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. 
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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!
Yes, more changes in the POD world are coming... SOCIETY 6 CHANGES: NEW ARTIST PLANS Back in the Spring, Society6 announced that it would start deducting shipping fees from an artist’s earnings. You can remind yourself about these fees HERE. But on October 19, Society6 announced something MUCH more dramatic: the launch of its new Artist Plans: Free, Basic and Pro. The Free Plan is free, of course, but only allows an artist to upload 10 (yes, TEN) designs to their Shop and does not allow an artist to set their own prices (rather, artist royalties are set at 10%). The Basic Plan costs $4.99/month and allows 100 designs. The Pro Plan costs $12.99/month and allows up to 10000 designs. With the Basic and Pro Plans, artists can set their own prices. The Pro Plan also comes with a sales analytics dashboard. See below for Society6’s chart of the features offered by each Plan.  As of November 30, all current Society6 artists (and new artists that create an account) will be required to opt into a Plan, and make sure the number of designs in their Shop conforms to their chosen Plan. Those who don’t will be automatically enrolled in the Free Plan, and all designs in excess of the ten-design limit will be removed. Society6 says it will remove all but the 10 best-selling designs or, if no sales data is available, the most recently uploaded designs will remain. As of this writing, all removals will be permanent. You can read more detail about these changes at the Society6 Blog HERE. My Goodness. So What Now? If you’re wondering what to do with your Society6 Shop, or are considering opening one, here are some things to consider. I’ll let you know how they’ve played out in my own decision-making, and what I ultimately have decided to do. 1. SO Much Time Spent Any designer who has POD shops on multiple sites, such as Redbubble and TeePublic (who have recently announced changes of their own), will tell you that the uploading process on Society6 is probably one of the most difficult and time-consuming. It requires you to create multiple files to ensure that a design looks good on each of its products, and upload speeds can be slo-ow. For me with my 262 designs, unless I opt for the Pro Plan, this means that all those HOURS (and I mean HOURS and HOURS) of work uploading designs will have been wasted. Even further, if I go ahead now and delete designs under the Free or Basic Plans (which itself would take a lot of time to do), then I would have to spend more hours again in the future if I ever decided to re-upload those designs. 2. How Have Sales Been? If you’ve had a Society6 Shop for awhile, how have your sales been? If they’re enough to cover the Plan pricing, then it would be an easier choice to go for a paid Plan. But if not or you would barely break even, or if you’re new to the site, what then? This is perhaps where the most soul-searching will happen. For me, I do have fairly steady sales on Society6 and I can see that sales are trending slowly upwards. But it’s important to note that I’ve been working on this site steadily, if intermittently, for 5 years, and some months have definitely been better than others. 3. POD Sites Are So Satured POD sites are now extremely saturated. Opting for a Plan with a lower design limit may just mean that your art never gets seen. This being said, Society6 notes that there has been tons of non-selling or low-quality designs being uploaded to its marketplace in recent years, impacting the visibility of high-quality content (like yours and I hope, mine!) They believe that having this tiered Plan structure will lead to a more curated marketplace and drive sales of high-quality designs by independent artists, presumably by discouraging spammers and design thieves from maintaining or creating accounts. Hmm, only time will tell. 4. Think Beyond the Money: Visibiilty Is Something To Think About I have worked with several licensees and collaborators who have found my work on POD sites, and then get in touch with me directly to discuss their projects. So perhaps paying a fee to keep more visibility online can be considered a form of marketing, can lead to other income streams, and can thus be considered just a cost of doing business. So What's A Surface Pattern Designer To Do? My Society6 Shop which I opened in November 2018 currently has 262 designs. I sell fairly regularly and I do see a slow upward sales trend over the last 5 years. I know that I have gotten other projects as a direct result of the online visibility that my POD shops provide (though it's unclear how much Society6 has contributed to this). Given these facts, here’s what I’ve decided to do: I am going to opt in for the Pro Plan for now. It would just be too stomach-wrenching for me to delete up to 252 designs (!) at this time after all the hours I’ve spent. I’m going to keep an eye on my sales to see if the Plan changes do in fact result in improved sales. And to give myself enough time to see which way the wind is blowing, I’ll revisit my decision in 6 months or a year! If you're curious, I invite you