Print on Demand Shops

Great Lakes Wildlife Gifts by Terri Wilhelm

April 22, 2026April 22, 2026 | terriaw

One of my greatest joys as an illustrator lately has been to see my illustrations printed on products! And then to see people order them from my print-on-demand shops!

I have two shops – one is a pop-up shop called Terri’s Nature Gift Shop.

My other shop is a Zazzle shop which you can find here.

I love shopping at gift shops, especially after a hike or stroll through a botanical gardens. But I struggle to find the types of products I would buy. So I thought it would be fun to create my own products.

I also sell a lot of postcards. Don’t you just love to still receive snail mail?!

I adored this cotton canvas tote bag the moment I opened the package. It’s a stylish way to elevate your everyday style while being environmentally friendly. A go-to accessory for any adventure, beach outings, grocery shopping, or casual days out.

My coasters are a fun way to add style to any surface, and they are popular. Email me if you’re interested!

I’m really looking forward to summer so I can show off my new t-shirt – perfect for nature lovers like me! Embrace your adventurous spirit.

I have so many more products to check out – gift wrap, stickers, zipper pouches, soft cover and spiral notebooks, enamel camp mugs and more.

All my artwork on these products is story-driven, hand drawn, starting with a pencil sketch, human made with traditional art materials. Perfect for every nature lover out there like me!

Hand Drawn Repeat Pattern

April 20, 2026April 20, 2026 | terriaw

One of the lessons in the Surface Design Immersion course I’ve been taking for the past couple months includes creating a hand drawn pattern. I love everything analog! This method is such a great way to understand how repeating patterns work.

Hand drawn pattern Step 1 by Terri Wilhelm

My vision was to draw bits you might see on the forest floor when your walking on a trail in the woods. I personally love to pick things up and bring them home with me as reminders of the adventure and for drawing reference.

Step one was to build a repeat tile by hand using a square piece of paper and a black pen.

Hand drawn pattern Step 2 by Terri Wilhelm

Step two was to cut your square paper in half both ways and rearrange the sections. Then you can see how the motifs connect across edges and how the patterns flow when repeated. It’s magical!

After digitizing this pattern in Adobe Illustrator, I loved it! But it was all line work and I wanted it to be a little bolder, so I filled in all the shapes and colored it with my collection color palette. This is the First Frost color palette.

It has become my hero print for my new collection – coming soon!

Mood Board, Color Palette, Motifs

March 30, 2026April 19, 2026 | terriaw

I’m taking Bonnie Christine’s Surface Design Immersion 2026 course to learn how to turn my library of nature-loving, story-driven illustrations into patterns and products to market to the world.

In Module one, our mission was to design a mood board to reflect the inspiration for a collection of patterns we are going to illustrate and design. I love to create whimsical, story-filled wildlife illustrations inspired by the wonder and diversity of the natural world. So my mood board is filled with my own photos I’ve taken on many trails, a trail map from a local forest I love to hike through, color swatches I painted with colors I use frequently in my artwork, trail treasures I’ve collected, and one of my own wreath illustrations. My husband said: “that looks like you!”

Inspired by wandering forest paths and collecting little wonders along the way, this collection will celebrate the textures and colors of the woodlands. Leaves, pinecones, mushrooms, feathers, and bark will become simple illustrated motifs, paired with warm earth tones and mossy greens. The patterns will capture the feeling of slow nature walks and the joy of bringing small forest treasures home.

A woodland-inspired collection based on forest walks and found natural treasures—leaves, pinecones, feathers, and mushrooms. Earthy greens and warm autumn tones translate these organic textures into playful, nature-inspired surface patterns.

Next up are some of the color swatches I painted. A nature-inspired palette that captures the gentle rhythm of woodland wandering, from sunlit clearings to shaded forest floors. Warm earth tones—soft sand, honeyed ochre, and rich bark browns—ground the collection, evoking tree trunks, fallen leaves, and sun-warmed soil.

A few pages of motif sketches. Inspired by forest trails, evergreen botanicals and the magic of slow forest wandering. Earthy textures, delicate natural elements, and whimsical details to create a serene cozy aesthetic roosted in quiet emotion, connection to nature and storytelling – some of my favorite things!

Stay tuned for more progress as I begin to develop a placement pattern and repeat patterns for this collection.

The Birds are Back

March 11, 2026March 11, 2026 | terriaw

Have you been noticed migrating birds returning to your area this early spring? I’ve been seeing more robins, more mourning doves, more killdeer, and I’ve been hearing more and more birdsong each day. I’m deeply connected to the rhythm of the seasons, so I’m excited every spring to discover new birds returning.

I finished this hand-drawn bird illustration collection featuring a variety of colorful North American songbirds, carefully rendered with watercolor and colored pencils. Each bird is illustrated in a natural side-profile pose, highlighting distinctive plumage, markings, and personality.

The composition includes a diverse mix of species—from the bright red cardinal and vibrant goldfinch to the deep blue jay and the striking red-winged blackbird. Softer neutrals like finches, chickadees, and woodpeckers balance the palette of warm earth tones and bold, lively hues.

I wanted to capture the delicate beauty of backyard wildlife. The illustrations are designed to translate seamlessly into a repeating surface pattern, making them ideal for textiles, stationery, wallpaper, and nature-inspired home décor.

great lakes wildlife mug by terri wilhelm

I kept them as simple patterns without any layers of motifs, similar to my Great Lakes Wildlife pattern, my National Parks Wildlife pattern and my Zoo Life pattern. It turns out they print well on my products!

The illustrations celebrates the charm and diversity of everyday birds, bringing a sense of nature, movement, and gentle color into any design.

