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How to turn this image into this: 
Program used: Photoshop CS3
Skill level: Intermediate
1. Before I begin I would like to say this tutorial works best with images where the background has been removed. I'll leave how to remove the backgrounds up to you, whether it's by using vector images or erasing them yourself. Whatever works for you best.
2. Crop your image into a 100x100 icon, like so:
3. (OPTIONAL) Sharpen it however you see fit. For this icon I decided not to do that.
4. Duplicate your background layer.
5. Hold down the control button (ctrl) on your keyboard and right-click the image in the layer you created in step 4. This automatically selects just Cornelia in the layer. It should look like this:
6. Create a new layer (shift+ctrl+N) and place it inbetween the two layers. Leave your foreground color as black, but change your background color to #5b80e8. Activate your gradient tool (G) and make sure it's set to linear gradient,
like it's shown here. Try to angle the gradient where it's directed towards Cornelia's face. Don't worry about stretching it too far. The area you selected in step 5 helps keep the gradient confined into Cornelia's space.
7. Try to make a gradient where only the area around Cornelia's face is colored with #5b80e8. Keep making gradients until you're happy with the result. After that, deselect (ctrl+D) the gradient. Then change its blending mode to soft light and apply a 2.0 gaussian blur (filter -> blur -> gaussian blur) to it. This creates a sort of minor drop shadow behind Cornelia.
8. Duplicate your top layer twice. Set the first copy to soft light and desaturate it (shift+ctrl+U). Set the other copy to hard light.
9. Create a new layer and place it inbetween the two layers you made in step 7. Set your foreground color to #e5ea5c and your background color to #2e0607. Once again select your gradient tool, but this time set it to diamond gradient
like it's shown here. Drag your gradient tool in the
opposite direction you made the gradient in step 6. Also, make sure it fills up the entire layer. You should have something similar to this:
10. Duplicate the layer you created in step 9. Set the bottom layer to hard light at 55% opacity. Set the top layer to lighten. Now you should have something similar to this:
11. Create a new layer and place it above the very first layer. In other words, it should now be your new second layer in the layer window. Select a texture from your collection and paste it (ctrl+V) into this layer. For this icon, I'm using a section I cropped out from
this large texture. It should look similar to this:
12. Merge all your layers (shift+ctrl+E). As an optional step, you can also use auto levels (shift+ctrl+L). And you're done!
***Remember to experiment with the settings in this tutorial!*** Even inverting the colors(ctrl+I) of one of the layers you made in step 9 can create new colors. For example, the first icon below was made using colors #9e005d and #7f002e for step 8, then I inverted the colors in the hard light layer with an opacity of 25%. In the other icon I used colors #e681b2 and #a91269 for step 8, then I inverted the colors of the hard light layer but I left its opacity set at 55%. The other icons followed this tutorial to the letter.
