Playing Catchup #1: My Entry for the Spoonflower "Conversational Wallpaper" Design Challenge!9/15/2024 Whoops! It's been busy here at the studio over the last part of Summer, especially since I was away for most of July, but here's my "first" catchup of my entries for the last two Spoonflower Design Challenges: "Conversational Wallpaper" and "Non-Directional Ditsy Holiday" (see my next Blog Post!)! Apologies that voting for these Challenges are now closed, but I just wanted to share the story behind these new designs. And you can SHOP them in my Spoonflower Shop by clicking the IMAGES below! My "Conversational Wallpaper" Design Challenge Entry: "Pasta Potluck" My “Pasta Potluck” design has a bit of a long history here at UnBlink Studio...I originally created this design quite awhile ago with a set of my Mom’s vintage glass Pyrex casserole dishes in mind (remember those?!) For whatever reason, I moved on and forgot about this design, and so it was relegated to sitting on my hard-drive... But the Spoonflower "Conversational Wallpaper" Design Challenge got me thinking about this design again, and I thought that it just might suit the Challenge theme quite nicely! I did have to really re-work it and OF COURSE, I felt the need to completely revise the COLOURS, but I now love its vintage-y, kitsch-y look all over again! If you’d like to see those original Pyrex dishes that inspired this design, have a look below, my Mom gave them to me! Public Voting for this Challenge closed Tuesday August 13 2024.   
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And now for something COMPLETELY different... Every once in awhile, I really like to “experiment” a bit with my print designs, and this time I was inspired by the Spoonflower Design Challenge theme: “Party Walls”! For this theme, I immediately thought about BALLOONS...This Challenge was for Wallpaper, but I really think my new “Party Balloons” print design also makes for some REALLY FUN bedding and home decor too! What kid (or adult!) wouldn’t want this pillow or sheet set (see below)?! What do you think?! Sorry for the late post, but public voting for the "Party Walls" Challenge closed May 7, but you can vote in the current Challenge HERE! And you can still shop this design in my Spoonflower Shop HERE. This links to the Large-Scale version, but it is also available in a Small-Scale and Medium-Scale version too! 
 The current Spoonflower Design Challenge is “Warm Minimalism”, but does anyone really know what “Warm Minimalism” is? I certainly didn’t, and whenever I searched the term I would get lots of prints with archways and abstract arch shapes. So I thought, hmm, I like archways! Which got me thinking about arched “vomitoria” (plural for “vomitorium”)... FUN FACT: Vomitoria were passages used in ancient Roman buildings, such as in the famed Coliseum, designed to provide rapid exit for lots of people in a very short amount of time, ie. so they could spew forth, thus comes our word for “vomit”. ...So here is my design for the current Spoonflower “Warm Minimalism” Design Challenge which features a series of arches looking out at a sunny sky with clouds. I was considering calling it “Vomitorium”, but thought maybe that created a bit of a distasteful image (at least for those of you who already knew the etymology), so I decided to call it “Ruins” instead! And it comes in two colourways (see below)! Click the images to see the Large-Scale versions in my Spoonflower Shop (they're also available in a Small- and Medium-Scale version too)! . Public voting for the “Warm Minimalism” Spoonflower Design Challenge closes Tuesday March 12. You can link to the Voting Page HERE.    Because Summer is almost here, right?...NOT! I’ve entered my brand new “Tennis Rackets” design in this week’s Spoonflower “Court Sports” Design Challenge in Summery Purple and Pink (first pic below). Public voting closes on Tuesday January 30 and you can link to the Voting Page HERE! And of course, I couldn't resist trying it out in a gorgeous Coral Orange colourway too, see below! Click the images below to link directly to these designs in my Spoonflower Shop! . BTW: starting 2024, Spoonflower Challenges will run every TWO weeks, rather than weekly.   Whew! All Caught Up! My Entry For This Week's Spoonflower "The Other Holidays" Design Challenge!11/27/2023 Whew! Taking a holiday means you really need to take the time on returning to catch up with everything, including the Spoonflower Design Challenges! However, I did manage to enter a design for this week's Spoonflower "The Other Holidays" Design Challenge (that is, any other holiday but Christmas) before I left! Luckily, this Challenge has been open for 2 weeks instead of the customary 1 week due to the American Thanksgiving holidays which gave me a bit more time to design something for the NEXT Challenge. For "The Other Holidays" I decided on Valentine's Day, but then wanted to take the "other" a bit further so I tried my new "Love Hearts Checkerboard" design out in a very non-traditional retro colour palette! For those who want something "other" than pink or red for Valentine's! I did try it out in a bunch of other colourways though (see below), all now available in several scales. Find them all easily in my "Love Valentine's Day" Collection in my Spoonflower Shop! Public voting for this Challenge closes tomorrow Tuesday November 28. 
I'm playing catchup here since I've been away in Taiwan (it was an amazing trip, btw, and I'll try to write a post about it very soon!) BUT, getting back to catching up...While I was away, one of the Spoonflower Design Challenges was "Surrealist Wallpaper", and I did manage to enter my new "Disembodied" design (in the Retro Colours, below left) before I left for Taiwan. When I looked at surrealist art, I just seemed to notice the weird eyes, mouths and hands the most! Voting for this Challenge closed November 14, but this new design is now available in my Spoonflower, Redbubble, Society6 and TeePublic Shops in both Retro Colours and Rainbow Brights! Click the product images below to see these products in my Shops!
