Traveling Thursday: Zurich!

Hello everyone! For this week's Traveling Thursday, I'm sharing photos of my most recent trip, this past weekend to Zurich, Switzerland!

G's family were there on vacation, so I decided to join them to spend some time with his elder sister and her family that I hadn't seen in almost two years, since they live in the US.

On Saturday we went to see the Rhine Falls, the biggest waterfalls in Europe, and the walk from the train station to the falls themselves was also gorgeous!

On Friday we went to Conny Land, a small amusement park, with a very cool rollercoaster, called the Cobra! And we saw the dolphin training session too!

And I didn't get to see too much of Zurich itself, except on our ways from the Central train station to our hotel, but since that's smack in the centre of Zurich, that was a nice view!

Packing for a weekend means only hand luggage, and my Weekender Dolly bag was perfect for it!

Switzerland looks like a lovely country that I'd love to visit again, but I should try and learn some German for my next trip, it'd make things easier!

Wearing Handmade Wednesday: Dungaree Dolly Bags!

Wow, I don't know if it's just me, but doesn't it seem as if the time flies by sometimes? It's already Wednesday again! I'm hoping the time passes this fast for me till the end of March and then slows down a bit, I want to enjoy my vacation!


As fast as Wednesday arrived, it didn't find unprepared, and I'm all ready for another Wearing Handmade Wednesday edition!

About to leave the ward at the end of my shift with my trusty Dolly bag!

Here you can see one of my favourite Dolly bags, and it's the one that filled to the brim with stuff, I take to work every day! It's a Bowling bag, and I got it custom made with the fabric I wanted (just had to ship Dolly a yard of the fabric). It's cute, it's unique and it's tough cause it's been my work bag for over two years now! If you want something custom made, she has loads of fabrics to choose from on her website (or you can send yours, like I did) or if you're more of the instant gratification kind, she always has some ready to ship bags at her Etsy shop! Every girls needs a Dolly bag! ;)

Shopping Handmade: Diaper Bag & Matching Blanket!

Long time no blog! At least not one about handmade goodies!

After quite some good use, the Dolly's diaper bag I got for Dee was ready to be retired for another one, and this time I decided I'd let Dee decide which fabric she'd what. And I asked Dolly if she could make the strap an adjustable one. She managed fabulously and made a lovely bag, that Dee and Ravi loved!

Shortly after ordering the bag, I saw in Amber's shop: RockerByeBaby, a lovely blanket in the very same fabric that Dee had chosen for her bag, and I thought, that it'd be a wonderful set if I could get not only the bag, but the blanket and a bib and burp cloth set! I asked Amber, and she was more than happy to make the set for me!

So, here you can see not only a very happy Dee & Ravi with their new diaper bag, but also a very happy baby Rudra, enjoying his newest blanket!

Keep tuned for some blogs coming next week, including the Sunday photos feature!

Dolly Bags & Lucky Kaeru Fabrics!

This is a very enthusiastic blog, about part of my Christmas presents this year!

Anyone that has read my blog knows I'm a HUGE fan of Beth and her Dolly Bags (on DungareeDolly.com), and I've always loved getting custom bags from her, but I had always used the many cute fabrics she offers in her shop. But this time I was thinking of getting some of new bags in other fabrics, that way those bags would be even more unique!

The idea really started after getting a custom obi belt & headband from LoobyLou Crafts (also on Etsy) in this gorgeous green with gold butterflies fabric. I thought that a matching bag for both in the same fabric would be absolutely perfect, so I started searching online and found the fabric and got it sent directly to Beth.

That made me decide I wanted more bags in custom fabrics, so I decided to do a search on Etsy for fabric shops, mainly looking for oriental fabrics (since I love oriental prints) and came across Lucky Kaeru Fabric shop! I started browsing the shop and found so many amazing fabrics! It took me a while to limit myself to just three fabrics, a lime green sushi one, a black chinese take out one, and a blue birds & hills one. I asked Tiffany, the shop's owner, if she wouldn't mind shipping to a different addres than mine, and was so nice and helpful and even added a lil note on the package to let Beth know the bags where for my custom order!

Once Beth got all the fabrics we started talking about which fabric would be perfect for each bag, and what lil modifications would go better for each, and which lining would go better with each... quite a fun process, cause Beth is always so accomodating and always have amazing suggestions!

I got the box a lil before Christmas itself, and a lil before the Spain day of gift giving, Jan 6th. Beth even included the cutest lil note telling me not to open the package till Jan 6th!

So, once Jan 6th arrived, aside from all my other presents, I got to finally open the box and finally see all my bags!! Wow, what an amazing collection of amazing bags!!

