I'm intensely curious about the world past, present and future.
My blog is about interiors, art, creativity, conscious living, tattoos, recycling & what ever else tickles my fancy... Visit my shop and see my exciting things www.vanasch.se
So this is a bit of a naughty post, a spoiler if you will... I'm launching a range of boho gorgeous jewellery in 2016, officially at Formex in January, but you lucky folks get to have sneak look first!
You know how much I love steer skulls, well, I wanted to do jewellery with them on too so I've combined them with amethyst and turquoise to create wearable bits of funky gorgeousness..or something like that... Anyway, they will be up on the webshop at the end of January to buy.
Have a wonderful Christmas you lovely peeps and I'll be back blogging in the new year.
So, you know I missed my last Fridays blog because I was busy doing a photoshoot with the very talented Janice Issitt who is a photographer I work with a lot and a mate from way back...Well here is some stuff from that photoshoot
Here is one of her pics of our Silver Steer cushion...
Do you recognise the dreamcatcher? It's the one I made a couple of friday's ago, as a prop, for exactly this photoshoot. Check out the blog post if you want to see how I made it, so you can make one too.
We were at BVN Designs studio photographing their chairs with my fabrics on and a bunch of new exciting stuff launching early next year...
I promised I would show you a picture of the flares I made with my new stretchy Edwardian Gothic fabric, so here I am, and I'm modelling the new Pearls & lace cross body bag which I've now added to the Van Asch web shop.
I'm really looking forward to this weekend, the last couple of weeks have been very busy, with photoshoots, big deliveries, masses of orders going out and lots of pressure... plus I'm feeling especially fragile today due to the fact that I went out drinking last night, watching a fab band called Love Amongst Ruin play an acoustic set down at Motel L's Thursdays in Suburbia. Only had 4 hours sleep last night. Really looking forward to having a night in with my lovely little girls eating whatever we want and watching loads of excellently crap TV.
Have a lovely weekend...
And if you like it moody, dark and beautiful, then here is a lovely song and video by the aforementioned
This has been a mad week! I was waiting for a delivery and when it finally came, there was good news and there was bad news. The good news was that I got to see the new Grey version of the Pearls cushion (which is a kind of muted champagne pink colour). It looked great and so I was happy...
Then I looked at it again and realised it was not square, none of the cushions were square! They were about 5 centimetres too long. Oh horror! I couldn't sleep last might for worrying what to do about them then I had the brain wave to try washing them and see if the print was distorted to compensate for shrinkage...and guess what??? It was. I can't tell you how relieved I was...but now I have to wash and iron 100's of cushion covers...That was not what I had originally planned for my weekend!
Such are the troubles of a self employed small business owner... On the one hand you have a great deal of freedom, on the other hand you have ironing all weekend.
Another good thing that happened this week is that the Pearls & lace cushion and fabric have been featured in my favourite magazine Gods & Gårdar. I'm not just saying it is my favourite for that reason, it really is. It's all fab stately homes and castles, antiques and eccentricity. Marvellous stuff!
Now I'm going to leave you with the small bit of info that it is Black Friday weekend at Van Asch and if you use the code BLACK30 you get 30% off your whole order! Pretty great right? Now do you see what I did there? I just tacked that bit of info on the end there, like it's no big deal. And do you know why I did that? It's because I hate having all these 'special offers' and crappy advertising, along with the hyperbole that goes with...you know, the stuff like 'once in a lifetime!!.. 'unbeatable!' ... 'crazy deals' ..'you just won't believe it!'... and all that type of thing stuffed down my throat. If I don't like it, I'm not going to do it to you dear reader...
So, it's bloggery Friday and I was sitting there, at lunch thinking...'what the hell am I going to write about today?' Not feeling in the slightest bit inspired to do my blog at all...but then I had a brain wave...I've been wanting to make a dreamcatcher type thing for ages. I've been thinking about it a lot, even been collecting bones and driftwood for the occasion but I just have never had time. So, I decided that I would make it as my blog! perfect excuse!
So here is my creation of what I loosely call a dreamcatcher but is actually more of a piece of art inspired by nature, but that doesn't sound so catchy...dream catchy...ok...before I go off on a wordy tangent here is where I started...
