Here are two things have been useful for me: 1. Looking at a bunch of nicely designed sites and inspecting the background images and source code so that I can

Here are two things have been useful for me: 1. Looking at a bunch of nicely designed sites and inspecting the background images and source code so that I can see conceptually how effects are achieved. 2. Using a CSS framework that abstracts many browser-specific idiosyncrasies away.