Photoshop: Filters and Blend Modes

This week we practiced with filters and blend modes. My favorite way to use the filters is as a smart object. I love to go back in and play, which you can't do if you do a simple filter on a photo. I also played around with digital scrapbooking, since that is where I see myself using my Photoshop skills most often.  And because it seemed like a good forum for sharing a photo edited like this--photoshop for the bad, my teacher calls it. But Courtney loved it and she was excited for me to make a page with it.  My title was made with alphas from Sahlin Studio. Being a newbie, I finally figured out the difference between alphas and fonts. Fonts you can type with. Alphas are elements that need to be dragged in and placed one by one. BTW, the smart filters I used for the photo are plastic wrap (why do I love this one so much?) and glowing edges.