NEW USE FOR PET TRAINING PADS!

So I'm trying to get my mindset into packing up some things since eventually I will be moving. I'm ready to pack up stuff but it gets a bit overwhelming at times. I've started with my kitchen and I am boxing up things I don't need while I'm still living here. I've had this package of dog training pads for awhile now because I had a sick kitty that was needing to use some. Well now I no longer need them but couldn't seem to throw them out (a common theme with me). I found a new use for them though! Why not pack with them. I'm sure bubble wrap would be ideally better but that can get expensive. I mean they are padded and seem perfect and I'm all about saving some money and using things I already own. So if you ever need some packing materials, these seem to do the job so far. I will let you know how traveling goes though! 

Okay, Off to try and pack more!

Have a wonderful Friday!

XOXO

-Sara

TOY A DAY // GREGORY HORROR SHOW

TOY A DAY

Gregory from Gregory Horror Show

Created by Naomi Iwata

Yamato Toys

I have no idea why I'm not posting my Instagram toy a day photos on here as well until I start making more detailed toy posts so here was yesterdays! 

xoxo

-Sara

SAY GOODBY TO THE RAINBOW // MOVING FORWARD

Some people know my past and I've shared a bit here on my blog. I moved to Kansas City, MO to attend college back in 1998! Man I feel old right now. I had decided to stay here because it was very difficult for my partner at the time to move and I had a really great job as an artist and designer so there was no reason not to stay. We had purchased this house back in 2008 I believe, and I have spent years making it my home. I've shared photos on Flickr and Facebook and anywhere I could. I love to decorate and style a space and hopefully inspire others. I've been able to share the designer toy world with people that may not have normally ever seen a collection like this and how you can have it in your home in a nicely designed way. 

What some people may not realize is that my home and toys were therapy for me. I haven't left my home much in many years other than when I would go to work but then I came back home to be a caregiver. My home is a reflection of who I am and what gives me joy and I will always love it and have a special place in my heart for it. Unfortunately it does not hold the best of memories for me and as hard as I've tried I can no longer continue to stay here anymore. It had become my personal paradise and my personal prison. Every other aspect of my life has changed within the past year and this is the last step for me to make. 

In the next couple of weeks, after I have some photos and a video taken of my house, I will be boxing up all of my toys and art and getting my home prepared to sale. It will be an emotional experience I'm sure but also a very exciting one. I will get to start over and create something new in a new space. I'm going to miss you rainbow wall but maybe you will be new and improved someday. I'm not sure what it will be like to live here for awhile with no toys displayed. I'm sure it will be incredibly weird for me. I'm going to be sharing photos and the process of everything coming down and what the end result will look like. I will probably not be selling any toys, I know, I know, I'm sorry ;) I will be selling other things though because I need to downsize what I have and let go of some of my past. I will be having another Instagram account up with things I'm parting with soon if anyone is interesting because I would love for my things to go to people who will appreciate them. 

Thank you for listening...reading. This is an adventure I'm more than ready for and I'm excited to share my new life with you. 

XOXO

-Sara

WHAT I WORE // CAT SOCKS

Good morning and happy Monday! I wanted to post some outfits from over this past weekend. I've met a lot of my friends and people in my life through the internet because for many years I wasn't able to get out of my house that often so it was my connection to the rest of the world. Well I've meet some truly wonderful caring people and quite a lot of those people I met through Instagram! I've always loved taking photos so it was just natural that I would get quite obsessed with this app on my phone. Well one of those friends was so kind and sent me an awesome package filled with wonderful surprises! One of them were these awesome cat socks!!! It's no secret I love cats and I love cute products that have cats on them. I have a nice collection of socks that keep growing and these might be my favorite so far. They even have little ears! Thank you SO much Laura! You are the sweetest! 

I always layer clothing to add color, length or just because its getting colder and I want more clothing on :) So what you're seeing in the above photo is actually a skirt under my dress. I do this a lot.

DETAiLS

DRESS : ModCloth
CARDIGAN : ModCloth

SKIRT : (old) Urban Outfitters
SHOES: LeBunny Bleu
SOCKS: Target

Have a wonderful day!

