as an amateur GIMP-er myself, trust me:
it a hell of a lot more fun to just figure things out on your own.
but, tuts are available when you just cant figure something out
for instance: I [to this day -_-] cant figure out blending [kinda sorta makes the bg & image looke kinda blended together, hence the name] but I found a tut for it and it made it slightly easier to figure out.
as far as the banners go: Katie likes the middle one. (hinthint; pokes Tai)
_________________
The arguments against insanity go down with a soft shirring sound.
~Stephen King