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I've entered my new "Hilo" pattern design in this week's Spoonflower "Time Machine" Design Challenge. The idea behind this challenge is to create a design inspired by a particular time period. I chose the 1950s, and even more specifically, I was inspired by all those vintage 1950s Hawaiian prints that I love so much (and my hubby has a BIG collection of them!) I called this one "Hilo" for one of my favourite towns on Big Island, Hawaii, with its colourful downtown, where my kids used to play soccer games with Kona Crush, and where LOTS of rain keep it filled with gorgeous tropical greenery. Sigh. Public voting for this Challenge opens today Thursday Feb 2 and closes next Tuesday Feb 7. You can link to the Voting Page HERE (and it's a pretty fun Challenge with so many different kinds of entries)! AND if you'd like to see "Hilo" in several colours in my Spoonflower Shop where they're available in 3 sizes on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor, click on the images below!   OF COURSE, I had to try this "Hilo" design out in some other colourways too, see below for this design in Charcoal and Coral Red. Click the images if you'd like to see them in my Spoonflower Shop!
 With thanks to The Indoorsy Project for this skirt mockup.
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What?! Brown?! Yes! My Entry for Spoonflower's "Earth Tone Throw Pillows" Design Challenge!1/27/2023 Whaaa-aat?! Brown and beige?!? Why not?! Here's my new "Local Colour" floral pattern (1st 2 pics below) that I entered in this week's Spoonflower "Earth Tone Throw Pillows" Design Challenge. I called it this because of some of the research I did using the photos I took at, and the "Flower and Plant Guide" I picked up from, the world-famous Butchart Gardens (a most amazing local garden) on my last visit, and some of the pics I've taken of Summer gardens and hanging baskets in and around Downtown Victoria. I must admit I wasn't at first really enthusiastic about this palette, but I find I really love how rich and warm all the entries look! I surprise myself! So I did try out a few other new designs in this colour palette just for the heckuvit (see below)! . AND if you'd like to vote you can link to the VOTING PAGE HERE. But just a heads up...There are 1771 entries! WOW!! Is that the most ever?! Public voting for this challenge ends Tuesday January 31 at 3:00 EST! You can also see these designs in my Spoonflower Shop by clicking on the images below.  
Pictured: Dappled Ti Plants (above) and In The Groove in Dark and Light Earth Tones (below).
My son said this pattern design looks like a bunch of origami paper! But actually, the intent was to create a faux crazy quilt, so that's what this one is called..."Crazy Quilt"! If you look closely, you'll see woven and printed textile "swatches", some with "embroidery", including some "cross stitches"! So I've entered this one in this week's Spoonflower "Cross Stitch" Design Challenge! Public voting for this Challenge opens tomorrow Thursday January 5! You can vote at the Voting Page HERE (and I would love your vote for this one)!  BTW: I did the original motifs for this design as part of the Doodle-A-Day challenge offered by Rhianna Wurman of Ello Lovey in partnership with Spoonflower! This January-long challenge is on now. Find out more about the Doodle-A-Day challenge and how to join in at the Spoonflower Blog HERE! See below for my original doodle! And if you're on TikTok, be sure to check out Spoonflower's TikTok in January daily for some quick inspiring Doodle-A-Day videos based on each of the challenge prompts. I'll be sharing on Day 3: Fabric and Day 16: Gardening!  AND of course, I had to try it out in another completely different colourway! See below for the Orange Yellow Green colourway! Which colour palette do you like best?!   One of the things I like to do is to set aside time to just freely sketch and doodle because it helps me work out motifs and come up with brand new ideas. If you want to up your doodling game, follow along with the 4th Annual Doodle-A-Day Challenge, a month-long challenge first created by Rhianna Wurman of Ello Lovey and now in partnership with Spoonflower, to draw one doodle every day in January based on given prompts. This year’s theme is “Making”. Check out all the Info/Rules and Prompts at this Blog Post, follow along and doodle, and share what you create on Instagram! There are fun prizes for participating too!
To make it even more fun, be sure to check out Spoonflower’s TikTok where they will be posting artist videos daily for each design prompt. JOIN ME on Day 3: Fabric and Day 16: Gardening for my quick doodling videos! Spoonflower Blog Post: "Top Design Challenge Tips from Spoonflower Artists" (Including Me)!1/2/2023  Are you a new pattern designer who would like to try entering the weekly Spoonflower Design Challenges, but feel a bit unsure about it, or a seasoned pro that just wants some more inspo? If so, check out this Spoonflower Blog Post: “Top Design Challenge Tips from Spoonflower Artists”, in which I and fellow Spoonflower designers Kasia Turbak and Anna Aho share some of our tips for entering the Spoonflower Design Challenges and how they have helped us grow as designers. Pictured below are just some of my designs that have placed highly (or won!) some past Spoonflower Design Challenges!
