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Be sure to check out my newest collaboration with Colombia-based REDFLAG SWIMWEAR! Several of my print designs have been included in their newest Collection of swimwear for Adults, Juniors and Kids! I am especially happy they chose some of my most fun and colourful designs! Check out the REDFLAG SWIMWEAR Shop!
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The Year of the Tiger 2022 starts Feb 1 and it also happens to be this week's Spoonflower Design Challenge! Here is my entry...Is this tiger cute, serious or seriously cute?! Kung hay fat choy! Check out this cute design in my Spoonflower Shop!  I just realized I missed posting about my new "Birds Flying Higher" pattern design which I entered in LAST week's Spoonflower "Adventure Block Prints" Design Challenge. But I wanted to tell you a bit of the story behind this design, so thought I would post about it now even though voting is now closed. Don't worry, this design in 2 colours and several sizes is now available in my Spoonflower Shop on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor! Just click the design images below and you can link directly to them in my Spoonflower Shop!
So here's a bit about this new design...Made of metal with a handle on the back, Indonesian "caps" or "tjaps" (see above) are typically dipped into hot wax and hand-stamped onto lengths of fabrics to create a resist design. Once the fabric is dyed, the hot wax is removed leaving gorgeous batik fabrics. I think these tjaps are works of art in themselves and this one (it’s one of a mirror-image pair) which I purchased in Indonesia many years ago, was the inspiration for my "Birds Flying Higher" pattern design (see below)!
My Entry In This Week's Spoonflower "Quirky Amphibians" Design Challenge Sure Has Big Feet!11/4/2021 When one of my sons was much younger, small creatures used to just present themselves to him. Once, he found a little wounded bird sitting in a puddle of water and it allowed him to pick it up; when we lived in Hawaii, he lovingly kept a collection of carnivorous plants (I know, not creatures really, but they sure seemed like it); another time a tiny frog suddenly appeared in the sand castle he was building and just sat there looking at him. My son wanted to keep it, but I told him he had to return it to the nearby pond which he very reluctantly did. So my "Fun Froggy with Big Feet" design (below first pic) brings back those memories to me! I often think back to that little frog and my son (maybe because he's off at uni now!)... I've entered this cute guy in this week's Spoonflower "Quirky Amphibians" Design Challenge...I think he's kinda quirky! Voting is open until Nov 9 2021. Would love your vote! Check out the Voting Page HERE. Oh, and although I've entered my "Fun Froggy with Big Feet" design, I couldn't help creating a cute coordinate pattern to go with it! So here is my "Fun Tadpoles" design too! After all, where there are FROGGIES, there must be TADPOLES!! Both these co-ordinating designs are now available in my SPOONFLOWER SHOP on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor in 3 sizes (or click the images below to go directly to them in my Spoonflower Shop!
This is my entry for this week's Spoonflower "Autumn Botanicals" Design Challenge! I created this design with the concept of Wabi Sabi in mind. Wabi Sabi is the ancient Japanese aesthetic that finds beauty in the imperfect, incomplete and impermanent, as seen in the natural cycle of growth and decay. Here, the leaves change from Spring/Summer Green to Autumn Colours to Winter Gray, when they dry up and drift away on the wind...And the cycle repeats again... This design is now available in my Spoonflower Shop in 3 sizes on all kinds of fabrics, wallpaper and home decor. Check them all out my Spoonflower Shop! 
HEEEY!! I just realized I missed posting about my last TWO entries to the Spoonflower Design Challenges! So I thought I would catch them up here before posting about this week's current "Neutral Geometric Wallpaper" Design Challenge (see next post for that!) Even though you've missed the voting for these 2 challenges, these designs are now available in my Spoonflower Shop in 3 sizes on fabrics, wallpaper and home decor! Shop these designs in my Spoonflower Shop by clicking on each image! EEK! PHANTASMAGORIA Design Challenge Voting closed Aug 10 2021 One definition of Phantasmagoria is "a series of real or imaginary images like those seen in a dream". I think my "Eyeballs" design might be more of a nightmare! In any event, I think this is good and creepy and PERFECT for all your Halloween makes!  NOCTURNAL ANIMALS Design Challenge Voting closed August 17 2021 I sometimes really struggle with trying to put TOO much into a design, but for my "There Be Owls" design I wanted to simplify the design while making sure it still says "OWL". And then I had to add in lots of colour, of course! What do you think?  This Week's Spoonflower Design Challenge: "Take A Hike" (One of My Favourite Things To Do)!6/24/2021 This week's Spoonflower Design Challenge is "Take a Hike". Hiking is one of my favourite things to do (I live on the West Coast after all!) So I thought my "Land of Plenty" design would be perfect since I designed it to celebrate our natural world. I entered the brightly-coloured version, but it also comes in a lighter pastel version (see below!) and in Tiny-, Small- and Large-Scale versions too! If you would like to check out the entries this week, head to the Voting Page! Public voting ends June 29 2021! AND you can also check out my Spoonflower Shop while you're there! SALE ALERT! Spoonflower's BUY MORE SAVE MORE Sale is still on until tomorrow Friday June 25! You can get up to 20% OFF of Fabric, Wallpaper and Home Decor!
