A couple of years ago I finally upgraded from a point-and-shoot to a DSLR, but still used the same camera bag, which I decided to decorate a bit since I couldn’t find a girly bag that wasn’t going to cost me an arm and a leg. Then I added a zoom lens to the equation and my bag started to get quite full. My hubby felt bad for me and surprised me with a really cute camera bag, but it didn’t really work for me because it still didn’t fit everything! lol But I still couldn’t afford one of the bags I really wanted, so I started searching for an alternative. I started looking on Etsy and came upon some shops that make camera bag inserts or rather inserts you can put into any bag/purse you already own to convert it into a camera bag! Genius! After that I found some blogs that have tutorials on how to make your own insert, but unfortunately I one don’t know how to use a sewing machine and two there aren’t enough hours in the day for me to learn (maybe one day). So back to Etsy I went and after look at several shops and prices and after reading a
blog post from Priddy Creations I decided to give
Martilena a try, she was also having a Mother’s Day sale so hello! #winning. I picked the size I needed (I already had a bag I was going to use in mind) and the color (hot pink) and placed my order. Now let me tell you if you decide to place an order please be patient! She seems to be very busy if her
FaceBook Page is any indication and it will take the full 15 business days before your insert arrives, but it’s definitely worth the wait!
The bag I chose I had actually used as a camera bag once before because it could hold all my gear and keep the sand out. I’m a big fan of Coach, but I can’t exactly afford it on my paycheck! Thank goodness I’m a great bargain shopper. One day I was on CraigsList and found someone selling a Coach bag for $50 (talked down to $40) it had actually been a bag that the person had bought for her husband to use as a diaper bag. Here’s a pic of the insert and bag by themselves:
I love that the velcro goes the length of the insert so I can reposition the dividers as needed. Don’t you love the color?
The outside has a zippered compartment I can use to put my keys, wallet, phone in and there’s two side pockets I can also use to slip my keys or phone in plus a bottle of water and the inside has several compartments to hold even more things in plus two more zippered compartments I can put my Kindle in along with my wallet for added security. And of course there’s the long strap I use to carry my bag as a cross-body bag. And here’s the bag and insert together.
Perfect fit! My bigger lens even has a hood on it and there’s still plenty of room. There’s even a side pocket on the insert that does fit my Kindle perfectly if I don’t use the Belkin sleeve I have it in. Right now I’m using the side pocket to carry around photos I’ve printed out. Here’s what it looks like with my camera:
Yay!!! I have finally found a bag that suits my needs. I haven’t taken it out for a test drive, but everything fits inside with pockets to spare.
The chain that comes with it isn’t flimsy either. You know how sometimes you’ll buy a necklace, but will quickly change the chain because it just looks really cheap looking? Well you won’t do that with this one! Another thing I like about this shop is that I placed my order on Monday (which was a holiday) and by Tuesday morning my order was already shipped out! I love that!! And both of my necklaces were individually wrapped and came shipped in a box (a definite plus in my book). And you can reuse the bags! I already have my eye on a 