First of all, you can see my custom Luxury Suite II in the gorgeous green butterfly fabric, with some rhinestoned details and vinyl contrasting!:

Next, the first of the bags made with Lucky Kaeru fabrics, the Chinese Take Out Bowling bag, which has become one of my absolute favourites, not only for the great size, not too big but more than enough roomy, AND the amazing side pockets!:

A gorgeous custom Sammy bag, with a shorter strap, so instead of a messenger bag, it's a shoulder bag, with the uber cute Green Lime Sushi fabric:

Another custom bag, made with the Blue Birds & Hills fabric, from her Dollywood collection, the Billy Bag!:

And, to top it all, another two lovely bags (using some really cute fabrics that are available at Dolly's website), the Vixen bag in the Turquoise Truffles (too sweet!!) and the Charlotte Bag in the Skullie Scribbles (it's such a rocking bag! Every girl needs a Charlotte bag!):

What a fantastic, fantastic package, and to top it all, I got a lil gift from Beth, in the shape of a weekend bag in the Pink Damask fabric with a matching mini bag! Soooooo pink & cute!! Thank you so much Beth!!

With so many bags, I should be more than satisfied for the year, right? Well, I have found a few other fabrics I'd love to use to get some more Dolly bags, I know, I know, I truly am ADDICTED!

DungareeDolly.com AKA Dolly bags!

Last Saturday and this Monday, I got two packages, from one of my all time favourite sweethearts! Not only she's a great seller, but she's also a friend, and one amazing lady!

I first came around Dungaree Dolly's Bags website while browsing on eBay, and came across the link in one seller's About Me page, don't ask me which seller cause I can't remember, with age my memory is becoming fuzzy! I went to check the website, and wow! So many amazing bags all over the place!! I also saw she had a myspace page, and since I had recently made my own, decided to add her. As much as a huge fan of online shopping as I am now, I've always been a lil reluctant to buying from somewhere without some references, so reading up her myspace page, as well as her Delighted Dolls page in her website, helped a LOT in finally deciding to go for one of her bags.

Her website not only has a very attractive design, with different pages for each bag, but also has a FAQ section and another on how to order, which make the whole process so very easy! I am the kind of person that reads everything (and I mean everything, even the back of shampoo bottles) so before buying something from a new place I always read everything in the website, or I read feedback, profile and shop policies in an Etsy shop. As much info as I can gather, the more secure I feel, and if I ask any questions, and I'm getting a polite, nice and informative answer, I'm way more likely to make a purchase.

My first purchase from her were two bags, and I was prompted to get them by seeing a custom bag she had made for her best friend, Miss Hula. I loved that bag, and I asked Dolly is she was going to offer them in her shop, she said it was a custom one, but that I could get my own custom made one. Ha! She hit my soft spot, I love handmade, I love OOAK, but if there's something I love more is custom made stuff just for me. So I got myself my custom Bella bag with bamboo handlers in an amazing sushi print! I also got me a really cute City bag in pink tattoo fabric, that became my trusty everyday-going-to-work bag for over a year (then it really needed to be washed, and now is bright as new again!). When the bags arrived I was squealing with joy! They were as perfect as I was hoping and even more!! And they were wrapped in this gorgeous tissue paper and there was CANDY in the box! That's not just getting a package you've bought, that's like getting a present on the mail!

After getting my first two bags I was completely and utterly HOOKED! I decided to get a few bags for my friends's b-days, my sister-in-law's b-day, Christmas time... and they've always been loved by everyone! They've also become my favourite self-present for my birthday! Every year I get myself a bunch of Dolly bags! And even for Christmas! My Dolly bags have become my trusty companions in all my travels, all my trips to India, and my everyday companions to work, and for going out! My bf has not just gotten used to my Dolly-obsession, but sometimes even promote it! He was the one to suggest I got a Hipster bag for our trips and visits to different places when I'm visiting India (it's roomy, so I can carry my stuff and his), and he's always teasing me about the amount of bags I have "Do you already own one of each? Dolly might need to start designing a new one soon to add to your collection", but the poor thing never complains about the HUGE amount of bags I own!

If the amazing quality of her bags was not enough, she also has an amazing customer service, after each order placed through her website, she'll always e-mail you to check if everything's fine, if you need anything, and she'll also e-mail you again once she's ready to ship your bags. I must confess I don't usually make my orders through the website anymore, I'm always asking for custom things, so I usually e-mail my dear Beth with all my queries and questions, and she sends me a paypal request with the quote for my bags (with all the lil extras I always ask for).

A Dolly bag has become my signature gift for my bf's side of the family, both my sisters-in-law own a diaper bag, and a pair of bags each, and my mother-in-law also has a pair of bags, which I'm really glad to say, they all love!

I was really honoured (and a bit of an oh my!! moment) when Dolly asked me to be Miss October. She had started this lil calendar in her website, with her Dolly Girls, friends and customers, in a very nice and thoughtful way of sending us some love back, ain't she a total darling? Here you can see me, in the pic she used, with my custom Luxury Suite bag!

My last two packages from her were MY Christmas present this year, which means a bunch of bags (I told the bf they're gonna be his present for me, since I feel bad for getting myself so many bags) and most of them custom, even more this time cause I picked the fabrics on Etsy, and got them sent directly to her, I'm sooo gonna be writing a blog entry about those after Jan 6th! Beth is soooo sweet, she even included a lil note telling me not to open the pacakge till Jan 6th! (in Spain we usually & traditionally give the presents on that day) and the other package was my Christmas presents for other people, as you can see all prettily packed with the same tissue paper that I got them in!

Amazing quality, amazing customer service and the sweetest lady I've ever met... I'm a total fan and a Dolly girl for life!