For this exercise, I edited a pre-designed Illustrator file, exported it to Photoshop and then applied various filters to the layers to get this effect:

I used the bevel and emboss filter in various degrees to get the depth to this badge-like design. I also applied texture of the yellow circle and blue rectangle. The badge, blue circle and blue rectangle all have beveling filters as do the small yellow dots (but I adjusted the filter to have it look like the dots are pushed in).

Here is the original, given to us by the instructor:

For this assignment we were asked to experiment with some of the basic tools in Illustrator: the pen, shape and brush tools. I started with a rounded cornered rectangle, filled it with color, and played with the stroke of the border. Then I used the shape tool to make stars of various sizes. I discovered the zigzag effect, which turned my stars into snowflakes! I used the drop shadow and outer glow filters on a few and used the brush tool to make white dots (snow in the background). I then used the text tool to add the word ‘snow.’

My first animated GIF! I wanted to do one with a background. It took me a couple tries, but I got it:

For this assignment, I wanted to do justice to the person who said it by creating a sweet tone with a partially hand-drawn look. I played around with filters until I  had a textured background that had a worn appearance, like an old well-loved blanket. Since the quote pays homage to chocolate, I used brown for the font color. I made the first part of the quote prominent and the second more of an after thought. I used four fonts in the quote, but kept them similar (all serif). I applied filters (satin and embossed) to the words all, love and chocolate to add extra emphasis.