Can’t you just picture a cheerful kitchen towel or fun sticker sheet of backyard birds!

Stay tuned for a preview of an upcoming bird pattern!

The Best of 2025

Winter cabin illustration by Terri Wilhelm

December 31, 2025January 1, 2026 | terriaw

I made so much art this year that I adore! I created the art I want to see out there. Cheers to the best of 2025!

I completed six collage illustrations of six different habitats – marsh, shoreline, wetlands, nature preserve, under the sea and tree canopy. I fell in love with doing these collages, which is a technique new to me. It’s fun to dream up a habitat and fill it with flora and fauna. My goal is to complete six more habitats in 2026 so I will have a total of 12 and then hopefully hold an art exhibition.

I also created a lot of other art that I love. I honed in on my focus and specialty – to specialize in storybook art with whimsical, handcrafted charm reminiscent of children’s book illustrations or educational posters. With my love for observing the natural world, I’ve been able to translate everyday moments—flowers in bloom, birds in the yard, shoreline scenes, and afternoon hikes in the woods—into whimsical sketches, watercolor illustrations and hand-lettered pages.

I am so grateful I got to travel to Naples, Florida earlier this year for some rest and relaxation and one of my favorite things – beach time. I also got to spend time at the lake house on Lake Michigan in Door County. And we had a new deck built in our backyard, where we love to hang out.

Many local micro adventures brought me great joy!

I have a couple specific goals for the new year:

I want to finish the artwork and publish two picture books. I already have the storyboarding done so I just need to illustrate the final artwork. I have character designs and briefs for at least three more stories but I really want to accomplish this goal so my target is two books.

I want to illustration six more collage illustrations of more habitats so I have a set of 12 total. Then I want to show them off all together at an exhibition.

Cheers to more art and more adventure in 2026!

Deer on the Run

December 19, 2025 | terriaw

I painted a few quick illustrations lately inspired by the deer you see grazing in the snowy cornfields at dusk in winter.

I love doing this landscape orientation. I cut a piece of Fabriano Studio Watercolor hot press paper size 11 inch by 14 inch in half, taped off the edges for a nice clean frame and painted a dusk background.

Then I worked from the back to the front, painting and penciling in the silhouette of tree along the horizon line, added some remnants of corn stalks in the background, added several deer on the run and filled in with more scrappy piece of leftover cornstalks up to the foreground.

I also made a couple smaller pieces using the Hahnemuhle Agave Watercolor pads whihc com in 8 x 10.5 cm. Such a fun quick size to work on!

I still have the other half to paint a wintery scene on, maybe reindeer grazing in a snowy field or squirrels chasing.

Winter Woodlands Series

Winter woodland cardinals by Terri Wilhelm

December 8, 2025 | terriaw

I was inspired to illustrate this series of winter woodland scenes after we got a big snow storm recently.

Winter wonderful illustrations by Terri Wilhelm

I love it when you look out the window and notice that one tiny spot of red, your heart skips a beat and you realize you’re seeing a cardinal out there in the winter wonderland.

Winter wonderful cardinals by Terri Wilhelm

I don’t see bunnies too often in winter – I know, because they are out and about at night and they tend to hang out in their burrows. So I wanted to capture that essence with the warm glow of a sunrise in this next piece.

I love it when it snows at night and the snow frosts every little branch on every twig and all the boughs on the evergreen trees. I’ve never seen a snowy owl in real life but we’ve had the great horned owls visiting our backyard lately, so they inspired me to add a little sparkle and magic.

I’m hoping to turn these watercolor illustrations into greeting cards in my shop so keep an eye out for those new listings to show up.

First Snow Bunnies

December 2, 2025December 2, 2025 | terriaw

I recently illustrated this trio of bunnies sitting in the snow, gazing upward toward a deep blue, snowy night sky. I envisioned a peaceful and magical scene, as if the rabbits are watching their first snowfall or marveling at something shimmering above them.

Ideas almost always start out with a pencil sketch which leads to a watercolor illustration. I painted this one on Fluid 6 inch x 8 inch hot press paper.

Each bunny has its own subtle personality—one looking up with its head tilted, one sitting squarely forward, and another posed more upright. Sparse winter plants on either side frame the trio, adding a touch of quiet wilderness.

I turned the watercolor illustration into a greeting card and postcard—a warm, whimsical, and serene winter feel—perfect for a holiday greeting, a winter note, or any message meant to bring a sense of calm wonder.

Stop by my Zazzle shop to check them out: Greeting Cards and Postcards!

We got over 10 inches of snow lately so I’m in the mood for winter illustrations. Stay tuned for more sweet storybook charm!

Tree Canopy Illustration

October 8, 2025 | terriaw

Check out my new habitat illustration – Tree Canopy! I wanted to evoke a tree canopy teeming with wildlife in a playful and artistic way.

I did this illustration similar to my previous ones, with a watercolor background that is a gentle gradient of blues to a warm glow, depicting the sky at dawn or dusk.

And then I added lots of collage elements, beginning with a cut out of a gnarly oak tree canopy.

The big oak tree is centrally placed, with thick, textured brown branches extending outward and upward, with clusters of green oak leaves and acorns and touches of fall color here are there.

Throughout the tree, you will also find woodpeckers, a blue jay, Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal, several crows, a hawk, and owl, a squirrel or two, a chipmunk, even a raccoon and squirrel hiding in their hollows. Two monarch butterflies flutter by.

This piece is three-dimensional full of detailed flora and fauna, beautifully captures the rich ecosystem of a temperate forest during fall, inviting viewers to explore every corner of the scene. Similar to the rest of my series of habitats, this composition balances naturalistic detail and biodiversity with a whimsical, storybook-like charm.