Back in January I had the ludicrous idea to revive the lost art of the hand written letter and set myself the challenge to start sending letters. But not just the written word, each letter would contain an original hand drawn Ziggy Elf. Over sixty elves have departed the North of England to find homes right around the world. I wanted to post up what I was doing but realised I couldn’t reveal the contents of the letter or it would spoil the surprise for the recipient. So each envelope is also illustrated.
For those of you that drop by this blog from time to time you’ll know I have a fondness for dogs. This latest batch of illustrated letters have gone all canine.
First up is a letter for Karen McRae which I know has already made it to Canada. Karen is a photographer and you can find her fabulous images at Draw and Shoot
The next one is for Rene in North Carolina. He is also a photographer but with a completely different, and rather cool dude style. Check out his images at Chasing Meaning Now Rene’s envelope has these guys; a Skinny Dog and a Scruffy Mutt.
I liked them so much they have turned up on Cathy’s letter, which headed off to my home county of North Yorkshire. You can find out more about the very crafty Cathy at Nana Cathy and see what was inside her letter here.
I loved these characters so much that Laurie in Jordan, Margaret in Wisconsin, Melanie in California and Pamela in Texas are getting the chance to adopt them. I guess it’s like a little story.
And just to balance things out, here is my “thank you for my birthday pressie” letter to my brother.
If you want to join in with my letter writing challenge and would like your very own Letter Elf have a look here.
Ziggy Shortcrust 
I love your doggies Ziggy, how cute they are. Glad to see you are still pursuing this enormous project.
Yep, still going. Never thought I’d be a woman of letters 😉
Fantastic.
Thank you.
gorgeous!
AW thank you. And a letter will be on its way to you shortly. There are quite a lot to get through.
fantastic work 🙂
Thank you 🙂
As a fellow dog lover I have to say ” how adorable!” I like the pussy cat too. My son has ordered a large amigurumi Cheshire cat for his 13th birthday so that should prove interesting! You are reviving letter writing. We are having fun with it here. Instead of or as well as, we are writing a small illustrated letter to our distant rels.
Oh that is brilliant to hear. And I hope you post up the Cheshire cat.
Those are cool.
Aw thank you.
Love them! Especially the last one.The kitty is great! Have you ever received my letter? Sent it quite a while ago…hope it got to you safely.. 🙂
Oh my goodness Jess, yes I did receive it and I thought I had replied. Your elf is gorgeous.
So glad you got it! And I’m happy you like it! Since I’ve never seen an elf in person, I tried my hardest to make my elf to your specifications- pointy ears, straight face, small nose… Hope it came out alright! 😉
At least your drawings haven’t gone to the dogs 🙂
Ha! Well done 🙂
As someone who draws/paints/sketches a large number of dogs, I share your love of these canine critters and absolutely love these gorgeous characters you’ve illustrated all those envelopes with! How wonderful to receive such beautiful art in the post and I imagine it must be a treat for the post man/woman too!
Yes, as I pop the letters into the post box I wonder what the postal workers think as they handle them.
LOVE your illustrations – so glad I found your site!
Oh thank you. That is so kind.
Hi, Ziggy, what a coincidence, recently I took part in the 2013 Shanghai Dog Show as an exhibitor. I saw various dogs at the show including the dog on the first letter, pretty cute. Nice drawing!
What make me a bit annoying is the fact that I hadn’t get that letter. I will make my friend give it the last try.
Nice day!
Ooh, what kind of dog were you showing? If you have a new address now, do you want to email me it and I’ll send another letter.
oh! marvellous! after the year is done, you should make a picture book with the skinny dog and the scruffy mutt. i would buy it. ❤
Ha! A signed first edition is yours 😉
i’ll hold you to that!
🙂
Gosh are you still going with this.. Admiration girl!!
Yep, still on with it.
The Dogs are very cute, but I LOVED the cat pic at the end. It’s awesome! How far along are you in your quest?
Not far enough. Events outside the blog world threaten to overtake me. Glad you like the pics. I’m actually not much of a cat person, yet every time I draw one I quite like the results.
Awwww Ziggy! I thought I’d commented already 😥
What a beautiful story (when are you writing that children’s book??) The friendship between the dogs shines through in such a captivating way. I love it!
And that cat, well s/he got me with those mournful eyes. Adorable Ziggy, simply adorable. You genius xx
Aw thank you. Any book from me would have to have a dog in it. And possibly a campervan. Not elves though…… what idiot would write about elves 😉
Super cute!
Love them! But why is the kitty sad?
Also, we have the same coloured pencils! 🙂
Colour Pencils… 😛
Maybe because kitty knows I’m not a natural cat person.
Just got those pencils because they were described as having vibrant colour.
They do have vibrant colours. I got them because they were on sale at my art store but they were highly recommended by the very nice young man helping me. I quite like them