-Sara

DIY // ICE CREAM WAFER COOKIES

Earlier in the year I was having a hard time sleeping so occasionally I would make random things at very random times. One night, or probably early morning, I decided to make some of these ice cream wafer cookies. I had the wafers and I had stocked up on some candy melts I picked up at a craft store. I really like experimenting with things and making desserts is so much fun. I'm sure somewhere out in the world someone has made these before but I hadn't seen them cut in the shape of a cone. I had just seen where people dipped the wafter in chocolate or candy. Since wafers already look like ice cream cones I figured these would be super easy and fun to make.

What you need:

• Wafer cookies (I like to get the packs with the three different flavors because it's more colors to play with!)

• Candy melts (I bought the ones made by Wilton. They have lots of fun colors. This time I just used the white but my first batch of cookies I made had blue candy ice cream.)

• Sprinkles, candy, anything you want to decorate your ice cream with. (I used 4 different colors of the sugar sprinkles and the "cherries" on top are actually the mini chewy Sweet Tarts because they came in colors that matched my sprinkles.) 

• Knife

How to make them:

• Cut the end of the wafers into a point. No need to be precise. I had cut a little off the top corners as well thinking that would help make them more round like an ice cream cone when I put the candy on but honestly you can just put more candy on the wafer to round it off. 

• Melt the candy. Just follow the instructions for whatever type you have. Mine I just melted in the microwave and stirred until it was melted to an icing type consistency. 

• For some reason I thought I could just dip the wafer in the melted candy but that did not work so well and I ended up with wafer parts all in my white candy! So the easiest more effective way was to put the candy on with a knife. Just spread it all over the end on the wafer until you cover it like the top of an ice cream cone. You don't really have to put the candy on the back side of your cookie but I did on mine.

• While your candy is still soft sprinkle on your sprinkles or whatever you want to use to decorate them.

• Place cookies on cookie sheet, or wax paper and let the candy harden. I put mine in the refrigerator.

• You're done! Yay! 

I think these would be really fun to make in colors to match your party or baby shower. They are also really cute to use as decoration on larger desserts like a cake. Have fun and experiment!

xoxo

-Sara

WHAT I WORE // FANCY GREEN SQUIRREL

I had to match my outfit to my color palette I posted earlier today! 

DETAiLS

DRESS : Choies
CARDIGAN : H&M

NECKLACE/BRACELET : Vintage
SQUIRREL: Vintage

xoxo

-Sara

COLOR PALETTE // MOODY START OF FALL

Unfortunately over the past few weeks I was a bit under the weather and then had a lot of catching up to do with my home and work. I just was not able to give my blog much attention but I really want to make it a priority to try and post something everyday if possible. 

One way I decided might help me do that is sharing color palettes more regularly. My past career involved a lot of color palette creating. It was important that I kept up with trends and created new ones. I had to be on top of what was going on out in the world of fashion, design, and products. I have always been passionate about color. The name of my blog is Bleed in Colors for a reason. Although I have multiple meanings for why I chose that as my blogs name, colors is and has always been a huge part of my life for everything I do. I get really excited when I see combinations of color that are fun, unexpected, and just work really well together. Many years ago, when I was a production artist for Hallmark, I had to be very accurate with color. I can match exact colors by eye very quickly and easily and mixing exact colors is just some weird talent I have. I know exactly how much of a certain color needs to be added to create another color. I don't know if I see things differently than others but I can be overwhelmed with the emotions I feel from color combinations. I absolutely love it and love to share it with others.

In all honesty I usually like to create my own palettes without a starting point, just me and a pantone book or swatch color book. Sometimes I just open Photoshop and start playing. In order to make it more fun a visual though, pulling research is something I try to do to show how to combine those colors and how much of each color should be used to create a certain feeling or mood.

So all of that has brought me to here, wanting to create colors stories and pallets for others to use for their art, crafts, or ever if you just want to be more adventurous with your home or clothing. I love to give people starting points of how to combine color that you may not have thought of. I decided to start with some things I have saved in my Pinterest boards for ages now. There is no reason they should just sit there and not be serving more purpose to inspire others. 

So here is my first color palette for fall. I know it's not actually fall just yet, I think we have until September 22 until Summer is officially over, but it's feeling like fall where I live already so I'm in the mood! I hope these can help you start looking at color more differently and adding it more into your life. Enjoy!

