This was my first attempt at a scrappy tag. I was playing with a mask from selections tutorial and just kept going after I did the exercise. Going back later and trying to replicate my steps was harder than I expected. My hat's off to you folks who create scrap sets all the time. They're alot of work!

Because I used the selection mask over the tube (instead of placing the tube on top of the background) I got a softer, prettier canvas but the mask made for some extra work and confusion. Bear with me as I recreate the steps to finish this tag

Materials needed:
Tube of choice. Resize your tube so the longest side is 325 pixels.
(I do not have permission to share the Les Toil tubes I used for these tags. Most any feminine tube or photograph can be adapted to work with this tut.)

Download.. Materials supplied with this tutorial: (Download and unpack before starting the tutorial. )

Put the shapes in your Preset Shapes folder before you open PSP:

heart1213041.PspShape
decoshape2aMzKris.PspShape - Thank you MzKris!

Open the three tiles in PSP to choose your background pattern from. Minimize the one you want to use and close the others.

background tile1.jpg
backgroundtile2.jpg
003softtile.pspimage

These background tiles are the same pattern, but three different colors so you have a choice. Background tile 2 is a neutral grey that can be colorized to match your tube.

Heart.pspimage - no reason for it to be in the download package except to give you an idea of how large to make your own hearts.

Lets get started.

New Image, 500 X 500 pixels, transparent. Make sure your Layer Palette is visible. Press F8 to open it.

Material palette: Choose one of the pattern tiles (or one of your own) for the foreground and a soft pastel color from your tube or pattern tile for your background. I used #eec8cc from the pattern tile.

Name the first layer BACKGROUND. Floodfill it with your background color.
Effects > Texture Effects > Blinds -- with these settings.

Pillow for Kelly - (name of Les Toil's model.)
You can skip this step if you don't want/need a back drop for your tube.

Preset Shape: Heart 1 or any heart or pillow of your choice.
Retain style, Anti-alias and Create as Vector selected.
Draw a large heart in the middle of your canvas.
If you use my preset shape, your heart will be bright red with a white dotted outline. Let's edit the vector properties to cooordinate the pillow with the rest of the tag.

Click on the + box next to Vector 1 to expand the Layer Palette..
Double click on heart1 to open the Vector Property window.
Change the stroke width to 4 and if you want, change the Line Style to a dot-dash or diamond stroke.

Check the Stroke Box and click on the color box. Use the eyedropper to select a color from your tube.

Right click on the Fill box and select your satin pattern in the recent materials window. It's at the bottom next to Other button.

Click ok and OK again in the next window. Voila! Your heart pillow even has hand stiching around the edges.

Objects > Align > Center in Canvas

Right click on Vector 1 > Convert to Raster Layer - Name this layer: Pillow.

Image > Rotate > Free Rotate > * Rotate Single layer around Canvas Center -- Right, 30 degrees.

Effects > 3D Effects > Inner bevel using these settings.

Effects > 3D Effects > Drop Shadow

Vertical 6,
Horizontal 6,
Opacity 69,
Blur 10.89,
Color Black

ADDING THE MODEL Masking and blending layers.

Copy your tube and paste it in your working file as a new layer. Name the layer Lady or Tube..
Add a drop shadow to your tube using the Last Used settings.

Layers >New Raster Layer. Name the new layer Satin.

Floodfill with your pattern.

Effects > Texture Effects > Blinds - Same setting as before.

Effects > 3D Effects > Inner Bevel - Same settings as last used.

Lower the opacity on Satin layer until you can see your tube well enough to draw around it.

Selection tool: Ellipse Mode: Add Feather: 40 Antialias checked.
Set your cursor at X, 250 Y, 250.
Draw an ellipse outward until the guideline makes a roundish ellipse around your tube. The marching ants will spread when you let go of the mouse.

Tap the delete key twice. Deselect.

Restore the layer opacity to 100%.

Duplicate Satin layer. The new layer appears as the top layer.
Right click on Copy of Satin > Arrange > Move Down intil it's under the Pillow layer.

With all layers visible, check to see if the tube and pillow layers look right to you & use the mover tool to adjust them if needed. Parts of your tube should blend into the pattern around it. The Feathered Selection gives it a softer, more natural look than pasting the tube over the top of the pattern. It also costs you several extra steps of layer arranging. Pay careful attention to the following steps.

Selection tool: Rectangle
Use the Custom Selection Button (outlined) with these settings:

Top 50, Left 50, Right 450, Bottom 450

Selections > Promote Selection to Layer. Name this Layer TOP
Effects >3D Effects > Inner Bevel. - Last Used.

Select NONE.

Hide all the layers except for the Tube Layer and the Pillow Layer.

Layers > Merge > Merge Visible.

Unhide TOP layer. Merge Visible with the Tube layer. All other layers are hidden.

