sweet sunday...........

early in the morning..
my lavender is in full bloom...
it is time to craft.. then..
in the silence of the house and garden..


some ribbon..
and some flowers..


one in..
one out..


a closer one..
one in ..
one out..


and now its time..
for a lavender scented coffee..
before everyone wakes up..

two birds with one pebble or.. bir taşla iki kuş ..=P

about this laptop bag..
this is a back pack style bag..
olive green..
with a front pocket..
and with a big black writing the title of the congress.. on the pocket cover..
yuck..

so.. we have to disguise this..
I prepared a collage .. from the cut outs.. from the fashion and house decoration mags..
cofee and chocolate and a carved wood lady's hand object.. arranged them ..
and.. photocopied it ..
it came out as this..



I have first cut the photocopy to fit.. the flap..
applied a generous amount of white paste all over the photocopy..
over the picture side..not the blank side....
and also over the flap.. which was previously painted in white base coat..
and placed the photocopy over the flap..pressing with a dry kitchen towel over and over..
I tried not to leave any airbubbles ..
which was a hard thing.. because the .. material of the bag is not as straight as I wished..
it bended and twisted as I was pressing..
it has dried overnight..


I laid a wet kitchen towel over the dried pasted photocopy..
when it was wet..
I started to peel the paper..
I rubbed my finger over and over ..
until I started to see the picture..
this is how it looked..

I had to wet a few times more..
until all was peeled of and my picture visible ..
but careful not to peel off the picture itself..
I have noticed that it didn't stick well in some places..
so these parts remained blank white..
which is not a good thing..
when these patchy parts are small they add an aged effect ..
but when they are big .. gush..


but I went on ..
I rubbed some brown shoepolish to the white areas..
they looked better..
the picture looks a bit cloudy but when varnished it must be neater..
using a water based varnish.. I varnished all over..
three coats..
letting it dry between the coats.. which takes app. an hour..
it is quite flexible..and waterproof..

the final is.. like this..


the patches are still visible.. but softer now that thet are light brown..
I can add.. some embellishment .. over the patches..
we will see..
but I have alredy started to use it =P


and everyone loved it.. as it is..
now seeking for some embellishing ideas..
have you got any advice ??


about the mag holder..
it now sits.. proud.. and chic..
=)
do you like how it came out..

p.s. ..oo I love to take these photos..
they make me love the domestic sides of life..
=P
p.s.2.. when you do the tranfer you have to choose a picture without a writing.. because it comes out reverse..
p.s.3.. it is a rainy but sweet weekend.. we have a wonderful spring this year..

neye niyet ..neye kısmet ( what was the intent ..but what was destined..)

I wanted to do this for a while..
name it lack of time or lack of ambition..
I used it as I bought it.. for nearly a year now..
I didn't plan anything..
it just happened.. =)..

In my last post I announced that I started to make a laptop bag..
not really make it but.. customize one I had..
thanks to all altered book ideas and atc ideas I have found on the net ..
I have gathered more than enough inspiration ..

The one I use now is a standart black laptop bag..
quite sturdy but without a caractere..=P
like many people huh??..
well I have been searching for something..
but couldn't find anything particular.. to suit both my needs and my taste..
so.. I remembered the olive green one..
given as a gift at the last medical congress I attended..
it had the inscription of the congress on the lid of the front pocket..
so I fancied if I could disguise this and how.. well we will see..
I am trying my hand on this..

I first decided to transfer a collage picture I made from magazine cut outs..
I applied a basecoat of white acrilic on the pocket..
then made a collage to my taste.. photocopied it..
yesterday evening I have pasted the collage photocopy..
still holding the brush..and intending to wash..
my eyes cought the wooden Ikea magazine holder.. a longtime waiting craft project..

It sits on my counter and holds the recipes..
written on the notebook or torn from magazines..

two crafts are better than one.. I decided..
headed to the mag pile on the cofee table..
and found the perfect image.. before the brush dried.. =)..

A pile of crusty bread slices..
off we go..
some more pasting.. and.. the two ( the bag and the holder).. dried side by side ..

First thing in the morning..
the transfer was wetted..
and while waiting it to be ready..
I sanded off the surplus of paper.. using a piece of sanding paper..
then a starry cut in the hole on the front..
and rolling the sanding paper.. some more sanding.. and..


here is a clean hole ..


remember the acrilic paint I applied as a base coat??..
well I added some water and it was ready to use as white wash..
for the sides..

while it was drying.. I continued to the bag altering process..
which isn't going well.. and when I say this.. I mean it..
that is why two are better than one..
you succeed at least at one of them..
and you have a story to tell on the blog.. =P

I have left the house than.. came to job..
in the evening I will varnish my holder..
and take a photo of it..
and try some more things on the bag..

I will post the result..
good or bad..