1. I usually do start either with the base picture or (loweringly often) with a line of text I wasn't to use and need to think of an excuse to do so... I have folders full of cropped 100x100 pics ready for inspiration to strike :(

If I feel the need to push, I try opening it and doing something fairly random - throw on a texture or brush that might but might not work, change the colouring to another palate, go back to the original and try cropping a different way or rotating it. This one, for instance, I tried four different colour schemes before this one clicked for me...