I like to use Photoshop creatively, I've been using it this way for 12 years now and it's something I've become known by. There's just so much you can do with just the basic tools and filters alone. Then if you explore a little you will find other brushes and filters that can give your designs a distinctive almost 3D look.
Working from scratch is a very rewarding way to use photoshop. The possibilities are endless and the results are very personal. The secret's in the layers, you can build up very subtle effects by layering images in a creative way.
Photographs can work well as background images and can add a bit of missing texture to an otherwise fllat design. I have built up my own image library of random yet inspiring images. To see examples of my library take a look at my Photography page.