Long before a Wild Things Mail Club envelope arrives in your mailbox, it begins as a pencil sketch.
Characters are introduced in a sketchbook. Tiny details are refined. Story cards are drafted, illustrated, and assembled. Little paper treasures slowly gather into neat stacks across my drawing desk.
I thought you might enjoy a peek behind the scenes at some of the work currently in progress.
Today I’m sharing a few sketches, pencil roughs, and works-in-progress from the studio.
Every illustration, story card, and paper keepsake begins the same way: with a blank page and an idea inspired by the natural world.
It’s certainly a slower process than clicking a button and sending something to a printer, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Part of the joy of Wild Things Mail Club is knowing that each mailing has been thoughtfully created, one illustration at a time.
Thank you for following along on this little adventure. I can’t wait to tuck these finished pieces into future envelopes and send them out into the world.
Wild Things Mail Club was created for people who still find themselves peering into hollow logs, pressing leaves into books, and carrying home little treasures from walks in the woods.
Do you love stationery, letters, and mail?
Receiving mail from Wild Things Mail Club will be like receiving a letter from a fellow explorer.
Each envelope is filled with illustrated paper treasures inspired by the natural world—stickers, postcards, bookmarks, story cards, and small discoveries designed to be collected and kept.
Whether you’re a nature lover, a collector of small wonders, or someone who still believes there is magic in opening the mailbox, I hope you’ll feel right at home here.
More sneak peeks are coming soon, including a look at the story cards, paper ephemera, and a special membership certificate for our founding members.
Click here to join the waitlist and receive more information leading up to opening day August 1.
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!
My other shop is a Zazzle shop which you can find here.
My most popular products are the mugs, water bottles and tumblers.
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!
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.
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.
I’ve wanted to illustrate a set of postcards from Wisconsin to highlight the beautiful outdoors and seasons we have. This set of four showcases the summer season. I used watercolor paper, watercolor paints and colored pencils for the details.
I started with our fabulous waterways and woods.
Hiking and kayaking are two of my favorite things to do.
We get a full four seasons here so I’ll have to paint another set highlighting fall and winter. Happy summer all!
I made so much art this year that I adore! I created the art I want to see out there, and then had it printed on stickers, coasters, tote bags, mugs and so much more. And I self published my own picture book! Cheers 2024!
Great Lakes Wildlife Gifts by Terri WilhelmGreat Lakes Wildlife Tray by Terri WilhelmStickers by Terri Wilhelm
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.
I spent a week galavanting around Los Angeles with my sister and nieces.
I finally got to go to the ICON Illustration Conference, ICON12 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I’ve been wanting to attend that conference for ten years! It was so fun to be immersed in a crowd of illustrators talking about art.
I started a new collection in my online shop called Wild Things, which is filling up with more fun products with my illustrations printed on them, such as ornaments and postcards, new tote bags, stickers and coasters!
I adore doing these nature-inspired wreath illustrations with some of my favorite sayings in my sketchbook with watercolor and colored pencils, and then turning them into fun products!
A few screenshots from my online shop of new products:
I’m always drawing, practicing and filling up sketchbook pages with nature-inspired illustrations so check back for more fun projects!
