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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).
Apparently all parts of the charming Lily of the Valley plant are potentially toxic, and contain compounds which can inhibit the heart's ability to pump if ingested. It's rated a 1 on the Toxicity Scale (because ingesting it can cause serious illness or death) and a 4 (because its juice can cause a skin rash). I didn't know this until I started researching "Poisonous Plants" for this week's Spoonflower Design Challenge (voting opens Jan 12 and closes Tuesday Jan 17)! Here's my entry: "Lily of the Valley" in Spring Green! You can link to the Voting Page HERE! If you'd like to see this design in my Spoonflower Shop, click HERE. It comes in 4 scales on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor (this links to the Small-Scale version)!   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! 
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!
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 "Unexpected Still Life Wall Hangings". Here is my entry, called "Flower Burst" which is also sized for Tea Towels on a Fat Quarter fabric size! I just decided to go crazy with flowers for this one. I entered the first Teal and Coral Orange one because it was the only one I managed to finish before submissions closed (adapted from a repeat pattern I created a little while ago), but I did create it in two other colourways too (see below)! All 3 colourways, Teal and Coral Orange, Purple Red Pink and Moody Neon Brights, are now available in my Spoonflower Shop! Do you have a favourite?! Voting for this Challenge opens tomorrow Thursday Oct 13 and you can link to the Voting Page HERE. I would love your vote for this one, thank you in advance as always! Or CLICK on the IMAGES BELOW to see each one in my Spoonflower Shop!  Teal and Coral Orange  Purple Red Pink  Moody Neon Brights Which colour palette is your favourite, I wonder?! I'd love to know, you can reply in the comments below!
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 This is my entry for this week's Spoonflower "Victorian-Era Florals" Design Challenge which I call "Victoriana". And of course, I couldn't help trying this new design out in several colourways: (1) "Midnight Blue" (for an antique kinda faded effect), (2) "Parchment" (nice soft colours) and (3) "Aubergine" (because I had to try some brights, as usual!) I ended up entering the first "Midnight Blue" version, and it seems you all agree that this colourway was the right one to enter when I asked a couple days ago via social media, YAY! If you would like to vote (voting closes Tuesday Sept 13), be sure to check out the Voting Page HERE. And you can check out this design in my Spoonflower Shop too!     This week’s Spoonflower Design Challenge is “Birding” and here is my entry I call “Birdwatching Love”! Scroll down to get a little peek at the process behind this design. If you would like to vote, you can link to the Voting Page HERE! I would love your vote for this one! Voting closes Tuesday Sept 6. And BTW: this design is now available in my Spoonflower Shop on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor in 3 sizes!  See below for a little sneak peek into the early sketching behind my "Birdwatching Love" design! It's fun!  WHOOPS! I just noticed I forgot to post about LAST week's Spoonflower Design Challenge which was "Crochet Granny Square"! So, here is the design I entered which I call, appropriately, "Crochet Granny Square". Scroll down to see the INSPIRATION behind this design! Unfortunately, voting for this Challenge is now closed, but you can vote in THIS week's "Birding" Design Challenge (see my next post!) 
When I saw the Spoonflower "Granny Square Crochet" Design Challenge, I immediately thought of the blanket I bought at a garage sale years ago (see below). Ever since then, my husband has been trying to re-sell it at the many garage sales we've had but I've always said "No way!" One of the things I really love about this blanket (aside from the handmade-ness and obvious love that went into making it) is the randomness of all the bright colours. So although the design I entered doesn't entirely copy this blanket, I really tried to capture that colour randomness (and btw: I do realize that my design doesn't have squares)! You can now purchase my "Crochet Granny Square" design in my Spoonflower Shop on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor in 3 sizes!  |
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!