If you haven’t heard already, the 2023 Pantone Color of the Year is “Viva Magenta”, described as “a shade rooted in nature descending from the red family and expressive of a new signal of strength. Viva Magenta is brave and fearless, and a pulsating color whose exuberance promotes a joyous and optimistic celebration, writing a new narrative”. When Pantone announced their colour choice, I immediately started experimenting with this colour and the Pantone “Inspire” colour palette. See some of the results below, and check out more in my “Viva Magenta Collection”! All of these pattern designs are now available in my Spoonflower Shop on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor! AND I entered my "Hana-Dark" Japanese-inspired design (first pic) in the Spoonflower "Viva Magenta" Design Challenge! I was a bit distracted over the holidays so I forgot to post about this Challenge earlier, but you can still vote until tomorrow January 3 2023!
One of my fave things to do is wander the nearby coastline and every once in awhile we spot orcas swimming offshore! Such a rare sight! So I thought I would celebrate that in this week's Spoonflower "Favourite Things" Design Challenge with my "Wild West Coast" pattern design featuring orca whales. And then, of course, I felt the need to play with Vintage 1950s Colours...Who said orcas always have to be Black & White?! I did decide to add a more "classic" Black & White version though, as well as a Blue version too (scroll down to see!) And they're all available in my Spoonflower Shop on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor in 3 sizes! Voting for this Challenge opens Thursday Dec 8 (and closes Tuesday Dec 13). You can check out all the entries at the Voting Page HERE! 
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!  A DITSY print is a tiny-scale overall pattern that has a tossed or non-directional layout. I don't know about you, but when I think of ditsy prints I usually picture sweet little scattered flowers (ditsy prints don't have to be floral, btw) in pretty colours...For this week's Spoonflower "Delicious Ditsy" Design Challenge, I entered my new "Tutti Frutti" design! And I must say, a typical ditsy print, this is NOT!! Love it as cocktail napkins or as a tablecloth (see below), but wouldn't it make a FUN APRON?! Voting opens Thurs Nov 17 and you can link to the Voting Page HERE! . AND I couldn't resist...I had to make those Bananas and Berries into their own designs too! So scroll down to see my new "Banana-rama" and "Polka Berries" designs. All 3 coordinate together into my "Fruit-Tastic" Collection, and you can get them on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor in 3 sizes in my Spoonflower Shop! See the FRUIT-TASTIC COLLECTION in my Spoonflower Shop! 
"Banana-rama" (above left) and "Polka Berries" (above right) are part of my
FRUIT-TASTIC COLLECTION! Even though I've just added my new "Bug's Life" repeat pattern design to my Spoonflower Shop, it actually has a very LOOONG history! The individual bugs are amongst my earliest designs created when I was very new to surface design. I originally sold them individually as Greeting Cards and Art Prints at various craft fairs and in my (now closed) Etsy shop. Then I revised and re-coloured them, and now sell them as Graphic Tees in my TeePublic Shop (check out my "Creature Features" Album there to see them, called "Retro Bugs")! AND THEN...I put them all together into one design to make this repeat pattern! They're now available in all 4 colours in Small-, Medium- and Large-Scale versions on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor! I guess I've never really been able to completely archive these colourful bugs over the years and always seem to return to them. And funny enough, for this repeat design, I went all the way back to those very first, original colours! I thought this design would be perfect to enter in this week's Spoonflower "Flash Tattoo Sheets" Design Challenge (I entered the first version on Hot Pink) because the strong outlines and colours would make some pretty darn cool tattoos IMHO! Public Voting for this Challenge opens today Thursday Nov 3, and closes next Tuesday Nov 8 at 3:00 ET! Check out the Voting Page to see this week's entries! Click the images to see the Medium-Scale versions in my Spoonflower Shop!
 NOTE: If you missed it, REPLAYS of all the Craft Friday Workshops are Now Available! Watch them all on the Spoonflower Blog HERE! .......................................................... Spoonflower's Craft Friday is a FREE online event happening on Black Friday (Nov 25) with the goal of offering a fun, crafty, creative alternative to the madness of one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Through a series of short-and-sweet video tutorials offered throughout the day and featuring varied creative projects taught by talented artists/makers, Spoonflower hopes to encourage families and friends to craft and make together, learn new skills, and possibly even create something to gift to loved ones during the holiday season. JOIN ME: “Make a Doodled Coloring Pages Gift Pack” At 2:00 ET I’m very excited to announce that my “Make a Doodled Coloring Pages Gift Pack” Video Tutorial will be included as part of Spoonflower's Craft Friday event this year, scheduled to go live Nov 25 at 2:00 ET! JOIN ME to learn how to make this low-cost, homemade, artistic gift idea, starting with my downloadable Doodle Prompt Pages which will set you off on your doodling journey. No artistic skill required! Once you have created your own collection of coloring pages, I’ll show you some quick ideas for packaging them up nicely, ready for gift giving. And don’t forget, now that you have a Doodled Coloring Pages Gift Pack (or someone gives you one!), you can then have tons of fun coloring them in too! You can make this Gift Pack on your own, with kids at home or in the classroom, and it makes a great party activity too. Fun to make and receive!
