Let's cut a long story short - who we are and what we really do!

So we have been a bit erratic with our blog posts and of course we could have our long list of excuses furnished but I'd rather skip that, save us all the boring blah blahs and get to the point. 


After being around for more than a year, I finally think a post on who we are and what we really really do should be out there. If you've ever spent a moment wondering this too, then go on and read some ...

Our eureka moment happened sometime around Jan 2012 when I realized it was a better idea for me to lose some weight chasing my dreams rather than running behind jobs I didn’t fancy much. That’s what led to Dash of Bling’s creation. Why 'Dash of Bling' though? We have a thing for slightly long names – starting from mine – Sanghmitra, but then we love cropping them to make them sound fun. So Sanghmitra became Sangs and Dash of Bling, DOB :) 

Besides my love for polkas (you’ll see tonnes of them soon in our upcoming designs) and chocolates and ice creams even, I love creating the perfect gifts – most times for others and sometimes for myself even. So yes, if you are looking for something which you want to gift a friend or for someone you love, all you need to do is write to us at dashofbling@gmail.com 

If custom gifts are not what you are looking for but instead are in the mood for some retail therapy, then you could look up our entire range. 

Our website page www.dashofbling.in will be up supppper soon but till then our FB page is fairly updated: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dash-of-Bling/143546552412388?ref=hl

That's the long and short of it mostly. If you wanna know more, drop by here on and off and you'd definitely get to see tonnes. Will definitely be back with a post of the newness soooper soon :) Till then, happy browsing 

Helping Santa

As the festive season kicks in and as Secret Santa's got many spending more time at gift shops figuring the most ideal gift, Dash of Bling has been busy helping Santa pick the right gifts. 


Transforming the seemingly 'impersonal gifts' into 'completely for me', that's what some of the customised prezzies have been doing. Right from the yumm chocolate picture frames to the 3D themed cakes, the idea is to get the perfect 'Woaaaa' reaction. 

I promise you won't be spending half as much time figuring out the perfect gift. Contact dashofbling@gmail.com for more ideas.

Rest assured, your 'Christ Child' will definitely be hoping you're their Santa again ;) Merry Christmas

Shot therapy!!

Downing shots is always associated with friends, loud cheer and celebrations. Many a games end with both the winners and losers downing shots as penalty. While the event is the real star of the evening, why not let the shot glasses also have a small say...


Archies



These aren't the final printed glasses



Bean me!!

Bean bags seem to be the biggest delight these days. The comfort of sinking into one, with a book in hand, especially on a lazy afternoon lies unmatched. Not only that, they make for the most ideal gifts for friends and loved ones across occasions.

I had gifted one to my hub and then worked on a similar one for a client. The positive reactions are what really prompted me to make one for my lil sis who had been wanting one for the longest time. Ofcourse I had the freedom to choose the character and design since it was a prezzie and that made things easier :P 

I narrowed down on a Garfield beanie. Garfield with his 'witty one liners' and 'care a darn attitude' seemed to perfectly reflect my sister's take on life. Will let her feedback and reaction, do the rest of the talking :)

Oh and coming soon; a bean bag design paying a 'tribute to MJ', a 'my fav rock bands' beanie and a 'pumpkin' one too. 

Celebrations Galore...a gallery

People are constantly grappling with ways to make it special for their loved ones on the occasions that matter. The basic cakes and balloons are a thing of the past. It's all about customization and uniqueness. So while it's a set of shooter glasses for some with their favourite characters on it, it's making headlines on the front page of the daily for the others and of course Dash of Bling is there to bring it all together. So go on and savour the look.

Angry Bird shooter glasses

Customized newspaper done for a birthday with personal
messages on page 2

Cake done as a surprise for the inauguration of a boutique

Birthday cake done for a father who's always on the phone ;)

A newly married wife's cake for her husband on his birthday

A few words on the great Stewie Griffin

'Stewie Griffin' from the Family guy is the breakout character in the series and seems to be the love of the season and that's evident with me wrapping up my second assignment of the the Stewie bean bag and mug. 



