Swirled Brad

I'm in a tutorial writing mood, so I'm trying to record the ways that I am making different elements for various kits that I am working on. I often go back and read me own tutorials in order to find settings for effects and plugins so these tutorials are very useful for me. I hope that they are also useful for other people.

This tutorial will show you how to make a swirled brad. Using a larger-sized canvas and different Eye Candy Glass settings, you can create other items, such as lollipops or round hard candies.


Plugins required:

Eye Candy 5 Impact

1. Open a new canvas 400 wide by 200 high.

2. Fill the canvas with a color.

3. Change the canvas size to 400 x 400 with the original canvas at the top.

Width = 400
Height = 400
Top = 0
Bottom = 200
Left = 0
Right = 0

4. With Match mode set to RGB Value and a Tolerance of 5, fill the bottom half of the canvas with an alternate color.


5. Use the Pattern effect (Effects > Reflection Effects > Pattern) to create alternating stripes.

Horizontal offset = 0
Vertical offset = 0
Rotation angle = 0
Scale factor = 26
Number of columns = 3
Number of rows = 3
Horizontal shift = 0
Vertical shift = 0

6. Use the Kaleidoscope effect (Effects > Reflection Effects > Kaleidoscope) to create turn the horizontal stripes into a pinwheel.

Horizontal offset = 0
Vertical offset = 0
Rotation angle = 0
Scale factor = 0
Number of petals = 7
Number of orbits = 0
Radial suction = 100
Edge mode = Repeat

7. The swirl is made using the Twirl effect (Effects > Distortion Effects > Twirl).

Degrees = -60

8. Go to the selection tool and make sure that Circle is chosen as the Selection type. Click on the center of the swirl and draw out a selection until some of the pinwheel stripes start to narrow.


9. Crop to the selection (Shift + R). This nicely eliminates all the extra parts of the pattern and re-sizes the canvas.



10. To make a three-dimensional brad, use Eye Candy 5 Impact Bevel.

Basic
Bevel Width = 32.00
Bevel Height = 40
Smoothness = 30.00
Round Corners = 0
Bevel Placement = Inside Selection
Darken Deep Areas = 0
Shade Interior = Checked
Surface = None

Lighting
Direction = 270
Inclination = 75
Highlight Brightness = 40
Highlight Size = 75
Highlight Color = White
Shadow Color = #404040

Bevel Profile = Button

11. Add some gloss to the brad with Eye Candy 5 Impact Glass.

Bevel
Bevel Width = 32.0
Bevel Smoothness = 30.0
Round Selection Corners = 0
Bevel Placement = Inside Selection
Glass Color = #c0c0c0
Opacity = 0
Tinting = 8
Refraction = 50
Inner Shadow Opacity = 41
Drop Shadow Opacity = 0
Shadow Offset = 0.0
Shadow Glow = 0

Lighting
Direction = 90
Inclination = 70
Highlight Brightness = 75
Highlight Size = 75
Highlight Color = White
Reflection Map = None

Bevel Profile
Factory Profile = Button

The swirled brad is now complete.


I made some lollipops and brads (or candies) in the colors of my Beach Babies kit. Feel free to use them. Of course, this means that I ended up scripting the tutorial. Is anyone interested in the scripts?

Lollipops and Brads