Rename the merged layer: TOP. All other layers stay hidden.

Look at this new merged layer. There is alot of transparent space around the tube and pillow from deleting the feathered selection. It will cause big trouble if you try to apply a drop shadow to the layer in the next steps unless you plug up those holes first!

Let's FIX IT!

Selection Tool - Custom Selection. Last used settings.
The marching ants go around the outside of the TOP layer.
Right Click on the BACKGROUND Layer in the Palette and select: Promote Selection to Layer.

Unhide the Promoted Layer.

Right click on the TOP LAYER - Make sure that only TOP and Promoted layer are visible.

Layers > Merge > Merge Visible. Rename the Top (MERGED) Layer to Top. (YES, AGAIN... ACK!)

This is a round about way of getting things done, but the only way I know to keep the misted layer from dirtying everything below it with an unwanted black dropshadow halo..

Select none.

Click on the TOP layer again to select it.
Effects > 3D > Drop Shadow

Apply the drop shadow to the layer again, but change vertical and horizontal offsets to 2.

Lower the opacity on Copy of satin to 86%. This makes it lighter as it reflects the light pink from the bottom layer.

Hide the TOP layer. Merge Visible (Copy and Background) Layers . Unhide the top layer.

(Man, that took forever to get through.)

SHAPES

Let's add some shapes to decorate the scrappy.

Preset shapes: Decoshape2amMzKris.

Expand your screen to full view while you draw the deco. Click at the top of the canvas on the left side, aligning your decoration along the edge of the TOP pillow... Drag the shape straight down a little past the bottom edge and release.

Grab the middle top node of the bounding box and drag the shape upward so the top triangle nearly touches the top edge. Drag the bottom nodes down to stretch your shape until the bottom triangle almost touches the bottom edge. If your decos are too wide or long or narrow, click on the object selection tool under the Pen Tool in your Tool Bar, and drag the top or side nodes to adjust the shape and width of the vector object.

Edit Vector Properties -

Click on the + Box Next to Vector 1 to expand the Layers. and double click on the next layer called Decoshap...

Change the Stroke Width to 5.

Click on the Stroke Window to open the Materials Selection window/ Color Tab. Use the eyedropper to pick the stroke color.

Right click on the Fill window and choose your background tile. Click OK and OK in the next box . The long black shape magically turned into a soft fabric deco that almost disapears against the background...

Right click on Vector 1 in the Layer Palette.

Convert to Raster Layer. Name the layer Deco1.

Selections > Select All
Selections > Float
Selections > Defloat

Effects > Texture Effects > Blinds. Same settings as before

Deselect

Layer > Duplicate.

Image > Mirror. Name the new layer Deco2.

Apply an inner bevel to both decos - same settings as before.

Select Deco2 - (top of the layer palette.)
Layers > Arrange > Move down until it's below the edge of the TOP Layer. Scoot it back under the edge so it fits nicely.

The left deco is the top layer now. Line it up so it covers the left edge of the top layer.

Looking good.

Preset Shape : Heart One. Make sure you are working on the top layer. Draw a med - large heart using the same settings as before. You'll reuse this vector layer to make all your hearts.
Move it over to one side of the tag so you can arrange the hearts around the decos and tube as you make them.

Click on the + in front of Vector 1 then double click on heart1 to open the Property window.

Change the Stroke Width to 3, choose a soft color for the stroke. Select your pattern for the fill.

Click OK.

Resize the heart using the Object Selection tool. Grab and drag the nodes on the frame around the heart to squeeze or expand it. Rotate the heart by grabbing the rotation handle and dragging it up and to the left or down to the right, until it tilts the way you want it.

Right click on heart1 in the palette.
Create Raster Selection.
Effects > 3D > Inner Bevel - Last used.
Use the raster mover tool to move the new heart from on top of the vector heart. Just push it out of the way for now.

Grab a corner node on the vector heart and squeeze the box to shrink the heart.
Rotate the heart so it tips to a different angle.
Right click on heart1 in the layer palette > Create raster selection. Apply an inner bevel.

Drag it out of the way, and reuse the Vector heart until you have enough hearts around your canvas.

**Make sure to rotate the hearts before applying raster effects to them. The Inner Bevel puts a shadow on the bottom right edge of the object. The light source is top left corner. Rotating them after applying a shadow effect makes the sun shine upside down.

Make as many hearts as you want and scatter them however you want. Hide the vector heart but don't delete it.

When you have the hearts arranged, add a drop shadow to each heart.

Add your signature and watermark somewhere on the tag. When you are satisfied with your arrangement, save your work as a PSPimage, layers UNMERGED. You can come back and rearrange or 'borrow' a deco or a heart for another project . Save the unmerged vector layer to reuse another time.

Resize your image and export it as a jpg, compression 8.

Let me know if you have trouble with this tut. I'd love to see your results.

vetch