Fire Text Tutorial

In this most recent project in my graphic design class, I was to complete a tutorial on fire text.  I used a great tutorial from psd.tutsplus.com.  To begin my tutorial, I was to download a paper texture from bittbox.com to create the background.  This paper texture can be seen to the lower left.  I created my background by combining this paper layer with a gradient layer.  I then added my text.  In this tutorial I used my name 'ZACH'.  I applied many different glow, gradient, opacity and blur effects to the text.  I used the smudge and burn tools to create the base of my flames on the letters.  I downloaded a flame image from flickr.com.  I used the pen and lasso tool to cut this image into 6 separate pieces of flame.  I continued to use many glow effects to perfect the flames and made them fit perfectly on the letters.  Finally, I created a highlight using a white to black radial gradient on a layer which I lowered the opacity of.  This can be seen in the background of the image, which goes from light to dark.
        This was by far the hardest tutorial I've done this year.  It was not as descriptive as ones i have done in the past and it required me to experiment and ask more questions. Although it was challenging, I learned a lot from this project!