Graphic design for beginners

I'm fairly familiar with graphic design programs like Photoshop and InDesign (I can make pretty basic but decent looking files), but I do not own any of the programs nor would I call myself a graphic designer...by no means.

The programs I do own for graphic design purposes are elementary compared to what's out there. Yep, I have trusty old Microsoft Word and Paint. So how do I create decent stationery with the limited software I have?

Luckily for me, I was able to score some free printing for rehearsal dinner invites, donation/favor cards and ceremony programs. The problem is, I didn't have anyone readily available to design them for me. Finding free, high resolution clipart can be difficult. So what to do?

There are a few good sites out there that offer free design templates for your stationery needs, like Download & Print where I nabbed this simple, yet cool bamboo design for my rehearsal dinner invites:

The designs come in Microsoft Word and can be easily resized (I had to resize the design for my 4X6 postcards).

Then I came across One Heart Weddings. You do have to pay for a year subscription for unlimited access to all designs, but sign up for a free trial and you can download two free clipart designs (just be sure to cancel before the 7-day trial ends or you'll get charged). I designed our donation cards which will also double up as our name cards using this background:

With just a little tweaking on Word and Paint, I came up with a design that matched our wedding colors.

I also created our ceremony programs using a free background on One Heart Weddings:

Not bad for a graphic design novice!

You can also find free downloadable photos/graphics at http://www.sxc.hu/ and free downloadable fonts at http://www.dafont.com/