Suggestions

Alright ladies, I have decided that the blog templates are fine. They do have some cute ones that are available for free. Let’s face it the cheaper the better but since I have also found that I am starting to have a love for graphic design (p.s. who would have ever thought that one was going to happen) I want to change my blog to match my personality. So I have googled blog background builders etc but have no idea who is actually reputable or full of bs. Basically what I am looking for is to have the ability to upload whatever content I want-preferably a 3 column blog, make all my pictures look like Ria's (btw I wish), and have it look visually appealing at a minimal cost. So who do you know? What programs do you know of or use? What blogs do you read that are informative? I am an information seeking blogger. Got any?