<![CDATA[UnBlink Studio by Jackie Tahara

<![CDATA[UnBlink Studio by Jackie Tahara - BLOG]]>Sun, 12 Apr 2026 18:32:18 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[The Next Spoonflower Design Challenge is: "Beachy Boho"!]]>Tue, 24 Mar 2026 19:53:41 GMThttps://www.unblinkstudio.com/blog/the-next-spoonflower-design-challenge-is-beachy-bohoYou might ask how I came up with the name for my brand new bohemian floral surface pattern design, which I’m calling “Ophelia Boho Blossoms”. Well, I created it for the upcoming Spoonflower "Beachy Boho” Design Challenge which suggested intricate florals and “calming hues in watery, denim blues and sandy beiges”, so that’s the Boho Blossoms part of the name. And I happened to be listening to the 1970s song “Ophelia” by The Band when I was thinking about a name, and I thought, hmmm, somehow “Ophelia” fits this floral design! So there, the truth behind how I come up with names for (some) of my pattern designs!
Public voting for this Challenge opens Thursday March 26 and you can link to the VOTING PAGE here!

]]><![CDATA[I've Entered My "Mediterranean Sea Fish" Pattern Design in the Spoonflower "Mediterranean Hues" Design Challenge!]]>Thu, 12 Mar 2026 20:48:12 GMThttps://www.unblinkstudio.com/blog/ive-entered-my-mediterranean-sea-fish-pattern-design-in-the-spoonflower-mediterranean-hues-design-challengeEDIT: My "Mediterranean Sea Fish" was voted 33rd out of 1735 entries in this Challenge, placing it in the Top 100! With thanks to all who voted!
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The current Spoonflower Design Challenge is “Mediterranean Hues”, and I’ve just entered my brand new “Mediterranean Sea Fish” surface pattern design in the Challenge! I had a hard time, OF COURSE, choosing just one or even a few colours, so I just used a whole bunch...Shades of Blue (Sky Blue! Cobalt! Teal!), Green (Olive! Leafy Kale!), Yellow (Sunny! Ochre!), Warm Tones (Clay Pink! Tuscan Red!) and some Neutrals (Sand! Limestone!) How much fun was this one? ALOT.
Public voting for this Challenge opens today Thursday March 12 and you can link to the Voting Page HERE. I'd love your vote for this one!
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And if you'd like to SHOP this design in my Spoonflower Shop on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor, here are direct links for each SCALE now available...
Large-Scale: Click HERE!
Medium-Scale: Click HERE!
Small-Scale: Click HERE!

My "Mediterranean Sea Fish" surface pattern design is now also available on Wallpaper in my Happywall Shop too!

]]><![CDATA[Bold "Heirloom Tomatoes" for the Spoonflower "Farmers Market" Design Challenge!]]>Mon, 02 Mar 2026 22:42:45 GMThttps://www.unblinkstudio.com/blog/bold-heirloom-tomatoes-for-the-spoonflower-farmers-market-design-challengeFor the current Spoonflower “Farmers Market” Design Challenge, I was playing with ideas around the kinds of fruits and vegetables you might find in a typical Summer weekend farmers market, like tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, greens and carrots. I started with sketching a “typical” tomato with a smooth round shape which frankly I was finding a bit uninteresting. But then I found some pictures of heirloom tomatoes in lots of different colours from red, orange, yellow, green to purple-ish, with striped variegations and much more interesting puffy irregular shapes, and kinda got stuck on drawing a bunch of these! So the brand new vegetable surface pattern design I created for the Challenge ended up being just “Heirloom Tomatoes”! But I must create more pattern designs like this featuring fun visually interesting foods, maybe artichokes or green leafy veggies or tropical fruits or fish...)!
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Public voting for this Challenge opened Thursday Feb 26 and closes Tuesday March 10. You can link to the Voting Page HERE!
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OH, and then I thought my new “Heirloom Tomatoes” pattern design would make fun and very challenging Puzzle Art! But I digress...

]]><![CDATA[I've Entered My New "Wildflower Collage" Print Design in Spoonflower's "Wildflower Collage" Design Challenge!]]>Wed, 18 Feb 2026 23:00:30 GMThttps://www.unblinkstudio.com/blog/ive-entered-my-new-wildflower-collage-print-design-in-spoonflowers-wildflower-collage-design-challengeI’ve just entered my brand new “Wildflower Collage” surface pattern design in the Spoonflower (ahem) “Wildflower Collage” Design Challenge! I know, I know, I could have come up with a more “unique” name, but I thought it suited this new floral print design just fine! Voting is now open until Tuesday Feb 24, and you can link to the Voting Page HERE!

