At Phyllis Harris Designs - customizing and personalization are our specialty

This week I want to be sure that my customers know that at Phyllis Harris Designs - customizing and personalization are our specialty. We like to offer that one-of-a-kind gift or that personalization you need to make each art print fit with your specific needs. For example: Hair and clothing colors can be changed; or if you would like to add a name or a favorite quote or saying...just contact me and let me know you specific needs and I will most likely be able to accommodate. And remember, I offer several sizes in each print, as well.

Thank you all for your wonderful support and as always please feel free to share this with your friends and family.

Phyllis

Below are a few examples of customizations. 

Introducing...

Dear Friends,

First, let me congratulate the winner of last week's giveaway! Congratulations, Lisa! :)

Next, I would like to introduce my NEW store!  It has been in the works for awhile now and I am thrilled that it is finally open for business! Many of you know that I have an Etsy shop and I will continue to leave that store open for business as well to give you options to shop wherever you are comfortable.

And remember, making my art personal and one of a kind is my specialty! Most of my art is customizable so if you see a piece you love but it has the wrong hair color for your personal preference or possibly you would like to add a name or a special saying or a scripture or verse, please message me and most likely I can accommodate you.  Just ask...
Each illustration is printed with a giclée fine art printing process on archival museum quality paper and I offer several sizes, too.

I offer FREE SHIPPING on orders of $100 or more. Enter code FREESHIP100

Thank you all for your wonderful support and wishing you a blessed day!

Phyllis

And the winner is...

Good morning all of my lovely friends!

I hand wrote each name that entered into the Phyllis Harris Designs Giveaway for this 8 x 10 Horse Girl art print and then threw them all into my trusty water bucket that I use for painting but without the water, of course! ;) I then had my wonderful husband draw the name  and the winner is....
Lisa Marie Lantz! Congratulations, Lisa! I will be contacting you via email shortly.

Thank you all so much for entering!

Be sure to enter for the GIVEAWAY!!

Dear Friends,

As I enjoyed the beautiful Spring day today with the sun on my face and the wind in my hair I was also reminded of just how grateful I am for my wonderful friends and customers! I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your wonderful support because you all make it possible for me to do what I love and share what I do with all of you! So in honor of that... I want to give back!

I am going to give away an 8 x 10 print of one of my most popular wall art prints, Horse Girl shown here! (frame shown for reference only, not included in giveaway) And all you have to do to enter for this wonderful GIVEAWAY is this:

• Comment on my blog post here
• Like my facebook page here
• Share this GIVEAWAY on facebook!

I will choose a winner and announce it in my newsletter and on my blog next Wednesday, May 8th so be sure you check back in because I will need to get your contact info and I wouldn't want you to miss out! Thank you all SO much for your wonderful friendship and support!


Phyllis

The Next Big Thing---a global blog tour

A wonderful illustrator, Deborah Zemke, asked me to participate in The Next Big Thing, a global blog tour that started in Australia. You can read Deborah's blog post here.

Here's my last published book:





I have another book coming out in September but I'll be sharing about On Christmas Day, today.


1. What is the title of your current book?

On Christmas Day written by author Margaret Wise Brown was released last Christmas.  It's published by Sweetwater Press/Books A Million.

2. Where did the idea come from for the book?

I am the illustrator but the writer, Margaret Wise Brown wrote hundreds of books and stories during her life, but she is best known for Goodnight Moon, Big Red Barn and Runaway Bunny. Even though she died over 55 years ago, many of her books are still in print and new ones are being published. I was blessed enough to get an opportunity to illustrate one of those books. It was the chance of a lifetime and a gift to be able to illustrate this book.

3) What genre does your book fall under?

It's an early picture book written in rhyme. The original title was called Christmas Song but the publisher chose to change it to On Christmas Day.




4) How long did it take you to do the art?

About 3-4 months. It went much smoother than I anticipated, plus the art was needed that quickly.

5) What inspired you in illustrating this book?

I was so worried at first thinking..."Oh my gosh! These are Margaret Wise Brown's words!!!" But I prayed about it and soon I got out of my own head and asked God to paint through me and He did. It was amazing! It was one of the most satisfying jobs I have ever had the pleasure of taking on. It really was an honor. I just found this amazing quote which nailed it perfectly for me! :) "Art is a collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does the better." -Andre Gide

6) What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?

I love the nativity story so that in and of itself is probably enough to pique any little one's interest but the story about Margaret Wise Brown, the author might be of interest to the parents and adults reading the book to the little ones. Here's a great website that gives more about her story. http://www.margaretwisebrown.com/





A wonderful illustrator, Joy Allen, is next on the tour.

Check out her blog around April 26th!

A really exciting announcement!!

In our home pretending was always encouraged. I think all of our fun and silliness made a big difference in our daughter’s life and helped her believe that anything was possible.

Wouldn’t it be fun to have a room with fun life sized characters to pretend and interact with? Well now you can.

I have some very exciting news!!

