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I was eagerly awaiting the delivery of the latest Issue 65 of my favourite magazine Uppercase Magazine because it includes the 6th Surface Pattern Design Guide, and it just arrived in the mail, yay! For those who don’t know, the Uppercase SPDG is published every 2 years and profiles 100 hand-picked surface pattern designers, together with TONS of inspiring pics and informative articles all about, you guessed it, Surface Pattern Design! And I’m happy to announce that this iteration of the SPDG also features my top 10 tips for “Generating New Ideas: Strategies for Keeping Things Fresh and Avoiding Designers’ Block” article (on pages 90-91). If you are interested and don’t have a subscription yet (what are you waiting for?! you can use Discount Code SPDG6 for 10% Off until end of June, btw!), Janine of Uppercase Magazine has very generously added a flip-through video of this issue on her website. I’ve added a handy link to the video HERE, so go have a look, and keep an eye out for Pages 90-91! . Pictured here: the “Keep Making Things” cover artist for this Issue is Sarah Matthews @iamsarahmatthews. The cover artist for the SPDG is Lisa Deighan @lisadeighan. And the last pics are a quick view of my article on Pages 90-91!    
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New Graphic Tee for the Friends of the National Arboretum's 2025 Spring 5K Race on March 23 2025!4/8/2025 Just sharing this fun project I worked on with Friends of the National Arboretum in Washington, DC. They wanted me to create a magnolia-themed graphic tee design for their race participants. Read on for the story behind this design. . • From Friends of the National Arboretum's Instagram post: "What’s the story behind the 2025 FONA 5K race series t-shirt design? This year’s design features magnolia flowers and cones from iconic U.S. National Arboretum introductions and research programs. The flowers depicted are from the “girls” introductions, which were a set of eight deciduous hybrid magnolias released in 1968. They were named after the daughters of the Arboretum scientists who developed them (Magnolia ‘Betty’, ‘Ann’, ‘Judy’, ‘Randy’, and ‘Ricki’), the daughter of the Arboretum director at the time (‘Susan’), and the wife of the Secretary of Agriculture at the time (‘Jane’). Magnolia ‘Pinkie’ comes from a nickname. The magnolia cones featured in the design are of Magnolia grandiflora, which Oliver Freeman used in his original evergreen magnolia breeding program in the early 1930s. The Arboretum’s logo is a stylized version of a Magnolia grandiflora cone. Thank you to @unblinkstudio [me!] for making this beautiful design. Save the date for our Fall 5K on Sunday, November 9th!" . Photo credits: Beth Haubach and Friends of the National Arboretum. 
My new “Pick A Posy” floral now comes in a bunch of colourways! For the colours, I experimented with pairs, so that each colourway has two options that contrast with each other but can still work together! I entered the first Green one in the current Spoonflower “Bold Florals” Design Challenge because I thought it was one of the boldest colour options! What do you think, is it “bold”?! Keep scrolling to see all the other colourways now available! Public voting for this Challenge opens today March 27 and closes on Tuesday April 8. You can link to the Voting Page HERE. All these colourways of my new "Pick a Posy" floral pattern are now available in my Spoonflower Shop on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor in several sizes! They're also available on Wallpaper in my Happywall Shop too!
AND wouldn’t I love to see my brand new “Pick A Posy” floral pattern on a Men’s Shirt? Answer: YES. And wouldn’t I love to see it in all the colours too? Answer: YES. And am I just dreaming right now? Answer: YES. And is this pattern now available to license? Answer: YES! Just Contact Me if you'd like to discuss licensing my designs for your products! If 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 S/S 26” 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 Spring/Summer 2026 Kidswear! . Pictured here: my “Breakfast Sweeties” cute food pattern design has been featured in this Guide! Please NOTE: You must be a WGSN subscriber to access this Guide.  The current Spoonflower Design Challenge is “Heritage Revival” Wallpaper. The Challenge is to “Use traditional motifs from the Arts and Crafts movement, Neoclassicism and other historical eras to reproduce them with your own tasteful take”. So I looked to William Morris who was prominent in the Arts & Crafts Movement and later influenced Art Nouveau, and his famous “Strawberry Thief” print design as inspiration...Here’s my modern take, my own “Strawberry Thief”! Public voting for this Challenge is now open and closes Tuesday March 25 2025. You can link to the Voting Page HERE! . My new “Strawberry Thief” pattern design is now available in my Spoonflower Shop on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor in several scales! . You can also find my "Strawberry Thief" pattern design on Walllpaper in my Happywall Shop too. All Happywall products are printed in and ship from Sweden.  