(From upper left to right 1. PInterest 2. Kinky Blue Fairy 3. Victor Eredel 4. via the Cocktail Ring 5. Natasha 6. Thomas Howes 7. Michelle Beaulieu)

You can also break this palette down to fewer colors. I will start adding more options here soon. Remember that when combining colors like in this palette, your neutral and less saturated colors should be used as the base for everything then bring in the greens followed by warmer red/orange colors. Brighter colors in a palette like this work better when you use them as pops of color because they can be a bit overwhelming if used too much. It can work you are just not going to have the same mood or feeling. Most importantly, have fun and be creative! 

xoxo

-Sara

(images used for inspiration ONLY. I do not own the rights nor created the images above. All sources are listed if possible.)

GOOD ADVICE

(image source)

Some of these can be hard to do but it's good advice to remember. Ignore what everyone else is doing, just start creating. I'm always trying to be better than I was the last time I made something. I may gather inspiration but I never compare myself to others. They aren't me and I will never be them nor do I want to be. Creation is something personal to me and what drives me everyday.

Now, back to work! :)

Have a great night and go make something!

xo

-Sara

5 QUESTIONS PEOPLE ALWAYS ASK

Happy Monday Everyone! So I thought I would post a few questions I get ask pretty regularly about my toy collection. These are questions I have answered so many times that I wanted to have this list up to direct people to, because as much as I don't mind answering questions, I just don't have the time to keep answering the same ones. I'm to the point where my answers are silly and made up just to entertain myself. These are my serious answers though :)

1. How long have you collected toys?

My entire life. I still have quite a lot of my toys from when I was a child. I use to freak out if I had to get rid of something for one reason or another.  I remember trying to confiscate toys from a garage sale my parents had when I was maybe 6 or 7. I was not good at letting go of things. I guess I'm a toy hoarder.

2. How in the world do you dust all of your toys? You must be cleaning all the time. 

Do you see those grey shelves my wall of toys are sitting on? Well they are grey for a reason ;) it's good at hiding dust. But in all seriousness, I've answered this question more times than I can even count and my response is always the same. If dust bothered me, I wouldn't collect objects. It's never been an issue for me. Sure, there is dust, but I move things around a lot. If you dust a few things off every now and then it's not overwhelming or even an issue really. I don't live in a place where lots of dust accumulates in my home. I never dust everything all at once. There is just too much to clean. I don't seem to have any dust allergy issues so it must not be too bad in my house. I would love to have a lot of thing behind glass someday but until then, I will live with it. 

3. Do you make a lot of money to afford your collection?

I hate this question. First, it's not appropriate question to even ask someone but I will answer it here, this one time only. I've collected toys and art my entire life. When I moved out to go to college and had my own place to decorate is when it started getting larger. Of course when I had a full time job after college, I was able to buy more things but I'm far from rich. So for over 15 years I've collected toys regularly except more recently I haven't been able to collected much. Everyone has things they enjoy, sports, traveling, going out to bars and clubs. Well instead of spending money on those things I collected. That's how I have a collection like this. It's truly my passion. I was unable to travel or do other things because I was a caregiver for most of my adult life. Collecting toys is what gave me joy. 

4. Hey, I can't seem to find this toy anywhere. Will you sell me your?

Nope! I can't find things I want either. That's just the reality of collection objects that are usually limited editions. I've searched and hunted just like everyone else for things I like. I don't sell my collection. I bought them because I loved them. There are few times where I have duplicates of toys so I will sell those and I have a few from blind box toys that don't really interest me so I may sell them but that's it. Please don't ask me to sell you a toy of mine. I've never collected anything because I thought they would make me money someday. 

5. Where do get your toys?

Everywhere. When you are a collector, you have to willing to hunt for what you want. I do what anyone can do. I figure out what the toy is, who made it, and then start searching. There are lots of sites out there that sell designer toys, vintage items, message boards where you can trade or purchase from another collectors. It's extremely easy to find things now a days. Google is your best friend. Before it was so easy to track things down I still did a significant amount of my purchases through on line shops. I have since 1999/2000. I don't live close to any shops that sell things I collect except for when I collected Todd McFarlane toys which I still have. Occasionally comic book stores or toys stores will have things I'm looking for but you can usually find them cheaper on line. Also, if you find an artist you like, check to see if they have their own on line shop. I get a lot of things directly from the artist. I will post a list of some shops I like and places I've purchased from in the past here soon. I absolutely love to support these shops in any way I can. They are all hard working awesome people. 

