Supplies:
Paintshop Pro (I use V9)
1 or 2 Images of choice, mine are by Howard Robinson and used with a personal permission.
Some wintry Elements, mine are: A doodle by Nana's Attic, a star swirl by BabyCakesScraps. Get those supplies here, shared with permission as per TOU.
I have also used a row of Icicles, but the download from Mrs.Miles doesn't work anymore...it was from 2006, lol.
Kits that also have icicles are one by Artmama called WinterWonderland or WinterWishes by Clarey.
Font(s) of choice, mine is
Filter AAA Frames/ Foto Frame and Xero Artworx.
You should have some knowledge of working with layers for this.

Open a new canvas 600x250. Take your two images and place them next to each other onto it. Like this.

We'll blend them now. Take your Selection Tool set to Rectangle. Select a portion of the upper image like shown below. Selections/Modify/Feather. Depending on how much you want take off the image set the feathering to 25 to 50. Hit delete on your keyboard several times until you do not see a straight edge anymore. Selections/ Select none.

Merge down and crop merged opaque. Duplicate and hide that layer. On the original, Image/Mirror, Adjust/Blur/Gaussian Blur set to 13. Effects/Distortion Effects/Pixelate set to 12 symmetric. Then apply Xero Artworx, I chose Lines as my preset. Unhide the other layer and set the blend mode to Luminance (L) or one of your choice.
Now come the embellishments. I placed a doodle on the left side of my tag and set the blend mode to Soft Light. Then I pasted the star swirl onto the tag. And finally the row of icicles. When you're happy merge all layers visible.
Apply AAAFrames/Foto Frame, width of your choice. Add all credits legibly and then add your name. Save as a jg.

If you are making a forum set, hit shift+d to make a duplicate of your tag. Set your crop tool to 150x150 and move the square about on your tag until you see a portion you like for your avatar. Crop. Delete any layers which you don't want showing. Merge visible. Add a frame, I chose AAA Frames/ FotoFrame. Add credits and your initial or name. Save as jpg.

For my other examples I used art by Steven Michael Gardner, with a personal permission. Fonts are Monika and Palomino.

This tutorial was created 05th November 2010, and is the sole property of ooh...babelicious. Similarity to other tutorials is purely coincidental. Do not copy this or any of my tutorials, or any part of my tutorials, to another site unless you have express permission from me to do so. If you want to share, send the URL, do not direct link or offer on your site. Give credit where credit is due. Do not script this tutorial and offer to others.

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