2 in 1 – Stunning 3D Ice Text Effect Tutorial

This is one of the things we will create here:

cold

Step 1

1.1.Create a new document. I created 800x800px document, I suggest You to do the same if You want to get the same look as mine.

1.2. Hit D button to reset foreground/background color, press ALT+DELETE to fill in black color, so we can more easily work and see workflow.

1.3. Choose some font You want to use and type some text – I typed “COLD” and used Arial, Bold, 200pt wide, color #999999

type

Step 2

Lets add some blending options to the text.

2.1. Double click on the text layer to popup blending options menu:

blending

2.2. Now press CTRL+SHIFT+N to create new layer, hold SHIFT to select both layers and then right click and choose “Merge layers” to merge them into one.

merge layers

Step 3

This is where fun part starts! :)

3.1. Go to Filter –> Sketch –> Stamp, add those settings:

stamp

3.2. While still in filter panel create new layer and add Sketch–> Chrome with those settings and then press ok:

chrome

You must be the same output as me, if You don’t, read again everything carefully.

next

Step 4

4.1. Lets add some layer style to get more realistic shadows – do the same settings as the picture below, shadow color is #999999:

double

4.2. Now We will use one of the ways, how to create 3D text look.

Press CTRL+ALT+Arrow Down, many times – I did it 15 times.

shift

Select first layer, hold SHIFT and press on the 14. layer, right click and select MERGE LAYERS. Name that layer – “shadow”.

4.3. Lets add some more effect on that shadow – Filter–>Distort–>Glass and add the same settings:

glass

I have this result for now:

cold_text

4.4. Let’s add some color now:

CTRL+CLICK on the shadow layer to make selection and click Image–>Adjustments–>Hue/Saturation or CTRL+U.

Use settings like this to get pale blue color:

hue-saturation

4.5. If You want to finish, just add gradient to background color, and select radial gradient:

#cccccc

#999999

gradient

4.6. Add Filter–>Distort–>Glass to background to get more realistic frozen ice effect:

cold

Two more works from this effect, just play with the same settings:

cold2

cold3

Natural Ice Text Image Effect

Let’s go a little deeper to get natural image effect:

cold4

So let’s download a picture from sxc.hu – here and use text effect we created above.

1. Drag and position a text into a picture You just downloaded:

image1

2. Create new layer above image and text effect, like this:

snow_effect

3. Now select “background image” layer and press S to select clone stamp tool.

4. Change brush size with [ or ] brackets.

5. Move brush somewhere where snow is and click ALT + CLICK to take a sample from it.

6. Select snow effect layer and draw with stamp tool, to add a look that letters are in the snow.

clone

7. Repeat steps 3-6 to add this effect to all of the letters:

text_snow_finish

8. Add some more color adjustments, to make look more realistic.

I used Hue/Saturation with those settings:

hue-latest

Okay, now we are finished! I hope You will learn something from this tutorial too!

However if You couldn’t complete something, just ask – I am here to help!

What Beats Cardio in Fat Loss?

Remember days when your thigh slimming workout meant sweating in aerobics class, running on a treadmill or clocking up miles on a stepper, while weight lifting area was reserved strictly for ‘boys’? In those days you trainer would tell you that if you truly want to attack fat in you thigh and butt area you need to do at least 30-40 min of moderately-paced exercise on stepper, treadmill or other cardio machine at least 3-5 times per week, but more is of course better.

If you are ‘workout rusted’ and haven’t been following fitness trends in recent years, this article will show (or remind) you why weight lifting workout routine is so much more efficient in burning fat from your thighs then cardio.

While cardio exercise has many benefits, there’s more efficient way to burn fat faster and achieve long lasting health and fitness results. Got you interested?

The key to fast fat loss is adding lean muscle to your body. This will rev up your metabolism, speed up calorie burn and turn your body into fat burning machine. How come?

Muscles are the highest consumer of energy in your body. The more muscle you have the higher is consumption of calories. So, when you start adding lean muscles through proper resistance training, you will need to feed the new muscle. By eating the right amount of calories to maintain your current bodyweight and by increasing the biggest consumer of energy, you will create calorie deficit in your body.

In addition to calorie burn during the resistance training, the calories burned at rest will also increase, not to even mention calories used in the recovery phase. The muscle is metabolically speaking the hardest tissue in the body. It requires the highest amount of energy to keep active, and that is why our bodies devours it first in times of starvation, and why it burns more calories at rest.

