The Blog

Notes from the garden, the studio, and a creative life in the Smoky Mountains.

The Pattern Post · Every Tuesday

Your weekly coffee date with the creative industry.

The week’s news from the creative industry, with Bonnie’s spin on it. Read it here, or get it in your inbox every Tuesday.

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Florals & foliage

In the garden now

Everything from the garden ↗
Print + pattern

From the studio

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Family & slow living

Slow mornings

Everything in slow living ↗
Pattern Magazine

Volume 6, Marking the Moment, is on the shelves at Barnes & Noble.

A love letter to creative living, printed four times a year.

From the pages, on the blog
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The creative life

Notes on a creative life

Everything in the creative life ↗
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every Tuesday at eleven

The Pattern Post

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The whole archive

Everything

Every story since 2022, newest first.

How to Develop a Signature Style pattern magazine print + pattern Oct 22, 2026

By: Bonnie Christine

Story Adapted From Pattern Magazine – Volume 3

Pattern Magazine is Bonnie Christine's quarterly print and digital publication for surface pattern designers, artists, and creative entrepreneurs who believe that how you live shapes what you make. This story first appeared in Volume 3, Begin Again, the winter 2026 issue.

A signature style distinguishes you from the crowd.

You walk into an art mu...

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The Art of Negotiation: A Surface Designer's Guide to Licensing Deals pattern magazine print + pattern Oct 22, 2026

By: Bonnie Christine

Story Adapted From Pattern Magazine – Volume 2

Pattern Magazine is Bonnie Christine's quarterly print and digital publication for surface pattern designers, artists, and creative entrepreneurs who believe that how you live shapes what you make. This story first appeared in Volume 2, Rooted Rhythms, the autumn 2025 issue.

A surface designer’s guide to licensing deals.

Licensing your artwork is...

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10 Big Takeaways from the Licensing Expo pattern magazine print + pattern Oct 21, 2026

By: Bonnie Christine

Story Adapted From Pattern Magazine – Volume 2

Pattern Magazine is Bonnie Christine's quarterly print and digital publication for surface pattern designers, artists, and creative entrepreneurs who believe that how you live shapes what you make. This story first appeared in Volume 2, Rooted Rhythms, the autumn 2025 issue.

Lessons in presence, possibility, and planting seeds for the future.

We ...

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Behind the Design: Wild Forgotten florals & foliage pattern magazine Oct 21, 2026

By: Bonnie Christine

Story Adapted From Pattern Magazine – Volume 6

Pattern Magazine is Bonnie Christine's quarterly print and digital publication for surface pattern designers, artists, and creative entrepreneurs who believe that how you live shapes what you make. This story first appeared in Volume 6, Marking the Moment, the autumn 2026 issue.

Ash, raven, crocus, lavender, wren, hazel, poppy, beaver, clover, ivy, w...

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Behind the Design: Blackberry Thrush florals & foliage pattern magazine Oct 21, 2026

By: Bonnie Christine

Story Adapted From Pattern Magazine – Volume 5

Pattern Magazine is Bonnie Christine's quarterly print and digital publication for surface pattern designers, artists, and creative entrepreneurs who believe that how you live shapes what you make. This story first appeared in Volume 5, Gathering Sunshine, the summer 2026 issue.

“Her entire yard was a garden.”

My grandmother, Marrell, was sophist...

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Bonnie's Chickens & Ducks: The Joy of Keeping Your Own Flock florals & foliage pattern magazine Oct 21, 2026

By: Bonnie Christine

Story Adapted From Pattern Magazine – Volume 5

Pattern Magazine is Bonnie Christine's quarterly print and digital publication for surface pattern designers, artists, and creative entrepreneurs who believe that how you live shapes what you make. This story first appeared in Volume 5, Gathering Sunshine, the summer 2026 issue.

The joy of keeping your own flock.

There is a particular kind of sum...

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The Pattern Post: Green Won the Year the pattern post Oct 21, 2026

The Pattern Post · Tuesday, October 20, 2026

The people, patterns & possibilities shaping the creative industry.

If you're new here, The Pattern Post is my free weekly read on surface pattern design, art licensing, and illustration news, every Tuesday. This is issue one, sent October 20, 2026.

This week in a sentence: Green won the color this year, and the human hand has won the consumer. Design accordingly!

