Photoshop Elements 9 fun

A little Photoshop practice today! 
So I played with this:

and ended up with this:

 Fun Fun Fun!
I had PSCS5
but had problems getting the serial number
and returned it.
PSE9 is just fine for me. 
now off to try  and download some free brushes. Anybody got a good source for those?? 
Thanks in advance!
xoS

OMG PHOTOSHOP RULES!!!

I am addicted. 

Yes, I think I would spend the rent $ on Photoshop classes! 

My computer was 6 years old and no amount of CPR could save her.

My awesome nephew Joe did his best though. I have a new Dell laptop cuz, well, I can't afford a Mac,

I can't afford this one either,

but who cares.

 Photoshop CS5 is the bomb diggitie.

Charge!!!

I'll be creating all the way to the poor house. sigh. 

The cards are cut up now, so I'll be creating with little strips of plastic on my next collage. 

But, I digress.

The backgrounds of these pieces were sprayed outside last summer on a HOT HOT day. I used Halloween webbing as a "mask" of sorts thinly stretched out on the paper

and sprayed my heart out.

I think they were dry in like 10 minutes
and I really saturated them.

Sorry but I went ape shit on the next one!!

Again, another sprayed/masked background. This one is my fav of the ones I did that day. 

So here is where the sad sad story is. I used the magnetic lasso to take this guy out of his background. And well,I lost the actual "guy". I'm sure I have him saved somewhere. Ridiculous, I know. But then I thought I could work with his shadow which is even cooler. So there you go. I am not a trained artist, altho I do subscribe to the school of happy accidents. 

Added some reddish leaf brushes here.

OOOOH AHHHH now I'm really loving the purple gradient layer.

And some cool white leaves on top!

So now these just need some witty words and I'll put them up on etsy, where they will gather dust and not sell.

I hope it's the economy and not that my work is crap that is too similiar to everything else and looks like a third grader did it. 

A third grader with a VERY expensive program and laptop.....

xoS

ANTI-VALENTINES REVISITED

Just for fun

I'm going to post 

Anti-Valentines from past years.

Cuz, well, I haven't had time to create.

My first Photoshop class was last night.

I am HOOKED. Gone. Done. In Love. 

We spent an hour learning "selections". 

Old, tired after a day at work, selections

are not so easy. 

Keyboard Commands!! Who Knew!!

Hope you like the previously posted Anti-V's!

I'll post more oldies but goodies friday.

I'm off to practice selections. 

xoS

My True Love Gave To Me: A Vacuum????

My Dad has wised up.

I remember seeing big wrapped boxes for my mom under the tree.

 Having Major Kid Wonder.

A Treasure had to be in a box that big, right? Well, sadly, inside that box with so much
Kid Potential was usually 

An Appliance.

A toaster oven, an iron, a cooking pot,

or a vacuum.

This all too frequent phenomenon is experienced every Christmas by all too many women.

And this must be stopped.

My Christmas card this year was inspired by this horrible trend.
I started with an image from
a wonderful book:
"Men's Adventure Magazines in Post War America".
I used Bernie Berlin's Never-Dull technique,
from my favorite how-to book
"Artist Trading Card Workshop."
That book is the shiznitz.
I neglected to scan the original image.my bad.
 I followed Bernie's instructions and got this:


Too Cool and Way Too Much Fun.
Next the search was on for the perfect vintage image...

This one is good....but not exactly what I had in my mind....too 70's...not old enuf..

Ah...now this is more like it....but maybe not perfect...

Eureka!! This one is perfect! OOPS!

I meant Hoover!!

This one has great text!

KATHY: SPOILER ALERT!!!

 STEP AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER!

The next steps involve

really FOUL language and

an over indulgence of alcohol.

Trying to teach yourself Photoshop

 is like being on a blind date.

 So many layers to learn, each one more frightening than the last...

This is not exactly what I pictured in my mind. But it can only go up from here.

teehee.

In Conclusion, this card is dedicated to all women all over the world who

have suffered the agony of opening

a wrapped appliance on Christmas Morn.

And my Mom?

Well, since my Dad wised up

she is sporting her favorite appliance of all!

Diamond Jewelry.

xoSusan

PS. Robin, from A Robin's Nest: I lost your address. Email me! I would like to send you a tardy card!!

Marsha: Thank you for your loverly card! I lost your address also and was having hives and shortness of breath over it. Thank God, you sent me your card, or I do believe I would be hospitalized right now.

Can't Wait To Catch Up.

You are my favorite Maker of Magic.

Kathy:

I told you to stop looking. You never listen to me. I don't know where your card is. It said some REALLY funny stuff in it. I mean like stand up comedian worthy. I hope you get it some day.

Cuz I think I peaked on that card.Love You.

teehee.

xoS

Another Photoshop Experiment

This one has like 13 layers. I made a couple cool ones in between, tried to save them but lost them somehow. Egads, Photoshop is equally exhilerating and exhausting. Isn't everything tho? Kids, Men, jobs, even Shopping!! I don't like how dark she is around her eyes, but I try different blending modes, love one, but have to try others, lose the one I loved, can't find it again, say Fuck it, Make a Decision already, and just pick one!! This is after hours of deliberation. I'm very excited because Sunday I have a Phone Tutorial with Andre. Poor man, he is going to need Xanax when I am done with him. xoSusan

My First Photoshop Background!!!

OK, that's really a little white lie.....It's really my third. But the first two were so Darn Ugly I had to delete them. They are only an ugly memory now. As are the clumps of hair I tore out trying to figure out what the hell I was doing. That's ok, though, more hair will pop up on my chin to replace it, darn it....teehee. Anyway, here it is in all it's humble glory.

What I have finally understood is that Photoshop brushes are not really "brushes" at all. That confused the hell out of me. I was thinking of traditional artists brushes. They are actually shapes, textures, patterns. Gail at Creative Workshops has opened my eyes to The Truth!! She also sent me to Obsidian Dawn, where I proceeded to download textures, swirls, grunge, lace, glitter, nature, handwriting and more brushes. (If you download READ the Terms Of Use and BEHAVE Accordingly!!) I think of them more like virtual Rubber Stamps, cuz that's what I feel like I am doing!! There are so many filters and gradient options, I am Addicted with a Capital A! It took me about 2 hours to figure out how to unzip and add the brush files to my Photoshop program. I probably shouldn't admit that, but we're all friends here, right?? On another note, did you realize that even FONTS you download have Terms of Use? Careful, kids, some are not for commercial use, or offer commercial use for donations or a set fee. Egads, who can keep up??? Well, that's all I have to show for about 2 hours worth of trial and error. Thank Goodness, work closed at 6 today. Aren't I lucky that on Labor Day I only had to labor for 9 hours instead of the usual 10 1/2? And yes, that was sarcasm. Hope your Labor Day, lacked well, Labor!!! xoSusan