Tag Archives: Liverpool Loves

Aug 09 2016
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#NoFilterNeeded

It will come as no surprise to hear..

That I love a good snapchat filter, or Instagram…..or flipagram….or Rple or Prisma and it seems like there’s a new app every week that can distort our faces into photoshopped perfection or a piece of art.

My Instagram is full of perfectly lit, posed pictures that look nothing like me whatsoever. The accompanying text along the lines of “Damn I wish my skin looked like this for real” typed while stuffing more pore blocking chocolate down my grid!  

Admittedly this fascination is doing little to aid my “be happy with how you look” crusade, but I’m fully aware that these smoothed out, contoured images aren’t attainable and are just a bit of fun.

A friend of mine Ste Johnson, is a professional illustrator and while he uses lots of new tech to create stunning artwork….give him a good old fashioned pencil and watch him work his magic!


I wanted to share an image with you, well it’s actually a piece of art and it’s not a narcissistic exercise, it’s an appreciation of skill. 

Ste managed to lift my self confidence with just a pencil, no filter needed, just some expertly drawn lines. Check out more of his work here.  

I’ve always loved drawing, colouring in and sewing since a really young age, but I’m not naturally gifted, just enthusiastic! 

Seeing what someone can do with just a pencil and pure skill will never fail to inspire me. Way more than a snapchat filter ever could! 

I’m so lucky to work with loads of naturally talented people and I’m always chuffed to discover a new artist creating something unique whether it be jewellery, baby items or framed art work. 

I met a lovely woman at Liverpool Loves on Saturday who knits and crochets. But I’m not taking baby booties and blankets! She knits octopus and mermaids and cactus and smiley veg! Check out her work at http://www.girlinpurlaction.co.uk 

Another exhibitor, GeekCycled makes tonnes of retro badges from old school comics, cue my eldest laughing at how different the chipmunks looked back in the early 90’s! 

She went home and made some Jacqueline Wilson badges of her own, inspired by the nostalgia. 


So here’s to all the true artists, the ones sketching in front of the telly, making mood boards from magazines, and cutting up old curtains to make tepees for the kids and buying half full paint tins and picture frames from car bootys to create masterpieces! 

Inspiring others young and old. You guys rock! 

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Aug 06 2016
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Adventure Time

What a week!

From a stint live on Radio City Talk to meeting entreprenuieral legend, John Drysdale at Liverpool Loves Business and finalising my plans for a bank holiday adventure thanks for a great PR event at Liverpool John Lennon Airport.
Since writing my last piece, ‘Focus’ I’ve adopted a policy of just saying yes to things, and this week it has really paid off.

I’m pleased  to report that I’m joining Radio City Talk on a more frequent basis as Liverpool Live Producer, Lizzi contacted me on Thursday to chat live on air about my digital detox. 

I’ll be chatting to Mick as a panel member and newspaper reviewer over the coming weeks and as we all know I love the sound of my own voice, there’s bound to be some hilarity going on. Catch me on Monday between 12 and 1pm. 


I’m also working with a brilliant Liverpool designer, Coco & Veve as owner Ria launches a brand spanking new concession with Rex retail, Bold Street. More on this after I’ve tried on her entire collection next week! 

Liverpool Loves Business inspired me to push on with my freelance dream this week as the line up of influential speakers at this years festival was better than ever!

It was standing room only at the Crowne Plaza conference rooms and I’m over the moon to have finally met Noguru MD, John Drysdale. 

Huge congrats Josh and the team at Orb CIC for another hugely successful event.

The Liverpool Loves 2016 festival continues today with a superb line up of culture, music, well-being and food, down on the Pier Head.

It’s completely free and geared towards the whole family. All you need to know in one handy 3 min video from The Guide Liverpool here. 

I’m heading on down for an afternoon of local bands, great food and to sample the prosecco bar! Perfect Saturday right?! 


My bank holiday adventure is set. Well at least the first flight is and I’m free-wheeling it from there!

As a single mum of three the vast majority of my days are planned down to the very last minute, so having the opportunity to just book and flight and ‘see what happens’ really is the ultimate adventure for me. 

On Thursday 25th August I’m Paris bound. The rest is up to fate!

If anyone has any suggestions on what connecting flights to catch or what attractions to see, things to do, drop me a line katereillyjames@gmail.com 

Have a fab weekend! 

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Aug 09 2015
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Guest Blog: How Many Could You Eat?

The Liverpool Loves event came to a sensational end on Saturday with The People’s Festival at the Pier Head. Local charities, talented artists and delicious street food entertained and thousands gathered to enjoy everything Liverpool has to offer.

My personal favourite activity of the day were the BROWNIES…and the magical folks down at Treats Bake Shop might have just created the ultimate brownie…..meet The Oreo!


In all its glory. This majestic brownie was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever laid eyes on. By the time I worked my way around to the Bake Shop stall, Ian (wizard baker extraordinaire) had sold out of the other Treats specialty flavoured brownies such as triple chocolate and chocolate orange….and it was only 2pm! Sadly I had to wait all day until I could proudly display the Oreo beauty upon my flatmates Cath Kidston plate and pour myself the obligatory glass of milk. Chocolatey torture!

