Shiver by the River to Heaven by the Severn!

Last week was probably our craziest to date.  On a weekend road trip through Shropshire, we spotted a sign advertising the first VDubs in the Valley festival.  On a whim, we decided that it was the right time to unleash Voodoo Street onto an unsuspecting public and where better to start than our favourite local market town, Bridgnorth!  Only problem was, we had less than 7 days to prepare.  And so, fuelled by coffee and adrenalin, we worked a series of late nights labelling and finishing stock, finalising paperwork and packaging, designing a trade stand, buying a weather-proof trade stand, sourcing props and signs to furnish said trade stand and sorting transportation.  Oh, and we also designed and produced a sticker to mark the occasion.  At first we decided it should read "Shiver by the river" (still loving that!) but after seeing a more promising weather forecast, opted for "Heaven by the Severn."

With very little time to spare, Thursday (set-up day) arrived, literally like a damp squib.  In relentless drizzle, Gaz pitched up next to an old oak tree in the middle of a damp but beautiful field by the Severn....with literally no-one else in sight. Starting to fear the worst and experiencing something like first night nerves, he set up shop (with a little help - you know who you are, cheers!)  He needn't have worried.  By the time Claire rocked up at 7 (ish), the place was full and she was greeted by security staff and organisers grinning like Cheshire cats, chuffed that their humble little festival was taking on a life of its own.

COMPETITION TIME!!

The rest of the weekend went in a blur of amazing people, awesome vans, huge support, a raft of compliments, a little alcohol, delectable food, great music and a few rays of sunshine!  Our tattoo'd mannequin (aka "The Illustrated Man) proved to be a big hit, so much so that we have formally adopted him, which leads us to the point of this blog.  No adoption process is complete without a name and our man desperately needs a show name.  So, we're throwing it out there.  The person who comes up with the best name wins a free goody bag!  To enter, simply check out our website and like our Facebook page (to get a flavour of what we're about) and then put forward a name you feel befits such a handsome dude!  Please post your suggestions on our Facebook page and we'll pick our favourite and notify the winner on Monday 6th October.  Good luck and thanks again!

The Art of the "Selfie"

Detox is never an option for us this month, as January also spells party season for several members of the Voodoo Street community who celebrate birthdays.  

And so it follows that the fitness regime needs to be upped to keep the body in line.  Our local tow paths have taken a pounding and my recommended track for tackling inclines is "Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat," which provides an apt sound track for us this month, although "work" needs to be substituted for "rave."

Just in time for the plummeting temperatures, we now have back in stock our popular long line women's vintage/retro hoodies, featuring "The Haunting of Voodoo Street."  These really keep the cold out and come in French Navy and are pretty awesome, even though we say so ourselves!

We're also blown away by the number of cool and interesting people we have liking our Facebook page and following us on Twitter.  We appreciate each and every one of you.  You also give great feedback!

One area where you're not so forthcoming, is entering competitions!  The deadline of 31st January is fast approaching.  All you need to do is send in a selfie to enquiries@voodoostreet.com and we'll pick 3 winners!  (See Facebook page www.facebook.com/VSTREET for details).  

For the less vain amongst you, here's a definition of "selfie" courtesy of Urban Dictionary:-

A picture taken of yourself that is planned to be uploaded to Facebook, Myspace or any other sort of social networking website. You can usually see the person's arm holding out the camera in which case you can clearly tell that this person does not have any friends to take pictures of them so they resort to Myspace to find internet friends and post pictures of themselves, taken by themselves. A selfie is usually accompanied by a kissy face or the individual looking in a direction that is not towards the camera.

Champions of the "selfie" include Justin Bieber, Harry Styles, Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Madonna, President Obama, Justin Bieber, Kim Kardashian and Justin Bieber.  It was probably the most overused phrase of 2013 and supermodels also jumped on the bandwagon, modifying the tried and tested method of the "full facial selfie" by instead taking a shot of their sun worshipping torsos.  Our tongues are firmly in our cheeks with this competition challenge. 

We would like to see what you all look like, but there's no need to take yourselves too seriously! We're tired of being force fed celebrity pouts, we just want to see the folk who like what we do!  

JANUARY BLUES: VOODOO STREET FIGHTS BACK!!!

     

The bad news is, January is probably the most depressing month of the year.  We're all partied out like we've partied since 1999 and are experiencing a permanent fog, which has nothing to do with the weather!

The good news is, we've officially survived the most depressing day of the year and can now look forward...and that's where we come in.  To cheer everyone up, we have some news to share with you.

First up, we've kick started the year with a sale, which sees many items slashed to ridiculous prices and have
even thrown in free UK delivery!  This week, the sun has decided to show its face and as we all know here in the UK, as soon as the sun comes out, we are required by law to don a T-shirt!  

Secondly, we're nurturing our ever-growing Facebook family by giving them the heads up on any offers and competitions before we spread the word.  So a couple of days ago, we launched a competition.  If you haven't already done so, check it:  www.facebook.com/VSTREET as we have some awesome prizes to give away to 3 lucky winners.  We'll level with you, even we haven't decided exactly what's going to be included in the goody bags yet, but winners are guaranteed a free T-shirt and some surprises!  Oh and did we mention, that many of our designs are intended to be one offs, so once they've been sold, they won't be repeated?!

In other news, we're hoping to support a worthy local cause, Unit 3 Sixty, a proposed urban recreation centre in nearby Stourbridge (for those of you who remember 90s bands The Wonderstuff and Pop Will Eat Itself will know it) by donating some T-shirts to a fund raising event.  Any skaters might want to take a look: 
http://www.unit3sixty.com/  

And finally...we're working on a new range of designs, one of which I can't wait to get my hands on!  It has all the hallmarks of Voodoo Street and is being inked in as we speak.

Getting into gear

It’s been a typically varied week here on Voodoo Street.

This week we said goodbye to one of our elders, a 90 year-old much loved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, who, in spite of her frailty (and lack of interest in popular culture post 1945!) was still championing Voodoo Street in her final days!   Kath, you will be missed.

We also attended a hot rod meet (Greasy) and saw some pretty incredible cars and truly stylish people, showcasing their tattoos, hairdos and vintage style to perfection!   Looking forward to meeting them again.

We now have stock and have been busy photographing garments on our old school shop mannequins.  We find that these are less troublesome and display far fewer diva qualities than living and breathing models.  As our followers on Facebook and Instagram will have spotted, given a little attention, even these mannequins can become narcissistic, as our mannequin “selfie” proves!

We have more stock on the way, courtesy of some extremely talented screen printers, namely Get a Grip, who work tirelessly for punk rock bands and indecisive clothing companies…ahem.

They will be bringing to life the awesome artwork of one Dan Bowden, a Brighton based illustrator who more than satisfied our brief to produce a limited edition ocean festival poster launching the Voodoo Street brand.  The hand pulled, water based screen prints will imminently be available on our organic cotton T-shirts.  We hope that their base on Floodgate Street is an omen for our sales!  Keep an eye on the website for updates.

We are also pleased to see that word is spreading.  Only this morning, I walked past someone wearing a Voodoo Street T-shirt and spotted a mint VW van bearing one of our stickers.  Makes all the hard work seem worthwhile.