Dungeons and Dragons

Why is it when we have a packed calendar, we get the fear and yet the prospect of free weekends seems exciting but also daunting?  With freedom of choice comes indecision.  How will we fill our time?  Where will we go?  Somehow, passing the time doing anything short of amazing feels like wasted time, when so many weekends have been accounted for. Panic sets in. 

I call it “the comedown.”  Regularly engaging with our supporters/friends galvanises the feeling that we are on the right track with Voodoo Street, but take away that dialogue; the festival vibes and suddenly we feel cut adrift.  Out of touch. 

Processing orders online is anonymous.  As grateful as we are for them, it’s just not the same as engaging with a friendly face. 

T-shirts are T-shirts at the end of the day, or so you might think, but once you have been privy to a man’s 20 minute deliberation about whether the large or extra large tee “hangs” better from his neck, you realise that:

a)      It’s a myth that women are a nightmare to shop with and;

b)      Buying a standard fit T-shirt is obviously a more exact science than either of us ever realised!

So whilst receiving an online clothing order still offers the usual thrill of having been chosen, it’s now also filled with the trepidation of sending it out there and wondering if the neck will be ok! 

Touch wood, we’ve never had any issues with clothing sold online and love it when people take time out to photograph their purchases and tag us in them.  It makes it worthwhile.  Here are a few recent ones.

Photo courtesy of official_jr_skating

Thank god for Instagram and Facebook!  Those who choose to interact with us on social media may not realise it, but they are like co-workers – our own little cyber office.  By day, we’re beavering away in our dungeon, at Voodoo Towers and this contact with the outside world gives us a buzz.  (There’s only so long you can spend chatting to the postman without coming off as creepy J)

Lee Foulkes in his Voodoo Street Urban Army Cap

At this point, we’ve sold one of our stickers to nearly every corner of the globe at some point and have encountered some pretty “out there” surnames.  However, on Friday night a particularly familiar name popped up on an order of stickers.  After a little Internet research, we discovered that it was indeed the son of a certain Cypriot born member of BBC’s Dragon’s Den.  Not necessarily worthy of champagne popping, but definitely a talking point.  Another swiftly followed this order, from one Martin Kemp, although we’re doubtful that it was Spandau Ballet’s bassist.

Photo Courtesy of Steve and Cat Bath

Vespa Love

So, back to our free weekend.  What did we do?  Well, after a week of stock taking, updating our online store, washing rain battered odds and sods and reconciling a mountain of receipts, we were kept busy with family birthday celebrations on Friday. Saturday’s torrential rain and consequent flooding also made us grateful that we weren’t standing in the middle of a field somewhere, although the enforced time indoors did result in the beginnings of a new little project for Voodoo Street.  We also spent a little time on a design that we periodically tinker with.  (Hopefully we’ll be able to share these new bits and pieces with you very soon). We rounded off Saturday with a curry and beers with friends.

Can you buy grey jelly?

In other news, our favourite time of year - Halloween - is fast approaching and already, ghoulish Chinese tat is creeping into our house.  So far, we have some tea light holders, a jelly mould in the shape of a brain and 2 pumpkins.  There will be more.  This year we seriously need to up our game on the pumpkin front.  Both of last year’s gourds were hurriedly carved on Halloween and in all honesty would probably have looked better if we had taken a machete to them blindfolded!

Incidentally, in an update to my last blog, we discovered this sign nailed to a tree in the woods.  Our familiar outlook of tall woodland pines at the end of our garden (a view we fell in love with when we first looked at the house, which looks like a location from a Stephen King novel) is clearly not going to be around for much longer.  It looks as though their days are numbered.  Very sad.

Today marks the fourth sunny day in a row, which makes it hard to focus when I have a day of admin ahead of me.  Warm as it is by day, the temperatures seem to be plummeting at night in these parts and as we all know, the drop in evening autumn temperature marks the arrival of my nemesis – the spider.  I can handle zombies, ghosts and anything else Halloween throws at me, but I find these creatures truly terrifying.  I’m not a fan of insects in general; anything bigger than an aphid increases my heart rate and not in a good way.  We have had some roasters in our house: unnaturally hairy, too many legs, muscles ffs!  Gaz has to carry out a night time “sweep” before I go upstairs.  Maybe I should consider hypnosis.

An accurate artist's impression of a typical spider found in our house with frightening regularity

Anyway, onwards and upwards!  Til next time!

Staying out for the summer, playing games in the rain.

Ever heard the expression “They f*!k you up, your Mom and Dad?”

Well, sometimes, a lifestyle brand can do the same to your lifestyle.  At the end of July we were jaded, overworked and creatively spent.  The obvious answer may not be a 1,700 mile road trip around the Scottish Highlands, incorporating a 4 night stay in the Outer Hebrides, but that’s exactly what we did.  

Regular visitors at the croft on Lewis

Horgabost, Harris

We drove on pothole-ridden roads through stunning mountain ranges and around hare pin bends rivalling Italy’s alpine roads.  We lost count of the number of lochs and lochlets we passed, although we kept a close eye on Loch Ness (the monster was a no-show) and walked, awestruck, along deserted silvery beaches - some without names - and even squeezed in                        an arduous 6 hour trek to the                      summit of Ben Nevis and back.

A witty sculpture at a road side on Lewis

Returning home, we couldn’t shake the feeling of wanderlust and so didn’t turn down the offer of a weekend in Cornwall with old friends.  We visited Fowey Regatta, sampled the local ice cream and pasties and again found ourselves strolling along yet another sandy beach.  

