gradient blur not working
In the screen shot below, I have followed the steps outlined below to create a gradual blur beginning in the lower half of the image reaching full blur by the middle. When I drag the cursor down the image to the bottom as outlined in step 8, it becomes blurry, as opposed to sharp at the bottom. I have done this a hundred times before. I don't know what's happening here. Can anybody help?
- Click on the element only (top) layer on the image inside the icon and hit ctrl click. Only the image will be selected. Move your cursor back to the copied background layer.
- Invert the selection while on the background copy layer (ctrl shift i)
- Blur the layer by going to Filter, Blur, Gaussian Blur.
- Deselect the layer
- Turn the top layer on
- Add a layer mask to the copied background layer
- Select linear gradient
- Drag from the middle to the bottom of the image


