Coffee With Currys And Joe Blogs Blogger Network

Up until late last year I wasn't much of a coffee drinker, I'd have the odd mug or a  speciality coffee when I was out, but at home I was very much a tea fan. Fast forward 6 or 7 months though and thanks to my mum's purchase of a Tassimo machine, I now can't live without my morning cup of coffee.

Last week I took advantage of my coffee obsession to spend the evening with some of my lovely North East bloggers and the fabulous Joe Blogs team, for an event entitled Coffee With Currys.

The event took place not in a coffee shop but in one of most luxurious bars in Newcastle City Centre, Revolution, Set in a former bank ,the bars opulent interior features 30 feet high ceilings, marble pillars and classic wooden moldings.

On entering the bar. we were escorted to a reserved section set aside for the event, and we were welcomed with a delicious Salted Caramel Latte cocktail.

In case you haven't gathered this event wasn't about coffee in the conventional sense, it was about coffee as a cocktail ingredient and the highlight of the evening was a cocktail making masterclass from two of Revolutions fabulously fun and patient employees, Rory and Josh.

Obviously it would have been impossible for all 30 of us to fit behind the bar at once so we divided ourselves into three groups and we each made a different cocktails.

I think I ended up in the wrong group because the cocktail I was going to make was a drink themed around cherries and amaretto - yuck -  As you I'm not a fan so yes, I was Miss Awkward but the guys were fabulous and helped each of tailor our own cocktails depending on what we liked and disliked. Basically mine ended up being a combination of a tiny bit of cherry vodka, some Chambord raspberry liqueur, some gomme (sugar syrup), some cream and some espresso.

It was really good fun and it really tested my hand, eye coordination to the max, pouring the right measures, shaking my stuff with the cocktail shaker, and trying to balance the strainer without throwing my cocktail all over the floor!

I have to say my cocktail was yummy, a combination of sweet tart fruit, strong coffee, creaminess and of course alcohol. Next time I think I'd use a raspberry vodka instead of the cherry but it's definitely something I'll try at home :)

The final group went up to make the cocktails while my group got stuck into theirs and then it was show time, with Rory and Josh doing a full array of tricks that put Tom Cruise to shame. The glasses were then distributed amongst the group and we got to enjoy one of the bars numerous flavoured vodka shots, nestled in a glass of lemonade - mine was a lovely tropical pineapple flavour - yummy!

We then returned to our private booth for a fabulous buffet including pizzas, wedges, salads, and cones of french fries before, some competition winners were announced and then the evening sadly came to a close, and we all headed into the night feeling a little bit merrier than we did before.

If you want to find out more about the event you can read this post courtesy of our event sponsors Curry's .x 

This was my second Joe Blogs event and I have to say they are some of the most fun events I've been too. I've met new people at every event and I've really enjoyed the activities and spending time with some fabulous people x If the Joe Blogs team are in your area, get yourself down there no matter what they're doing and have some fun and meet some new friends x 

Hillarys Crafternoon With Joe Bloggs Blogger Network

I'm going to start this post with a bit of a confession - as much as I love crafting, card making and scrap booking, my sewing skills leave a lot to be desired.

Photo Courtesy Of  Joe Bloggs

No matter what skills I'm lacking though  I'm always up for a challenge so last Saturday I joined, lots of another north east bloggers (I'm hiding at the back somewhere near the lovely Laura) at a Joe Blogs Blogger Network event at the popular Jazz Cafe in Newcastle city centre. The title of the event was the Hillarys Crafternoon so we teamed up with Hillarys Blinds and the lovely ladies from The Crafty Hen for afternoon of tea, biscuits and crafting.

Although I was told that there was no sewing experience required as soon as the ladies from the The Craft Hen started demoing our first activity I knew that I might need to pick up a needle and thread for the first time in 10 years!

Another Photo Courtesy Of Joe Blogs

The first activity was to use some of Hillarys, new 2015 fabrics to make a reusable book cover. It sounds easy enough and I have to say this one wasn't too hard. The fabrics were all cut to size, so all we had to do was fold over our covers, and stitch ( or glue and stitch in my case) them together and add some embellishments. There were lots of different fabrics to chose from but since I am a huge purple and lilac fan, I went for the Bohemia Damson curtain fabric, which features purple and lilac toned flowers on a cream background.

The task wasn't too hard but the small round tables in the venue didn't really give us a lot of room so I improvised and used a stool as my workbench. The hardest parts were making sure everything was straight and trying not to burn myself with the glue gun, but my cover came together pretty well. Then it was time to choose some buttons and ribbons to decorate my cover, there were some lovely flower and bee shaped buttons but I wanted to stick to the purple and lilac theme, so I picked three buttons and some ribbon, and grabbed my glue gun.

I'm actually pretty pleased how this turned out, my fabric was quite thick and I ended up giving it an iron at home but I loved the fabric and colour tones.

After a short break and some lovely chilled water with fresh limes, it was time for our second demo from The Crafty Hens.

Photo Again Courtesy Of The Joe Blogs Team  - See If You Can Spot Me

I have to say as informative the demo was, this one scared me a bit! Our second task was to make a fabric bird. There was no way round this one - I was going to have to thread my needle and so some sewing.

Again I picked the Bohemia Damson fabric and returned to my stool / workbench to get started. The first task was to cut out the bird templates - total fail on my part - I have zilch scissor skills even with paper, so trying to keep it even and cut it out was tough to say the least

Then we had to sew our two pieces of fabric together, leaving a gap to turn our bird the right way round and stuff him. The concentration was intense - there was barely a whisper as the bloggers concentrated on the task

Another Picture From The Joe Bloggs Term - Instead Of Where's Wally, Where's Lou

Hmm well I managed to thread my needle but that was about it, my little birdy like so many others was an abject fail, despite  advice from The Crafty Hen ladies, my poor bird ended up looking, like a raggy seal, bird, fish hybrid lol.

Hey I can't be good at everything can I? the term is practically perfect after all! To be honest its all a bit embarrassing how bad my sewing skills are but after this attempt, I'm determined to get better and practise a little bit, after all practise makes perfect. In fact I've even bought a craft magazine with a free felt flower making kit, complete with a needle and thread - go me!

 I have to say despite my inept sewing skills I had a fabulous afternoon, and I've never laughed so much in ages. It was a great event that give us an opportunity to do something different,  learn some new skills, and spend some time with some lovely people,

            Picture Courtesy Of Team Joe Bloggs

As a thank you for attending we received a lovely goodie bag from both Joes Bloggers and Hillarys. There were several different bags to choose from all of which were made with some of Hillarys most popular new fabrics. As soon as I saw it though I fell in love with this retro floral print.

If like me your a fan of Orla Kiely, and you're looking for new curtains, or blinds then you need to have a look at Hillarys latest collections for very similar retro style prints. My bag is made from the Daisy Pistachio fabric, which has a gorgeous iridescence and 60's feel.

Inside the bag we recieved some of Hillarys new catalogues, a Hillarys branded pen, a mini bar of Green and Blacks chocolate ( not pictured - whoops!) and a Yankee Candle Salted Caramel Wax Tart.

I want to say a huge, huge thank you to everyone concerned, to Hillarys for their beautiful fabric, to Jazz Cafe for the lovely venue, to The Crafty Hens for their advice and patience and of course to the lovely Joe Bloggs team. If there holding an event in your area I would definitely recommend going for a chance to socialise with some other bloggers, to learn something new and to have some fun. I know that they are planning some more event up north and I for one can't wait.