If you're thinking about trying your hand at image manipulation or animation(gifs) then a good way to get started is with an online image editor. There are lots all over the www.
I've been looking around the net at photo and animation editors.
Some I have used myself quite a lot and they give pretty good results.
You don't have to even have software on your computer to create some great looking images.
I use mytheme.com sometimes. You can add water effects,snow,lightning and whole lot more effects. It was the first online image editor I used and still do use it sometimes.
I also use Online Image Editor for glitters and sparkles. For glitters you have to reduce the image size to 250 x 250 which isn't very big but it's a nice little editor.
I've had a play with most of these online editors and they're all worth a look.
Have fun with them. Let us know how you get on. Once you start creating great animations and graphic designs you'll want to show them off so open a folder and leave a link so we can see your creations.
If you come across any not on this list then please feel free to add to it.