Christmas Focals - what not to do

Here are a couple of quick Christmas cards that I'm using as examples of what to do and what not to do with card focals. This first card is pretty good, but if I were doing it again, I would have put an oval mat behind the candle focal - for two reasons.  First, as it is, the focal is out of proportion to the greeting tag - it would be better to be larger because of the size of the tag, and adding a mat would make it look like it was.  Secondly, it would simply help it stand out better color-wise.

On this card, there is a bit of a fight for focal.  Is the focal the brightly colored candy-cane tag or the greeting with the cardinal and holly?  It's hard to say.  While the card is quite nice as it is, it would be better if the greeting and cardinal (from a new embossing folder I got from Sizzix) were more clearly the focal.  This could be accomplished by putting a simpler element in the upper left corner - perhaps a large red bow from tulle or a poinsettia flower.