Have an amazing day! Thank you for stopping by!
XOXO

-Sara

WHAT I WORE // NEW HAIR COLOR

Happy Sunday everyone! So I get really bored of my hair pretty quickly. I like matching my clothes to it and experimenting with colors. It's just hair so why not have fun. I have no idea the last time it's been it's natural color but if you're curious, I think it's brown, ha! I have a lot of grey hair too. That started in my early 20's and I'm sure a lifetime of stress made it worse. I can't wait for it all to be naturally grey/white. To be honest I love natural hair colors on other people but not on me. Not that it looks bad or anything I just don't feel like myself unless it's a color nature didn't intend. I decided to experiment last night and mixed a few colors I had together. My hair was already a strange light grey blue colors from fading so I mixed Ion Color Brilliance Titanium, Lavender, and Azure which is an interesting blue color. I also diluted it all with conditioner because I still wanted it a pastel color. The color that came from it is definitely interesting. It looks more blue indoors. This will fade pretty quickly but then I can just dye it another color :) I may add in a teal color for fun here soon. 

DETAiLS

DRESS : Sheinside
CARDIGAN : Modcloth

BELT : Forever21
HAIR : Ion Color Brilliance

Have a great day!

XOXO

-Sara

ART OPENING // UNSEEN FORCES

This year will be the first time in three years I'm unable to attend the art opening of my very good friends Chris Ryniak and Amanda Louise Spayd. Unfortunately times are hard and traveling isn't something possible right now but I'm definitely there in spirit. Their two person show opens tonight at Stranger Factory in Albuquerque, NM. If you don't know about Stranger Factory or Circus Posterus, it's owned but two of my other favorite people, Kathie Olivas and Brandt Peters. If you are ever in the area, art opening or not, be sure to stop by their shop. It's a wonderful designer toy art heaven and everyone that works there is awesome. They are definitely part of my extended family and have all helped me through hard times in one way or another. Such amazingly caring, generous people with huge hearts.

I've seen a few sneak peak of the pieces from the show tonight that Chris and Amanda have shared and I'm always blown away. They are both extremely talented hard workers and it shows it their work. What I've always loved is their attention to detail, colors and use of materials. Like every show of theirs, the pieces will probably sell out quick tonight which I know for a lot of collectors that can't make it to the show, is something hard to deal with because everyone wants a chance to own one of their pieces. I know for me personally, I've had the ability in the past to get my little hands on some of their work and although I know I will not be able this time, I'm beyond happy for them that their work is loved so much that so many people want to own one. That's a huge a compliment for any artist and I'm excited for all of the people that get to attend the show and see everything in person.

Chris Ryniak

I love the new addition of clear and transparent resin used along with painted resin in their current pieces. I was waiting for someone to start doing that more in an effective way and I think for the theme of this show, Unseen Forces, the process fits perfectly. If you are not familiar with Chris or Amanda's work please check out their personal sites. I promise the creatures they create will make you smile. 

Amanda Louise Spayd

Best of luck with the show tonight Chris and Amanda. Not that you need it because I know it will be amazing! Love you both. 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone and be sure to sign up on the circusposterus.com site to get email updates for upcoming shows and previews of the shows. Anything that doesn't sell from Unseen Forces will go up online and be available to purchase if you cannot attend although I have feeling there might not be much of anything left :)

XOXO

-Sara

(all photos on this post are property of Chris and Amanda. I only edited them together.)

GNOMES

I have a few of these guys left in my Etsy shop and some gnomes without the yarn and knitting needles. 

Have a great night!

XOXO

-Sara

THANK YOU

Just a little thank you to everyone that follows me on whatever you follow me on :) Means a lot to me. I will be a little slow over the next few months with posting things because BIG THINGS will be happening in the future with me and this toy house of mine. Stay tuned! I'll share more as time goes on.

XOXO

-Sara

WHAT I WORE // LITTLE WITCH

I hadn't played dress up in awhile but wanted to wear my new cool top/dress so I took some photos last night. I think it was listed as a dress but I'm way too old to be wearing a dress that short, ha, so I usually always layer them with a skirt or slip to make it longer. I had saved this top a year ago in black but couldn't find it when I went back to look but I did find it in white and think the illustration pops better even though I'm usually not a white clothing person. 

I somehow always end up dressing like a giant doll or toy by accident. I'm okay with that :)

(The dress looks off white or cream on the site but it's actually a true white.)

DETAiLS

DRESS/TOP : Choies
SKIRT : Forever21

BOOTS : Madden Girl
TIGHTS : Similar ones here

As always, thank you so much for stopping by to check out my blog. It mean a lot to me!

Have a great day!

-Sara