I followed the Gimp tutorial (at least up to the adding tiny details bit of it) and this is the result. I am pretty happy with it.
practice.png
I noticed there were quite a few steps where Gedde assumed people knew where effects were and didn't clearly explain when certain things needed to be hid or unhid (selected or unselected, as well). I was able to get through it pretty well with my experience in the program, but I think it would be worth revising with a few clarifications. I may try to get around to it, with Gedde's approval (I am new and don't want to step on someone's toes). I am really happy with my results and can't give Gedde enough praise for the tutorial (as I would have been lost trying to replicate Ascensions original tutorial into GIMP).