Summer Angel

YOU WILL NEED:

* Paint Shop Pro or similar. I used PSPX but you should be able to make this tag in other versions.

* Tube of choice. I used the artwork of Zindy S D Nielsen and you can purchase her tubes and artwork from HERE.

* Font of choice. I used Honey Script.

* My Shades of Summer Scrapkit HERE.

* Mask by me HERE.


LETS START

1. Set up your supplies ready to use.

2. New canvas 500 x 500 with a white background.

3. Copy and paste 3 papers from the scrapkit to the canvas. I used (working from bottom to top) #11, #6 and #1.

4. Apply your mask to paper 11 and merge group.

5. Resize paper #6 to 80%. You may like to sharpen to make the texture of the paper to stand out.

6. Resize paper #1 to 75%. Rotate paper 10 degrees Left. You may like to sharpen the paper.

7. Copy and paste flowerframe1 to your canvas. Resize to 90% and sharpen if required.

8. Copy and paste the heart accent of choice to the canvas and resize to 75%. Duplicate and rotate each heart 10 degrees, one to the left and the other to the right. Position the heart on the frame using my tag as a guide. Try and position the hearts so that the pearls cover each other where they intersect. Merge heart layers together.

9. Copy and paste a bow to the canvas. Resize and sharpen - I resized to 40%. Position the bow on the hearts.

10. Copy and paste your tube to the canvas. If you are using the same tube as I did, I did not resize but I did erase the bottom part of the dress. Position the tube to your liking. Duplicate the tube and place the copy above the frame and make sure your original tube is below the frame. On the top tube layer, erase the bottom part of the tube to reveal the flower frame. I tubed around her hand so that the flower and her hand were outside the frame. Erase the excess tube from the bottom layer.

11. Drag the heart layer so that it is above the frame but under the top tube.

12. Apply drop shadow at V and H = 0, Opacity = 70, Blur = 2, colour = #9a928b (if you are using the same tube as me) to the bow, hearts, frame, bottom tube, paper 1 and paper 6 layers.

13. Activate your text tool and select your Honey Script font. Foreground and background colours = #f5dda0, stroke 1, size 36. Type your message. Change Drop shadow settings to V = 1, H = -1, Blur 1 (everything else stays the same) and apply.

14. Change the foreground colour to #d6d1c4 and the size to 100. Type your name and position to your liking. Change Drop shadow settings to Blur 2 (everything else stays the same) and apply.

15. Add copyright information and your watermark. Save as a .jpg file and you are done. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.

Sweet Dreams Fairy

YOU WILL NEED:

* Tube of choice - I have used Suzanne Richard's art work which you can purchase at CILM

* Font/s of choice - I used Adorable and Kismet

* Muras Cloud filter

* Xenofex Constellation filter (can substitute any sparkle filter)

* Paint Shop Pro and Animation Shop (or similar). This tag was made in PSPX but should be able to be made in any version.


LETS START!

1. Set up your supplies ready for use. Open a new image 500 x 500 with a white background. Choose two complimentary colours from your tube. I used #4e3360 (dark) and #c2a7c7 (light).

2. Add a new raster layer and floodfill with your dark colour. Apply the MuRas Cloud filter at the settings given below. Resize the layer to 80% and duplicate.

3. On your top layer, apply the Constellation filter at the settings given below. Lower the opacity of this layer to 60%. Merge with your cloud layer and duplicate.

4. Again on the top duplicate layer, select all - float and defloat. Selections - Modify and contract by 6. Hit delete. Apply Inner Bevel at the settings given below.

5. Add a new raster layer. Activate your selection tool and make a custom selection. Floodfill with your light colour and deselect. Image - Free Rotate - 45 degrees left. Select all - float and defloat - Modify - contract by 6 and hit delete. Modify - contract by 6 and floodfill. Contract by 6 and hit delete. Contract by 6 and floodfill. Contract by 6 and hit delete. You should have 3 bands at this stage. Add a new raster layer. Select the foreground background gradient on your materials palette and using the settings below, floodfill on your new layer. I put my light colour in the middle. Apply Inner Bevel to your frame layer (3 bands) at the same settings as before.

