Here is my Fix It Friday edit for I Heart Faces:

I am so proud of this one!  I decided to go for it this week without using any of my regular action shortcuts.  Sooooo, it was a great learning process.....but I spent the whole night fooling around with different ideas, opacities, etc, etc.  Ooops.  So, I know that when I am in a hurry, the actions are SUPER helpful.  But it is pretty exciting to see such a big difference that I could make on my own.  That builds my confidence to know that I can cover myself if it comes down to it, in a pinch.  Plus, I made myself a before and after template which makes it much easier for me to see a difference (and maybe stop editing before it is too much?)  Ok, so now I am on to some actual work :(
Check out some other entries here:

I have been to the site for Everyday Elements several times, but this is my first participation.  Each week there is a "practice play" on a provided image.  No better way to learn than to try, right?  So here is my go at editing this image for the week:

So, as I am posting this, I am not loving it quite as much as I thought. LOL!  I do love the background darkened and the extra contrast and the middle of the flowers.  But around the edges has lost that soft flowery feel when I see it next to the before pic.  Not sure if it is the sharpening or the burning that I am not liking.  But, it is tooooo late to try again tonight. 
Here is what I did (basically.)  I ran a free defog action from the old DPMoms site, which I believe is now http://www.texaschicksblogsandpics.com/ I almost always wind up choosing the 2nd layer "a little foggier."  Then I flattened and ran the free coffeeshop action which is actually for portraits (that would be the perfect portrait action.)  I tweaked and adjusted and flattened.  It seemed too dark or saturated, so I tried several textures and layers, and nothing quite worked.  I settled on a gradient map on a super-low opacity (6% i think.)  Next I tried a clipping mask, but couldn't remember how to keep the transparent background, unfortunately.  Since this is a white background, it doesn't show-hehe. 
Not perfect, but I am proud of me for giving it a try! Yay!
Here is the link to the Everyday Elements site.  There is a posing guide giveaway also.  Check it out: