Using brushes directly on your photo is a great way to add extra drama to your digital scrapbooking layout without adding a lot of clutter to your page. It can also be an extremely subtle way of adding detail that supports your page theme. The screenshots for this tutorial were created using Photoshop Elements (PSE) 7. If you're using a different version of PSE or Photoshop (PS), some features may be slightly different. This tutorial assumes that you know how to choose a foreground color, load a brush (PS instructions, PSE instructions) and create a new layer.
For more ideas for using brushes on your layouts, see 10 Ways to Use Brushes on Your Layouts.