Basically we've got a lampshade ring, an old horn, but you could easily use driftwood, lace, wire, feathers and cotton fabric.
I started wrapping the ring to be the base for all nonsense to commence...
Then I wrapped wire around the horn, slipping a length of chain on to each loop around.
Then I used lace to cover the wire and used a thin cord of brown leather to loop all the way around the ring and hold the horn in place. There is no glue used on this, just wire, and will.
The hardest and fiddliest part was tying the feathers onto the chain, but once that was done, it was pretty much finished. I felt that it needed something on top to balance it out a bit so I added some driftwood and I added the amethyst nuggets hanging on the sides, but I might take them away... haven't decided yet. I need to live with it for a bit to make a decision if it is finished or not.
It isn't meant so much for catching bad dreams but more as holding good memories...like walking along the beach collecting driftwood up in the mountains by a lake on holiday with the family.
I have been waiting eons to get my new bedding samples but finally they arrived and I was so happy with them. The fabric is so soft and lovely. The next step was to get them photographed so I can use the pictures on the inlay card that will go in the packaging, so I set up a photoshoot. I took the pics in my favourite shoot location Görvälnsslott just outside Stockholm. It's a fabulous old stately home set in lush grounds over looking a lake. Nature has done an excellent job on the outside and the team at Görvälns have done an excellent job on the inside as well! Ok, I'm a bit biased as they have lots of my cushions in there and I even helped design one of the suites. That said, it is still my favourite combo of elegant modern luxury with old world antique weirdness.
This is in their Pink Salon and was the front cover of my catalogue a year or so ago...
They use a lot of interesting colour combos and this is my favourite, pink and green!
Every room has amazing bits of furniture in...
But nothing is as amazing as the bed in room 5!
(shown here with my new Pearls & Lace bedding on)
This is me doing a bit of cushion wrangling. It seems I spend a great deal of time stuffing soft things into floppy things... why does that sentence make me feel uncomfortable? Hmmm, not sure, best leave it....
Ive also done lots of shoots in room 31 but the most fun was with Tea Thyme for one of my catalogues..
And in the Yellow salon...
I was back in room 31 to shoot my new Shrine bedding too...
With such a huge choice of gorgeous rooms and fabulous furniture to play with...the possibilities are endless!
This is a bit of the room I helped with featuring 2 of my handmade cushions...
Anyway, whilst you are trying to sleep in over the weekend, ignoring the dog, children, neighbours, or whatever other thing that might irritate you, spare a thought for the idea of a night away in this delightful place. It might be exactly what you need!
And whether you're at the end of your tether and need a nice romantic night away, or happily looking forward to a weekend of uninterrupted bliss at home, I wish you all joy, oodles of fun and a good sleep ...
Hi! You might have noticed things have been a bit quiet around these here parts for a while..I was away on holiday then as soon as we got back we hosted a Halloween party for a bunch of small squealing and giggling girls, which was hysterical! Then a week of madly catching up on all the work I missed whilst on holiday... I sometimes question the logic behind holidays..that you are supposed to relax and unwind and do not too much...well, that's all very good and well but when you finally get back to work you have double the amount to do and it becomes a right stress fest. All that good holiday chilling' just flies out the window. Best not to go away at all! Nah, I'm just kidding. Holidays are great and a change of scenery always puts a fresh perspective on things, helps creativity and life in general, so it's all good. But the price to pay is no sensible bloggery do dah this week.
I did go to a fab shop party yesterday though, worth a mention because I bought the most fantastic grey woolly blanket. Ok, so you don't think that sounds too exciting, but an episode of Downton Abbey is very much improved by snuggling on the sofa with this fabulously soft luxurious blankie! You can get yours from AsIf4476
I promise I'll have all manner of things to tell you about next week, but until then, have a wonderful weekend and here is a pretty picture of some nonsense in my studio...