to check out my SOCIETY6 SHOP HERE! SPOONFLOWER CHANGES: NEW ROYALTY STRUCTURE Given the dramatic changes happening over at Society6, Spoonflower’s upcoming changes to its royalty structure just announced today, certainly doesn’t inspire in me the same kind of soul-searching. Spoonflower was one of the few POD sites that paid its artists a full 10% commission (up to 15% under their bonus structure based on monthly sales) on the FULL retail price of an item, even if that item sold for less during a promotion. But starting January 2024, Spoonflower royalties will now be based on the price a customer actually pays for an item, taking into account any sale discounts (but will never reflect a discount of more than 50%). In addition, Spoonflower also announced that royalties paid out on their finished home décor items (such as pillows, sheet sets and duvets) will be based on the price paid for the finished product, and not just on the amount of fabric used to make that item, as has been the case. Spoonflower notes that in most cases, artists will earn more on sales of these finished home décor products. You can read more about Spoonflower's changes to its royalty structure at the Spoonflower Help Center HERE. It remains to be seen how these royalty changes will affect how much a designer earns from Spoonflower. Since many of my own sales occur during promotions, and the fact that I sell much more fabric and wallpaper than finished home décor products, I am anticipating that I may see less royalty income going forward. BUT, I’m still happy being a Spoonflower designer and their royalty changes cause me no worries. Why? I love their thoughtful community-building; active support and promotion of designers and makers, both on social media and through organizing fun events throughout the year; participating in their inspiring weekly Design Challenges; and the fantastic visibility I get from having a Spoonflower Shop. And the ability to interact directly with, and respond to special requests from, small business owners, interior designers, makers and DIYers has been invaluable and so satisfying to me. You can check out my SPOONFLOWER SHOP HERE. YOUR THOUGHTS? I would dearly like to know what you think of my thought processes regarding these upcoming changes to Society6 and Spoonflower for designers. And if you have anything to add, do let me know. As they say, the only constant is change. So true for all of us surface pattern designers, right?!
This week's Spoonflower Design Challenge is "Whimsigothic Wallpaper". So what is "whimsigothic" anyway, you might ask? I had the same question! Doing a bit of research, I discovered it is a mash-up of dark, ornate, mysterious Victorian Gothic design with bright unexpected colours and boho modern touches. So here is my take: I pictured an old stone castle with Gothic stained-glass windows, ornate velvet furniture in dark moody colours, fading tapestries and dusty chandeliers...Thus the name of this floral: "Castle Rose". BUT I also made sure to create the flowers and leaves in a semi-abstract way (look closely) in, what else? Fuchsia Pink! Public voting for this Challenge opens Thursday Sept 7 and closes next Tuesday Sept 12. You can link to the Voting Page HERE! And if you'd like to SHOP this design, click HERE to see the LARGE-Scale version. It also comes in a SMALL-Scale and MEDIUM-Scale version too!   I must say this week's Spoonflower "Vintage Sportswear" Design Challenge was a tough one! I mean, what do you think of when you think of 70s, 80s or 90s sportswear?! After trying and tossing a bunch of ideas, I ended up with my "Anemone" retro floral in bright 1970s colours (first pic)! I can see a pretty cool fleece jacket or ski suit in this (what do you think, my Nelson, BC ski buddies?) Public voting is open now and you can link to the Voting Page HERE! . I also want to thank the team at Make It In Design whose "Creative Tip Of The Week" posted on their Blog on August 25 about how to use Adobe Illustrator's Blend Tool inspired me to try something new! . Click the IMAGES below to link directly to the Medium-Scale versions of this design in TWO colourways in my Spoonflower Shop. They also come in Small- and Large-Scale versions too!   Here is my entry for the Spoonflower "Monochromatic Duvet Covers" Design Challenge, called "Abloom"! All the colours are shades and tints of the gorgeous Scarlet Red in the background, as required by the Challenge. It's now available in my Spoonflower Shop on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor in several scales from Small to Jumbo. AND of course, I had to try it out in a bunch of Other Colours too (if you look closely, some of them aren't strictly "monochromatic" as I felt the need to add in bits of other colours here and there!). Click the IMAGES below to link directly to the design in my Spoonflower Shop (Large-Scale versions)! Public voting for this Challenge is now closed...Whoops, I forgot to post this LAST week! But you can vote in THIS week's "Vintage Sportswear" Design Challenge at the Voting Page here! 
And now for MORE colours...In order: Mustard Yellow, Barbie Pink, Sky Blue and Cobalt Royal Blue! All colours are now available in my Spoonflower Shop!
