Iris folding card

Saw this technique on Curt's blog, and he did such a fabulous job on his cards, I was inspired to try it out. Mine did not come out quite as good as his, but this is my first attempt. If you want to check out his blog, go to http://craftincurt.blogspot.com/ and see his wonderful cards. I did my cut out with scal, and the swirls and birds are from Home Decor (new cart dh bought for my birthday) I cut out a 5x7 black piece with the flower shape cut in the middle,a nd then cut another out of the same paper as the iris folds (which I didn't actually fold, they are just strips of paper) and cut out the shadow blackout of the same shape so as to make it look as though it is all the same sheet. Here is the link for directions on iris folding http://www.origami-resource-center.com/iris-folding.html