6. Drag the gradient layer to below the frame layers. Duplicate your dark frame layer and place it top and bottom of the light frame layer. On the top dark frame layer, carefully erase parts of the frame so it looks like your frame layers are woven together. Use my finished tag as a guide. Merge your frame layers together.

7. Add your tube to the canvas. Resize and sharpen if necessary. Apply drop shadow to your tube and frame layers at the following settings.

8. Duplicate your cloud layer again and apply Gaussian Blur at the following settings to the bottom cloud layer.

9. Activate your top layer and using your text tool at the following settings type your name. I used white for background and foreground colours. Convert to raster and apply Inner Bevel at the settings given below. Apply drop shadow at the same settings as before. Add your copyright information and watermark at this point.

10. Merge your layers together and save as an Animation Shop .psp file.

11. Open your file in Animation Shop. File menu - New with the following settings.

12. Effects Menu - Insert Text Effect using the settings below. I used white for the Text Custom colour. Click on the Font button to bring up the second screen. I ended up using size 36 for my text - too lazy to redo the screenshot lol. Click OK when all is to your satisfaction. Delete frame 1.

13. Edit menu - select all. Animation menu - Rotate - 45 degrees left using the settings below.

14. Activate your original image and duplicate the frames so that you have 9 to match the animation you just made. Click on your Propagate Paste button. Make sure all frames are selected in both animations. Click on frame 1 of your text animation and holding the mouse button down, drag it to frame 1 of your image. Do not let go of the mouse button until you have the text where you want it. I placed mine at the top of the frame so you could just see the first few letters of Sweet. If you mess this up, just click undo for both animations and go again.

15. Edit menu - select all. Animation menu - frame properties. Change the number to 25. View menu - Animation. If you don't like the direction your text is going in, then Animation menu - Reverse Frames. Save your file as a .gif file using the settings below and you are done.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial!

Violet Glitter

YOU WILL NEED:

* Paint Shop Pro and Animation Shop (or similar programs)

* Image of choice - I have used the artwork of Jamie Kidd. You need a license to use this artwork and you can purchase images and tubes from CILM

* Honey Script Light Font HERE.

* Sparkle filter of choice. I used Xenofex Constellation.

* My Sweet Violet Scrapkit HERE

* Dark glitter pattern made by me (right click and save)




LETS START!

Set up your supplies ready for use. Have your tube and scrap kit open in PSP.

Open a new image 500 x 500 with a white background. Set up your materials palette with #5f375b as your foreground colour and the dark glitter pattern as your background.

Add a new raster layer. Activate your selection tool and make a custom selection using the settings below. Floodfill with your foreground colour.

Apply Gaussian Blur at the following settings and lower the layer opacity to 75%.

In your materials palette, scale your glitter pattern to 60%. Change the glitter to the foreground and close off the background.

Activate your preset shapes tool and select the rounded rectangle. Draw out a rectangle (use my tag as a guide). To make sure your rectangle is dead centre, Edit - cut and Edit - paste as a new layer.

Apply Unsharp Mask and Inner Bevel to your rectangle at the settings shown below.

Copy and paste your image as a new layer under the rectangle layer. Position your image to best advantage, resizing if necessary. Activate the rectangle layer and click inside the rectangle with your magic wand tool. Selections - Modify - expand by 3. Selections - Invert. Activate your image layers and press delete. If you are using a tube rather than an image you could add an extra raster layer which you floodfill with a complimentary colour or gradient then paste your tube in. I colorized my tube using the settings below. This is optional and you should check the terms of the artist involved as not all allow colorizing of their images.

