Stock.xchng rules. (This is the first site Elishavah referenced above.) That's where the picture on my LJ currently comes from. Photoshop is really outstanding - I got my copy on eBay for $50 and use it all the time. But if you don't have access, you can still do some pretty good stuff - themoonbar, for example, doesn't have Photoshop but still does some kickass icons and manips. You'd have to ask her what program she uses.
The LJ code is freakin' crazy, man. I ended up creating a test style based on the "Refried Paper" style and changing the colors and fonts. But you have to have a leeeeeettle bit of an idea what's going on with the CSS on Refried Paper if you wanna change most of that.
Probably the easiest one to change would be "Punquin Elegant" - figure out what colors you want, mess around with it, maybe create a background pattern to use, and then make a banner to stick up at the top.
no subject
The LJ code is freakin' crazy, man. I ended up creating a test style based on the "Refried Paper" style and changing the colors and fonts. But you have to have a leeeeeettle bit of an idea what's going on with the CSS on Refried Paper if you wanna change most of that.
Probably the easiest one to change would be "Punquin Elegant" - figure out what colors you want, mess around with it, maybe create a background pattern to use, and then make a banner to stick up at the top.