So I must admit, I'm kinda in LOVE with Barbie colours right now! Pink, Blue, Purple...I guess that's no surprise! So, I named my new floral pattern design "Dream House" (get it?!) and entered it in this week's Spoonflower "Tween Spirit Bedding" Design Challenge! What tween (or teen or full-grown adult or elder) wouldn't like this (um, don't answer that)?! This gorgeous floral is now available in my Spoonflower Shop on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor in 3 sizes and a bunch of colourways. Click the IMAGES below to link directly to the Large-Scale versions in my Spoonflower Shop (but don't forget, they also come in a Small- and Medium-Scale version too if you prefer that!) . If you'd like to vote in this Challenge, public voting for is open until Tuesday August 22 and you can link to the Voting Page HERE!     AND OF COURSE, I had to try it out in several other colourways. Scroll down to see them! They're all now available in my Spoonflower Shop on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor in 3 sizes! Click the IMAGES to link directly to the Large-Scale versions in my Shop!    PHEW! I just returned from my vacation last weekend and had decided I wouldn't be able to enter a design in this week's limited colour palette "Pantone Meta Matter Bedding" Design Challenge (how many emails did I have?!) because entries closed on Tuesday August 8, but then I remembered my "Pinwheel" design that has been in my archive for awhile. I've always wanted to add it to my Spoonflower Shop but never quite got there. So this week's challenge gave me a good excuse to revise and recolour it. It did end up taking a full day to finish (as these things do), but I did manage to enter it on time! Public voting for this Challenge closes on Tuesday August 15! You can link to the Voting Page HERE! If you'd like to see this design in my Spoonflower Shop, just click the IMAGES below! Note this design is available in a Small-, Medium- and Large-Scale version; the images will link to the Large-Scale version in my Spoonflower Shop!   I’ve entered my “Lovely” design in this week’s Spoonflower “Cute, Cuter, Cutest Kids Sheets” Design Challenge! I entered the first Light Pink on Dark Pink version but it's also available in another (also Pink!) colour option too, see below! Can you guess which recently-released movie influenced the colour palette? You get ONE guess! Public voting closes tomorrow August 8 (sorry for the late notice, I've been on vaca)! You can check out all the entries at the Voting Page HERE. And if you'd like to channel your inner [insert answer to my question here], you can now purchase these designs in 3 sizes in my Spoonflower Shop on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor!   Answer to my question: Barbie (of course)!
I know I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, but I've managed miraculously to get a bit ahead of things here in the studio for next week's Spoonflower "The Skies Above Bedding" Design Challenge! So I've just entered my "Daydream In The Garden" design, it's very dreamy, happy and colourful! The idea was to re-create the feeling of gazing up into the Summer sky while daydreaming in the flower garden! Public voting for this Challenge opens Thursday July 27 and you can link to the Voting Page HERE! If you'd like to SHOP this design in my Spoonflower Shop on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor, it's now available in 3 sizes. Check out the Large-Scale version HERE which I think just might be best for bedding!   For this week's Design Challenge, Spoonflower is partnering again with East Fork Pottery to challenge artists to create designs for Autumn table linens, using only two or more of East Fork's core glaze colours: Amaro, Blue Ridge, Morel, Black Mountain, Eggshell and Panna Cotta (love the colour names, btw)! So here is my entry: "Harvest Veg with Lotsa Dots"! I went for max graphic impact! Public voting opens today Thursday July 20 and I would love your vote for this one! You can link to the Voting Page HERE! . AND CLICK the image below to see my "Harvest Veg With Lotsa Dots" design in my Spoonflower Shop where it's now available on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor!  These cute Monsters have discovered that pets can sometimes have poopoo accidents! Ah well, they love their pets anyway! I entered my "Monsters and Their Pets" design in Spoonflower's "Monster Mash" Design Challenge! You can now purchase this design in my Spoonflower Shop on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor! AND how could I resist?! This design is also now available on Graphic Tees, Wall Art, Totes and more in my TeePublic Shop AND on Lots of Other Products in my Redbubble Shop too! . DESIGN NOTE: For some reason (not sure why, really), I wanted to try out a design using just geometric shapes. So look closely….These guys are composed of just various shapes which I created by "adding" shapes together or "subtracting" shapes from other shapes! I very much enjoyed this process, it was actually quite Zen! And it was very fun discovering how little changes and details can add personality (check out the biceps on the little guy and the pigeon toes on the tall guy!)