a birthday card for a friend, at least a version of of it - the version i like best up til now. elli is a friend from crafts and design school and her birthday isn't until the 2nd of february, but i'm starting out early since i'll also have to make one for her twin sister and the two cards will have to be in entirely different styles and becky's card will be a real challenge. what i like about this one: the generosity of patterns, the overall colour scheme, the volume i got on some of the paisleys and swirls. the hairdo on the woman and her paisley flower. what i like less: turned out so infernally romantic - elli will probably like it, but i'm not sure i do. some of the colours turned to soup because i had to play with opacity and layer modes on everything. the spikes on the halo-like thingyummyjig got totally lost, it just looks like a plain old circle.
do you lot think it looks like of something you'd buy in a shop full of pink bow ties, frilly potpourri sachets and cheap porcelain figurines?

edit: that might of course be easier to answer if you actually saw the card . posted!
edit 2: this post is cursed i'm posting a big image, sorry, the thumbnail seems to mess things up.

WOWSERS

amazing colors !!!

excellent work !

it looks a bit like one of those artpieces that is a collage but its not flat
its in a frame that has a bit of depth
dont know what its called

at first i thought the woman is a geisha, but shes not
nice mix of all kinds of "ethnic" patterns to create something unique

the only thing i dislike is the texture of the woman's face
it looks like she has some kind of exotic skin condition

also, maybe extend the pink border around the text at the top of the text background ?
i feel theres something missing

esper: hehe, "exotic skin condition" - she's supposed to look like she's cut out of handmade paper . i think she might benefit from a little toning down of texture, though, i'll give it some thought. i was wondering about that pink border too, i'm not sure i want one between the picture and text because they're sort of one unit against the background, but i will give it a shot and see what happens. the hairdo is indeed geisha inspired, the profile as a whole is supposed to be edwardian. nice to hear all the praise and thanks for taking the time!

edit: here's an updated version - i think the pink border stays but i'll try to find a better texture, i really want handmade paper.

Beautifully done, AnMal
The first time I looked at your post I didn't see the card, I'm glad I came back for a second look.

odinbc: thank you ! i just couldn't make the thumbnail function to work - first time i posted i got the code alright (i think it looked right) but nothing showed, so i thought i must have missed something, then i tried to post with a thumbnail again and got the code alright (this time i double checked) but the image never showed, just the word "image". very confusing. when i posted my next version i had no problems at all, everything worked as it should.

GnuTux mentioned a week or so ago about some up coming site maintenance that might have something to do with it. I've had a few bumps myself recently around here, in fact this post is on it's second try.

I bet a girl interested in textiles and design will love this card. I too got the "geisha"-wibe at first look.
I like how she merges into the structures in the lower right. I do feel the more "free-floating" paisley patterns in the upper left stand out a bit too much, I would consider applying them with lower opacity to make them blend more into the image. Overall a cool composition here.
.
Griatch

Nice work AnMal, I like the layered depth effect gives it that feeling of a handcrafted card.

odinbc: oh, that's of course it! i haven't seen any sign of that before now so i just forgot about it.
griatch: tack så mycket ! glad you said that about her merging into the right corner structure - that's something i like myself and put down a bit of work to achieve. i will experiment with those upper left-paisleys, but my guess is they will probably stay the way they are - i kind of like the fact that some elements stand out more than others, but of course they shouldn't be allowed to steal too much attention from the woman.
he4rty: thank you! handcrafted card is just what i'm after, i think elli will really like that.

AnMal, is that your real name ?

in a certain way, it means "paint" in german

my guess would have been its the first two letters of your first and last name...but on the other hand why would you sign a birthdaycard with your screenname ?

I like the layered affect too in the card.

lianam: thank you! i agree that's one of the good parts about the card.
esper: i admit i hadn't thought of "anmalen". i did take german at school but my main languages were french and latin, german was sort of low priority... and you're right, i wouldn't sign a birthday card with my screen name, but i've learned from some bad experience never to leave out my real name openly in a web forum. i made two different text versions, one for the real card and one for gc.

clever

i would never reveal my real name on a website too, so i totally understand what you are saying

In answer to your question, it would sit lovely next to the potpourri. The pinks, gold and green look lovely together - nice work again AnMal.

erisian: brr, that's what i feared. luckily no one else has mentioned potpourri and i know i don't have to trust your taste - you prefer coffee over tea after all...
thank you for commenting !

Great job!
thanks for posting it here, Anmal!
I would love to have it as a wall painting in my house, please!

k1tesseraena: oh? you don't know what you're asking for! here it is, i took the liberty to redecorate a bit too...

Thank you for furnishing and decorating my dwelling, I like the carpet matching colors! But, no windows!? Oh... no wait, never mind, I'm taking it.

Very nice Anmal. I would love to receive a card like that.

k1tesseraena: no windows and no lamps, but both light and shadows. only scandinavians know the secret behind that and we won't tell.
sallyanne: thank you! that's nice to hear, i think my friend will like it too. now i just have to think up something completely different but equally good for her twin sister.