Faded
Lines
Software Used: Photoshop 5.5. (Mac users replace Ctrl with Command.)
Wendi asks, "How do you create the background image like the one on this page? Are they some type of gradient lines?"
Here's your answer, Wendi... (scroll down)
1.) Start with a new Photoshop document:
2.) Zoom in at least 500% or more to make it easier to see your work.
3.) We are going to make our lines three pixels high and the white gaps will be two pixels high.
4.) Add a new layer.
5.) Change the foreground color to the color you would like to have for your lines.
6.) Select the single row marquee tool.
7.) Click once on the top row of pixels. Then hold the shift key down and click again in the second and third row to add to your selection.
8.) When you have three rows of pixels selected, choose Edit > Fill > Use: Foreground color.
9.) Now, with the selection still active, hold down the shift key and select two more rows of pixels.
10.) Choose Edit > Define Pattern.
11.) Deselect (Ctrl-D).
12.) Choose Edit > Fill > Use: Pattern.
13.) Ta-da... the entire layer is filled with the stripes pattern.
If you use a different document size than I have used, you may need to crop your image so the final image will tile properly on the Web. Because my pattern is 5 pixels high, and my document is 100 pixels high, these are even multiples and no cropping is required.
14.) Name the layer "Stripes."
15.) Zoom out to 100% magnification.
16.) Select the gradient tool. 
17.) Set your foreground color to white and set the gradient options to Foreground to Transparent gradient.
18.) Add a new layer for the gradient.
19.) Click on the left side, just outside your document, hold the shift key down, and drag to the right. Let go of the mouse button when you reach the other side or just to the right of the outside border. The shift key will constrain the cursor movement to a straight line.
20.) If you like, you can tone down the effect by adjusting the opacity on the stripes and gradient layers. Below you can see a slight variation done by using a subtle alternating two-tone stripe pattern.
Now let's do another variation with an image in the background. Go to Part Two...
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