Yeah it's like that as well! I tend to spend about an hour or so per icon, depending. If I do basic colouring and stuff like that, quicker, but I get so caught up playing with textures that I'll spend 30 or more minutes just goofing off with them. As a result I never seem to make more than 10 icons per day, if any at all.
Oh god! :D I'm not quite sure whether to find that thrilling or be appalled because LOL time I don't have it. Textures sound like a great thing… someday I will end up figuring out what it's all about :D (Sounds like layers are the first step in that direction, though.)

I have gimp_tutorial saved in my favourite links, too—I get so frustrated when I find a good-sounding tutorial and it's for PS, lol. Anyway, people posting helpful stuff like that is really great ♥