I am finally doing that post that I promised for Thursday, or maybe Wednesday, but its here now and its better late than never. I am assuming a lot of the mail that has gone out now has been received so i'll put a few new ones in this post. Theres been loads going on lately so I'm thinking of doing a post tomorrow with a sort of photo round up of recent goings on so i'll sort that tomorrow and get it up.

But for now some new mail...

The first is for another lovely textile lady called Amy who is a very talented paper cutter, hence my attempt at it! 

The next is for Talisa who is again a textiler and is very good at printing!

And finally some aeroplane themed mail for my dear friend Benjamin!

I have loads more to put up over the next week or so, so keep on checking back for more! 

I'm back again.

I have set-up a Postable account which is an online address book type thing where people can put their details into my account and only I can view them. Or something like that.

Anyway the link is... www.postable.com/abigailudale

Make sure you change it to your country and then it won't ask you for your zip code etc. If you want to put in any other info like email or birthdays then feel free, and you may even get a handmade birthday message!

Thaaaanks!

I have received so so many amazing comments about my mail in the past hour alone! I am a very happy bunny right now. Lorna and Steffi have both received their mail today and Jessie left me a lovely comment about hers. I'll get their mail up asap!

I was meant to write a big post today about everything i've been up to recently but I have been too busy filling out application forms so for now i'll show you some type ideas for my business cards and branding. I think I was having a fluke handwriting day because I am happy with pretty much everything on the two pages. Just thought i'd share them with you!

I'll be back tomorrow hopefully with more. (If not it'll definitely be Thursday!)

Today has been a day of tangents and I have ended up (yet again) not getting much work done. Everything I did seemed to go off in a different (maybe wrong?) direction and so I don't feel like i've achieved anything at all. I feel like I need to let myself make mistakes, to let go a little, but then I always come back to the same point, the same moment of realisation about money and life. But anyway... that is all too depressing and I don't want to think about it anymore, so here is some new mail and some photos from todays work...

The first lot of mail is for my lovely friend Jess!

And the next is for Danielle.

I think i've fallen back in love with collage again, and had a massive realisation that that's my thing, the thing that I do, that (hopefully) I am good at. I don't know whether I am or not but everything I do seems to come back to it and I definitely feel happiest when I am doing it. Choosing colours and papers, working on a composition, adding a little bit of hand-written text and using a lino to print on top of it- that is what I love. 

One of my tutors left a book for me to look at which was about the work of an illustrator who uses collage. I can't for the life of me remember his surname but his first name is Dan and his work is incredible and it inspired me to do something a little different, hence the tangent. On the left below is a photocopy collage that i've started to work back on top of and although its a little different to everything else I'm currently doing, I love it. I am going to hopefully finish it tomorrow, and maybe do some more!

I should probably stop typing now and make a to-do list for tomorrow, here's to hoping its a better day than today was.

Today... two people asked for mail, I made one that I am really happy with, and managed to piece together half a jug. Not a massively productive day but the piece of mail I made kind of makes up for it. I cant wait for it to reach its destination, I hope the lovely recipient in question likes it!

I thought i'd share with you some new mail that I know has arrived. The first is to Zelda who is a fellow textiler at uni. 

And the next one was also sent to a lovely textiler called Jessie! 

They're both very talented ladies who's work will be on display at our Degree Show in June (which everyone should come and see!) You can check out some of Jessie's work on her Facebook page.

And finally I have a couple of photos from my day. 

The first is just some of the paper goodies I was given today to play with and copy and the second is a peek at the half a jug I made. I am so so grateful when people bring me papers and envelopes for me to either use or take copies of so I want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has done just that. 

Tomorrow is a day of making mail, so if you're on my list it'll be with you shortly! 

Its late and I am very tired but I wanted to share with you some new mail! The two below are probably my favourite ones so far and so I am glad they finally arrived and I could post them on here. 

The first one was sent to my boyfriend, Adam. He is my entire world so I wanted to send him something special! (Sorry if its a little soppy.)

And the other is to my lovely friend Meg who I spend my days with at uni. She is a very talented textile artist and she is a constant source of inspiration, and motivation! If anyone wants to check out her work they can do on her facebook page. 

They both loved their mail which makes is all worth while. Remember if anyone wants any to write a comment below or if you know me just ask!

Lovely signage in Baker Street underground station

Thought i'd put a quick post up about our little trip to London yesterday. I went down to the New Designers Prepare Day with a group of lovely ladies and we were told everything we needed to know about exhibiting there in June, and now I am desperately wanting to be chosen! They told us about stand displays and prizes and introduced us to some of the companies that will be visiting, including the amazing Tigerprint. We got to see inside the impressive Business Design Centre where the show is held and I think it is safe to say all 6 of us that went are itching to be involved. 

Also before the talk we quickly nipped to Shepherds Falkiners paper shop, which was the most incredible place I've ever been. I looked through the catalogues and filled in my order slip and brought home with me some lovely, although now a little dented, papers to play with. We also made a flying visit to Somerset House to see their 'Wool House' exhibition. The parts we managed to see were so impressive, as is Somerset House, and I am now even more excited to visit 'Pick Me Up', a graphic arts festival, which is on next month. 

Our day was rounded off by a lovely dinner with surprise special guest Ed (one of our tutors at uni who we randomly bumped into!) and sing-a-longs in the car on the way back. 

Whether I am chosen or not I will be visiting New Designers in June and so should all of you! Its an incredible showcase of new design talent and I think i'd feel like the luckiest person alive if I am given the opportunity to exhibit. 

Today has been a very strange day! It started off well and I completed another paper jug for FMP2, which i'm really pleased with, but then after lunch everything I tried to do I was completely unhappy with. And then I had bad news from a cancelled work experience placement which changed into amazing news in the form of a 3 week placement. So it was up and down and confusing but I guess it was all okay in the end.

Heres some sneaky pictures from my finished jug:

The next job on my list is to replicate this little one below with printed papers and that will hopefully be a final one too! and also thats my very messy studio space which is almost at its max capacity.

I am off to London tomorrow for the New Designers prep day so i'll post again as soon as I can!

So I thought it was about time I posted a photo or something a little more interesting so I thought i'd share the first mail that I sent out as part of my uni work. I have always loved the idea of hand written letters and wanted to start sending people notes/cards/messages/collages or anything I cant make out of paper. Ive sent out about 15 so far and as people start receiving them i'll start putting them on here!


So here is the first, which I sent to my sister:

The envelope is printed using using a hand carved lino block, as is my AU logo on the letter.

And if anyone wants any mail then let me know your address and i'll put something in the post!

HELLO!

I never really know the right thing to say or how to say it so the idea of writing a blog scares me quite a bit but I am going to try my best to document my work, inspirations and mail on here for you all to see. For anyone who doesn't know me my name is Abigail and I am currently a third year Design Crafts student at DMU. I spend my days printing, collaging and generally making things out of paper and I couldn't imagine my life without design.

I'm hoping this will evolve into something bigger and that I will get much better at it as I go along, as I currently have no idea what I am doing, but for now bare with me and enjoy!