The gooey goodness was sublime, thick and bouncy and still moist despite sitting my bag for 6 humid hours whilst I drank far too many ciders. The Oreo parts were to die for, with crunchy biscuit and fluffy cream centre that complimented the gooeyness of the brownie perfectly! Are you drooling yet? You should be!

As a self-confessed brownie connoisseur, I highly recommend Treats Bake Shop to everyone for any occasion! Had a bad day? A brownie can fix that. Had an awesome day? A brownie will make it even better! Plus they are a lovely bunch who wouldn’t judge you for buying 16 brownies knowing fine well you’ll eat them all in your comfy pants whilst binge watching The Great British Bake Off. You can find Treats Bake Shop on Facebook here!

On yer bike Mary Berry!

Caroline Alexandria, Brownie Connosisseur

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Aug 09 2015
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Liverpool Loves The People’s Festival

What a weekend…and it’s still only Sunday afternoon! I’m currently holed up in Costa at Liverpool One (the only coffee shop I know of that’s open at 8am on a Sunday morning and freely provides plug sockets for laptops!)

Saturday morning began with a gentle 5km run around Croxteth Park….with my running buddy Adam and 186 other mad people who do that kind of thing for fun. I’m sure there are about a million other, more relaxing things to do on a rare sun-drenched weekend morning….but Park Run Croxteth was actually really good fun. The volunteers and marshalls are a lovely bunch and after receiving a round of applause for being a ‘first-timer’ I limped around in just less than 30 mins…….narrowly beating an 80 year old regular to the finish line. We’re so lucky to have so many beautiful green spaces on our doorstep in Liverpool, Park Run takes full advantage of that. Despite getting horse poop on my beloved neon Nike Lunar glide I will definitely be back next week.

After 30 mins disco nap (looking at social media on my phone…no sleep actually occurred) I got my game face on and headed into the city to meet my partner in crime, Caroline to sample Liverpool Loves, The People’s Festival. We stopped off for a quick Bayou sandwich in the sunshine at top Liverpool eatery Moose Coffee, Dale street…highly recommended!IMG_6123  The People’s Festival in a word….Wow! The atmosphere was awesome! A real mix of people and loads of little ones running about and busting moves to the live music. Armed with flutes of prosecco from the Circo bar we made our way through the raving toddlers to chat to local artists OneArt at Capstan’s Bazaar, sampled the most divine chocolate brownies with Ian from Treats bakeshop and overloaded on milk chocolate shells with Bala from The Chocolate Cellar…bit more prosecco…..we signed our LOVE messages with artist, Jay Wheeler….had a slightly tipsy chat with Jo from Water Babies about starting my little ones off swimming (Jo eyeing up my plastic pint of rekorderlig with envy) and finished up having a dance around at the Merseyrail Sound Station before a well earned rest on the hay bails to people watch and soak up the last of the rays. Phew! From my vantage point I watched couples doing tai chi and yoga, kids making elaborate fascinators and origami swans and glammed up hen parties making the most of the scouse hospitality! Talk about a festival for everyone!

Not sure if it was the 5km run earlier in the day but by 7pm I was getting far too comfy on the grass and decided to wobble back up to the city centre and head home. I’m gutted I missed the Rui Da Silva set on the big top stage but I caught highlights on twitter….from the comfort of my own bed! I’ll bet those toddlers were still giving it large long after I got home!

Thank you to Josh and the team at Orb Events, the Liverpool Loves festival was a really engaging, fun event and fully lived up to its tag line ‘Celebrate, Participate, Create’  Cant wait for next year! For more photo’s from The Peoples Festival please check out the inspiration page here.

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Aug 06 2015
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Liverpool Loves

This morning I met 150 people in less than an hour…..nope not another disastrous attempt at speed dating…but an utterly brilliant business festival at the iconic Cunard building….welcome to three day festival..Liverpool Loves.

As a trainee journalist with a passion for everything marketing, PR and art based in the north west, I thought it would be a good idea to meet as many local companies and training providers as possible to find out first hand, how local businesses and media agencies build working relationships. I’ve been away from the north west for almost 3 years and Liverpool as a city has evolved into something almost unrecognizable. Business is booming, job opportunities for self-starters and apprenticeships are growing and there is a whole host of independent traders popping up, making the city center more diverse than ever before. Liverpool is an exciting place to be.

I couldn’t have picked a better event to begin my learning journey. I chatted easily with many passionate, friendly people and I came away feeling overwhelmed but elated with a tree worth of printed information about tailored support and mentoring. The Women’s Organisation, Launch 22 and Agent Marketing all providing practical solutions, training opportunities and advice that really opened my eyes to how media and business work hand in hand to reach wider yet specific audiences, enabling new start-ups to flourish. I enjoyed today immensely and feel much more confident about approaching the companies I have an interest in. My (humble) advice if you have a business idea, want more information about starting out or just want to feel inspired by people really making a go of it….be confident….get off your bum and go speak to them…..buy them a coffee and have a chat….they’re human too!

As per my tweet earlier today. Hats off to Liverpool Loves organizers Orb Events CIC if the business festival was just the launch event…the next two days of music, food, health and well being are going to be truly spectacular. I’ve added my photos to the Inspiration page, can you spot any famous faces?

For all the listings of whats on at Liverpool Loves please click here. For Business, for families, for everyone!

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