You can now find my art in HUGE wall murals! Phyllis Harris Designs and Murals Your Way have joined together to offer many of my designs to help you create a fun-filled happy place for your children to enjoy. There will be more added in the future so keep checking back!

The murals can be used in any room in your home. The possibilities are endless!

~Phyllis


P.S. We would LOVE it if you would share our exciting news with your friends. Feel free to forward to a friend or share on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest...Share away!

Children's Wall Murals

A Sneak Peek!

As we prepare to launch our brand new website (phyllisharrisdesigns.com),
we wanted to share a few sneak peeks. We are so excited because
we got to use our new grand baby’s nursery for our photo shoot;
featuring some of our best selling wall art  prints.

Our first grand baby’s greatly anticipated debut is late July...it’s a girl!

More to come. Stay tuned! But in the meantime, our Etsy shop
is bursting with Spring so be sure to stop in for a visit!

~Phyllis

 

These are unedited photos taken by my amazing son-in-law Ron Hernadez! :)

Unique and memorable baby gifts

What a difference a year can make!

Just last year at this exact time I was just getting ready to fly back home from a month long trip in Kauai, Hawaii for my 50th birthday! What a wonderful gift of a lifetime from my wonderful husband! I will never forget it!

Today as I look out my studio window I see a very different view than I did a year ago from my lanai. Although on the calendar it says it is Spring here in the midwestern United States, I think the view from my studio window says something very different. I thought it would be kind of fun to show both videos. I think the lesson here is to enjoy life no matter if it is sunny or cloudy, cold or warm...all of it is magical! :)

It's Spring but it's still snowing?!

Yesterday was the first day of Spring but you sure wouldn't know that by looking outside at the moment. It's snowing!! We had a wonderful warm day last week where it got to 81 degrees! It felt so wonderful. I think we even set some records but a couple days later it snowed like crazy but thankfully none of it accumulated because of the previously warm days.

Here's a little peek out my studio window a few days ago and today it's doing this same thing. Actually, snow is in the forecast for the next few days. Crazy weather!! Oh and of course my studio mate, Cassie makes a small appearance, too.

In spite of the freezing weather I am still celebrating Spring with my new art print I just added to the shop; The Love of a Girl and Her Horse.

Working on a new painting. :)

Brand new stamp release! Yay!

I have 2 brand new stamps just released at Unity Stamp Company.  

To celebrate ALL of my stamps are 40% off from March 14-16.

You can start shopping here! :)

March blows in FREE SHIPPING

from idea to art...

Just for fun, I thought I would share a little of my process on the most recent art print that I completed for my shop.

I have often been asked where my ideas come from when creating my art. My ideas mostly come from life...just every day occurrences or thoughts or experiences. Every artist's process is unique but mine often starts with a sketch. This sketch is often done in my sketchbook and then other times it may occur on a napkin at lunch or sometimes it will even come about in the middle of the night and then I have to get up and write it down so I don't forget it before I wake the next morning.

Here is the rough sketch from my sketch book where the idea was born for the Giraffe print late one evening right before bedtime. As you see...it is VERY rough but from here I scanned in this rough and revised and revised using my Cintiq.

 

After I get the revisions to my liking, I then print out the revised sketch directly onto watercolor paper. After that I paint traditionally using Winsor & Newton paints and paper.

And voilà! :)

I am offering this art print in 3 sizes. The largest size is of course, my favorite. :)

A short break..possibly a new art print?

Even though I am busy, busy, busy working on painting my illustrations for a new children's book for Tyndale House publishers,(more on that later when it's ok to share) I just needed a short break just to paint something for fun. It helps keep me loose and motivated when working on a project.

It's not finished...still adding the giraffe's spots but I might end up offering this one for a new print in my shop. Should I? What do you all think?

Sign up for my newsletter!

I have decided to start a newsletter for my wonderful customers who want to stay updated any time I am having a new sale or adding new art to my shop.

Just sign up here and receive 25% off your next purchase!

My art has gone global! :)

As many of you know by now, I opened my Etsy shop in May 2012 where I am selling some of my art prints and once in awhile I will even sell an original, although those are very tough for me to let go of. My art is such a part of me, it's like losing a part of myslef...yikes! BUT, I know, eventually I will get the hang of it. ;)

I am SO excited about the fact that my artwork now hangs on walls all across the globe. My husband and I recently did something fun and marked all of the locations where my art now resides on a world map. Most of my sales have been to the US but I have also had some success in Australia and Europe, too and even one sale to Taipei City, Taiwan!

I want to say a BIG THANK YOU to all of those kind folks who have supported my shop!

Here's to a new year of many more map pins marking new homes for my art!

For the whole month of January I am offering 20 percent off on everything in the shop! Coupon code: JAN20

4 NEW stamps at Unity Stamp Co!

Happy New Year!!

What a year!! 2012 will go down as a year of awesomeness!! :)

• I turned 50 in March.
• I opened my Etsy Shop in May.
• Our daughter got married in late June.
• My husband retired in July.

That's only some of the awesomeness that took place but I want to keep this short so...

Happy 2013! May it be another year of wonderful blessings for everyone!

Merry Christmas!!