Get all the info you'll need to join in at this Spoonflower CRAFT FRIDAY Blog Post where you can download my Doodle Prompt Pages and see what simple supplies you’ll need to participate. And be sure to check out all the other FREE creative sessions that will be offered! Don't forget to PRE-REGISTER! Just in case you want more doodle inspiration, check out the surface designs I’ve created with some of my own doodles in my “Coloring Book Designs” Collection in my Spoonflower Shop!
Hope to see you at Spoonflower's CRAFT FRIDAY on November 25 at 2:00 ET!
This week's Spoonflower Design Challenge is "Barkitecture", described as decorating spaces specifically for our animal companions. I wanted to do something "stylish", so I thought about creating a straight-up 1980s Postmodern-style design. But given the theme I decided I needed to incorporate some paw prints! So here is my alliteratively-named "Postmodern Pet Paw Prints" design in the original Retro colour palette that I entered in the Challenge (first pic below)! Voting for this Challenge opens today Thursday Oct 27 and closes next Tuesday Nov 1. Check out the Voting Page HERE (I would love your vote)! . And this "Postmodern Pet Paw Prints" design now comes in several colourways and 3 sizes in my Spoonflower Shop on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor! You can find them all in my "Pet Themes" Collection in my Spoonflower Shop. Scroll down to see the other colourways below!  In Retro Gray Turquoise Blush Blue Brown
 With thanks to @theindoorsyproject for this mockup.
This week's Spoonflower Design Challenge is "Recipe Wall Hangings" and I was a bit stumped with what to do. But then I remembered I had created an illustrated recipe for this warming and delicious "African Yam and Peanut Soup" a little while ago, but then archived it. So I had a look at it and started fooling around with it...radically changed the colours, altered the layout, changed the text a bit...Then I thought, "Hey! I'll enter it!" So here it is, as entered! . Go have a look at the designs this week, they're all sized specifically for Spoonflower Wall Hangings and Tea Towels (on a Fat Quarter size)! You can link to the Voting Page HERE. As always, I would love your vote for this one! Voting opens tomorrow Thursday October 6. If you like, you can see this design in my Spoonflower Shop! It might make a nice gift for that upcoming, ahem, holiday...  If you're curious, I thought it would be interesting for you to see the original colours and layout of this design (see below). I LOVE how it is always possible to breathe new life into a design. As they say, NEVER throw anything away! I originally designed this illustrated recipe for the "They Draw" website (when it was still called "They Draw and Cook"). If you want to have a look there, click HERE!  If you don't know, FIKA is the Swedish tradition of taking time for a coffee and cake break every day. But aside from what you eat and drink, it's really more about taking time to pause and socialize with friends and colleagues. Sounds pretty good to me! I've entered my new "Fika Swedish Pastry and Coffee Break" pattern design in this week's Spoonflower "Fika (Swedish Coffee Break)" Design Challenge! Look closely so you can see just how fun these flowered mugs of coffee and pastries are! I created them in a puffy "balloon-style", using a tool that I just recently discovered in Adobe Illustrator. Voting for this Challenge opens today and closes Tuesday September 27. You can link to the Voting Page HERE. BTW: I couldn't help trying this Illustrator tool out on a few other designs. Scroll down to see the fun results! All these pattern designs are now available in my Spoonflower Shop on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor in 3 sizes! Click the images below to see them in my Spoonflower Shop in Medium-Scale (Small- and Large-Scale also available)!  Fika Swedish Pastry and Coffee Break  Breakfast (I LOVE the fried eggs!)  Cupcake Dreams (adapted from an earlier design in a "flat" style which is also available in my Spoonflower Shop!) When I travel to other places, I love going to markets where it's so interesting to explore all the unfamiliar things, particularly food, and especially fruits and veggies I have never seen or tasted before. So when I saw that this week's Spoonflower Design Challenge was "Otherworldly Botanicals", I immediately thought about strange fantastical fruits as a subject matter. So here is my new "Ambrosia" pattern design which I filled with graphic melon-like fruits on curly vines (of course, it HAD to have curly vines!) Voting for this Challenge is now open and you can link to the Voting Page HERE. I would love your vote for this one (voting closes Tuesday Sept 20)! This design is also now available in my Spoonflower Shop on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor in 3 sizes, and you can SHOP this design HERE (in the Medium-Scale, it's also available in a Small- and Large-Scale too!)  Ambrosia in Coral and Earth Tones on Dark Brown And of course, I couldn't resist adding this design to my Spoonflower Shop in some other colourways too, see below! Each colourway also comes in 3 sizes. Click on an image to link to the Medium-Scale versions directly in my Spoonflower Shop!  Ambrosia in Pastels and Warm Neutrals on Cream  Ambrosia in Orange and Olive Green on Yellow |
AuthorJackie Tahara of UnBlink Studio Categories
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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!