…I might have to try more of these!   Graphic Tee available in my TeePublic Shop!  Wall Art Poster available in my TeePublic Shop! Another Catch-Up Post: My Entry for Spoonflower's "French Country Table Linens" Design Challenge!7/20/2023 I found it quite difficult to figure out what exactly "French Country" meant when it comes to pattern design (other than toile). I researched quite a bit and what struck me were the use of soft colours, especially blue and white. I hoped my "Thicket" design is French Country, at least in "feel", because I entered the Blue and White on Periwinkle version below in Spoonflower's "French Country Table Linens" Design Challenge (it also comes in the Blue White and Deep Cream version too)! And then I created my "Fanciful" Collection around this theme in Blue & White too! Have a look at the full "Fanciful" Collection on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor in my Spoonflower Shop! Each print comes in 3 sizes and there are co-ordinating solids too! BTW: Public voting for this Challenge is now closed, but you can check out the current Challenge at the Voting Page!  "Thicket" in Blue White Deep Cream (top) and in Blue and White on Periwinkle Purple (bottom)  "Country Cottage"  "Daydreamy"  "Leafy" When you need to get your RETRO fix! Here is my abstract geometric "Circuits" pattern design in Coral Orange (on wallpaper) and Neutral Sand Brown (on cupboard and floor). I've entered the Coral Orange version in this week's Spoonflower "Non-Directional Wallpapers" Design Challenge, but you KNOW it comes in a bunch of other colourways too (see below)! Public voting for this Challenge is on now until next Tuesday July 4 (July!?) and you can link to the Voting Page HERE! I'd love your vote for this one! If you want to see all the colourways of this design now available in my Spoonflower Shop, it's easiest to see them all in one place in my "Abstract and Geometric Themes" Collection. Each one comes in 3 scales on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor! 
I've been super busy the last few weeks, so missed posting about the last four Spoonflower Challenges! I wanted to catch up with them, so I hope you enjoy this recap! Wedding Table Linens Challenge (June 8 2023): "Seahells" For this Challenge, I knew I wanted something not-so-traditional. So I decided to enter my "Seashells" design in the first Pink, Yellow and Green colourway! Maybe perfect for a "destination" wedding in some warm tropical beach locale? You can see all the various colourways in my "Age Of Aquariums" Collection in my Spoonflower Shop!
Tropical Fruits Challenge (June 15 2023): "Tropical Fruits With Lotsa Dots" Although I entered my "Tropical Fruits With Lotsa Dots" in the first Juicy Brights colourway (it's pretty fun on a Food Truck, right?) in the Spoonflower "Tropical Fruit" Design Challenge, I couldn't help trying this design out in a bunch of other colourways too: Earthy Brights, Mid-Century Vintage, Pop Art Brights and Postmodern. Should I keep going? Call me obsessed! They're all now available in my Spoonflower Shop in 3 scales on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor in my "Fruits and Vegetable Themes" Collection (with lots of other fresh designs too!) Click the images to go directly to that colourway in my Shop!  
Birds of Prey Wallpaper Challenge (June 22 2023): "Woo Hoo" Would these guys be what you think of when you think of "Birds Of Prey"? No?! Well, owls are birds of prey, even if they're funny and cute! I should know, one grabbed my head when I was running one dark morning, probably thought my ponytail was an animal tail (what would that have made my head?!) You can find my "Woo Hoo" design in my Spoonflower Shop in 3 scales; my TeePublic Shop for Graphic Tees and more; and in my Redbubble Shop on lotsa fun products! 
Buttercups Home Decor Challenge (June 29 2023): "Charmed With Buttercups" And FINALLY (for this post anyway)...After some last-minute mind-changing I decided to enter my "Charmed With Buttercups" design in the first moody Coral, Olive and Beige on Dark Purple colourway in the "Buttercups Home Decor" Design Challenge! I did create several other colourways for this design (see below), thus all the last-minute mind-changing, but thought the first colourway would be perfect for Home Decor! You can link to each colourway in my Spoonflower Shop by clicking on the images below! The links will connect you with the Medium-Scale versions (except the Duvet cover which is shown in Large-Scale), but these also come in both a Small- and Large-Scale too! 
PHEW! NOTE TO SELF: Don't miss posting about the Spoonflower Challenges each week! I'll try to keep up from now on. I hope you enjoyed this though!
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AuthorJackie Tahara of UnBlink Studio Archives
June 2025
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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!