Add any accents to your tag at this point. I added a bow and one of the flower motiffs. I resized both to 70% and rotated the bow 15 degrees to the left. Add drop shadow at the settings given below, to your accents, the rectangle and the doodle layers.

Activate your text tool and using the settings below, type your message and your name on separate layers. I sized the message text at 60 pixels and the name at 72. For each text layer, apply unsharp mask and then drop shadow at the same settings we used before.

Add your copyright information and watermark. Merge your blur layer to the white background layer. Close off the background layer and the doodle layer and make sure one of the other layers is active. Merge visible. NOTE if you are going to use this as a tag back, close off the name layer too and keep it separate and at the top. Duplicate the doodle layer twice (so that you have 3) and apply your sparkle filter. The settings I used for Constellation are below. Remember to click random seed for each layer.

Duplicate your background layer twice and merge a doodle layer to each background layer. Repeat the process with your merged image layer. Save your work as an Animation Shop psp file.

Open your file in Animation Shop. Edit - Select All. Animation - Frame Properties - change to 15. Save your file using the following settings. NOTE since changing to a widescreen digital monitor I have noticed that the Octree settings leave a noticeable background where the median cut doesn't. Experiment and choose what suits you best.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.

Whatever

YOU WILL NEED:

* Paint Shop Pro. I used version 10 but you should be able to make this tag in earlier versions.

* Animation Shop.

* Tube of choice. I am using the artwork of Popeye Wong and you can check out his site HERE. The tube I used is here.

* Mask or brush of choice. I used a mask by Mz Kels.

* 2 Fonts of choice - I used Satisfaction and Lucida Sans Unicode.


LETS START!

1. Open your tube in PSP. Open your fonts (by double clicking in Windows Explorer) and minimise to use later.

2. Open a new image 500 x 500 with a white background. Select two dominant colours from your tube and put them on your materials palette. I used black for the foreground and red (#c62828) for the background. Activate your Preset Shapes tool and select the Ellipse shape. Using the settings below, draw out a circle about the same size as the sample below. Convert to raster then Edit menu - cut - Edit menu - paste as a new layer, to centre the circle on your canvas. You can delete the extra layer.

3. Duplicate your circle layer and apply Gaussian Blur to the bottom layer at the following settings twice.

4. Copy and paste your tube to the canvas. Resize and sharpen if necessary (I didn't). Position your tube to your liking. Use your magic wand at the settings below to select the inner part of your circle. Selections menu - Invert. Return to your tube layer and press delete. Select none.

5. Apply drop shadow to your tube and circle layers at the settings given below.

6. Add a new raster layer above your circle layer. Floodfill with the same colour that you used for the outer ring on your circle. Apply your mask and merge the group. If you are using a brush instead, don't floodfill the layer but use the outer ring colour as your colour. Use your magic wand to select the inner circle again and invert and delete to remove the excess. I lowered the opacity of this layer to 60%.

7. Add your copyright information and watermark but make sure you don't have it anywhere near where you want to put your name.

8. Close off the white background layer and merge visible. Hold the Control key down and press C then V to trim the excess from your canvas. Add a new raster layer and floodfill with white and drag the white layer to the bottom. Merge layers together. Edit - copy.

9. Open Animation Shop and Edit - Paste as a new animation. Effects menu - Insert Text Effect.

10. Use the same settings as given below to get the rotating text ie wheel. You will need to play with the text a bit to get it spaced evenly around your circle. Leave at least 2 spaces between words. Click on the font button to get the font properties. You may find it easier to edit your text on this screen as well. Once you have your text positioned to your liking, click OK.

11. Go back to the first frame of your animation and click on it, Press the delete key. Click on the new first frame, Edit - Select all - File - Save Frames As - save your file.

12. Open your file in PSP. Activate your text tool and using the settings below, type your name. Grab the handle on the vector box and tilt your name slightly. Convert to raster and apply the same drop shadow as before but change the colour to white.

