April 27, 2016

SunshineNBliss Shop Review

I think maybe I have found THE ONE.

Meet my Sunshine Dori.



Isn't she the cutest???  I absolutely LOVE the vintagey-kitschy fabric print.

What is a Sunshine Dori though?

A dori or traveler's notebook is a completely customisable notebook that is made out of leather or fabric.  The idea is to be able to easily keep track of notes, calendars, and journaling while traveling. When you have one made out of fabric like this, it is also called a fauxdori.  Some shops that make and sell fabric doris come up with their own cute names too.  I bought this one from an Etsy shop called SunshineNBliss so it is called a Sunshine Dori.

I had never heard of traveler's notebooks or TNs, or doris until a few months ago.  I started seeing pictures of them in planner groups and at first I wasn't sold.  Why would anyone want something like this when you could have a pretty planner from Happy Planner or a set up in a Kikki?

Then I joined a few journaling challenges like Listers Gotta List from The Reset Girl and Quoted from Analog Stationers.  I never could decide where in my planner to add in my daily entries for these challenges.  I tried a couple of setups in photo albums, regular notebooks and journals and discarded planner pages but I didn't like any of those options.  In the planner groups I would see others making really beautiful layouts in TN inserts.  After looking into TNs and fauxdoris, I realized exactly how much I could make this set up my own.  My 109th birthday came around and I was given some elusive spendoolics and the search for the perfect dori started.

I knew I wanted something with a vintage feel to it but I also usually go for bright, cute patterns.  I stumbled across SunshineNBliss's listing for this Sunshine Dori and I fell in love.


I reached out to the shop owner late on a Friday night with questions about sizes.  I really did not expect to hear back from them until the next day or even Monday because honestly, who else is spending their Friday nights trolling Etsy?  Evidently Karee spends her Friday nights the same way!

Karee, the shop owner, replied back to me almost immediately and answered my questions.  She even sent pictures with her doris next to other planners so that I could figure out the sizing.  Once the order was placed I didn't even bother ordering inserts because I did not think the dori would arrive so quickly.  In the shop description, Karee says the turnaround time is 1-2 weeks which is what I expected for something that is totally handmade.  I placed my order on Saturday and had the dori in my hand the following Friday.  That was totally unexpected and amazing!

I squealed when I opened it because it is so bright and lovely.  Look how Karee packaged it all.



Ain't that sweet?  Wouldn't receiving a package like this make you feel special?  It did me.

I messaged Karee and told her how much I loved it and that I hadn't expected it so soon.  I hadn't even ordered the inserts yet.

I asked Karee to put in extra inside bands and pockets.  Those bands hold the inserts in place.  If y'all order a dori, get the pockets.  They are so nice to have.  Take a look at the inside of this dori.



Carrots!!!  Veggies!  The inside fabric goes so well with the cover fabric.  It is all so kitschy-cute!

This is what she looks like with inserts inside.


The inserts are from Boho Cottage and Happy Planning Shoppe and I will do another post to show you those more later on.  Right now I have inserts for my calendar, meal planning, memory keeping for Bean, bible study, Listers Gotta List and Quoted.  All of that in one dori and it is so easy to carry around.  It's actually lighter than any of the planners I've been using.  When an insert gets filled up, just replace it.  Super easy and so danged cute!

You can get your own Sunshine Dori from Karee and see exactly how great her sewing skills are. Here are all of her links.

SunshineNBliss on Etsy
Sunshine_N_Bliss on Instagram

Karee also has a shop with her sister that makes adorable dori inserts.  I plan on ordering my next batch of inserts from her.  That shop is called CraftyGirlsX2.

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