Newbie here and at icon making...

Hi, I was looking through the memories and everything but I just got PSP 9 and there don't seem to be many for it. I'm very confused on how to work layers and such...I will read more of the user guide but 484 pages is a lot to go through. Anyways I would love it if someone could explain the whole layers thing or if you could lead me to something describing PSP 9 icon making in a simple way. :) Thanks ahead of time. Oh and I know this is just for icons but does anyone know how to make colorbars? yet again thank you and Happy New Year