For a first attempt it's pretty good. The placement is pretty good, as is the blending for a first go.
My advice to you is to maybe use a softer eraser brush, also have a look on Deviant Art for both brushes and textures to use, as well as to check out dafont.com and just download a bunch of fonts.
But well done and keep at it, I look forward to seeing more =)

  Erasing always has been my weakest point.  I used the background eraser this time around but I've noticed that it doesn't always work that well depending on how the photos you are using were edited.

I agree.  The placement is really good.  Since you use psp, you might try using the clone brush.