I guess it's the quirkiness of the character that has most glued to the show. On one hand this infant has Einstein like brains and can build time machines, while on the other, he finds it difficult to even use the toilet seat. To add to that, the accentuated Brit accent with his shrill tones of excitement only add to the laugh out loud moments. I guess that's what makes people want to have him on their mugs, beanies etc to remind them of those mad moments. Of course it always makes for a great memorabilia.

What's been cooking lately

The season of celebrations has had me working on a few exciting cake orders along with a couple of other things. 

The Ravan cake was done for my dearest brother who was a part of the team that successfully completed and launched the film Ra.one. The cake was a small gesture to show the family's appreciation of his hard work and to appreciate the blockbuster opening of the film. 

The Karnataka shaped cake was more of a corporate order done by a team belonging to the Karnataka region celebrating their success. 

Both the themes were a delicious hit :) 

Stories in felt

There's a lot that can be said about you just by what you adorn. I guess that’s what makes us want to find just the right thing to walk around with, the thing that says, ‘this is me’. Ofcourse, that said, guess it's the most difficult part. To get something you love, in the colour you love, with the motifs you love almost seems like wishing for the stars, barring when you hit Dash of Bling ;)

The latest offerings are some fun stories woven in felt. The theme showcased being buntings.These bunting bag designs called Kimi wristlets make for perfect carry along to those lazy brunches, dinners or even those fancy get togethers. And if work’s on your mind, team these up and complete the look with the fun IPad covers and pouches.

Kimi wristlets 

Ipad cases

Personalized pouch for jewellery, make up, stationary 

What’s more, these can be made to order in your preference of colours and the designs too can be altered. All you need to do is share the story you want felted. So order yours before the collection flies away :)

Of quilted dreams and more

My bedroom is my den. After a long day at work, or when the weather gets chilly, or when its pouring outside, the one thing I find myself longing for, is my quilt. During my university days in London, I remember having a duvet cover which I specifically had, cause it reminded me of home. Not only that, I still have my favourite quilt which I love to use when I go visit my parents. 

Quilts have always had something about them, some warmth besides the literal one which makes them very personal and comforting. And that’s really the latest offering from Dash of Bling; ofcourse with a difference.  That’s right, these can be customized to suit your needs in terms of colour, fabric, designs, size etc. and that’s not just for you adults but also for the little ones.

These range of quilts and rugs are perfect for ‘soon to be parents’ or even young parents who am sure have a huge wish list for the ideal room décor for their kids. Oh and these can also be customized to have the baby’s name and birthdate on it.

So go ahead and bring out that designer in you :)

Quilted for the boys :)

Train patchwork quilt

quilt with the baby's name on it

Printed striped quilt

Patchwork rug

Patchwork rug for the boys

Floral rug in aqua and green

Garden themed rug

Graduation Goggles

If you have been a ‘How I Met Your Mother’ fan, my title would immediately give it away.  But for those of you who aren’t aware, ‘Graduation Goggles’ is about how once you emotionally realize that your time of having to deal with some crap (job, specific relationship) is finite, it suddenly becomes endurable or even okay. I personally couldn't agree more with this theory and of course it was proven true with one of our close colleague’s decision to quit.

He decided to move on for a better opportunity to one of the most aspired companies - Google. The shift is obviously a big one for him but while he moves on, I guess we will be left behind missing him quite a bit. And though we haven’t expressed this before, we wanted him to know how much he meant to us, obviously without stating it in as many words. So we decided to make him a memento in the form of a poster and coined it ‘Graduation Google’ (pun intended). 

The idea behind the poster was to bring alive our treasured moments which were nothing more than efforts on our part to make this boring place more exciting. The visuals are clearly inspired from things that are very relevant to us.

To help you get the humour behind the visuals, will let you in on a couple of the jokes - the fish hook hanging off the O is inspired from the face one of us makes which was coined as the 'Fish Hook Expression', ask him to join us for a drink and the list of excuses could really help write a book, the mouse comes in to remind him of one of us who loves to hijack the mouse to explain any query put forth. Needless to say, the gift managed to do its job over efficiently ;)

These posters can be customized to whatever the brief is :)

Got Cake?

