fun with color layers & textures

I have been admiring photos all over the internet that have been processed with textures, and I also learned a tiny bit about adding layers of color too. One of my favorite texture sites is Jerry Jones' site. He makes the most amazing files, and they are FREE!  I admit to being somewhat intimidated because all of his photos are so dramatic and unique. But I decided to just give it a try anyhow.

I saw this little plant {probably a weed} poking up in the middle of a sea of cement and knew I wanted a photo of it to experiment with. Here is the image SOOC:

One thing I need to learn how to do is to mask off the little plant, in this case, so it doesn’t get lost in the texture. Here is the image after being assaulted processed with the pollution texture and several color layers at differing opacities:

And here is the page I made using the final photo:

I am happy with how it turned out, but realize I need lots more practice! If you have any texture/color layer- processed photos I would love to see them!