JOIN ME on MAY 20-21 at SHOWCASE, a new virtual event connecting the Art + Design Licensing community, hosted by Artonomo and Jewel Branding! If you are an Art Director or Licensee looking for new designs for your products (here is a peek of my new "Land of Plenty" design), REGISTER NOW for FREE as an Attendee to start browsing virtual Exhibitor Booths (opens 12 noon ET today!) If you would like to set up a meeting with me to chat about licensing my designs for your products, you can do so once you're registered directly from my Booth! And see below for some of the other designers/agents who will be exhibiting! For MY FELLOW ARTISTS! You should also REGISTER because there will be informative webinars on May 20-21 about licensing, trends and more, and an ARTIST PANEL with top licensed artists (I'm looking forward to that one!) Oh, did I say registration is FREE?! "See" you there! 
I’ve just entered my new “Retro Rattlers” design in this week’s Spoonflower “Brightly-Colored Reptiles” Design Challenge! This is something a little different for me...OR is it? What do you think, does this design still look like my work? I’m very curious to hear what you think. I am very much liking this graphic “look” and I find my work is always a bit of a tug-of-war between clean, graphic shapes and a more hand-drawn style. Not sure if others see that too?? See it below with a coordinating design I think emulates a closeup view of snakeskin! Check out the Voting Page to see all the colourful entries! And I've just added this design to Throw Pillows in my New Shop...Check them out! 
I’ve entered my “Family Farm” pattern design in this week’s Spoonflower “Large Birds” Design Challenge! This bird couple surrounded by those little chicks always warms my heart and makes me smile! I hope it does the same for you! Check out the entries at the Voting Page!...Enjoy your day! See below for this design plus some coordinating designs!  Did you know that pineconefish (aka pineapplefish) have light-producing organs on each side of their head, called photophores, that produce a symbiotic bacteria that makes light visible? I didn’t until I started doing a little research for this week’s Spoonflower “Bioluminescence” Design Challenge. So here is my “Pinecone Fish” design entry . Do you think they look like pine cones (or pineapples)? Check out all the entries at the Voting Page!  “GO BANANAS!” This is what I named my entry for this week’s Spoonflower “Line Art Safari Wallpaper” Design Challenge! And I hope you’re not literally going bananas after a month of staying home... If you would like to see all the entries, check out the Voting Page! And this fun design is now available to purchase in my Spoonflower Shop on all kinds of fabrics, wallpaper and home decor! 
One of our favourite family recipes of all time is “Pasta Con Mollica di Pane” (or Pasta with Bread Crumbs). It’s a quick, easy, uncomplicated pasta sauce recipe with tomatoes, anchovies, garlic and parsley, sprinkled with toasted breadcrumbs and it is YUMMY! We make it all the time! I originally created an illustrated recipe for this dish and posted it to the They Draw and Cook website where it was noticed and found its way into a 2020 They Draw and Cook Wall Calendar published by Amber Lotus Publishing! I also turned the illustration into this repeat pattern and entered it in this week’s Spoonflower “Noodle Bowl” Design Challenge (I think it makes fun sheets!) Check out the Voting Page here (voting ends April 14) to see all the entries! HINT: If you want to make this dish yourself (I suggest you do!), check out the illustrated recipe in my Portfolio or at my Illustrator Page on the They Draw and Cook website! 
My Entry For This Week's Spoonflower "Faux-Textured Wallpaper" Design Challenge is...Snakeskin!3/12/2020 This week’s Spoonflower Design Challenge is “Faux-Textured Wallpaper”! Influenced by my recent desert-themed designs, my texture of choice is...SNAKESKIN! And I do love how this design looks with that white mid-century modern couch! To check out all the entries, go to the Voting Page!  
 A "folly" is a funny little whimsical building or structure built primarily for decorative purposes...So I thought it would be a good name for a new collection of funny little whimsical art prints I've been working on! These were designed as a triptych, and wouldn't they be wonderful altogether on a wall?! Would really love to hear what you think about these, since it's a bit of a departure for me but definitely something I will do more of! Stay tuned!
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AuthorJackie Tahara of UnBlink Studio Archives
September 2022
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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!