Cakes are the panacea for any do one can think of; birthdays, surprises, farewell parties or to just satiate any sinful indulgence. It's the one thing that is promptly introduced to us by our folks on our first birthday and from what I have seen in my first birthday pix, mine sure looked mouth watering (that's also cause it was chocolate, need I say more?)and thankfully not over stuffed with butter icing.

I remember attending all those birthday parties as a kid; the hero of our evening, the one we all waited for, was always the ‘Birthday Cake’. Often inspired from our favourite cartoon characters ‘Tom and Jerry’, ‘Donald Duck', these excessively creamy sponge cakes (which seem almost apologetically basic now) did the trick of fascinating us. All of this was mostly ordered from our favorite cake shop, Monginis in Bombay. I guess they were the only cake shop back then even flaunting a brand name and logo. Not sure though if they still exist or if they still manage to sell their rose inspired pink cakes... Would surely be interesting to find that out.

 But what the hell, I am not here trying to suggest we fit in Monginis into your surprise or gift package, I promise. What I plan to offer today is by now am guessing, quite evident – yep, they are drool worthy sinful cakes but made to match your craziest imagination. 

Handcuffed for life now - for a hen's party

Designer cakes are a rage these days and rightly so. These cakes have huge potential of making an event seem special by just their sheer presence. Needless to say, their potential of adding to an occasion, the missing spark can't be undermined. Hope these give you a glimpse of what I can offer...

Time to open the Bubbly - celebrating 25 years

Show me the money - what better wishes for the hub?

Clearly while mentioning those, I can’t dare to miss out on the delectable cupcakes which make for perfect sidekicks for most occasions. That too without compromising on their visual appeal.

 

And if any of the above is too fancy to handle, then you could dig into some fresh fruit cuffins. A cross between cupcakes and muffins, these delightful treats are available in exciting flavours of apple cinnamon, blueberry, strawberry, to name a few (these cupcakes are currently available Bombay only). 

Fresh Fruit, Apple Cinnamon Cuffin

Double Chocolate Cuffin 

Hoping I have left you drawing up your list of excuses to shout out for one of these :)

The seeds were planted...

Speaking of planning surprises, here's what I often hear people say, 'I wish I had thought of it earlier', 'how would I put all these ideas together', 'such an elaborate idea would be too expensive', 'I would love to, but it's just beyond me...' etc etc. And then there’s me who can write a blog on it. I love throwing surprises for people. I constantly look out for opportunities to plan a surprise for something as basic as a birthday to planning an entire cocktail evening. 

My sister in law is a film journalist by profession, an outcome of her obsession for anything Bollywood. Her job entails mingling with the who's who of the industry, so obviously when she was getting married, I decided to draw inspiration from her obsession. I planned a Bollywood style premier night for her. It would have the works, red carpet, paparazzi, box office counter with entry tickets, larger than life billboards, cutouts, a sheela ki jawani stage amongst others. And there would be only one star – her.

The evening turned out to be grander than expected and of course reassured me that this passion had potential. Here is the evidence :)



The husband to be requesting for an autograph while the paparazzi click away

 

The priceless reaction



The 'Rab ne bana di jodi' inspired billboard



The much spoken about popcorn table centers

The billboard featuring the stars of the evening 

 

Posing with the camerman cut-out with the clapboard
highlighting the event in the background

The film strips on either sides of the stage to add to the effect

A bollywood night would have been incomplete without all the naach gaana and of course a film which the premier was being held for.

Doing this was a lot of fun but the reactions it evoked, was the icing on the cake. More later...

The Hub's Birthday

My hub was in love with the show 'Family Guy' and of course his favourite character being, the little baby with a big mission - Stewie. One would often spot him impersonating the 'crazy stewie manner of talking' and of course there would be no missing out on a single episode. Naturally, that became my inspiration for his birthday gifts. 

To add to this, I got a caricature of us done to bring alive the humour we shared in our relationship and of course bunged in the must have balloons. All this, set up in a hotel room which I had secretly booked for us to enjoy a quiet little get away over the weekend :)