Friday Feature: A bit of every day handmade!

Hey everyone! This is a scheduled entry, since right now I'm in India, and with the landing, and whatever else will come up, I was pretty sure I wasn't gonna have time for a blog entry for today.

This Friday Feature is a way to show off some great items, for every day use, like my coffee mug, my new work bag and my newest sleeve for my Xoom (that will be the travel sleeve).

I adore my On Cupcake Moon coffee mug, and I love enjoying a cappuchino made with my Dolce Gusto coffee maker!

When I saw this tablet sleeve in StellarCheri's shop, I knew I had to get it, and it'll be my traveling sleeve for my Xoom!

And this is my newest work bag, a Charlotte Dolly bag! My other bag, the Bowling bag needed retirement, so I chose another Dolly bag!

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: Reyes with Irene

Hey there!


You must be wondering... where are last week's Sunday Shots? Well, they're... in process, in a bit of an unusual turn, I'm the one totally uninspired for them, and Gaurav actually delivered his in time. So while I'm trying to get inspired for last week's and this week shots, I'm gonna write a blog entry that belonged to last month!


I actually had to check, cause I thought I should have been written at the beginning of last month, since I met up with my friend Irene for our exchange of Reyes gifts on the first week of Jan! In most of Spain, Santa Claus is more of a late comer, and gifts have always been given on the morning of Jan 6th, which according to lore is when the Three Magi, Wise Men or Reyes Magos as we call them, presented the baby Jesus with the incense, gold & myrrh.


Well, long story short, we met up for lunch at Vip's, had quite a yummy lunch, I tried the very awesome Toblerone cheesecake and we exchanged gifts!





I got Irene addicted to Dolly bags, and she has quite a loooong list of bags she wants to get, so I usually get her one for either/both Reyes and her b-day. And this year I got her a Ruffle purse, a Sofia cosmetic bag (super roomy) and an eye-glass case, all matching!







And she got me one of the many books available about Hypatia of Alexandria (I have been wanting to read about her for quite a while) and super cute handmade felt Hello Kitty pin that I wore right away!




Hopefully I'll have more blog entries ready this week, cross your fingers for some extra motivation coming my way!

Shopping Handmade: Irene's Birthday

My friend Irene had her 26th birthday this last Monday, but she celebrated it last Saturday, and took a bunch of is for dinner at Gino's (gotta love Italian food!) and then we went out for a few drinks and a lot of fun!

I've been trying to get as many handmade presents for every birthday as possible, and in Irene's case, it was not different, and I managed quite well, except for a kurta that I bought for her in my last visit to India, the rest of her goodies were handmade!

First of all, the birthday card! I got a few of these from Pacokeco's shop on Etsy, but I can only use them with Gaurav's family or those friends that are fluent in English and wouldn't mind a card in English. I haven't found any really nice cards in Spanish on Etsy, but I guess I can always ask for a few custom made ones... I know the lady behind Pacokeco would gladly get at it! I love her shop, it's full of fun and cute cards, tags & the cutest paper nummies ever! And her customer service is more than amazing too!

Next, I gave her the Tea Tree & Lime facial soap sample from Spa Therapy that I got from the EGCG Swag Bag, cause we had talked about her wanting to try a new soap for her face, and I thought she'd love it! First thing she did when she opened it was smell it, and then everyone in the table was also smelling the soap! It does smell great, but it was a bit of a weird sight at the restaurant!

And her favourite present was a Dolly bag! I got her totally addicted to Dolly bags last year when I got her a Dolly bag as b-day present, and since then she's been making wish lists of Dolly bags like mad! I got her a laptop bag for Reyes and now a Perfect Purse for her b-day! As every owner of a Dolly bag (or usually more) says: "You can't have just one!"

And even if it was not handmade, she also loved the kurta I got her!

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!

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!