13. Duplicate your name so that you have 8. Merge each name to a background layer and save your file.

14. Open your file in Animation Shop again. Edit - Select All - Animation - Frame Properties - change to 25. Save using the settings below and you are done. NOTE since changing to a widescreen digital monitor I have noticed that the Octree settings leave a noticeable background where the median cut doesn't. Experiment and choose what suits you best.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.

Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing

YOU WILL NEED:

* Paint Shop Pro or similar. I used PSPX but you should be able to make this tag in other versions.

* Tube of choice. I am using the art of Popeye Wong. You will find Popeye's site HERE and the tube I used HERE. Click on the image to download.

* Mask made by me download HERE.

* Font of choice - I used Verve HERE.

* DSB flux Linear Transmission filter which you can download from HERE.

* Greg's Pool Shadow Filter HERE.

* Stardust Brush by Melfina HERE.


LETS START!

1. Set up your supplies ready for use. Have your mask and tube open in PSP. Choose two colours for foreground and background that compliment the tube you will use. I used #B66A6A (pink) and #3E455C (blue). Open a new image 500 x 500 with a white background.

2. Set your materials palette so that you have the same colour for the foreground and background (I used the blue). Using your preset shapes tool on the settings below, draw out an ellipse. Hold your cursor at x60 y60, hold down the mouse button and let go when you get to x440 y440 (numbers show in the bottom right of your screen). Convert to raster.

3. Add a new raster layer and floodfill with your other colour (I used the pink). Layers menu - New Mask Layer - From Image. Find your mask on the drop down menu and click OK. Merge group and duplicate the layer.

4. On the bottom mask layer, Adjust menu - Blur - Radial Blur at the settings given below. Lower the layer opacity to 90%.

5. Apply drop shadow at the settings below to the top mask layer.

6. Duplicate the ellipse layer. On the bottom ellipse layer, Adjust menu - Blur - Gaussian Blur at the settings below. Hide this layer.

7. Activate the top ellipse layer and using your magic wand at the settings below, click on the ellipse. Selections - Modify - Contract by 60. Hit the delete key. Selections - Modify - Contract by 15 and floodfill with the blue. Select none.

8. Use your magic wand to select the transparent band in the ellipse. Selections - Modify - Expand by 4. Click on the blur layer and make it visible. Apply DSB Flux Linear Transmission at the settings given below. Select none.

9. Activate your pen tool. Set the line width to 6 and using the settings below, draw 4 straight, evenly spaced lines across the ellipse. Click on the Apply button at the end of each line or your lines will want to join together.

10. Convert your vector layer to a raster layer and merge with the ellipse layer. Apply drop shadow to this merged layer with Vertical and Horizontal 0, Opacity 45 and a Blur of 12.

11. Open your Stardust brush in PSP (I used Stardust 02). Select your brush tool. Click on the Create Brush Tip icon and type in the name of the brush and author, then press OK. The brush should now be in your drop down list of brushes.

12. Add a new raster layer above the blur layer and using the settings given below, apply the brush. Reduce the layer opacity to 90%. Add another raster layer above the ellipse, resize the brush to 200 and apply over the middle of the ellipse. Reduce layer opacity to 90%.

13. Close the foreground on the materials palette and have the pink colour as your background. Activate your text tool and using the following settings type your name. Stretch out the vector to fill the middle portion of the ellipse. Convert to raster. Hold the control key down and press C then V to cut and paste your text to the middle of your canvas. Selection - Float - Defloat and apply Pool Shadow at the settings given below. Select none. Apply drop shadow at the same settings as before but change the opacity to 60.

14. Add your tube to the canvas. Resize and sharpen if necessary. I resized to 75% and applied Unsharp Mask at the following settings. Position to your liking. Apply drop shadow to the tube at the same settings we used on the top mask layer (step 5).

15. Add your copyright information. Crop any excess white from the canvas and save as a jpeg. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.