I like working with larger workspaces. It's easier to see what I am doing. I enlarge my image to work on it by tapping the + key on the number pad. (Reduce it by tapping the - key.) You can expand or reduce your image using the roller wheel of your mouse, too.

Open your picture in PSP.
Duplicate the picture by pressing Shift+D. Close your original.
Make sure your layer palette is open.
Right click on the background layer; then Promote Background Layer.

Study the image you want to mist to make sure there will be enough room between the outside of the image and the edge of the picture so that the feathered outlines do not meet or go beyond the edge of your picture. If it does, you'll end up with a straight line through your mists and ruin the effect you're trying to create.

Looking at this particular picture, there may not be enough room from the top of her hand and the top of the pic. Change the canvas size generously, adding 50 or more pixels to the height and width. Move the image to the bottom of the canvas with the mover tool. Duplicate the layer. Flip and drag the duplicated layer to mirror the bottom image (head to head). You can overlap the two, but don't leave a gap between the two images. Merge the visible layers so you have one full raster layer. Look closely for any sharp lines where the pictures meet and use the smudge tool to buff them away.

Choose the lasso tool. Selection type: Point to point. Mode: Replace Feather:0 Smoothing: 0 Anti-alias Checked.

Starting somewhere along the edge of the image you are misting, outline the image with your lasso, taking short steps, clicking and moving the line along the edges. Avoid making sharp corners, and jagged lines, but you do not have to be exact.

If you click on the wrong spot, you can undo a series of clicks backward by tapping the Delete key.

When you have almost completely surrounded your image with the lasso so that the starting point is the next place you would click, double click your mouse to close the loop and bring up the marching ants.

Selection > Modify > Feather >Number of pixels: 33 Hit OK.

(Depending on the size of the image, I normally don't feather the selection beyond 35 pixels. If you feather the image too far, you tend to cut off noses, facial features. Others may prefer the look, but I don't. I like my images to be soft, but not distorted. Study as many different techniques as you can and make your own decision. Practice with alot of images and decide what you like best.)

There are several different ways of finishing your misted picture. Try one or all of them. There is no cut and dried absoloute way you have to work to create a beautiful piece of art. The only time it's absolute is when you are studying under a teacher and that person requires you to use a certain technique.

1) Selections > Invert > Tap the Delete Key.
(Some people stop at this point.)
Selections> Select All
Selections> Float
Selections>Defloat
Image> Crop to Selection.
Save in PSP format.
Export as a picture tube.
Export as a brush.
Test tube and brush against a white or other colored background.

2) Selections > Invert > Tap the Delete Key twice.
This takes even more of the mist from the outside of the image.
Finish the mist the same as in step one.

3) Edit > Copy
Edit> Paste as New Image.
Save in PSP format.
(I'm still partial to this technique. It lets me "not save" the original I worked on because I probably forgot to make a duplicate and close my original.)

4) Selections > Invert. Tap the Delete Key.
Selections> Invert.
Selections> Modify > Feather > Increase amount by 5 or more pixels.
Selections> Invert. Tap the Delete Key
Selections> Invert
Selections > Select All
Selections> Float
Selections > Defloat
Image> Crop to Image
or
Edit > Copy
Edit>Paste as New Image.
Save in PSP format
Finis!