This calorie deficit combined with repair and growth process will call upon your stored body fat for energy.

65% of muscles of your body are in your lower body with the biggest group being leg muscles. By focusing on your lower body exercises, particularly thighs, you will not only get toned and well shaped thighs; but also speed up fat loss process for your whole body. Adding lean muscle to the biggest muscle group will increase the need for energy, and the constant need for energy burns your supply, making fat loss a breeze.

workout from Home

You Could Work From Home

It's funny, but many people head off to their 9-5 jobs day-in and day-out, never truly enjoying what it is they do for a living. This sounds ridiculous, but yet it is reality for many. Why would you work five days a week and even long hours doing something you simply don't enjoy? It really doesn't make sense if you think about it. Have you ever considered the notion that you could work from home and do something you actually like to earn a steady income? People all over the world do this every day; therefore there's no reason why you can't enjoy the same lifestyle.

Often if you ask someone why they continue to work at a job they dislike, they will pass you the same tired spiel; "I have to earn a living." Well that's all fine and good. However, no said you had to slave away for some company you don't even respect. There are work from home opportunities now more than there ever were before. Take a gander at all the folks who're publishing their work online and earning a passive income from it. Not to mention the countless individuals that chose to start their own business working from home, doing what they love and setting their own hours. You can even work solely through the Internet doing this. Imagine the potential consumer basis at your fingertips. It's insane! So, are you ready to begin earning a living by working from home?

Okay, so maybe you need a few tips before you go tell of your boss and flat out quit your job. Think about a work from home opportunity that would truly suit you and your family. This is an excellent place to start. Not everyone is meant to do the exact same thing. If you're good at something, you can likely make money at it. Whether it's services or products, there are customers just waiting on teh other side of that computer screen. Take a peek at helpful website such as worldwideworkathome.com, top-ten-work-at-home-jobs.com and work-at-home.org. This way you can learn a little more about real work from home job opportunities and what's out there for you. It's high time you enjoyed your work and started setting your own schedule.

Work Out Program

For me, one of the most difficult things is making things easy for myself. I always have to feel like I'm working hard, facing challenges that other people don't face. I never take the shortcut. I never even take the road when I can ramble off through the bushes. Sometimes this provides for interesting challenges, but more often it just forces me to go through all kinds of frustrating complications.
  This really got in my way when I started doing exercise workout programs. You see, I used to be in shape but that was before I discovered the joys of writing. Now I sit at my computer eight hours every day. Needless to say, I have grown some padding to make the sitting more comfortable. I thought a good workout program was just what I needed. The way I proceeded to go about it, however, made things more difficult.

You see, the easiest way to do workout routines is to take a class. I had several friends who have been doing workout programs for years. They would take martial arts, yoga, Pilates, or aerobics. Some of them would even go dancing. All of these are valid workout programs, but I thought I should go it alone. I didn't want to hire a trainer or take a class. I just wanted to design my own custom workout programs.

Not only did I decide to go it alone when I could've gotten help, but I didn't allow myself to start slowly either. On the contrary, I got right in there. The first day, I almost collapsed. My workout programs goals were outrageous. I was supposed to be running 5 miles a day by the third day. The thing is, I was stubborn enough to try to do it. I knew it was better than any of the other workout programs that my friends used. I knew I would be in good shape within a month.

What I didn't count on was getting hurt. If I had done one of the easier workout programs, this wouldn't have been an issue. It is hard to get hurt doing aerobics, or using a stationary bike. I was doing some serious off-road running, however, as wells mountain biking. The way I was going about my workout programs, it was only a matter of time before I ended up in the hospital. Fitness workout programs that end in broken bones are not the key to good health. Next time I will take it easier.

Work Out Routine 2

There are some things that ever person must have in life. One is a confidence. After all, where can you go, and what can you really accomplish without believing in yourself? Another thing is motivation. Hey, if you're not motivated, then you may not go far regarding career goals and lifestyle expectations. If you want to get to a certain level, you have to be determined. And finally there is the infamous workout routine. Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking. YUCK! It's never much of a popular concept, but it's still crucial to our health and image. If you're currently lacking a fitness regimen, then it's time to take that first step.

