red_fullmoon requested a "how to use textures" guide and I have to say...it took me quite a while to write this. I had absolutely no idea how to go about it. There are already some very good guides out there and subsequently not everything included in this guide has never been explained before. But I hope that there are some bits in here that you guys will find helpful nonetheless.

PART 1 -
BACKGROUNDS//NEGATIVE SPACEPART 2 -
TEXTURESPART 3 -
LIGHT EFFECTS WITH BRUSHESPART 4 -
FUNPART 5 -
LINKSI included two different .psd files for almost every icon featured in this guide:
1 - a .psd that includes only the layers used in the example
2 - a complete .psd with all the layers, including the coloring
Please use these as inspiration only. Don't copy my icons. If you're looking for a texture or one of the original images I used please just ask. I'll do what I can to make what you need available.
PSP users: Feel free to request step-by-step tutorials for any icons you want! I know the .psd files are pretty much useless for you. Sorry!
Image Heavy! This is more show than tell, so please be aware that there are quite a lot of 100x100 images behind the cut!
( ... )Please let me know if you have any questions, if I messed something up or if any images/links don't work! (My server has been acting up a bit today, so I hope everything looks the way it's supposed to...)
Comments are really appreciated.
Credit for the .psd files is not necessary.
I'll go and sleep for a week now.