 Whoops! I forgot to post my entry for the last Spoonflower "Novelty Paisley" Design Challenge, so to catch everything up, here it is: my “Paisley Galore” pattern design in very retro 1960s Hot Pink, Red, Purple, Royal Blue and Sand on Dark Cherry Red (one of my current favourite colours, btw). I now call this my "Cherry Bomb" Colour Palette! Public voting for this Challenge unfortunately closed Tuesday March 11...But you can vote in the next Challenge (see my next post)! Check out the Voting Page HERE! . And added BONUS if you get the 1960s reference of the name of this new pattern design... . And keep scrolling to see all the other colourways now available in my Spoonflower Shop on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor in several scales! Click the images to SHOP these colourways (Medium-Scale) in my Spoonflower Shop! Don't forget they also come in a Small- and Large-Scale version too. Contact me if you're having issues finding the colour/scale you want!  AND...My "Paisley Galore" Pattern Design in a BUNCH of other colourways too!
OH, look at this gorgeous quilted bag by Vickeidy Plybon of @sewspicious! She used fabrics from my "Pretty In Pink" Color Palette Collection available in my Spoonflower Shop! If you'd like to see her video of how she created this bag and for all the details, click HERE. Trust me it's really FUN to watch! And if you'd like to shop all my "Pretty In Pink" fabrics, check them out in my Spoonflower Shop HERE. 
All photos courtesy of Vickeidy Plybon.
I was quoted as a design expert on ApartmentGuide! Read the full article "2025 Interior Design Trends, According to Experts" Article by Maggie McCombs HERE.  On Friday Feb 14, Uppercase Magazine hosted “Pattern Love Day 2025” to celebrate all things Surface Pattern Design. I participated in a live Panel Discussion all about creative confidence and entrepreneurship together with Janine Vangool, publisher of Uppercase Magazine, and fellow designers Jeanetta Gonzales and Kate Golding. REPLAYS of all sessions of this fantastic day are now available to watch!   After much back-and-forth (and thank you to everyone who let me know which colourway they preferred!), this is the colourway I went with for the current Spoonflower “Sophisticated Stripes” Design Challenge: Light Pink, Fuchsia and Red on Lavender. If you'd like to check out all the entries and vote, you can link to the Voting Page HERE! Public voting for this Challenge ends Tuesday Feb 25. . AND if you'd like to SHOP this design in my Spoonflower Shop, you can link to the Large-Scale version HERE. Don't forget: it comes in both a Small-Scale and Medium-Scale version AND in lots of other colourways too! 
UPDATE! My "Year of the Snake" Design ranked 56th out of 1628 entries in the Spoonflower "Minimalist Cheater Quilts" Design Challenge! Thank you to all who voted! . Happy Lunar New Year! Here’s my new “Year of the Snake” pattern design to help celebrate! I’ve also entered this “Year of the Snake” pattern design in the Spoonflower “Minimalist Cheater Quilts” Design Challenge in the first Red colourway. I had asked in several places which colour people preferred, and the results were pretty close, but RED came out slightly ahead (and it’s auspcious too!) Check out the Voting Page HERE! Public voting is open now and closes Tuesday Feb 11 2025. And you can SHOP this design in my Spoonflower Shop. Click HERE to see the Large-Scale version, but it comes in both a Small- and Medium-Scale version too AND in several colourways (see below)!  See below for more colourways of my "Year of the Snake" pattern design! You can click the images below to SHOP the Large-Scale versions of each colourway in my Spoonflower Shop (they're also available in a Small- and Medium-Scale too)! TIP: If you ever have an issue finding one of my designs in my various Shops, including my Spoonflower Shop, save yourself some time and just get in touch with me. I'll provide you an easy-to-use handy link!
