Good to Wow: Good Morning Edition, Edited

First, I want to thank Jill and Ashley for the time they take to host this challenge and to teach! Ashley has not only given great tutorials, but she has been so patient with me asking her questions!

So this week we had to photograph what says "Good morning" to us. I am NOT a morning person, so I prefer that no one say "Good morning" to me too loudly until I've had my shower...and poured my first cup of tea.

A summary of this week for me: I am working with just RAW photos, which I love! And good thing because all of my photos were underexposed (my house is so dark!), so I was able to adjust the exposure. AND...I have figured out those crazy layer masks!

Here was my first SOOC:


And here is my new and improved teapot:

To begin with, I used all of Ashley's adjustments she suggested last week: the high pass filter and then setting the blend mode at soft light. I then ran Coffeeshop's Urban Grit action. Then I added a scratch texture I got from DeviantART; I brushed back on the teapot with a brush set at 75% opacity.

My second SOOC of my delicious tea:


My edit:

After I completed the adjustments Ashley suggested last week, I added a gradient black/white layer which I brought down to 25% opacity.

My SOOC shot of my favorite mug:


Minnie and Goofy now:

Yep - Ashley's edits. Then Coffeeshop's Soft and Dreamy action, painted it off the Disney mug, added a black/white gradient fill layer, adjusted opacity. Then I painted back the mug.

Last, the SOOC of my tea cups:


And my new tea cups:

High pass filter, set blend mode to soft light. Ran Coffeeshop's Johnna's Tea Party (appropriate, no?). Added Coffeeshop's Vintage Valentine texture. Brushed off the front cup with brush set at 50% opacity, brushed off back cup with brush set at 35% opacity. I then added a black/white gradient fill layer and adjusted the opacity appropriately.

And that is it! What a fun tea party!