Part of the joys of having a blog is not to bore you with my daily tedium, but to show you exciting things I've found or classics I've loved for years, be they clothes, interiors, music, or in this case art. Specificly the art of Daniel Merriam who I have loved for years. When I do a blog about something I do a bit of research about whatever it is, and naturally, I find out more things about something I all ready know I like, but perhaps don't know much about. Its an excuse for me to learn a little more myself and handily, can share it on to you lovelies. Basically he's a genius, and that's all you need to know ;-)
Ok, Italian American, born 1963 and did I mention he is a genius?
Feast your eyes on this beautiful madness!
This one is actually the first of his paintings I ever saw and just thought it was so special, reminded me of the Smashing Pumpkins album 'Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness' and old theatre stage scenes.
This one reminds me a lot of another artist I also love called Kay Nielsen who I'm always banging on about. Anyway, Daniel is very prolific and there is a ton of amazing stuff of his out there, so just go do a google images search and find your favourites!
As I mentioned last week, this blog is dedicated to my crafty customers who use my fabrics and cushion covers etc to make things look fabulous.
Crafting has never been so popular as it is right now, almost everyone has some kind of need to create things. For some people it is gardening or cookery but for me it is beads, mosaic, upholstery, sewing, painting, collage, decoupage, lampshade making, photography... and the list goes on for as long as the imagination does...
A lot of my customers use the fabrics for upholstering old chairs, giving them a new lease of life and I love that on many levels. Firstly, I'm hugely into upcycling and reusing things and secondly, old furniture has more soul and well... twiddly bits...I do love twiddly bits!
And here is a selection from Rinas Art & Design and you can find lots of her fabulous work on Instagram @rinas_art_design
Covered with our Edwardian Gothic fabric
This chair is too amazing for words! Using our Skull Keys & Peonies cushion cover and augmenting with swarovski crystals and chains...Hello!
Using our Mirror Mirror cushion cover
Using our 2 Halves Makes a Whole cushion cover
But not everyone uses the fabrics for upholstery or curtains... Here is an ingenious way to store those ugly plastic bags
And here is a lampshade made from panels of Golden Skulls fabric.
And here is the Golden Skulls fabric again used as art...
And in the back panel of this fabulous chair. I love the daring colour of this chair, what a great combo!
So are you feeling creative? How about starting a new project this weekend?
But what ever you choose to do this weekend enjoy yourselves! I'm off to sell my old car, then go to a party tonight and then have a big italian style extended family dinner on Sunday... If I've got time, I'll squeeze in some jewellery making...and that's my weekend all sorted!
I usually do my blog on Friday afternoon but today I have to go and buy a bike for my daughter, a bit of a last minute thing, so no time to rant and rave about my special thoughts or any such nonsense! What I would like to ask though, if you have used Van Asch fabrics or cushions or whatever, to make something with, then I would like to hear from you!
I'm going to do a blog next week dedicated to all my crafty customers.
If you have pictures of the things you have made and would like a chance to be featured then please email pics to rachel@vanasch.se
Alright, before you get too excited, this blog is not about how to organise an S & M dungeon. The discipline involved is self discipline and the organisation refers to something that I'm super hopped up about right now, my schedule.
So it is a true and real thing that we people have only a limited amount of will power according to the white coats, and if you use up your precious limited resource then you have none left to resist that tempting piece of cheesecake you really know you shouldn't have, or to get your lazy butt down to the gym.
So, the thing to do is to remove the need for constant decision making, to automate parts of your life, thusly leaving oodles of will power left for dealing with those really challenging situations...like the relentless badgering of your kids ;-) Maybe it's just mine but they ask for things, or demand them, constantly. When we are out shopping I have to make about 30 decisions to buy those cookies or not? To get them some crap plastic toy or not to get it? Do they really need new gym clothes or are they asking just because they like the look of them? You get the idea, and this is not easily dealt with when your will power has been reduced to a fine powder on the floor, being blown away by the demanding winds of parenthood.
So my advice is to make yourself an über schedule so you don't have to make so many decisions.
I do mine on a sunday evening and I plan the week before me. It includes all the gym visits and yoga I will do and all the meals I will cook. Thusly guillotining the duel willpower succubi of exercise and meal planning.
I also list all the things I need to do for work, from the tiniest quicky emails to the epic new season collection decisions. This means everything is written down so I don't need to stay awake at night worrying about all the things I might have forgotten.
