I've been using a program called PhotoImpact 6, the nametags are a very simple affair.

 You create a new graphic, approximate size of printed graphic should be... about 3/4" by 1/8"
 high - just a small black box - then put your white text in it, then copy it...

 open a new much larger graphic (maybe 4 inches wide by 4 inches high) only this one has a
 white background - now paste your tiny black nametag into this big white box...

 now go back to your small black graphic - erase your first name and type the second name -
 copy - go back to the big graphic - paste your second name tag ...

 repeat until you have all the nametags you wish to print.

 then save the big graphic as something like "all my names printable" or whatever - and hit
 "print"

 suddenly your printer then spits out all your nametags :-)

 I printed mine onto thin cardstock (I've found the ink runs on thinner paper), thenyou get your
 little scissors out, and cut the tags out while you watch tv :-)

 I used superglue to adhere the nametag to the base :-)

the slightly challenging part is that
 you need to cut the top edge in a slight oval shape, as the mini bases are both round, and at an
 angle - a perfect rectangle nametag will have the top left and right corners sticking up over the
 edge of the base - a little trimming is needed to keep things flush :-)

 For thos who don't know what we're talking about - have a look here
 http://www.dragonrealm.com/exlibrismortis/ExLibrisnewTroopsindex.html
 scroll down to tac squad one, and look at the veteran sergeants bases - they have little name
 tags :-)

 OCD? Yes sir - apparently in this case :-)
  hope this helps!
 Glory to the Emperor ~ Brother Edward

Hello all! 

     So there's this wierd stuff called "Model Master - Simulated Carpeting", it comes in a small container much like glitter does - only this is super fine colored particles of what I have no idea (yikes) but what you do it you put glue on something, then sprinkle this stuff on there - allow to dry then blow off the excess and whammo you have like a soft velvet look wherever you put the glue (wierd eh?)

    I've decided to flock my bases with it (I chose black), because I could never decide on either "grass" or "rubble" appearance for my army (hence what I think is a stylish way to create a "finished black" look).

    But come take a look and tell me what you think of this.... It's black as black gets, and soaks up light in such a way that it seems to minimize the base even more than a simple painted black base...

   So come have a peek and let me know what you think, and feel free to tell me of any other of your favorite flocking techniques!

   click here to see a side by side comparison with a regular base

(it's about 84k - I had to make it big so you could see the base detail - it's very nature makes it hard to "see" which is what (in my mind) makes it such an interesting base material :-)

    the guy on the left has been treated - the guy on the right has an untreated plastic base - the other marines in the background have also had their bases treated as well

 that's it for me - just thought I'd share :-)

Glory to the Emperor ~ Brother Edward
 

PS. new flocking material url

painting one mini at a time to full completion will drive you mad (as I see you're starting to figure out!), so listen to me - I'm here to help...

first - pick a simple color scheme...
then your whole army the first color of your color scheme...
then hit it with your second and maybe third color as well...
now stop right there - and go play...
add details LATER, add them SLOWLY over TIME now - you'll enjoy the painting more, and it will likely be of higher quality (happy painters paint better!)... 

this is the ONLY way I was able to paint all the Blood Angels (and other minis!) that you see on this site! :-)

I'm still adding detail to them - by this time most of them have a fairly good amount of detail to them! but I know which of them has no text on their purity seals, I know who among them doesn't have their veteran markins as they should... but those are details that only "I" worry about - everyone else will just see an army that looks just fine :-)

I hope that these words will help give you hope (if you see them!) :-)

good luck with your nids!
Glory to the Emperor ~ Brother Edward

PS. for my nids, I painted them purple, then I drybrushed them with silver, then hit them with a heavy purple wash and I called them "done" - I've played with them for quite a while now, and they are attractive - later when I have time I do have more detail I want to add to them, but at the very least they do have a basic paint scheme going for them, the super details will come later (beginning with the big bugs, then all the little bugs later) :-)

I hate painting eyes - I truly do. There are so many ways to screw it up! But finally I started to understand something - from a distance (in reality) we can't see eyes all that well - so why get too bothered about detail on the minis? This wildly heretical thought is what led me to my biggest eye painting success (seen to the right). just let the eye sockets be dark - paint a very small slit of bleached bone, then take the tiniest dask of fleshwash ink and dash it up where the pupil should be - then use the same brush and ink to further define the bleached bone part down until it is the perfect eye shape and you are done :-)

Painting eye lenses - the pics you see on the right have not been graphically edited - they are straight photos (interesting effect with the eyes eh? :-)  here are the secrets :-) When you painted the armor, the last thing you did was blob the whole suit of armor with a generous fleshwash - which left the eye sockets mostly dark to begin with. Now you hit them with golbin green- a medium size dash from front to back of the eye sockets. Then once that's dry you get a very fine brush (this is the part that'll drive you nuts) and make a VERY tiny slit from front to back of the socket - right in the middle of the green patch you just made, furthermore your white dash can never leave the green, and ideally there is green still left on ALL sides of the white dash (you'll see why in a second) now once that's dry you hit the whole eye socket with green ink - it fills in, making the outer edge (which is fleshwash color) literally black, the golbin green part is now a dark green, the white part is now (once the ink dries) the brightest green on the eye - NOW once that's done you take a small brush and glaze the entire eye lense with a dash of glosscoat (I use an acrylic floor "wax" myself - it's called a wax but it's really just gloss acrylic sealer) and what THIS does is it actually makes the very highest point (when you look at it) sparkle and shine - further giving you the impression that there is light eminating from the mini somehow :-)