PSE Actions - A Beautiful Mess

I treated myself to a new actions set from A Beautiful Mess, The Elements Actions, a couple of days ago. When the shop first opened the action bundles were only for Photoshop and I was sad. Then they released this set of 10 actions shortly afterwards and I was happy again - for $10 you get a lot of editing fun!

One of the first actions I ran is called Clara, and it was perfection (you can see it just below on the pictures of the trees in my front yard).

I found that the Light Leak and Mia actions called for a summertime photo and pulled out one from last year. Mia and this photo of Grayden go hand in hand.

 

Since Darien is fair-skinned like me, I find a lot of actions wash him out, but Dottie and Nico look good on him.

I like to play with the layers in pre-made actions. Not only do I get different results but it also helps me pick-up tips on new layers I can try on my own. The Wendy action converts your photo to B&W but by reducing one of the layers to 90% I was able to preserve some of the colour. The Harper action really made the greenery pop in the photo of Connor.

Where do you buy your pre-made actions?

Hello Card

No credits for this one other than to myself! I made my first Project Life card today. I will admit the "Hello" has been done but the colours, background and layering are all me.

I love how something so simple gives me so much pleasure. It is now proudly displayed on my tack board sitting above my computer.

Layers upon Layers

I have had Photoshop Elements 11 for just a couple of weeks now and haven't even begun to learn or even understand all it can do.

Tonight I completed a layers tutorial; so many shortcuts and steps to remember. I am not unhappy with what I created, but it is so hard not to compare yourself to others who have been doing this for a long time. Practice and experimentation are in my future.

On another note, I ordered my first Project Life kit today (Cherry Edition). I hope to get it next week! My plan is to do a layout a week for one year starting in June. I can't wait to start printing out my pictures on a regular basis and I know the boys will love looking through the book.