Okay, I've done it! I've been sitting on my “Downtown” design for a (loooong) while, but I decided to finally add it to my Spoonflower Shop. When I saw the palette of saturated Blues and Greens that we had to use in this week's Spoonflower "Pantone Ultra-Steady Wallpaper" Design Challenge, I immediately thought the colours would really do well with this design, and I think it gives this urban scene a very quiet and still vibe. I still love this design in its original Bright Retro Colours (scroll to the bottom to see), but now I like it in the Ultra-Steady colours too! Public voting for this Challenge opened Thursday May 4 and closes next Tuesday May 9! You can vote at the Voting Page HERE and I'd love your vote for this one! . My "Downtown" design is now available in my Spoonflower Shop not only on Wallpaper, but also on Fabrics and Home Decor too, in Both Colourways and 3 sizes (click the images below to link directly to these designs in my Shop)!     My "Puppy Love" pattern design is my entry for NEXT week's Spoonflower "Funny Valentine" Design Challenge! Maybe it's more "cute" than "funny", but I kinda think the guy with the glasses and tall head is pretty funny! You can link to the Voting Page HERE, and Public Voting for this Challenge opens next Thursday DEC 1 (I had thought voting started this week, but there's a break for Thanksgiving!) Don't worry, I'll remind you next week! Happy Thanksgiving!  This Week's Spoonflower Design Challenge is "Space Exploration"! Here is my Entry: "Blast Off!"8/4/2022 “BLAST OFF!” This week's Spoonflower Design Challenge is: "Space Exploration"! Here is my entry and believe me, I had real difficulty with this theme, from coming up with ideas to creating a design that I liked! Anyway, you get to see the final result here, and not all the hair-pulling that went into this one! Voting for this Challenge opens today Thursday August 4 and I would love your vote for this one! Public voting closes Tuesday August 9. You can check out all the entries at the Voting Page! If you would like to SHOP this design in my Spoonflower Shop, you can do so HERE. And take note that it does come in Small-, Medium- and Large-Scale sizes too! And Read All About the Design Process Behind "Blast Off!" If you would like to read about my design process and how MY "Blast Off!" design came to be, I invite you to read my most recent NEWSLETTER (August 2022) where I describe how hard this one was! If you are interested, you can Subscribe to my Newsletter too!    Is this Bold? Is this Minimalist? I hope so because I've entered my "Ocean Sunrise" design in this week's Spoonflower "Bold Minimalism" Design Challenge! You could also ask: Is it a Dot? Is it a Stripe? Yes! I also designed this to co-ordinate with my "Daydreams" and "Night Dreams" designs too (see below)! I could really see all 3 of these as a collection of fun pillows! These are all now available in my Spoonflower Shop on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor in 3 sizes! You can also link to the Voting Page and check out all the entries! Click the images below to see these designs in my Spoonflower Shop! 
These would be a FUN collection of pillows! From left: Daydream, Ocean Sunrise, Night Dreams. All available in 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?  Weird and wonderful and WHY NOT?! I created my imaginary "Alien World" pattern design for this week's Spoonflower "Intergalactic Adventures" Design Challenge because I couldn't resist channeling all those sci-fi concept art posters (and maybe even a bit of Avatar) to create this alien botanical landscape! This one is just for fun! Link to the Voting Page and to my Spoonflower Shop where you can purchase this design on fabric, wallpaper and home decor! . AND SALE ALERT! Spoonflower is offering FREE STANDARD SHIPPING Worldwide on Everything until tomorrow Friday April 16 2021!  To quote from one of my favourite 90’s TV Shows: THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE... For this week's Spoonflower "Cryptozoology" Design Challenge, I decided to make a design featuring the Akkorokamui, a giant octopus sea monster believed by the Ainu people to live off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan, and feared by local fishermen. Given the subject matter, I tried to give this design a Japanese-style graphic design feel! Check it out at the Voting Page and in my Spoonflower Shop! FYI: Cryptozoology is the study of creatures, called cryptids, whose existence has not been scientifically proven or disproven (other examples: the Loch Ness Monster, the Yeti, Sasquatch or Chupacabra!) Cue: X-FILES theme music... 
An old (and very creative!) school mate that I connected with again at my 35th high school reunion (yes, 35th!) recently asked me if I had any bicycle patterns on fabric. Sadly, I didn't, but it stuck in my mind so I created this design for her and made it available in my Spoonflower Shop on fabric, wallpaper and home decor. I call it "My Bike" because I remember how much I loved my bike when I was a kid (remember those tassels?) I wasn't sure what colours she wanted, so I created it in two nostalgic colourways: Mod Red and Black and Pastel Pink and Brown (she chose the first Mod Red and Black colourway!) I invite you to check out my Spoonflower Shop to shop hundreds of my designs on fabric, wallpaper and home decor! For Art Directors and Licensees: This design is still available to license! Please contact me for info.
This week's Spoonflower Design Challenge is "Boardsports" and here is my entry, called "Stoked" (surfers will know what that means!) available on fabrics, wallpaper and home decor in both Small- and Large-Scale versions. My husband has taken up surfing in his...ahem...later years and luckily we are blessed with some nearby popular surfing spots here on Vancouver Island that surfers will know: Sombrio, Jordan River and more famously, Tofino! And IF the 2020+1 Tokyo Olympics goes ahead this year in some form, we will look forward to watching Surfing when it makes its Olympic debut! Check out the Voting Page And my Spoonflower Shop for many, many more of my designs! 
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AuthorJackie Tahara of UnBlink Studio Archives
October 2024
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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!