Show's over, and another winner has been chosen

We had beautiful weather for the Mackinaw City Arts & Craft show this weekend in Mackinaw City, MI. This is what our booth looked like, in case you didn't make it to the show.

We had a drawing for a numbered, limited edition print of the Mackinac Bridge, and are pleased to announce that we have selected our winner from those who stopped by the booth and entered the drawing. Congratulations to Nancy T from Texas!

If you missed us at this show, make plans to visit us later this year in Cheboygan, again in Mackinaw City and closing out the summer at Garfield Park in Grand Rapids.

Mackinaw City Arts & Craft Show

Join us this weekend, June 25-26th, for the Mackinaw City Arts & Craft Show at Conkling Heritage Park on South Huron Avenue. The show hours are Saturday 10am-7pm & Sunday 10am-3pm. We are excited to showcase our note cards and prints for the second year in a row! Please come check out our booth; it's sure to be a FUN time for all who attend!

A Kenyan Safari

Have you seen the latest addition to our "Animal" section? "Kenyan Lion" was painted by Emilia Ackerman in December from a photo taken by Julie Link on her 2009 safari in Kenya. Julie wrote about the lions in an article for Our Daily Bread. Here's what she had to say:

"The lounging lions in Kenya’s Masai Mara game reserve look harmless. They roll on their backs in low-lying bushes. They rub their faces on branches as if trying to comb their magnificent manes. They drink leisurely from streams. They stride slowly across dry, scrubby terrain as if they have all the time in the world. The only time I saw their teeth was when one of them yawned.

"Their serene appearance is deceiving, however. The reason they can be so relaxed is that they have nothing to fear—no shortage of food and no natural predators. The lions look lazy and listless, but they are the strongest and fiercest of all. One roar sends all other animals running for their lives."

You can purchase a print or card based on this painting at www.watercolorsbyphyllis.com.

An Amazing Thanksgiving Deal!

ALL 5x7" matted prints (generic and numbered) are 50% OFF starting 12 am EST Thanksgiving Day through Sunday, November 28, 2010. Stock up, we offer something for everyone on your Christmas list!

Fall Promotion Travel Series

As with many travels, we had some delays in our Fall Promotion Travel Series. Please accept our apologies. We have now extended our promotion to include ALL prints and note cards under our travel category. Through the end of November, all travel prints and note cards are 50% off! So stock up and travel vicariously with Watercolors by Phyllis.

Moroccan Market

For today's trip, we are venturing to Morocco in North Africa. Be sure to bring along your dirhams as we are shopping in a souk or Moroccan Market (TR052) with today's featured painting.

"My parents had a wonderful tradition of taking each of their adult children and their spouse on an overseas trip, usually on their 25th wedding anniversary. My husband Jim and I wanted to have that same tradition with our boys but didn't want to wait for their 25th anniversary. We found a wonderful trip in 2007 to Morocco. So along with Mother and Dad and my sister Susan and her husband Steve, we took Peter and Emilia to Africa. Mother painted me this wonderful picture for my birthday, capturing the unique architecture and colorful dress in the marketplaces of Fez." -- Denise Ackerman

Click here, http://www.watercolorsbyphyllis.com/img-details.aspx?pid=307, to take advantage of our Fall Promotion. Save 50% off all note cards and prints of Moroccan Market, Morocco (TR052) now through the end of November! Come back Monday for the next adventure in our Fall Travel Series!

Baths of Caracalla - Rome, Italy

How about another trip to Italy? Let's go to ancient Rome, to be exact. Jim Ackerman tells the story behind today's featured painting of the Baths of Caracalla in Rome, Italy (TR026).

"I'm not quite sure why Mom chose the Baths of Caracalla to paint for me. Maybe it's because she thought I had a fetish. I guess I may, I love to search out ancient bath houses. It didn't end with the bath houses, though - it extends to latrines, outhouses, call them what you will. There are well preserved ruins of both bath houses and latrines at Ephesus and Pammukalle in Turkey, Pompeii and Rome in Italy and other ancient cities in Greece and Morocco. We've seen many ruins of bath houses, but the Baths of Caracalla were special. It was a huge, ornate, bath house, where everybody who was anybody (as long as they were male) would go to relax in a hot tub or sauna, for a rub down, to close a deal or further a personal agenda. I couldn't live like that, but it is interesting to see how they did thousands of years ago." -- Jim Ackerman

Click here, http://www.watercolorsbyphyllis.com/img-details.aspx?pid=281, to take advantage of our Fall Promotion. Save 50% off all note cards and prints of Baths of Caracalla - Rome , Italy (TR026) now through the end of November! See you Friday for the next featured painting in our Fall Travel Series!

Santorini, Greece

Opa! It's Monday, and we're off to Greece today! Our featured painting is of a door in Santorini, Greece (TR010). Susan Philip shares her story behind this exquisite painting.

"For our parents' 50th wedding anniversary, my sister Denise and her husband Jim treated my parents to a trip to Greece. We tagged along. What a wonderful trip it was! I don't know if you are like me, but I frequently notice themes in the architecture of a country and start to photograph them. In Greece, I photographed doors. It was another obsession. As we followed the mazed pathways of older sections of towns and villages, I was amazed by the individuality and beauty of each door. My collection of doorways became richer at every turn. Mom painted several of these doors when we returned home. This is mine. Each morning as I come down the stairs, it greets me." -- Susan Philip

Click here, http://www.watercolorsbyphyllis.com/img-details.aspx?pid=265, to take advantage of our Fall Promotion. Save 50% off all note cards and prints of Santorini, Greece (TR010) now through the end of November! Remember to check the blog on Wednesday for the next featured painting in our Fall Travel Series. Where will we go next???

CONTEST UPDATE: Win a free original watercolor painting

Less than three weeks remain in our contest. Enter today for your chance to win a free original watercolor painting of your favorite vacation spot.

E-mail a photo of your favorite place to contests@watercolorsbyphyllis.com or mail a print to Contest, Watercolors By Phyllis LLC, PO Box 312, Topinabee, MI 49791.

For full contest details, including prizes, rules and limitations, see our previous blog entry. No purchase necessary, and NO COST to enter - simply email us your picture.

Then, be sure to stop by our web site and browse through our large collection of prints and note cards. Remember, shipping is free on orders over $50.00!

Welcome to WatercolorsByPhyllis.com!

Welcome to our blog. We are excited to be online with watercolorsbyphillis.com, where we can showcase the prints and notecards based on the paintings of Phyllis Bos.

Our images, all from original watercolors, cover a wide range of subject matter. There are lighthouses, mostly from Michigan, travel destinations in Michigan and around the world, floral designs, pastoral settings, and particularly appropriate at this time of year, we have a selection of Christmas images.  All can be ordered in note cards or 5 x 7 prints, framed or matted.

The value is great, the meaning behind them even better.  Send a note card, and don't be surprised if the lucky person doesn't actually frame it and put it on the wall - they're that nice.  Of course, they'll read what you've written first, so make it worthwhile.

When was the last time you actually took the time to write a note to someone instead of an email, blog or tweet?  When was the last time you received a nice note?  Start a new tradition.  Buy a card and write a note.  As we like to say...

"Rediscover the joy of a handwritten note!"

And for a short time, the shipping's on us!  (At least to you, that is.  You still have to pay the postage to mail the card.)