Feel free of course to turn down all my suggestions, your a good designer and doing whats comfortable for you is whats most important when producing graphics.
Just in my opinion, since you use paint i believe, i've made a picture showing both my suggestion for modifications to your template shape, and a something I believe would look good within the limitations of paint.
[img]http://imgur.com/D3zNrIU.png[/img]
Here it is; I think the thick lines as opposed to the super thin aliased lines will give a more artistic looking and quirky approach to presentation. Nobody really does an in-your-face thick and heavy template here, i think it'd stand out.
Either way! Just an idea, again, not saying your current one is bad. Would provide you with a .psd or gimp file with layers if you ever need me to make you one, either the one I suggested or anything else you need, would be happy to help you make the jump to a more sophisticated program.
Taking into account that I´m only 13 years old (yes, 13), I don´t have too much experience with other programs, I use Paint because it is easy to work on it. Currently, I use Ps for some things and I used GIMP like 1 or 2 years ago in my school but I don´t remember anything about it.
I want to "make the jump" to a better program" for my own brand project (NGC) that it´s gonna be re-launched in some weeks and for The Offseason Cup.
I like the idea of using GIMP, and if you can help me in something, I will be absolutelly grateful.