Glass Orb Creation

Step 1 - Starting Your Orb

First, create a new document and fill it with the background color of your choice. Next, create a new layer and pick the circular selection tool. Create a perfect circle by holding shift and dragging diagonally. Now, fill this circular selection with the color you would like your orb to be.

Step 2 - Apply Styles

Right click your orb layer and open the blending options. Follow the image and insert the following for Drop Shadow, Inner Shadow, and Bevel and Emboss.

Step 3 - Adding Gloss

Now that our orb has some style, we are going to add gloss. Create a new layer and draw a small white oval at the top of your orb like so.

Step 4 - Blending The Gloss

Set the layer opacity to 8% and your gloss should now blend into your orb.

Step 5 - Adding More Gloss

The orb is looking good, but it could use some more gloss. Add another larger circle over the one we just created and set this layers opacity to 13%.

Step 6 - Once More

Make one more large oval, a bit more vertically and set its opacity to 13% as well.

Step 7 - Embed Your Orb

Now we need to create the look that makes the orb seem to be embedded in the background. Add a new layer after the background (before the first circle layer) that is bigger than that circle like this.

Step 8 - Blend The Background

Apply the following settings through the blending options to the layer we have just created.

Step 9 - More Background Blending

Now set the opacity of the layer to 21% and your final orb should look something like this