Gaz's favourite shop, Fowey

Driving rain and weariness provided enough justification for us to have a final, cheeky holiday. A most decadent Exmoor homeward-bound stop off in a hotel suite once occupied by C.S. Lewis (the author of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe) complete with – yes – a wardrobe, plus an enormous four poster bed. our guilt assuaged by the supply of stickers we took along for the trip, enabling us to process and despatch orders on the road. 

Gaz prepping orders in luxury

Four Poster Suite, Exmoor

Back into the swing of things last…er…Tuesday, we started packing up for another weekend away, but this time our destination, although picturesque, was Camper Calling, a music festival with a Vdub flavour, at Ragley Hall in Warwickshire and we had work to do.  A sticker was designed, orders placed, checklists were checked, boxes were packed, loaded and unloaded, gazebos were erected, clothes were hung and a “touched up” Dr Jones made a more low key appearance under cover of canvas, so as not to bleach his newly illustrated thighs.

Check out those thighs!

I had to wait in for a delivery on Friday and so sadly missed Thursday night’s set-up slot, which coincided with a torrential downpour of biblical proportions and resulted in Gaz taking to his bed in the changing room of our very understanding (or should I say tolerant) friends Vicky and John of Kinky Melon fame.

The scene that greeted me on arrival could not have been more different; blistering sunshine, a stunning stately home, manicured grounds and a glistening lake flanked by mature trees.  Friday afternoon was a pretty laid back affair, which allowed Vicky and I to disappear for an intended foraging workshop, cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.  Instead we sat and whiled away the hour with another festival goer over an early evening tipple.  The vibes were good and the line-up even better.

Gemma in her Voodoo St headscarf, Camper Calling

Friday night saw polished sets from Dodgy and The Magic Numbers which set the standard for the weekend.

Saturday morning was a mixed bag in terms of weather and there was intermittent, brisk trade. A deluge of rain during the afternoon forced us to shut up shop for an hour, but weirdly as soon as Dodgy frontman, Nigel Clark, was spotted walking around the trade area, the weather seemed to clear up….dare I say the sun was

“staying out for the summer?”  

Soon talk turned to outfit plans for Saturday night’s headliners, 80s icons, ABC.  Having Kinky Melon trading near by is always a bonus, but with an 80s theme on the cards, their rails of vintage clothing beckoned.  However, cocktail dresses and gold lame suits were not to be, for once we spotted a pair of unicorn masks, there was no going back!  We struck a deal on the masks and with the addition of a couple of flowing ivory gowns, hey presto, we had nailed our festival look.  Gaz was a little more reluctant to depart entirely from his Voodoo Street wardrobe, but did agree to don a safari jacket alongside this year’s magic eye/camo bucket hat.

Camper Calling, with Vicky Brierley and John Baker

It turned out to be a most surreal, enchanted evening.  The unicorn masks were a real hit, providing photo opportunities, tears of happiness, high fives, drinks on the house and to top it all off, a song dedication from Mr ABC himself, Martin Fry, who dedicated Poison Arrow “…to the two unicorns.”

Available to order at www.voodoostreet.com

Sunday brought with it steady trade, chats with our regulars, positive comments aplenty and we more than covered our costs.  We had sold out of our Voodoo Street Camper Calling stickers by close of play on Saturday and so re-prints are available to order online as we speak!  

As last minute decisions go, the decision to trade at Camper Calling was one of our best.

Crazy Cats

This week has been pretty cat-heavy.

Still in mourning for our dear departed Mowzer, I’ve been attempting to form a relationship with his look-a-like mate, who appeared like a ghostly apparition at our back door within days of Mowzer’s passing.

He’s pretty timid.  Even after 3 months of hard work, Michelin Star quality cat food and my own special human-to-cat eye blinking communication method, I’m lucky if he’ll touch my fingers with the tip of his nose.  However, a new cat on the block seems to be empowering him.  A voluptuous ginger queen is his new food rival.  I caught this snap of the two of them on our patio a couple of days ago and it’s clear that our little friend is going to have to man up if he stands any chance of competing for the daily Voodoo Street catch. 

The very fact that I took the time to photograph two neighbourhood cats is also giving Gaz concern that I am morphing into The Simpsons' Crazy Cat Lady!

Meanwhile, Gaz has been on a voyage of discovery locally.  We often head over the border into Shropshire in our free time, avoiding the West Midlands connurbation...and yet, our locality just got a whole lot more interesting after he discovered a new Tea Rooms fusing Vintage and Steampunk themes and the Black Country's answer to the Old Curiosity Shop - an endless rabbit warren of rooms housing everything from G-Plan furniture to vintage record players.  

Feeling inspired, we realised we’ve been neglecting our steam punk influences of late and so yesterday, we decided to re-visit some old ideas, languishing in cyber space. 

The results of our efforts are 2 new Steampunk inspired stickers, one bearing a Steampunk version of our logo...

...and the other a cathartic release of my cat obsession. 

 Note his Steampunk monocle and glassy eyes.  It’s worth noting that the cat’s eyes were inspired by a batch of prosthetic eyes acquired by our friend Yvette of Creative Curiosities, which she has since mounted in the clutches of crow claws. 

 This has haunted my dreams for some time now!

Yvette knows that we're big fans of her work (Dr Jones, our illustrated mannequin, is testament to that and she and I have a shared appreciation of taxidermy), so she won’t mind me saying that.  But clearly, I owe her a thank you.  They obviously penetrated my psyche!  Now it’s your turn.

Sleep well!