Opacity Masks
Choose the artwork and Copy (Ctrl+c) and Paste in Front (Ctrl+f). Group (Ctrl+g) the objects and choose Flip Vertical from the pop-up menu of the Transform Panel.
Cover the flipped sticker with a rectangle using the Rectangle Tool (m). Give the rectangle a Linear Gradient with no stroke from the Gradient Panel or press the > key when the artwork is selected. Keep the gradient at default white and black swatches. With the Gradient Tool (g), choose the top of the rectangle and drag half way down the rectangle.
In the Opacity Mask, the white part of the gradient will reveal the artwork and the black will hide it and any shades in-between will vary the opacity. Select the rectangle and the flipped artwork and choose Make Opacity Mask from the pop-up menu of the Transparency Panel. Change the Opacity to 60% in the Transparency Panel.
You can always go back and edit the Opacity Mask. In the Transparency Panel choose Show Thumbnails from the pop-up menu. You can also use Show Options from the pop-up menu,
Now, there are two thumbnails. The first is the artwork and the second is the mask. You can edit the artwork without affecting the gradient and vice versa. When you select a thumbnail it will have a thick black outline around it. Moreover, the Layer Panel will change when the mask is selected.
The mask is locked by default. To rearrange the artwork or mask you can click on the link icon in the middle of the thumbnails. The Clip check box is also checked by default. Once this is unchecked, the mask will not clip the artwork. The other check box is the Invert Mask. Once the Invert Mask is checked, the gradient is reversed on the mask, reversing the hidden and visible parts of the artwork.
If you do not wish to use Opacity Mask, then choose Release Opacity Mask from the pop-up menu of the Transparency Panel.
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