West End Craft Fair

For anyone who loves handcrafted gifts, the West End Craft Fair is an essential part of the Edinburgh Festival experience.The fair offers about 50 stores, in the grounds of St John's Church at the West End of Edinburgh.

I wandered round today and was struck by the range of items and like last year there seem to be quite a lot of new product ranges for sale.

Some of my personal favourites include:

McAnarack Buttons, which not only sell lovely handmade buttons (which you can buy online) but also a wonderful range of customised jackets, which are only available at craft fairs (currently the West End Craft Fair).

Morag Lloyds Textiles who sells wonderful fabric jewellery made from repurposed, reclaimed fabrics and other found treasures.

Elle and Pea who take photos of Scottish coastal scenes and transfer them onto shards of sea pottery

Louise Pringles' Eclectic Shock Jewellery which I'm sure I've highlighted before for their beautiful repurposed jewllery, but this year my eye was caught by what look like new ranges of key rings and earrings made from old coins and other repurposed items.

Wudwerx sells a lovely range of bird and insect houses.

And finally Linda Lovatt of Beastie Brooches makes assemblages and jewellery, including a whole range of rabbit themed items, a selection of which you can see in this post on her blog.

So, if you're in Edinburgh be sure to browse this wonderful treasure trove! And if you're looking for fair trade gifts, the One World Shop can be found in St John's Church alongside Henderson's at St Johns vegetarian cafe, which is an ideal place for lunch or coffee.