]]><![CDATA[My Entry for the Spoonflower "Country Retro" Design Challenge Was"Flower Apples"!]]>Wed, 18 Feb 2026 22:51:36 GMThttps://www.unblinkstudio.com/blog/my-entry-for-the-spoonflower-country-retro-design-challenge-wasflower-applesSorry for the late notice but...I’ve been meaning to add to my “Lemon Slices” and “Ripe Strawberries” print designs to create a fun series of fruit-themed repeat patterns for a long time, but never had time to get back to it. But I thought the Spoonflower “Country Retro” Design Challenge (voting now closed) was a good excuse to get to it. So here’s my brand new bouncy “Flower Apples” print design! I think these 3 designs together would make a pretty fun set of kitchen linens!
BUT then I thought I needed to pair each of these bouncy fruits with some coordinating country decor checkerboard designs too...See below to see them all! AND you can find them all in one place in my "Bouncy Fruits Series" Collection in my Spoonflower Shop!

]]><![CDATA[My Entry for the Spoonflower "Craft Maximalism" Design Challenge!]]>Thu, 08 Jan 2026 21:06:30 GMThttps://www.unblinkstudio.com/blog/my-entry-for-the-spoonflower-craft-maximalism-design-challengeMy brand new folk art-inspired “Circle Craft” surface pattern design is full of sketchy hand-drawn abstract circles in a Maximalist Red palette! Although I finished it before Christmas, I just entered it in the next Spoonflower “Craft Maximalism” Design Challenge! It did take a LONG time to get the colours just right, but heck! I love the process!
If you'd like to vote in this Challenge, you can link to the Voting Page HERE! Public voting closes Tuesday Jan 20 2026. I'd love your vote for this one as always! AND Happy New Year!!

]]><![CDATA[My Entry for the Spoonflower "Delft Tiles" Design Challenge!]]>Fri, 19 Dec 2025 19:10:22 GMThttps://www.unblinkstudio.com/blog/my-entry-for-the-spoonflower-delft-tiles-design-challengeI’ve just entered my new “Flower Bouquet Tiles” floral surface pattern design in Light Delft Blue in the current Spoonflower “Delft Tiles” Design Challenge! I say “new”, but I created these floral bouquet illustrations awhile ago for a wall art series (in some different colours) requested by one of my agents at the time. But when I parted ways with that agent, these florals just kinda lurked around on my hard drive...until this Challenge was announced! Because these florals were originally created for square art prints, they seemed perfect for a tile layout! So, here’s my NEW “Floral Bouquet Tiles” pattern design!
If you'd like to vote (I'd appreciate your vote, of course!), you can check out the Voting Page HERE! And find this design in my Spoonflower Shop on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor (this links to the Large-Scale version, it also comes in a Small- and Medium-Scale too).
And keep scrolling to see my new "Flower Bouquet Tiles" pattern design in other colourways!

You can find this new floral pattern design in my Happywall Shop on Wallpaper too! Ships from Sweden.

And here are more colourways of my "Flower Bouquet Tiles" print design: Dark Delft Blue and my Light Soft Blue and Pretty In Pink Colour Palettes! All are available in my Spoonflower and Happywall Shops too!

]]><![CDATA[Two Overlapping Spoonflower Floral Design Challenges: "Retro Nouveau" and "Vintage Florals"!]]>Mon, 08 Dec 2025 23:37:09 GMThttps://www.unblinkstudio.com/blog/two-overlapping-spoonflower-floral-design-challenges-retro-nouveau-and-vintage-floralsNot exactly sure why (probably due to US Thanksgiving?), but Spoonflower is currently running two over-lapping design challenges all about floral pattern designs: "Retro Nouveau" and "Vintage Florals". Here are my entries! Although voting for the "Retro Nouveau" Challenge closed Tuesday Dec 2 (again, sorry for the late notice), you can still vote in the "Vintage Florals" Challenge until Tuesday Dec 9.
Link to the Voting Page HERE!
And be sure to check all the Florals and Botanicals in my Spoonflower Shop HERE!

