Talk about leveraging the .NET framework...  While looking at the OnlineJurnl I stumbled across an article about Paint.NET.   The description on the web page provides an excellent description:

Paint.NET is free image and photo editing software for computers that run Windows. It features an intuitive and innovative user interface with support for layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools. An active and growing online community provides friendly help, tutorials, and plugins.

I had a quick look over this software and I think it's really cool.  Almost anything you would expect to find in Microsoft Expression can be found in here!  Have a look and see of this product can work for you!