Shopping, shopping... Photoshopping!

I'm proud to announce that today I have created my first banner - see above.

Starting an online business has so far proved to be a fantastic excuse to take up new things. This time it happened to be photoshopping.

Each etsy shop comes with a space for a banner, and I was toying with the idea of getting one. After all it's a shame not to use a resource that's there anyway. But how to get one? Obviously I did not have anything ready, and until today the only program I used to create any graphics was Word - and you probably know how basic is that. I could buy one, but then, my principle is falling back on buying only as a very last resort.

I let the idea to grow in my head for a while, than started browsing the net - not really convinced anything might come out of it. I knew of Adobe Photoshop - but a free trial I downloaded did not want to run properly, and buying a full version for $600.00 was just as unlikely for me as a trip to the Moon, so again - alternatives, please. I asked Google the Wonderful what other graphic programs are out there, and after few missed shots I found something perfect - Phoenix.

Not only it has most (or maybe all? Who knows) features I associated with photoshop, but also offered on their blog a ready-to-use template for creating banners for etsy. Fate or what?

I never expected I would catch the bug so quickly - playing around with pictures proved to be so much fun! It took some effort - me, being a complete beginner, for whom even the most basic tutorials seem to be written in some foreign language - but in the end I think I've learned at least few tricks. Enough to do a banner that makes me quite happy and very proud of myself! Somehow, overcoming an obstacle with one's own resources brings twice as much joy as simply having someone do it for you.

There's so much potential there as well. I only started playing and still know next to nothing, but ideas on how to use this photoshop further are already flowing into my head. How about a newsletter, funky and colourful, so that it attracts attention straight away? Or maybe my very own business cards? Leaflets?

Yupee, the world is my shrimp, as Terry Pratchett would say.