Whew!!!

Finally, after many attempts, I completed DJ's Masking Part 2 exercise.

There were so many steps to this collage.  I got so lost in all the layers I had to do it over and over.  Each time I would think I had it and something wasn't quite right.  I'd start over.  It's finally done.  The plus to doing it over and over is I really get used to each step and what is being accomplished with it.  This butterfly was extracted from another photo, and I had to do it several times.  I've become a wiz at the quick selection tool.  I didn't quite get the hang of the polygonal lasso tool to use on the antennae, but you wouldn't know there weren't any antennae unless I told you, right?  

Challenge #36

I decided.......... to join Michelle Ward's Street Team.  Each month she gives the team a challenge to do in their journals.  This month it's "Braving the Elements".  The challenge is to make paper snowflakes and use them in a journal spread incorporating various techniques we already know.  First off, I couldn't remember how to make a paper snowflake (the best I could do was a heart), so I resorted to Google.  You bet, there were several links to great instructions.  I became absorbed with just that process (and this challenge was supposed to be completed in 60 minutes haha.  No way I sort of squeezed it in  when I needed an escape from  my Photoshop class.)  Techniques I used were monoprints, transparencies, dry brushing, rubber stamps.

I joined this group because I want to be more comfortable with working on a theme.  I seem to freeze when given an assignment.  So it's a  stretch for me.

Just look what Chris did.  You might also want to see what Michelle did.  And Shonna, and Kim.  These are only a handful.  Be sure to spend some time on Michelle's blog .  It is a smorgasboard of techniques with great images and how-to's  If you're not doing anything constructive or even if you are, join us for some monthly fun.   

  

Oh, the sweet smell of success.  I've been so hard at work every day and most of it very frustrating.  
Fortunately Exercise 3 was somewhat easy to do.  So now I have time to go back to Exercise 1 and 2 and attempt them once again.  I'm still not on auto pilot for making custom brushes.  It's not creating the brush that's hard, it's the confusion on saving them.  There's just so much to learn and not enough time.  When did I ever have time to have a career?  I can't answer that.
Below is the original of a photo and then the second photo combines another image of a vintage postcard.

Trust yourself, you know more than you think you do -  Benjamin Spock

  

At long last.......
I've been so involved with my Photoshop class that I've had little time to do any art.  However, I finally have some digitally altered photos to show.

I created a brush from a photo of pine needles and used poster edges on this photo.

This was one of our exercises to play with adjustment layers, hue and saturation, use a custom made brush together with a grunge texture frame.

I used bumped up saturation here and posterized, then layered one of my art backgrounds and lowered the opacity to blend the two, added a frame and some text.  I like the graphic nature of the poster edge filter.

So now I have to make a bunch of brushes so I can remember how to do them and how to save them, etc.

I'm so lost.........in the land of Photoshop!  
I haven't posted because I have been spending hours (and I do mean hours) working on the first exercise for my class.  I have not had experience with the "clone" tool or the "healing brush", so I've been really busy!

"In order to get from what was to what will be, you must go through what is."

Anonymous

and boy "what is" is a lot of work!!

Is it finished?
What a difference in the color from my previous post.  The first post photo was taken outside and this post photo was taken inside.  This post is much closer to the actual colors.  Lighting does make such a difference. 
I had thought I would add a lot more to this but it seemed to say it was finished.  Sometimes it's hard to know just when to quit.    I think I'll stop here.  I can always go back and add or change.   I'm betting I won't though.  If only life were like that - the ability to go back and change something.  Looking back at this year though, I would not change a thing in my world.    I'm grateful for it exactly as is.