Icon Tutorial #1 - Ashlee Simpson
How to go from this to 
using PSP 8.
01. I started with this picture from uashlee.com. Crop and resize your chosen picture.
02. Duplicate yourbase and set it's blend mode to Screen at 80%.
03. Now click Layers > New Adjustment Layer > Color Balance, with Cyan/Red set at 0, Magenta/Green set at 0, and Yellow/Blue set at +100. The Tone Balance is set to Midtones and the Perserve Luminance box is checked. This layer stays set at Normal at 100%.
04. Now make a new layer and fill it with #E1CCBA. Set this layer to Multiply at 100%.
05. Now add another New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation/Lightness. 'Edit:' should be set on Master, Hue at 0, Lightness at 0, and Saturation at +30.
06. Now add another New Adjustment Layer > Curves. To use curves, just click a spot on the line, and change the Input value to 70 and the Output value to 90. The Channel should be set on RGB. This layer should stay set on Normal at 100%.
And that's it, your icon is complete!
Here's are a few more icons I made using the same method:
using PSP 8.
01. I started with this picture from uashlee.com. Crop and resize your chosen picture.
02. Duplicate yourbase and set it's blend mode to Screen at 80%.
03. Now click Layers > New Adjustment Layer > Color Balance, with Cyan/Red set at 0, Magenta/Green set at 0, and Yellow/Blue set at +100. The Tone Balance is set to Midtones and the Perserve Luminance box is checked. This layer stays set at Normal at 100%.
04. Now make a new layer and fill it with #E1CCBA. Set this layer to Multiply at 100%.
05. Now add another New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation/Lightness. 'Edit:' should be set on Master, Hue at 0, Lightness at 0, and Saturation at +30.
06. Now add another New Adjustment Layer > Curves. To use curves, just click a spot on the line, and change the Input value to 70 and the Output value to 90. The Channel should be set on RGB. This layer should stay set on Normal at 100%.
And that's it, your icon is complete!
Here's are a few more icons I made using the same method: