Some of the marvelous pieces available from Re:Style

Re: Style Studio (Booth Z-19) is run by Andrea Ford. She creates one-of-a-kind furniture pieces with vibrant fabric and colours that are stunning – the picture above doesn’t do the pieces justice.. She also runs reupholstery workshops out of her studio. I’m plotting to attend one in the new year. restylestudiotoronto.com

Tools necklaces from MoonRox Jewelry

MoonRox Jewellery (Booth Y-20) is a line of great jewellery created by Monique Chan. I loved the little tool necklaces shown above. They are $45 each, and perfect for your favourite DIY-er moonrox.ca

James Kennedy 'Continents' steel art

James Kennedy (Booth Y-44) is an artist from Montreal who works with steel, and he is showcasing his ‘Continents’ series at the show. My photo doesn’t do his pieces any justice – they are simply stunning in person. The variation in the colours in the steel makes you forget it's made from cold metal. His 12”x12” pieces are $325, and the large 48’x42”(not shown) are $3400. jameskennedy.ca/

The guys from Pook Tuques

Pook Tuques (Booth U-10) The guys above run Pook Tuques and their booth is worth a visit simply to have them demonstrate the many ways their Pook Tuque can be worn. It’s hilarious (there's a 'Donald' comb-over). You can take a look at the many way the hat can be worn on their website. pook.ca

The lovely animal creations from the Felt Factory. Which one would you pick?

Felt Factory (Booth R-19) is run by Sabine Alpers, and will be at the show just until November 26th, so if you like her felted animal heads you’ll have to go this weekend. If you follow me on Instagram you know I spotted one of her Unicorns last weekend in a store in Picton and fell in love. After seeing her animals at the show I’m now torn between the Unicorn and the Bison (which isn't shown), but they’re all amazing. The animals range in price from $60-$90. feltfactory.com

'There is Softness' by Tammy Shane

Tammy Shane (Booth Q-24) is an artist who will also only be at the show until November 26th. All her paintings are stunning, but the larger pieces are especially lovely. The piece above, entitled ‘There is a Softness’, is 48”x48” and really caught my attention($2820). Tammy Shane on Facebook

Hen painting on Mylar by Sarah Hillock

Sarah Hillock (Booth K-12) is an artist whose booth features large quite realistic oil paintings of cows and other animals. Looking at her work you can’t help but smile – they are marvelous and fun, and quirky in a really great way. sarahhillock.com

The Sweet Truth Candy Company

The Sweet Truth Gourmet Candy Company (Booth G-36) is run by Diane McMillan after she learned to learned to make candy from her grandmother, and her candies are divine. With 7 flavours including Almond Butter Toffee, Sweet Lemon Butter Toffee and Cappuccino Chocolate Toffee and Pecans your taste buds will thank you if you stop by for a taste. The small tins are $8.95 and the large $14.50. sweettruthcandy.com

My selection for the 'vintage' vessel we were told to bring

I’m not quite sure what it is – it might be an ice bucket? I bought it at a thrift store for $4, so I thought it qualified as vintage. I should have looked harder for a cute teacup because this thing was a bit difficult to arrange flowers in - too wide.

The flowers we would use for our arrangements

Alison set us all up around some tables, and then did a quick demonstration of how she makes her lovely arrangements. Nerd that I am, I took notes on my phone (I’m sure she thought I was being rude and texting, but I wanted to remember some of the things she said). Here are some of the things I learned:

• Use room temperature water.
• Remove all the greenery (leaves, etc) that will be below the waterline.
• When trimming stems cut at a 45 degree angle – this gives more surface area for the flower to absorb water.
• If you’re using a small shallow vase you can use clear tape to make a grid over the opening – this will help the flowers and greenery stay in place.
• Start by adding your greenery, and once most of it’s arranged add you blooms. The greenery supports the flowers, and makes them stand out more. (I’m going to think of it like underwear – a really gorgeous outfit can look only so-so if you’re not wearing the right underwear – right?) You can add more greenery later to fill any spaces that remain after you’ve added the flowers.
• If you need to force any blooms put them in warm water and then cover with a plastic bag.
• In terms of scale – the height of an arrangement is very much personal preference, but as a rule of thumb the whole arrangement should be about twice the height of the vase alone.

I was going to take pictures of my bucket as I went, but I got distracted by the fun and forgot. Bad blogger. Anyways about 40 minutes after I started I ended up with this:

My flower arrangement at home. Before it got home I took it on the bus - I got some weird looks.

Some of the other participants arrangement were stunning so I’m going to have to practice. Such a hardship – playing with flowers.

Tasty sustenance while we waited in line

I'm in love with this gold cutlery

What's not to love about these glasses?

Mason Jar cocktail shaker? Yes Please!

I really like this Branch Floor lamp. I would LOVE it if it came in Gold.

Eeeps! Getting close!

Sigh - the record of my brush with blogging superstars, and it's blurry :(

So far I've only managed to quickly flip through the book, but already I'm plotting projects #2, 12, 24 and #36. I'm sure there will be more that I'm inspired to try, and maybe I'll even complete some of them!

Old Sweetsuite10 homepage design

Old Sweetsuite10 blog post look

The main blog page looked like this. Nothing really exceptional about it, and the subscribe/follow section was a little amateur looking. I’ve updated the subscribe/follow section for my new look. Here’s the before and after – much better now isn’t it? Now you just need to click on the circles to see my Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest pages, send me an email or follow the blog through RSS.

he old and new subscribe/follow panels - the new one is much better isn't it?

I also changed my header image. The old one was a bit busy. I like the new one quite a bit more as it’s simpler.

The old and new header images - the new one is simpler

Here’s my new main page – which is simply my blog. I’ve done away with a separate ‘landing page’ in the hopes that the new look is simpler to navigate.
I have added one new thing which I’ve been meaning to do for months – I’ve created a project gallery page. Here I've posted images that link to some of my favourite past projects, crafts and recipes. Fingers crossed I’ll remember to keep adding to it!
So there it is – my new look. There are still a few quirks I need to fix, but for the most part it’s done. I should thank D who put up with a number of panicky phone calls when things weren’t going well, and helped me get things moving in the right direction again. It’s rather handy to have a boyfriend who knows a little about coding and Photoshop.

Race day before and after. That jacket I'm wearing? It's 'waterproof', and was completely soaked through by the time I finished.

While It wasn’t the 10K that I originally resolved to complete this year, and my time of 58:26 was slower than my best 10K time, I’m more than happy with having completed 80% of that resolution. It also reminded me how much I enjoy running, so maybe I’ll start doing it on a semi-regular basis. Maybe. Perhaps.
Later on Saturday after a long hot shower to try to warm up, I convinced D that we should go antiquing. We headed up near Barrie to Roadshow 400 Antiques which I’ve passed many times, but never visited. It’s a rather large antique market with a quite varied selection of items. Remember those glass candle stick holders I found at a thrift store in September that I worried were a bit expensive at $14.14 for the pair? Look at what I spotted on Saturday:

I think these candle holders are the same as the ones I bought.

I’m pretty sure they're the exact same, but were being sold for $50.

Lovely Pyrex mixing bowls - too bad they were $75

I loved the colours, but at $75 there was no way I could justify buying them as I’d be afraid to use them. Leaving them behind made me sad, however the day wasn’t a complete bust as I did bring something home with me.

My new mixing bowls

Yes – I brought home Pyrex bowls. These ones were literally 2 stalls over from the original set I spotted, and I bought them for a whopping $24. Better yet - mine are less scratched than the original set I spotted! I have no idea if $24 is really a good price for 4 Pyrex bowls, but given they were only a third of the cost of the original set I couldn't really say no could I?  Would you have left them behind? Or would you have been like me and hobbled as fast as your race weary legs could take you to the cash so you could buy them?