D2 tutorial #2- Amie

I know it's late, but here is my tutorial anyways

Create 4 vertical lines using the Rectangle tool. Make the first one and then copy and paste to make the others.  Choose your colors for your Palette. You can find color palettes here Kuler . Next add a linear gradient effect to each line. 

Select all lines and go to Object>Envelope Distort and choose Make with Mesh. Use the preview to see the mesh before you click Ok. Choose for 4 columns (1 for each line) and 2 rows (to have only 1 handle vertically in the center).

Tweak the lines mesh by dragging on the handles. 

Now you will duplicate the layer with the lines mesh on top of the original mesh. Click the layer target circle icon on the right in the layers palette and then change the mode to Overlay. Move the shape around a little to make it more interesting. 

You can also tweak it with the Warp, Pucker and Bloat or other transformation tools. I just copied the design and rotated it. This could be used in all types of designs.