First attempt using a layer mask

I don't really get it yet, but I used this tutorial and this awesome layer mask action to try my first eye sharpen in PSE7. I am so slooooow when it comes to grasping this stuff, but I *think* something actually happened this time instead of the fake sharpening I did a few posts back. Bwahaha. (It will be doubly embarrassing if it appears that they don't really look all that sharpened or defined this time!) :o)

Anyway, I didn't do anything else to this picture. Was only focused on learning how to sharpen the eyes. So I realize there are probably other things I could do to make the picture better. It didn't help that the very princess pictured below woke up way too early from her nap, and was doing her best to prove what an independent (and in this case, naughty) little stinker she can be while I was try to do this for the first time! Needless to say, I'm looking forward to bedtime tonight so I can practice more with this new technique. (Oh, and just because we haven't said it in a while: I think this picture looks way better NOT in blogger! There, said it).


*Edited to add: Fle (and anyone else of course), I'm curious if the tutorial I used is at all similar to the way you edit your eyes. This tutorial is a lot different from others I've read. If you're interested, you should skim through and see what you think. Now that I can do the layer mask, I can probably do it a number of different ways.