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I first discovered the ANKH, the Egyptian hieroglyph meaning "life" on a months-long trip to Egypt many years ago while visiting tombs, the Great Pyramids and the Temples of Luxor, Karnak and Abu Simbel amongst many others. Because ancient Egyptians believed that one's life on Earth is just a part of eternal life, the ANKH hieroglyph has come to also symbolize "Everlasting Life". It was because of this meaning and my love of Egypt, that I decided to get this symbol as my only tattoo (so far). So when I saw that this week's Spoonflower Design Challenge is "Talismans", I immediately knew that the Ankh would be the one I would use for my design. Here is my entry, coloured to emulate ancient scrolls! It's now available on fabric, wallpaper and home decor in my Spoonflower Shop! And check out the entries at the Voting Page!  
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If you are following along, you probably know that I've been recently designing patterns inspired by patchwork, so I was delighted to see that this week's Spoonflower Design Challenge is "Patchwork"! I had a hard time deciding which of my recent patchwork-inspired designs to enter, but I decided on my "Palm Canyon" pattern because I love the colours and it was inspired by memories of a crazy trip I took with my now-hubby to Joshua Tree National Park many years ago! Check out all the entries at the Voting Page (a whopping 1115 of them!) and head over to my Spoonflower Shop to see all the designs I have made available to purchase on fabric, wallpaper and home decor!   February 12 marks the beginning of the YEAR OF THE OX! According to one source, people born in ox years are hard workers, intelligent, reliable and honest, but never demand praise or look to be the centre of attention. Apparently, they rarely lose their temper and make great leaders! Are you an OX?! If you are, you should know that this week's Spoonflower Design Challenge is "Year of the Ox"! Here is my entry. I thought I would give this astrology sign a bit of an Escher spin, and it gave me an excuse to use that gorgeous bright red (not that I really need an excuse)! It's now available in my Spoonflower Shop on all kinds of fabric, wallpaper and home decor. And be sure to check out all the designs at the Voting Page! So, although I know celebrations will be different this year, Kung Hei Fat Choy all the same! . 
Here is my newest collection of fabric designs which I'm calling "Majolica" named after the gorgeous decorative pottery tradition! It includes some damask-inspired florals in vases and a geometric pattern in the 2021 Pantone Colors of the Year, "Illuminating" and "Dark Gray". I'm hoping to add more to this collection, but thought you might like to see it so far! I've entered the design on the left, called "Jardiniere" in this week's Spoonflower "Yellow and Gray" Design Challenge (closeup below too!) Thanks to all who let me know which design they thought I should enter! Check out this week's Spoonflower Voting Page! AND FABRIC SALE ALERT! All these fabrics are now available in my Spoonflower Shop in this yellow/gray colour way and in a turquoise/gray colour way in two sizes. AND Spoonflower is offering 15% OFF on yards/meters of Petal Signature Cotton until tomorrow FRI Jan 29 2021! Link to my Spoonflower Shop!   Voting is now open for this week's Spoonflower "Reimagined Damask Wallpaper" Design Challenge! I decided to enter my "Dreamy Damask" design with the Dark Gray background (thanks to all of you who let me know which colour you liked best!) I hope I chose the right one! In any event, all 3 colours (Dark Gray, Bright Purple and Red) are now available in my Spoonflower Shop in 2 scales (large and small) on not only wallpaper, but also fabric and home decor! You can check out all the fab entries at the Voting Page! Voting ends January 26 2021 at 3:00 EST. Also check out my Spoonflower Shop for lots more of my designs on fabric, wallpaper and home decor! 
This repeat pattern is adapted from my "Snake In the Grass" series of art prints (the 3 prints in the series are available in my own SHOP--check them out HERE!) I decided to make them into a repeat pattern because this week's Spoonflower Design Challenge is "Hidden Hawaiian" and the whole idea behind the original series was to hide a sneaky cheeky snake amongst all the tropical plants! Perfect for this challenge, and a fun pattern design for fabric and home decor! Check out all the entries at the Spoonflower Voting Page!
It's 2021! And it's time to give you my overview of the 2021 Colors of the Year as chosen by various decor and paint companies, most notably Pantone. Whether or not you follow trends, I thought it would be fun (and maybe useful?) for you to see some of these all here in one place, with samples of how I've used them in my own pattern designs. Not surprisingly, most colours were chosen for their uplifting, comforting, calming, soothing, harmonious, optimistic and hopeful properties. If you're a designer looking for ideas and trends, or just someone wanting a 2021 re-fresh (don't we all?), see below. And scroll down to see summaries of how each company describes their 2021 color picks!
PANTONE: They say "Illuminating" ("warming and optimistic") and "Ultimate Gray" ("practical and rock solid") are "A marriage of color conveying a message of strength and hopefulness that is both enduring and uplifting".
