Simple coloring tut:

01. Smart fix [screenshot]

Why: This is a nice quality stock image (from Veer) and didn't need much work. All I did was deepen the colors a little and make her face more pink than pale white.

02. Duplicate layer, normal 30% opacity
03. Gaussian blur 5
04. Brightness/contrast 25/15

Why: Add a slight blur to soften her face, then adjusted the brightness and contrast because the gaussian blur darkens it a little.

05. New layer color 40% opacity
06. Flood fill new layer with neapolitan gradient, to add a soft pink tint to the image

Why: That's all I needed for adding a slight pinkish tint to the image. For more pink, just increase the opacity of the color layer.

07. Merge

08. New layer, normal 100% opacity
09. Flood fill new layer with white
10. Apply frame brush in black
11. Select solid black area, delete
12. New layer, normal 80% or 90% opacity
13. Apply accent brush in black
14. New layer, normal 100% opacity
15. Apply any tiny text brush in black

Frame:

Why: For those new to icon-making, adding effects, brushes, text, textures, etc. on their own separate layer makes it easier to move things around, adjust layers, etc. Sometimes brushes are a little too starkly dark and look better with a lower opacity level.

16. Merge and save

Other materials used: Ice Cream Parlor Gradients, Doodles #2

Quick and easy!