Come help a newbie

[galwitattitude.livejournal.com]

My name is Sarah & I am a newbie. I would really like to make some stuff, esp since I'm free all summer. 

I have a Fujitsu Siemens laptop [Pro V2000]. I saw a post in the community [by idk who] but they had painted an iBook for a friend, & it looked really awesome. I don't know really If I can paint my laptop or not, but if somebody could help me find out I would be eternally grateful. I would also like to make a laptop cozy or maybe a bag of my own choice. But I have NO IDEA whatsoever where I should start, what fabric to use, what accessories to put on it, what to keep in mind & what not to. So any at all pointers, tips etc. would be really helpful and appreciated.

I also have a Sony Ericsson w300i phone that I bought last year. I would love to get it all jazzed up too. I've seen some pix in the community memories/FAQs where the crafter has glued rhinestone crystals onto their samsung phone and it looks really professional & glammed up. But since I have a Sony Ericsson, I dont really know if I could get the same effect. Or if I should even glue anything on my phone. I don't want to screw the phone up because it is relatively new. So any help there would also be helpful. [Info like what kind of skin your phone should have for the crystals to stick on it, or in what other ways can the phone be jazzed up?] 

I would really appreciate any at all help. I'm starting uni this Fall, I would especially like help with the laptop. Thanks and God Bless.