Let's Begin

1. Open a transparent canvas 400x400

2. Open your tube & choose a color to set as your
foreground. 

3. Flood fill your first layer.

4. Go to Layers-Load/Save Mask-Load Mask from Disk & choose the 3A-shamrock mask.

5. Go to Layers-Delete & say yes to "merge the mask to the layer below it". Then right click on your mask layer in the layers palette & Merge/Merge Group. Your image should look like this:


6. Go to Selections-Select All-Float-Invert selection. While selected, right click on your layer & choose Promote Selection to layer. Choose a light color from your tube & set as Foreground, & a darker color & set as Background. 

Now click on the foreground color & change it to Foreground/Background gradient, linear 0 Angle 0 Repeat.
Flood fill your selected area with your gradient then de-select
and drag it to the bottom. Duplicate this layer 2 times for a total
of 3 promoted layers. Your image will look like this:


And your layers palette like this:


7. Starting with the bottom layer go to Adjust-Add/Remove Noise-Add Noise & enter the settings below. Go on up to the 2nd promoted layer & change the noise setting to 30. Finally activate the 3rd promoted layer & add
noise with a setting of 35:

 Rename these layers shamrock 25, shamrock 30 & shamrock 35 to make it easier later on.

8. Add a new layer on top of your Mask layer & place your tube. Add a drop shadow with these settings:


9. I didn't like the square edge on my tube, so using the freehand selection tool with a feather setting of 9, I made a squiggly selection at the bottom of the fairy & then hit the delete key. This is optional depending  your tube. De-select when finished if you use this step:


10. Use your Text tool, Create as Vector to write out your name. I 
used the font Anglo Saxon 8th c. with an outline of 1 & my light
color set as my foreground & my dark color set as background.
Size and place where you like it then right click on the layer &
convert to Raster. Now duplicate it 2 times so you have a total of 
3 name layers.  Rename your layers to make it easier,
I named mine text 25, text 30 & text 35 so I know which to use with the shamrock glitters.
 
11. For each name layer apply noise with the same settings as you did in step 7. One at 25, one at 30 & one at 35.(obviously apply the noise setting to match with the name!)

12. Go back to your first layer with the mask which should be named Group-Raster 1. Select All-Modify-Contract
by 10 pixels - Invert selection. Set your foreground color back to 
gradient with an angel of 315 & fill this border selection.

13. Leave selected, promote selection to layer & duplicate 2 times. Guess what? Yep, apply the Noise effect in the same incremental settings as before 
 25, 30 & 35. 
Again, naming your layers something like
Edge 25, edge 30 etc.


14. When you have finished adding noise to all your border layers, de-select.

15. Now I want you to hide all layers except for your Group-Raster 1 layer & your tube layer. With just these 2 layers showing, click on one of them to activate & then right click, merge visible & rename it background.



Now we are going to animate but don't worry about what order your layers are in.
It's easier than it seems! 
Just make sure to have your Pan Tool activated when
I say right click & Copy Merged. 
If you right click & don't see that option,
check that you have this tool active: 


I am going to give the cliff notes here for those of you that are proficient in PSP & want to jump ahead, and to help those who are newer understand the process. 

What we will do is to keep our "background" layer active throughout all the steps. 
Then we will unhide a shamrock 25, text 25 & edge 25 
&  right click on our image, 
select Copy Merged along with
the never hidden, always present "background"& paste into Animation Shop. 
Then we will hide all the "25"
layers, but keep the background showing, and unhide all the "30 layers" & repeat with the "35" layers. 
Now you see the method to my madness about the names LOL

Ready? Lets go!

1. Launch Animation Shop

2. Hide all layers except for the background, shamrock 25, text 25 & edge 25. 
Now I did say layer order is not important, 
but if your text is under your background & you can't see it,
well, then okay, it does matter!  Make sure you can see all your elements when you copy a layer.

3. Make sure your Pan Tool is active & right click anywhere on your IMAGE & click Copy Merged:


4. Now go over to AS & right click anywhere on the blank workspace, you will only have 1 option
for this first pasting which is "Paste As New Animation" 
 do it! LOL

5. Go back to PSP hide all your "25" layers & unhide all your
 "30" layers (background layer is always showing) 
 again right click on your image on Copy Merged

6. Go to AS & right click on the image this time and choose 
Paste >After Current Frame.


7. Now let's set up the frame for the last paste. You will be
 looking at frame 1 & frame 2 is the 
selected frame, but I like to see it! 
So click the arrow at the bottom of your animation so
you can see your active Frame 2 - now go back to PSP

8. Hide all your "30" layers & unhide all "35" layers
along with the background! 
Right click on your image,
 Copy Merged and run on over to AS! 
(I'm hoping all this running back & forth 
is burning some calories here ... LOL)

9. In AS, right click on Frame 2 and Paste >After Current Frame

10. Still in AS, go to View >Animation - doesn't it look purty?? 

Now save it, cause your done!