From

...
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12 Insights from Art Directors business business tips creative entrepreneur pattern magazine Jul 13, 2026

By: Bonnie Christine

Story Adapted From Pattern Magazine – Volume 5

What Makes a Pattern Collection Stand Out?

Over the past several months, we have coordinated licensing challenges with incredible companies like Loomwell, TWOPAGES Curtains, Illustrated Faith, and Carriage House Printery for the creatives inside our membership, Pattern+. We have received over a thousand submissions, watched collections get chosen,...

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Summer 2026: A Letter From Bonnie pattern magazine surface pattern design Jul 09, 2026

By: Bonnie Christine

Story Adapted From Pattern Magazine – Volume 5

Summer holds an unmistakable warmth. 

The sky becomes a palette of bright blues, inviting us to step outside and soak in the sunlight. We spend our days at the lakehouse, water glittering and lapping against the dock. 

It’s puzzles and paintbrushes outside on the lawn. Ollie and Bear squealing with laughter as they skid across the boat's wake on ...

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A Summer Garden Party creative lifestyle garden party pattern magazine Jul 09, 2026

By: Bonnie Christine

Story Adapted From Pattern Magazine – Volume 5

In summertime, my backyard becomes my creative playground, a blank canvas for gatherings with family and friends.  

 The weather warms and the days lengthen, inviting me to create patterns of a different kind: patterns of hospitality, layered amidst dripping candlesticks, lace tablecloths, and a delicious scoop of Jeni’s ice cream. Brambleberry Cr...

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Pattern At Play: Expansion & Exposure Challenge pattern magazine surface pattern design Apr 02, 2026

Story Adapted From Pattern Magazine – Volume 4

Spring has a way of opening the world, and our work, just a bit wider. Expansion is the making: learning one new thing, adding one new step, letting a simple idea grow. Exposure is the sharing: giving that work a bit of sunlight so it can be found. Paired together, they turn small efforts into momentum.

For me, this looks like beginning with something honest and humble...

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Designing the Garden Greenhouse pattern magazine surface pattern design Apr 02, 2026

By: Bonnie Christine

Story Adapted From Pattern Magazine – Volume 4

 

I've always wanted a greenhouse. Years before there was a frame or a pane, there was a promise I'd made to myself: "When I finish building the Surface Design Immersion course, I will give myself a place to grow."

I started hunting on Facebook Marketplace, and I found a jumble of century-old bricks, the kind with softened edges and stories baked...

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Spring 2026: A Letter From Bonnie pattern magazine surface pattern design Apr 02, 2026

By: Bonnie Christine

Story Adapted From Pattern Magazine – Volume 4

 

In our Smoky Mountains, the hills wake slowly. Redbuds feather the edges, dogwoods lift their white lanterns, and the garden soil gives beneath the spade.

As the ground softens, so do I, ready to learn something new, to expand with the season. 

I clear out cupboards and make space for the new. It’s a good kind of restless. Taking inventory of ...

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My Film Studio Favorites creative entrepreneur Jan 06, 2026

A behind-the-scenes peek at the studio space that helps me video record with ease.

 

As a creative entrepreneur, the need for recording video content is constant. Whether I’m filming for an online course, documenting a creative process, recording an interview, or creating social content, video is the medium I return to again and again.

But for nearly a decade, it was one of the most frustrating parts of my workflo...

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Pattern Plus Group Coaching On-Demand surface pattern design Oct 27, 2025

Coaching That Fits Your Schedule

 

Running a creative business can sometimes lead to questions we don't know how to find the answers to. What should I focus on next? How do I approach licensing? Which steps matter most right now? The Group Coaching On-Demand sessions inside the Pattern+ Membership are designed to give you answers when you need them most.

Pop in your earbuds and hit play on a pep talk from me. Thes...

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Save Time and Pitch with Confidence Using Pattern Plus Pro Business Templates surface pattern design Oct 20, 2025

Professional Tools for Your Creative Career

Running a creative business requires clear communication, confident pitching, and professional presentation. That’s where the Pro Business Template inside the Pattern+ Membership comes in. Each month, you’ll receive a ready-to-use business tool designed to help you handle the behind-the-scenes work of your career with ease.

 

What’s Included in the Pro Business Templates...

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