GLIDDEN PAINTS: They chose not a Color of the Year, but an ACCENT Color of the Year, "Aqua Fiesta", which they describe as: "Happy and muted, this beautiful color makes a sweet space that is not overly vibrant". BENJAMIN MOORE: They say, "Take a moment to reflect and reset. Intriguing, balanced and deeply soothing...Aegean Teal creates natural harmony". GRAHAM & BROWNE: This is how G&B describes "Epoch": "This rich, deep amethyst" is "associated with royalty as the cost of pigments were so expensive--the color has a calming effect on both the mind and nerves, and it can be uplifting and trigger creativity". HGTV by SHERWIN-WILLIAMS: They say, "Rich and empowering, Passionate is a bold red, that's steeped in history, merging modern design with traditional charm". SHERWIN-WILLIAMS: They say, "Tap into nature with a hue whose warmth and comfort breathe down-to-earth tranquility". And there you have it! If you have a favourite (or not?!), leave a comment here and let me know! I think I'm in love (can I say that about one of my own pattern designs?!) The colours in this one just make me feel good (especially as I stare out at clouds and rain today)! This is my entry for this week's Spoonflower "Small-Scaled Geometric" Design Challenge. All the motifs are created with geometric shapes (maybe with a bit of cheating in only a few of the small details). Although the challenge called for "small-scaled" designs (for face masks and apparel), I couldn't resist also adding a large-scale version as well (love it on wallpaper, pillows, bedding and that blanket!) Now both scales are available in my Spoonflower Shop (link in bio). Check out all the entries (all 1150 of them, wowee!) at the Voting Page! Think warm and dry thoughts! 
Make...Create...Smile...Do...Care...Dream...All things I plan to do more of in 2021! This is my entry for this week's Spoonflower "Packaging Design" Challenge (and it's the last one of 2020)! Spoonflower has asked its designers to come up with a design that reflects the values that mean the most to the Spoonflower community: family, uniqueness, self-expression and creativity. The winning design will be featured on its packaging in 2021. Very fun! You can vote at the Voting Page until Jan 5 2021 at 3:00 EST here: Happy New Year everyone...What words will you try to live by in 2021?!   My "Christmas Cheer" Background Pack is now live in the photo-collage app PicCollage, and available for you to make festive photo collages to send to all your family and friends. I'm not sure what is happening where you are but sadly it looks like where I live we won't be able to celebrate the holidays in person except with people from our own households. Maybe making a cheery collage with photos from this crazy year might be a creative way to connect. See below for the 12 pattern designs that come in my Christmas Cheer Background Pack! Hope you're managing to stay cheer-y and I wish you Happy Holidays. Here's to a Healthy 2021!   A bit late posting about this, but last weekend Dec 5 2020, Janine of Uppercase Magazine featured my "Elemental Series" in its ALL ABOUT YOU Newsletter which is delivered to subscribers every weekend! In the feature, I talk a bit about how the Series came about and the ideas behind it. Thanks for the feature, Janine!  Some of the ideas I've been playing with for a new collection I've been working on recently: unique colour combos, mix & match patchwork and pure abstraction and geometry! Although I'm working on another project (more about that soon!) that includes this new "Capri" pattern design, I thought it would also be perfect to enter in this week's Spoonflower "Create Room" Design Challenge which says: "The pattern you create should not only provide visual joy, but should inspire both you and others to create more", to use as a wallpaper backdrop in a DreamBox, an all-in-one craft room that folds away into a beautiful armoire, designed by Create Room. What do you think, does this design fit the challenge? In any event, I think it makes for a pretty cool bathroom! Check out the Voting Page!   Here is my "Little Charms" design that I've entered in this week's Spoonflower "Microscopic Worlds" Design Challenge! It was inspired by the little gnome houses that I run by in my neighbourhood (scroll down to see a pic!) I'm sure kids must love playing here and I tried to keep that playful feeling in this design. Check out the Voting Page to see all the entries, and have a look at my Spoonflower Shop! Something to inspire your imagination. AND Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends, all the best. 
For those of you who know me, you know I am a pattern design lover with a BIG collection of design, art, craft, illustration and travel books that endlessly inspire me. So if you're like me and LOVE PATTERN DESIGN and ART BOOKS, I invite you to subscribe to my Newsletter List and download for FREE my 5-Page Full-Colour PDF: "My TOP 10 Absolutely Most Favourite Surface Pattern Design Books"! In this PDF, I describe what each book is about, why I love them and how they inspire me in my work. AND I give you a full-colour sneak peek into each one! SUBSCRIBE NOW and start dropping hints about what you want for Christmas (and get a Discount Code for 10% OFF your first purchase in MY SHOP too!)  My Entry for This Week's Spoonflower "Game Night" Design Challenge: "Vintage Board Game"!11/12/2020 OH THE NOSTALGIA! When my kids were a bit younger we played lots and lots of tabletop games: Sorry!, Labyrinth (our favourite!), Clue, Blokus, Monopoly, Scrabble, Life, Yahtzee, Othello, Battleship, Carcassonne...Now that they're older teens, it's pretty hard to get them to sit down and play with their...parents. But we still bring a duffle bag full of games on driving vacations and always have fun playing in the evenings! And now I don't feel like I have to let them win! So for this week's Spoonflower "Game Night" Design Challenge, I entered this abstract geometric design (the first one on the dark blue background) that emulates all those board game tracks with playing pieces. If you would like to see all the entries, check out the Voting Page! AND all 3 colour ways below are now available on fabric, wallpaper and other home decor items in my Spoonflower Shop!
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AuthorJackie Tahara of UnBlink Studio Archives
February 2021
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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!