Need help with combining pictures

[maggie2]

Hi,
I am using Photoshop CS5 and I want to blend two pictures together to make a collage. I have included a picture that is like what I want to accomplish. Then I have included the picture I am working on to show where I have gotten to. I have used a layer mask to try to blend the two pictures but as you can see, there is still a border around the top picture. Is there a way to get rid of this? If so how? And/or is there a better way to combine the two pictures. I've been working on this all day and still not getting the results I want. Any help would be really appreciated. Thanks.

So the first picture is what I want it to look like and the second one is the one I'm working on. Hope someone can help me get this sorted out.


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[IamSam]

Hello.

I think your Brush Tools opacity setting was lowered. Make sure it's set to 100% and go over the area again. If I want to lower the effect that the brush has on the mask, I lower the flow.

Here is the original image of the a girl and a bunny placed on a BG texture layer.


Here's the the original image of the girl and the bunny after adding a layer mask, then using the Brush Tool (set to black) to BLEND the girl and bunny into the BG.




Brush setting (Using a Wacom Tablet)