“Retro Nouveau” Wallpaper Design Challenge
There seemed to be a bit of confusion as to what this Challenge entailed: “This mashup mixes the organic motifs and ornate shapes of Art Deco with the bold colors and geometric patterns of a retro vibe.” So on one hand, it sounded like a request for Art Nouveau designs (and the accompanying image seemed to support this), but then “Art Deco” and “geometric patterns” was also mentioned. Hmmmm! So I decided to create an Art Nouveauesque (is that a word?) floral superimposed on a geometric Art Deco background...And included some of the Challenge’s suggested colours (Dusty Pink, Burnt Orange, Emerald Green, Golden Ochre) for good measure! Here is my brand new “Maybelle” floral pattern design which I’ve entered in this Challenge!
Winners will be announced on Friday December 12 (NOT on a Thursday which is usual)!

"Vintage Florals" Design Challenge
I think there’s something very comforting about a nice big vintage floral pattern design, like a blanket you’ve had forever that used to belong to maybe your grandma (or maybe you don’t even remember where it came from!) and that you should, but just can’t, throw out, even if you’re trying REALLY HARD to “purge” your closets and bookshelves and storage rooms, which I’ve been doing recently with varying levels of success...So here's my brand new "Big Bloom Hydrangeas" floral pattern design in soft vintage “faded” Antique Colors: Maroon, Pink, Dusty Blue and Blush on Deep Blue. Maybe this one will become someone’s future “un-purgeable” blanket! I like the vintage English Cottagecore feel of these blooming flowers (while being a bit Maximalist too!)...But look closely, there is a bit of an abstracted “modern” twist to how I created each bloom!

And OF COURSE, it comes in some other colourways too: Antique Apricot and Teal (left pic below) and Antique Rose and Lavender (right pic below)!

I want this dress, btw! :)

]]><![CDATA[Just Another Catchup! My Entry for the Spoonflower "Thrift Store Treasures" Design Challenge!]]>Mon, 08 Dec 2025 23:06:18 GMThttps://www.unblinkstudio.com/blog/just-another-catchup-my-entry-for-the-spoonflower-thrift-store-treasures-design-challengeI’ve been playing around with geometric shapes in my pattern designs lately, and I do mean PLAYING! My new "Stacking" geometric shapes pattern design was inspired by vintage stacking toy blocks, so I entered it in the Spoonflower "Thrift Store Treasures" Design Challenge in a Vintage 1950s Charcoal colourway (below left)! Voting closed Nov 4 2025, sorry for the late notice!
BTW: "Stacking" is also available in a coordinating Cream colourway too (below right), and both are part of my "Playtime Chic" Collection now available in my Spoonflower Shop on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor in several scales. Find the entire Collection HERE!

My "Stacking" colorful pattern design is pretty great for adding a little playfulness to your spaces! You can find them on Wallpaper in my Happywall Shop (ships from Sweden) and my Giffywalls Shop (ships from USA and India) too.

]]><![CDATA[My "Colouring Book Snakes" Pattern Design has been Published in Uppercase Magazine Issue #67!]]>Fri, 24 Oct 2025 19:26:03 GMThttps://www.unblinkstudio.com/blog/my-colouring-book-snakes-pattern-design-has-been-published-in-uppercase-magazine-issue-67It is such a great honour to be included in the newest Issue #67 (Oct/Nov/Dec 2025) of Uppercase Magazine, one of my favourite magazines! We had a bit of a wait here in Canada to get this issue (due to a postal strike), but it did finally arrive. Here is my "Colouring Book Snakes" pattern design that I submitted for a feature all about "Readers' black & white artwork, projects and designs, where lack of colour is a specific design feature". When I saw that brief, I immediately thought about my Colouring Book Series of pattern designs that are necessarily created in Black & White! Scroll down to see some more of my colouring book designs in this Series!
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If you don't already know (!), Uppercase Magazine is a fantastic ads-free magazine published here in Canada. It's always so FULL of inspiration, interesting features about art, culture and design. I love it and look forward to getting each new issue.

Colouring Book Snakes

Colouring Book Flowers

Colouring Book Jungle

OH and BTW: I couldn't really help creating "coloured" versions of these designs too! In other words, I felt the need to colour in my colouring book pages!

Colouring Book Snakes

Colouring Book Flowers

Colouring Book Jungle

]]><![CDATA["Marble Swirl" is My Entry for the Next Spoonflower "Stone Flow" Wallpaper Design Challenge!]]>Mon, 20 Oct 2025 22:53:25 GMThttps://www.unblinkstudio.com/blog/marble-swirl-is-my-entry-for-the-next-spoonflower-stone-flow-wallpaper-design-challengeMy brand new kinda ga-roovy surface pattern design is my stylized take on the veining and variegation of natural marble stone...I call this one “Marble Swirl” and I’ve been experimenting with a bunch of interesting kinda ga-roovy colourways too (scroll down)!
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I'm entering this one (in the first colourway) in the upcoming Spoonflower "Stone Flow" Wallpaper Design Challenge. Public voting for this Challenge opens this Thursday October 23. I'd love a vote for this one and you can link to the Voting Page HERE!

