Last Day at the West End Fair

That's it over for another year. All I can say tonight is ...phew. Six o'clock came, the church bells chimed the hour, and we started to pack up. Cue rain.
Some of the exhibitors opted to pack up their stand, leave everything in the overnight store to be collected tomorrow and head home.
We and some others, did what we always do, brave the traffic and unfriendly police, trundle everything up the steps to street level and load the van as quickly as possible to avoid being clamped.
Anyway it all went relatively smoothly and we headed home via the fish and chip shop.
The last day was good sales wise. The rain stayed off until the fair was closed and there was a generally a good buzz.
Tomorrow is time enough to unpack and take stock of the last three weeks. We are slightly up financially on last year which is a blessing in this economic climate, so we're tired but happy.
Bob is away to bed complaining of sore calf muscles, but that is probably more because of lack of use while he was sitting behind the stand all day.
A good couple of days' hillwalking which he has planned as a mini break for himself will sort him out.
I did take the camera but I apologise to the viewers (and the crafters) about the quality of the pictures. They really don't do the work justice. And I only scratched the surface - there were many many more crafts on display.

First up is the wonderful selection of buttons made by Fran Harkes. The link to her website is on the right. Have a look.

She also makes one off jackets with very individual embroidery and applique as well as the selection of embroidered cuffs below.

Quite near to Fran's corner was Bright Sparks - beautiful hand knitted children's clothes in lovely ice cream or bright shades.

It wouldn't be the Edinburgh Fringe without some tartan and this was one of Jem's tartan kilt bags. Janice makes classic clothes for all ages in tartans and Harris tweed, and is having a very busy summer with orders from the Homecoming Clan Gathering a few weeks ago.

A change from textiles, you can smell this stand before you see it. Pure Juniper Ltd make mats and coasters from aromatic juniper wood in beautiful natural colours and the scent is wonderful.

Back to knitting, this is the work of Liz Ingram a friend and fellow Fifer. She works with Scottish themes in her machine knitted garments popular with foreign visitors.

Back at the beginning of the fair I bought a lovely little mobile phone sock with a thistle motif on it as a keepsake for Laura to take on her travels and remind her of her roots.
I have to say Liz, it went down very well and is now somewhere in the Amazon jungle.

The last picture is an example of the tiny tiles made by Sea Holly Ceramics. Here they are inserted in a large piece of driftwood as an unusual coat rack, but the tiles can be purchased separately.

I wish I'd got more photos of the stands - jewellery in all forms, paintings, prints, photography, wood turning, handbags, embroidery, weaving........so much more. Have a look at the West End Fair website ( link at the top) to see many more images and links.

I've digested my fish and chips, enjoyed a glass of red wine and I'm off to bed now. Busy day tomorrow ( when is it not?) unpacking and sorting out.