Van Asch Designer & Person You Can Say 'Hi' To ;-)

I have had my head down for the last 2 weeks working on my new clothing collection, have not been out nor seen the light of day....ok, that's a bit of a stretch...but I've finally finished all the artwork and this collection is going to be bigger and better than ever before! Of course I can't show you anything at the moment but I'll give you a sneak peak when I get the samples back from the factory...

I've been invited to make a personal appearance at one of my stockists next Friday. That's right! They want me to rock up to the store, hang out and be my fabulous self! :-D well... something like that. They are having a special party day with free tastings and lots of special offers. So if you are in the Vällingby area Friday May 5th come by Presenterian and say 'hi'.

It's weird, but I've been thinking so much about my clothing collection, been so much in my head that I have not had one single thought about what I'm going to do this weekend. I have absolutely no plans...that feels strange!

Maybe I'll get creative? Probably not though, spent 2 weeks being nothing but creative. I mean I must've sewn about 20 garments over the last 2 weeks, testing patterns and so on... No, I don't think I'll be at all creative this weekend....
Well, let's see what unfolds.....

and don't forget to follow me on instagram @vanasch_designs where you can see lots of my creativity, both old and new, and also my 'faffing' pictures, like the one above... I like to do that when I have spare moments....

Creativity & Jogging

Did you wonder what happened to me last Friday? There you were, primed and ready to read my regular Friday blog spot and ...what!!?! No Blog!! Hmmm. Well, I was having the most lazy Easter holiday week imaginable and on that particular day, I had managed to drag my potatoey self off the sofa and drive out to the countryside to spend some more time lounging around on other sofas, eating ridiculously toxic levels of candy... and there was no wifi there, hence no blog.

Actually, I'm feeling a bit bad about the whole thing.. not missing the blog, I know you lot are a lovely forgiving bunch of souls. No, I'm feeling disgusted with myself for the amount of gross chocolate and candy I consumed and the near catatonic levels of laziness.

So I was very pleased to get back home and get the new week started with a nice 4 k run. I read a brilliant article in a recent International New York Times newspaper which said that extensive studies show that jogging is the best type of training for overall health and lengthening life span. And get this.... every hour you spend running gives you 7 hours of extra life! True! Scientists said so! ;-)
That is something to think about when I am running... keep me going.

Something else that gives me huge pleasure, apart from running, is my customers creativity. I love seeing what my customers do with my fabrics and things.
I love this dress by Mimpim Design. They usually make funky baby and kids clothes but I guess Mum decided she wanted some funky stuff too! We love this!

You can check out their instagram @mimpimdesign and they bought our stretchy cotton lycra 'Golden Skulls' fabric from Rosa huset 

 Mostly my fabrics are used for covering furniture and even my cushion covers are sometimes used for that too. BVN Design have done so many great pieces of furniture using our cushion covers...

And here, using our Tropical cushion cover, they even make this years Pantone colour 'Greenery' look cool, and that, my friend, really takes some skills!

And speaking of BVN Design, they have a really great 15% off deal this weekend on all Van Asch chairs, so if you need some fabulous furniture, check them out! 

Have a wonderful weekend you lovely peeps and I'll be back again same time same place next week...

The Van Asch Creative Challenge Entries & Winner!!

A little over a month ago I selected 8 people to take part in a very exciting creative challenge. I gave them each a free meter of our new Luna Gold fabric, with the option to buy, at cost price, any more fabric they might need for their project. I wanted to see what my lovely talented customers, friends and business colleagues could do with this fabric and I have not been disappointed! In fact, judging this competition has been the hardest thing I have had to do, picking a winner, who wins 5 meters of various Van Asch fabrics... well it's been nearly impossible!

Just look at these incredible contestants!

First up is Linda from Liloli. She has managed to make 3 chairs with only 1 meter of fabric!! Amazing!

Beautiful antique finish on that gold scrollwork and interesting fabric combinations.

 You can follow Linda and all her creative upholstery projects on Instagram @liloli_design

 Next up we have upholsterers BVN Design

And I just love that they used every bit of fabric to make 3 pieces, again with only 1 meter of fabric. Very classy! 

 You can follow BVN Design on instagram @mobler_by_bvn or check their website... BVN Design They sell lots of cool stuff on their website, including my cushions and lots of furniture upholstered with my fabrics.

Next up we have a really unusual use of the fabric, something I never thought of and this is exactly why I wanted to do this challenge, to see this kind of thing...

 This headboard is beautifully made by Eva from Tapetseri & Sånt

and with matching pillowcases too! You can follow them on instagram @tapetseri and also check their Facebook page

I'm so thrilled to welcome a UK entry! Kerry from The Joyful Home Company has made this super elegant lampshade and the gold of the inner card really sets off the gold in the fabric design. I really love this and totally want it in my home!

You can  see more fab creativity on their instagram page @thejoyfulhomecompany and there is lots of upholstery inspiration on their website too! 

Next up is Martina from My House in Colour. Martina has made quite a few pieces of furniture from my fabrics and I always love the way she combines pretty with practical. These pieces are very commercial and I can see lots of folks wanting them in their homes.

Love that sofa!! 

You can follow Martina on Instagram @myhouseincolor

Now for something totally different! Clothing! Yep, Anja from Cversatile has made a modern Kimono top from the fabric...

Love the pics! Very striking! 

You can follow Anja and check out her lovely photography and passion for design on her instagram @cversatilesthlm

Next up is our second last entry and I have decided to award a runner up prize for this entry because it combines everything I was looking for, in terms of unusual use of fabric and immaculate finish, and all done with just 1 meter of fabric.

So for Agneta och Karolina from Accenten Tapetseraverkstad, I'm going to send you 2 meters of Van Asch fabrics for you to play with.

Here is their jewellery box footstool to die for!

How cute is that!!!

You can follow them on instagram @accentapetserare and their website

Now... drumroll please........ The winner of the Van Asch creative Challenge and lucky recipient of 5 meters of free fabric is Rina's Art & Design.

Rina in another upholsterer that has used my fabric and cushion covers to make furniture from before, but never anything as ambitious as this.. I mean seriously... it is all going on here! There are 70 swarovski crystals hundreds of strass crystals, pearls, dangly jewels, crystal crosses...I mean this is an art piece. I'm not 100% sure you would want to sit on it because it is covered in crystals but as a stage piece for photoshoots, burlesque performances or millions of other theatrical settings, this would be perfect. It totally has the WOW factor.

and just so you can see how sparkly it is, and all the amazing detail and work that has gone into this piece, here is a short video

It's not the size of this that makes it a winner, its the details. They say 'the devil is in the details' but in this case it's more like 'bring the bling'.

You can follow Rina on her instagram @rinas_art_design and see all her over the top fabulous creations.

So before I go, I want to congratulate you all and applause your creativity. I want to thank you for taking part in this challenge and showing me the unexpected. 

Lastly, it's my birthday today, and I love celebrating it with everyone, so I'm offering a 20% off discount for all my readers and followers this weekend, all across the store, on everything. Just visit my web shop www.vanasch.se and use code BIRTHDAY20 when you check out to get your discount. Available all weekend. YIPPPEEEE! Now I'm off to eat cake !!!