You can now find me on Patterned.com! Go have a look at some more of my pattern designs there (I'll be adding more)! . AND if you are a bona fide surface pattern designer (no AI), I do have 5 INVITE CODES if you'd like to join this community and showcase of surface pattern designers. Just contact me (DM or via my Contact Page) and send me your email. Then I'll send you an Invite Code! . AND here's the Patterned.com post about me as seen on IG in January 2025: "Jackie Tahara of UnBlink Studio is an artist from Canada who enjoys creating bold, colorful patterns that range in style from fantasy florals and tropicals to sophisticated wallpaper prints or playful designs for kids. Welcome to Patterned Jackie! @unblinkstudio." 
 My brand new “Bella” floral pattern is my entry for the current Spoonflower “Accent Walls” Design Challenge! I tried it in several colourways, but I think the rich and jewel-toned “Tapestry” Color Palette is the most, well, ACCENT-y! Public voting for this Challenge opens today Thursday Jan 16 and is open until Tuesday Jan 28! CLICK HERE to check out the Voting Page! . My “Bella” floral pattern is now available in my Spoonflower Shop on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor in several colourways (scroll down to see them!) and sizes! 
See below for the other currently-available colourways: Summer Colours (left below) and Mocha Mousse (the 2025 Pantone Color of the Year) and the Pantone Subtle Contrasts Color Palette (right below)!
You can click the images above to see these colourways in my Spoonflower Shop!
I’ve entered my “Fantasia” floral print in the current Spoonflower “Pantone Color of the Year: Fabric Palette” Design Challenge! The Challenge was to design fabric for an upholstery use using "Mocha Mousse" (the 2025 Pantone COTY) and the Pantone "Subtle Contrasts" Colour Palette! This palette also includes some beautiful blues...Which I was happy about! You can link to the Voting Page HERE. Public voting ends Tuesday Jan 14! . AND keep scrolling to see some of the other "Fantasia" colourways (some are not yet available in my Shops, but check back soon)!  If you want to SHOP my "Fantasia" in this colourway (Medium-Scale) in my Spoonflower Shop. Just CLICK HERE! It also comes in a Large- and Small-Scale on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor too! 
SO when I first created my new “Garden Sprites” design I certainly didn’t envision it in this neutral-y colour palette (beige and brown, WHAT?!) BUT that being said, when I saw that the next Spoonflower Design Challenge is “Pantone 2025 Color of the Year: Monochrome Wallpaper”, which required that the Pantone COTY “Mocha Mousse” be used as the dominant colour in the design together with their “Relaxed Elegance” Colour Palette, I thought HMMMM...I wonder... . My “Garden Sprites” design with Mocha Mousse is now available in my Spoonflower Shop on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor in several sizes AND yes, I did enter it in the Challenge! Public voting opened Thursday Dec 19 (and closes Tuesday Dec 31)! You can link to the Voting Page HERE! And if you'd like to SHOP this design on Wallpaper, CLICK HERE! Don't forget, it also comes in a Small-Scale and Medium-Scale version too!  
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AuthorJackie Tahara of UnBlink Studio Archives
April 2025
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All images on this website are Copyright © Jackie Tahara. All rights reserved.
If sharing, pinning or blogging my images, please always credit me and link back to my website. Supporting artists is a good thing to do! Thank you!
If sharing, pinning or blogging my images, please always credit me and link back to my website. Supporting artists is a good thing to do! Thank you!