This tutorial was written on January 15th 2003 and © by Lady Oz. You may make a copy of this tutorial or print it out for your own personal use ONLY. Do not send through emails nor put on your own site, but if you would like to LINK to my tutorials please do so. Also what you create belongs to you, I only own this tutorial and wish it to stay on this page. *s*.
*Disclaimer* I got this cute idea from an Australian Muffin recipe book called 'Muffin Magic' by Diana Linfoot... not only does it have the most delicious recipes but also the cutest illustrations. I thought that it would be a good idea to do a series of these fun tutes for the Cafe menu in 2003. My muffins aren't exactly like the ones in this book, this one in particular, as I try to give them a personal touch, but they are similar.
The sound control for the midi now playing, is at the bottom of this page...if you want to hear it again. *g*
This tutorial uses vector shapes and some shading, though it is not really hard....you can save the Muffin as a preset shape as well as a tube. *s* It is assumed that you have a good working knowledge of PSP.Please email me if you encounter any problems due to my instructions or mistakes, so that I in turn can correct them. I'd love to see your results and don't forget to share any good ideas or additions you may have! *s*
Tools you will be needing for this stage of this tutorial are as follows:
Draw Tool
Retouch tool
Layer Visibility Toggle
Magic Wand
Zoom Tool
Now to decorate our St. Patrick's Day Muffins! *s*
Step 9* If you are happy with the shapes, positions, sizes, colours etc of all of your shape, then convert them all to Raster layer. To do your muffins as I have done then here's basically how I did them. I added a slight sandstone texture to the arms and legs, then added the choc muffin inner bevel to it....you should have it in your preset folder by now. *s*
Save as a PSP file!
Step 10* Select the top of the muffin and add the same texture....apply the EC3 jiggle filter to it.
I chose to darken the top of mine a bit....Colour...Adjust...Curves...Channel RGB...Input 10....Output 4
Save!
Step 11* Select the icing layer and add the same inner bevel as before.
Next select the muffin and apply the sandstone texture and the inner bevel....but raise the depth to 9
Select the cheek...Effects....Blur...Gaussian Blur...10.00....do the same for the other cheek.
Select the nose and add the texture and the inner bevel.
Select the lips and apply the inner bevel...with the
Use the
Use the magic wand again to select the eyebrow and add a jiggle...I also used the 'Push' tool a bit to give the shaggy look. Repeat for the other side.
Now using Darken and Lighten RGB to add shadows and highlights to all parts of the Muffin... Use the soften brush in the areas where the arms meet the muffin etc.
When you are happy with it all...merge layers visible. At this stage you may wish to tube your muffin before you forget. Now you can add any decorations that you wish...sort of personalize it. *s*
This image has been optimized for faster loading...therefore quality is impaired.
Below is the screen capture of my animated muffin. I made two more copies of the original and flipped, rotated the arms and legs on two of them, keeping the original as it is. I then merged each image visible and copy pasted the other two copies onto the original....saved it as a psp file and opened it up in Animation shop, where I reduced the size of animation to 50% and changed the speed to 15....dee diddle de diddle de diddle de diddle... *s*
That's it, I hope that you have enjoyed this fun St Patrick's Day Muffin tutorial and I look forward to seeing your results...if they are as crazy as mine then we are in for a heap of fun! LOL
***Bonus Recipe***
Chocolate Peppermint Muffins
1 cup Flour
2 teaspoons Baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
2 tablespoons Cocoa Powder
1/3 cup Sugar
1 1/2 cups Kellogg's All Bran cereal
3/4 cup Milk
1/4 Egg substitute or 1 egg
2 tablespoons Oil
Peppermint essence
Preheat oven to 400 F. Line 12 muffin pans with paper liners or spray with oil. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa powder and sugar. Combine cereal and milk in large bowl and let stand 2 minutes, or until cereal softens. Add egg or substitute and oil to cereal. Beat well. Stir in a few drops of peppermint essence. Add flour mix, stirring only once until combined and evenly moist. Spoon batter in muffin cups. Bake for 25 minutes or until muffins are lightly browned.
When cooled, spread some peppermint frosting or icing over the top...and decorate to your liking.
Have Fun! and Email if you have any problems!
Tutorial by Mary Newton aka Lady Oz aka Lady Newtonia © 2002
