, though. thanks all of you for good advice and encouraging comments!

I think I have a slight preference for the second one, but I like both of them!

I think I like the butterfly in the second pic, but the background in the first pic. Lovely pictures.

merrak: thank you oh this was difficult! i'd just decided to go with original colours but i changed my mind after working some more on them.
2-ton: thank you! i thought i was finished with these, but i like your suggestion. i could make a layer from visible and mask off the butterfly, then put it over the original colours. i might have time for that this evening.
fluffybunny: thank you! i'll definitely try 2-tons idea, the more i think of it the more i like it. it's actually lace doilies on the decoration layer and the butterfly is below it. i've seen real watercolour paintings decorated like this by masking off deccorations partly or wholly and i really like that so i was glad to see chris f:s take on fake watercolours where he did the same thing digitally.

started to add text, here's the text on the two different colour options:

here's an update. i wemnt with 2-tons and fluffy's suggestion and kept the original colours on the background and the plasma colours on the butterfly. this stays! it's the first version of this card that i'm sure my sister will like.

edit: i completely forgot to attach the new pic! i think i know someone who'll get a good laugh now.

Nice result AnMal.

She will love it!

erisian: thank you! i think she'll like this one.
sallyanne: thank you! i hope so. now for the second sister, i'll have to think of something pretty for her too.