Here's an image that I made completely with Inkscape and without any help from Adobe Illustrator. It was a little bit of a learning curve and I still have a long way to go, but it was a good first experience. I blogged about the experience here http://bit.ly/1hfdhi6.
Here's to more exploring!

I like the character movement. And the background. And how you added details to the dress and umbrella. I'm sure you'll get the hang on Inkscape. :]