And here's more colourways, OF COURSE! You can find them all now in my Spoonflower Shop on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor in several scales!

]]><![CDATA[Spoonflower Design Challenge Catchup! "Jewel-Toned Boho" and "Garden Tapestry"!]]>Mon, 20 Oct 2025 22:04:44 GMThttps://www.unblinkstudio.com/blog/spoonflower-design-challenge-catchup-jewel-toned-boho-and-garden-tapestryWhoops! I did it again...I forgot to post my entries for the last couple Spoonflower Design Challenges: "Jewel-Toned Boho" (which ended Sept 25), and "Garden Tapestry" (which ended Oct 9). So here is my catch-up Post!
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BTW: All these designs are now available to license. Just get in touch HERE if you'd like to discuss licensing these designs for your products.
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AND you can also SHOP these designs in my Spoonflower Shop on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor in several sizes and colourways, and in my Happywall Shop on Wallpaper (that ships from Sweden)!

"Jewel-Toned Boho" Design Challenge:
For the "Jewel-Toned Boho" Challenge, I entered my "Dahlia Diamonds" abstract floral design (see below). Happily, it placed in the Top 100 (63rd out of 1433 entered designs)! If you voted for this design, I do thank you.

I couldn't resist, I did have to try out my "Dahlia Diamonds" design in a bunch of fun colour palettes too: Pretty In Pink, Palazzo, Warm Earthy and Cherry Bomb. Check them all out in my Spoonflower Shop!

"Garden Tapestry" Design Challenge:
For the "Garden Tapestry" Wallpaper Design Challenge, I entered my new "Flower Patches" boho floral design in a Warm Earthy colour palette (see below)!

My "Flower Patches" design also comes in a Rainbow Brights Colourway too (see below)!

Find all these brand new surface pattern designs in my Spoonflower Shop on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor AND in my Happywall Shop on Wallpaper (that ships from Sweden)!

]]><![CDATA[Just Released! Here's a Sneak Peek of the WGSN "Prints & Graphics Sourcing Guide: Kidswear A/W 26/27"!]]>Fri, 19 Sep 2025 23:28:42 GMThttps://www.unblinkstudio.com/blog/just-released-heres-a-sneak-peek-of-the-wgsn-prints-graphics-sourcing-guide-kidswear-aw-2627If you are a licensee or manufacturer who would like to know the latest in upcoming print trends for kidswear, the brand new "Prints & Graphics Sourcing Guide: Kidswear A/W 26/27" has just been released by WGSN, the world's leading consumer trend forecaster. This Guide includes several of my pattern designs in its identification of the key trends for Autumn/Winter 2026/2027 Kidswear! Here's a sneak peek!
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Please NOTE: You must be a WGSN subscriber to access this Guide.

]]><![CDATA[My Designs Spotted at TIFF 2025 in Celebrity Portraits Shot by Chris Chapman for The Ankler!]]>Tue, 09 Sep 2025 22:55:01 GMThttps://www.unblinkstudio.com/blog/spotted-at-tiff-2025-in-celebrity-portraits-shot-by-chris-chapman-for-the-anklerMy designs have been spotted at the Toronto International Film Festival 2025 (running this year from September 4-14) in a series of celebrity portraits shot by Chris Chapman for The Ankler!
Be sure to check out all of Chris' celebrity portraits shot for The Ankler at TIFF 2025 HERE!
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All photos are ©Chris Chapman Photography and used with permission.

Director Maude Apatow. Backdrop: my "Passion and Paradise" tropical floral pattern design. Image ©Chris Chapman Photography.

]]><![CDATA[The Next Spoonflower Design Challenge is: "New Animal Prints"!]]>Wed, 13 Aug 2025 20:04:46 GMThttps://www.unblinkstudio.com/blog/the-next-spoonflower-design-challenge-is-new-animal-prints
What do you think this zebra(s) is thinking about? I’ve just entered my brand new “Zebra Herd” pattern design in the next Spoonflower “New Animal Prints” Design Challenge! Public voting for this Challenge opens this Thursday August 14 and you can link to the Voting Page HERE!
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If you'd like to SHOP this brand new design, it's available on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor in my Spoonflower Shop in several scales. Click the image below to link directly to the Medium-Scale Fabric!

And because everyone LOVES a closeup...

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