There are many aspects to fitness, working out and staying in shape. One workout routine I would like to address is the muscle building process. This is such a debatable subject. I have read countless bodybuilding and weight lifting websites, and often they encourage different routines and practices. One thing I can say about most of them is if you're looking to bulk up, free weights are preferred over machines. This is basically due to the fact that they force your body to work more. When you resort to a machine, it stabilizes the exercise for you. This way you only have to lift, press or curl the weight. Now with a free weight workout routine it's different. Let's say you're doing the bench press. This is a wonderful compound exercise that's ideal for building the chest, triceps and shoulders. When you lift the bar, you also have to stabilize it, and make sure it stays level. This ensures that both arms are doing equal amounts of work. Furthermore, the free weights are forcing your body to use other muscles as well, while the machines do not.

So what about that great muscle building workout routine? I believe the key is not going overboard. Far too many weight lifters jump in the game and pack on too many plates. They may be able to do 165 one time, but they should start smaller. A good workout routine that actually produces results requires more reps and sets. You should be able to do at least eight reps. If you're trying to build mass, then exhaust the muscles with six to eight sets. Also remember to trade off exercises. Your muscles will get used to the same old routine. It's wise to switch it around.

Work Out Routine

People are often too ambitious with their fitness workout routines. They will join a gym and immediately come up with grandiose plans about getting in shape. They will decide that, within a week or two, they will be in the best shape of their life. For the first day or two the workout routine will go well, but soon they will burn you out. These unrealistic expectations are the biggest obstacle that anyone taking up a fitness routine has to face. Remember, it is important to push yourself, but it is also important to encourage yourself along the way. If you have unrealistic expectations, you'll never get there.

Unless you are an experienced athlete or have a fitness personal trainer looking after you, your workout routine should start off simple and easy. Easy workout routines get results. The best way to start is with 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise three times a week. This will get your heart pumping, get your fat burning, and most importantly, get you to the gym. You will not dive into your workout routine too deeply, and as a result you will not burn out early. Then, after a few weeks of this, you can start to upgrade things. You can add some strength training, increase your cardiovascular exercises, or vary them. There are all kinds of things that you can do with your workout routine, but you need to get some momentum behind you. First you should build momentum, then you can build the perfect workout routine.

Honestly, people shouldn't worry about having the perfect workout routine. The thing is, it doesn't really matter that much. If you're training to be a tiptop athlete, you have to be scientific about how you workout. For the rest of us, a basic fitness workout routine works. It doesn't matter if you swim, cycle, jog, run, or do aerobics. All of it will work to keep you in shape. The important thing is that you do something, and that you do it regularly. If you exercise you will live longer. Having the perfect workout routine, however, has no clear benefit over having one that is only so-so. Whether you work out three times a week or four, it will still have the same beneficial effect on your heart. Therefore, the most important thing is to get started. Once you have learned that fitness can actually be enjoyable, it will be much easier to keep going!

Work Out Videos

If you look under my television, you will find a stack of work out videos that I no longer use. In fact, you may find this in almost any home in the world. So many people buy them, use them a few times, and then never touch them again. The problem is that there are so many different types of programs out there you have no way of knowing what you will like and what you will stick with once you begin.

You can find hundreds of different types of work out videos in every store that sells movies and other DVDs. Most of the ones on the market now come in tape or DVD, but they are the same work out videos you have been buying for years. If you were to look at the stash in my entertainment center you would think I was the fittest person in the world. I have enough of them to make a hefty sum on eBay if I wanted to resell my work out videos, but I suspect the ones I have are too old now to be of any interest.

I haven’t bought any work out videos lately because I guess I have gotten smarter about the whole situation. I think I bought a yoga DVD because it was on sale for a few dollars, but I got through about five minutes of it before I shut it off. That’s a sad statement if you really think about it. There are just too many elements in many work out videos that are just too annoying. If you can do them with the sound off, that might be better, but you can’t really do that until you are familiar with the workout. By that point, you are ready to hunt the instructor down for a good tar and feathering.

If you want to buy work out videos, think about what you like before you buy, and don’t think you have to get something that is structured to get a good workout. Believe it or not, the work out DVDs that I use the most is something that is not meant to be a work out. I use a few of the Wiggle’s DVDs that my daughter loves. They are a lot of fun, and because I love the Wiggles, I don’t mind dancing to them over and over again. You can find unconventional work out videos if you use your imagination and think about your purchase before you buy.