The sum total of this is that I have never been more productive, more focused or fitter... I'm still waiting to figure out a way that my schedule will prevent me from putting that fudge brownie in my mouth but hey, nothing is perfect!
Speaking of brownies, I made some Paleo brownies last night, sweetened with maple syrup instead of sugar and I've gotta say they were a triumph. If you fancy to see the recipe, just leave a comment and I'll post it up. Perfect if you are lactose, fructose or Gluten intolerant.
I went out in lovely old town GamlaStan last night, to visit a very special art opening one night only exhibition by artists Iva Troj and John-Paul Bichard. I love GamlaStan and it has a special place in my heart as it is where I had my shop when I first moved to Stockholm 9 years ago.
The exhibition was fabulous and I can say, with my hand on my heart, that if I had the cash, I would soooo be buying these babies up and taking them home. I loved it so much!
What is really weird about this particular exhibition is that the art is made by 2 artists. They each contribute to the finished piece. John-Paul is the photographer and Iva Troj is the painter. And they are both very clever bunnies!
I had a chat with John-Paul and apparently there is a whole 'narrative' that goes along with the artworks...I nodded at the time and it seemed to make sense, but for the life of me I can't remember a word he said so I'm lifting this text from their website...
Iva Troj and John-Paul Bichard have been working on The Garden and The Illumination Series since 2013. The duo have developed the works under the identity BichardTroj which brings together an exploration of identity, sexuality, storytelling and myth. BichardTroj are an artist duo that explore the nature of sexuality, storytelling and the art historical nude through the filters of contemporary culture. By combining their original work, videogame tropes, folktales, and questioning gender roles, the duo create unformed stories: fragments of an evoked world that questions our understanding of the narrative nude in art and contemporary culture.
Personally, I don't require any 'narrative' as my eyes can can see and I can feel things when I look. That's good enough for me. Infact the less I'm able to be saying about the art, the more often I like it. There is a saying 'it leaves me speechless' for a reason. I most appreciate the enticing excitement of the unknown. In music and poetry and art I like mystery, I like questions and feelings. Not explanations and obviousness.These was plenty of all that mystery in these beautifully detailed works... Surreal and dreamy, just my cup of tea.
So this blog is all about my favourite things... I'm a person of high passions and get hugely enthusiastic about certain things, almost evangelical at times...which I think is probably rather annoying, but anyway, today I will share some of my top favourite things...
Food:
My favourite things to eat are chocolate covered brazil nuts. I only really get truly enthusiastic about sweet food and am a great appreciator of the pie.
Interior Decoration:
Colour is my thing. Black and white interiors may be super hot right now but they leave me cold. Well they leave me feeling nothing at all actually.
I like strong but muted colours and am loving all the blue and teal colours for walls right now.
Here are some of my favourite colour combinations.
I know I said black and white left me feeling nothing, well, that is mostly true but here are those colours done to my taste...
I know this pic was in my last blog post, about black and white interiors, but you can never have too much a good thing!
Clothing:
I'm fairly practical and I like comfort so no corsets or high heels for me. These are a few of my favourite kinds of clothes that I would actually wear...
If you want to see more boots and bags like this type of thing then check my Pinterest board
Follow Van Asch's board Handbags & Shoes on Pinterest.
Music:
I am an avid appreciator of music and although I have been a singer and even occasionally written music, I'm a better listener than maker. Music makes everything better.
My favourite song, for the last 5 years is Rococo by Arcade Fire. I pretty much love everything by them though so go listen with your ears...
I don't get to see many music videos because I don't have the time for that sort of thing but when I was obsessing on this song, I did take the time to look at the vid and thought it was kinda perfect. Favourite video by Woodkid.
Another of my favourite things to do is run. I try to run 4 kilometres before work almost every day and the music I listen to when I'm doing it makes a massive difference to how long or how fast I can manage it. Basically, as I said before, music makes everything better.
So here is my favourite tunes to run to... First up Muffler, there is no video but you can hear the song.
This is the Glitch Mob, also no vid
And finally Klaypex who make many great tracks
Here is a link to my whole running playlist of you like it hard and electronic!
