Tuesday, September 30, 2008

fall days






in the past few weeks, i've realized just how beautiful and serene of a place the sun yat sen gardens are. it's been ages since i've been there and i think its such a gift to us vancouverites. a few weeks ago, accompanied by a tip from erin templeton, about an owl in the gardens, my roomate and i went to try and get a glimpse of this owl. sure enough there he was. such a magical creature, seems like he found one of the few garden oasis the city offers to take a rest.
sun yat sen gardens

Monday, September 29, 2008

wanted wanted my cards!



i was hoping for this forever...
to have a shop i love, carry the cards i love to create, and with some incredible support some energy worked in my favour. i created the succulent cards because i was so inspired after visiting susan's shop for the very first time. i've never approached a store before, but something about this place felt really "right" (i know, a little cheesy) but i went, put my fears of failure aside and went in and sure enough, she loved them and took them immediately! it was such an amazing feeling, i just dropped off 12 new succulent cards at wanted! so excited!

wanted
columbia at east pender
604-663-0178

2DTD's






Sunday, September 28, 2008

fall blim market 2008





the blim fall market was such a great afternoon, the sun was out, the turn out was good and so many lovely people and lovely pieces people were selling! we introduced another new xlmammals collaboration, the 2DTD's 2d teddy bears magnets/pins! (new post to follow) we met so many wonderful and talented people! thanks nicole for being such a fun table neighbour and taking the only picture we have of the day with the two of us! check out nicole's work and blog at http://itsyourlifeshop.com/

the lovely ladies in the bottom picture, tiff, julie and allison, cute little bobbies that i forgot to actually buy at the end of the day, hopefully there are some left and allison with her lovely line of jewellery called district thirty. check out allison's work at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5622894.


sew much fun!


this is what we were doing instead of posting to this blog on friday! cutting, sewing and preparing for the fall blim sale which was so much fun! photos are coming up next. thanks to everyone who came out to check us out, you making time for us is much appreciated!

Friday, September 26, 2008

look what i found!




check out these amazing little crocheted succulents and cacti by brazilian artist, thais veda. these are so cute, I can't get over it. pining away for them right now. find her work on flickr, under crochet jardim! can someone get me one of these? pretty please?

like, whoa




salivate over this. an installation piece from the venice architecture biennale, pencil drawings from the japanese pavilion designed by artist/architect junya ishigami. i love how delicate and whimsical the sketches are. so amazing how these sketches literally transformed into architectural structures made entirely of plants and flowers. so much beauty. sigh...

images from designboom.com 

Thursday, September 25, 2008

still succulent...






someone once said they were "blessed with  mass market tastes..." but these succulents are popping up in tonnes of random searches, design blogs and stores (i came across a display at the cross) and getting super popular... i could totally be late and the last one to have got the memo about the succulents, but blessed or not, i love them. here's a sneak peek at the newest babyelephantdesign cards! i hope you like them! we are working away at our projects for blim this weekend! come to blim on saturday to the fall craft show, you're invited! 

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

so succulent




thanks to my bestest gal pal, i have fallen in love with succulents. the donkey tails in the last photo have been my pride and joy since last christmas. they are perfect in every way, unique shapes, little to no water (its actually hard to kill them) bright light and i have added to my little urban garden oasis since then with three others. i've also wandered into the most amazing little flower shop on the edge of chinatown at east pender and columbia called wanted. the owner of this store is amazing and has given that area a little magic. i can't wait to go back and pick up some more little ones to bring home, she also has amazing vases and vintage pieces. check her store out for the perfect gift. i've also been inspired to create new cards of these fine botanical buddies of mine. i'm super excited about them and will be sure to thank susan at wanted for the added inspiration.
go and get a succulent!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

xlmammals heart boardgames

there has been a re-birth. a renaissance, if you will in the name of milton bradley. 
we have been transforming the weekend warriors to pictionary parties and last night topped it off. usually we play with 4 people, but last night xlmammals hosted a super rocking board party with almost 10 people during the course of the night and the competition was intense, such great energy and people were having a great time, there was some dance party action, lots of board game night appropriate snacks and bevvies. i think xlmammals should put on a tourney, now that the fall months are approaching this will give us something to do for sure!

thanks so much for coming out everyone! we will do this again soon as there was no sure fire winner in my opinion, although the come back was definitely immaculate...

board game night = epic, and to be continued...

p.s. next time, i will take pictures! i'm new at this blog thing, but now i know, camera in bag, always!

Friday, September 19, 2008

a jewel of a design blog







please check out this amazing blog!

 emma's blog features amazing photography of interiors, amazing styling and romantic still life photography with a scandinavian perspective. when i first saw this, i felt she literally tapped into my space fantasies and posted a play by play of what i love and didn't even know i coud love. check it out to be inspired.

babyelephantdesigns returns!



after a long hiatus,  babyelephantdesigns has returned with new cards and new characters. stay tuned for more work at the blim fall craft sale september 27, 2008. 

babyelephantdesigns is also starting up an etsy online shop so keep an eye out! 

tshirts are coming this fall also. hopefully right in time for the chaos we call christmas. 

i am getting so excited with every post of this blog that my mind keeps thinking of new things to write about even though i put off starting this blog because i didn't know what to write about! with the gray fall months coming up, i am looking forward to many nights of blogging and resizing pictures for this blog. hello new addiction, good bye facebook. well, maybe not.

rock in my pocket





rockinmypocket is a new york based studio run by the other half of xlmammals, wallace (aka the walrus) at the blim summer craft sale, wallace exhibited some of his favourite photographs of vancouver and a small sneak peek at his "subway perspectives" series in cards. his subway series is stellar and nothing short of amazing! taking the train tracks of the NYC metro, he creates an optical experience that is as visually stunning as it is though provoking. 

blim summer craft sale











xlmammals debuted at the blim summer craft sale on july 25, 2008. to fickle weather and new friends. we introduced our first collective project which were the xlmammals original pin-cushions! they were quite the endeavour to produce, but each and every one has their own story of love, sweat, and tears poured in, along with a sprinkling of curse words. xlmammals will be back with new creations for the blim fall craft sale, taking place september 27, from 12-5 at blim. (main and 17th ave, vancouver, bc) come by, we'd love to see you!

we are xlmammals... nice to meet you!



welcome to xlmammals and welcome to our blog. we are designers, photographers, musicians, artists, crafters, sewers, writers, philosophers, painters, dinner-makers, dish-washers, plant-growers and life-lovers. this is our collection of random doodlings, things that make us stop, things that make us busy, things that make us laugh, things that make us think and things that we love. thank you for being a part of this. we love you. we really do.