Candy Cane Sucker


~ This tutorial assumes you are familiar with the tools in PSP ~
It was written on August 14, 2008, using PSP 9, but it can be completed in most versions.
Tutorials are only guidelines, it's always fun to experiment with different settings on your own : )

Supplies needed:
A bow and/or ribbons of your choice.
My Candy Cane Pattern - HERE

Tools we will be using:
Selection Tool:  
   Flood Fill Tool:

 
This makes a very pretty candy cane wreath too : )


Step 1:
Download and open the candy cane pattern in PSP, minimize it to your workspace.
Create a new file, 300x300. white background.

In your Materials Palette, set your Foreground to pattern.
Locate the candycanepattern.jpg image in the drop down list and load it.
Set the Angle to 0, Scale to 75, as shown below:




Step 2:
Add a new raster layer and fill it with the pattern.

Effects > Distortion Effects > Polar Coordinates.
Select both Rectangular to Polar and Wrap, hit ok.

Effects / Distortion effects / Twirl.
Set the Degrees to -389.

Grab your Selection tool, or hit the letter 'S' to activate it.
Plug in the following settings in  the Tool Options Palette:
Selection type:  Circle
Mode: Replace
Feather: 0
Anti-alias: Checked


Step 3:
Keeping an eye on the status bar at the bottom right of your PSP workspace,
place your cursor at x:150 y:150, click and drag out a circle measuring 192x192.

Status bar:


Here is how my selection looks:


Selections > Invert.
On your keyboard, hit the delete key, once.

Selections > Invert.
Selections > Modify > Contract, contract by 20.
Hit the delete key.



Selections > Select none


Step 4:
Effects > 3D Effects > Inner Bevel.

Plug in the below settings:

(Bevel #10, 5, 40, 37, -59, 7, White, 315, 75, 83)


Image > Rotate > Free Rotate; 90 degrees to the left.
(If my pattern was perfect, we wouldn't need to rotate this, but what can I say, lol)

Add the following Drop Shadow:
Vertical & Horizontal:  1
Opacity: 56
Blur: 5
Color: Black
Shadow on new layer not checked.


Step 5:
Image > Canvas size.
Width: 300 pixels - Height: 500 Pixels
Placement:  Top Center

Now we have more room to work : )

Add a new raster layer.
Change your Foreground color to White.
Grab your Selection tool once again, change the Selection type to Rounded Rectangle.
Draw out a long, thin rectangle, see sample below:


Fill the selection with White.
Select none.


Step 6:
Effects > 3D Effects > Inner Bevel.
Plug in the below settings:

(Bevel #5, 8, 15, 2, -67, 27, White, 313, 65, 68)


Add the same Drop Shadow we used in Step 4.


Step 7:
Hide your white background layer by clicking on the eye next to it.
Right click on any other layer and select 'Merge visible'.

Add your bow/ribbons or any other element you like, and you're done!


I hope you enjoyed this tutorial; I look forward to seeing your results.