Made some more progress and have a couple more iterations that I updated on the link
https://marygraphicdesigns.wordpress.com/2016/08/26/f25-wallpaper/ (same post as before
but if you scroll down towards the bottom you will see "Design Round 2" and
that's where I've updated my progress). While still not perfect, I think that
these are headed in the right direction in terms of the general concept. Thanks for all
the helpful feedback and ideas so far :)