Supplies:
Scraps of choice: I am using doodles from Lori M. She has tons of cool doodles on her site, so look around while you’re there.
I am using the Doodle Butterflies here: http://doodlesbylori.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2008-03-13T11%3A17%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=7
And the Doodle Corners here: http://doodlesbylori.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2008-03-22T11%3A17%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=7
Scraps you will need: Butterfly (or flowers or birds or whatever!) doodles and matching corner / accent doodles
No tube for this one!
Font of choice – I am using “Apple Butter.” It is freeware and you can find it here: http://www.getfreefonts.info/free_font.applebutter.html.
All links and supplies shared with permission.
Here we go!
This is another quick and easy forum set!
First, open a new canvas 600 x 250. Then, flood fill white.
Open your butterfly doodles. Using your lasso (freehand) select tool, draw around the butterfly you want to use. Once it’s selected, copy and paste it onto your canvas.
Resize your butterfly 75% (Image>Resize being sure that “Resize all layers is UNchecked). Save
Move your butterfly to the far right center of your canvas, and add a drop shadow. Go to Effects>3D Effects>Drop Shadow. I am using settings 3, -3, 80, 3, color black.
Duplicate your butterfly. Image>Mirror. Save.
Using the lasso tool again, select a different butterfly of a complimentary color. Copy and paste it onto your canvas. If you are using the same butterflies as me, I free rotated this new butterfly 35 degrees to the left.
Add a drop shadow to this new butterfly. I used 3, 0, 80, 3, black. Save.
Choose a light color from one of your butterflies. Set is as one of your colors, and white as the other. Choose a foreground/background gradient that you like and flood fill your background layer. I used #ac69f6 as my background color, and a sunburst gradient with 1 repeat.
Now, use your lasso tool to select a corner accent. Copy and paste it onto your canvas. Resize it 50%. Move it into the lower left hand corner. Save.
Apply a drop shadow to your corner accent. I used 3, 0, 80, 3, black. Move it below your butterfly layers. Duplicate your corner accent. Image>Mirror. Save.
Now, add any copyrights that need to be added for your doodles.
Finally, add your name. I am using font “Apple Butter,” at a size of 65. My foreground color is black, my background color is #f78de1, and my stroke width is 1.5. I arranged my name off center to the left, so that I could do a mirror image. You should, of course, put your name however you like it!
Convert to raster and add drop shadow. I used 3, 0, 80, 3, black. If you want, duplicate your name, then Image>Mirror.
OPTIONAL - If you want, you can add some more doodle accents. I added the line of pink dots to each of my top corners. I copied and pasted the line into the top-right corner, duplicated and free rotated 90 degrees to the right, then lined up the big dots to make a corner shape. Then, merge those two layers, duplicate merged layer, Image>Mirror. I also added a line of them down at the bottom, duplicated, and mirrored. I didn’t add drop shadows to any of these…
Save and you’re done!
Now, for your avatar -
Avatar sizes vary based on the forum you’re using them on. I am basing mine on the avatars used in The Zone
Open a new canvas 150x150.
Flood fill it with the same gradient you used in your tag. Mine is #ac69f6 as my background color, white as my foreground, and I used a sunburst gradient with 1 repeat.
Copy and paste a butterfly onto your canvas, resizing as necessary. I used the pink butterfly resized 60%. Add drop shadow. I used 3, 0, 80, 3, black. Change the blend mode on this layer to “Soft Light.” Save.
Now, add your name. I am using font “Apple Butter,” at a size of 60. My foreground color is black, my background color is #f78de1, and my stroke width is 1.5.
Convert to raster and add drop shadow. I used 3, 0, 80, 3, black. If you want, free rotate your name 20 degrees to the left.
OPTIONAL – I copied and pasted one of the dot corners I made. I put it in the top left corner of my avatar, duplicated, Image>Mirror, Image>Flip. I repeated this until I had an accent in each corner.
Save and you’re done!
I would LOVE to see your results!
Email them to tutsbyj0eswife@gmail.com
This tutorial was created on