Retail therapy: Chelsea craftwork

THIS year's Chelsea Crafts Fair, at the Old Town Hall, King's Road, London SW3, has more exhibitors than ever. This is its second (and last) week, but as the exhibitors change halfway through, there are 100 stands today that were not there last weekend.

Among the first week's exhibitors, three stood out. Amanda Brisbane's handmade aquatic glass sculptures are the result of a special commission by a Caribbean cruise line: the pieces are mostly blue/green, made according to her own glass-making process and coloured at source. Prices are from about pounds 3.50 for small shells (ideal as paper weights) to pounds 65 for seahorses and pounds 115- pounds 360 for tropical fish. Amanda Brisbane is on 0584 876975.

Clara Vichi collects old manuscripts, and she uses their lettering as decoration for her oxidised silver jewellery: earrings, brooches and pendants. Although she has little time to accept commissions, you might be able to persuade her to preserve a fragment from a treasured letter. Approximate prices: earrings, pounds 18; brooches, pounds 70- pounds 100 (silver and brass); large pendant, pounds 145; rings, pounds 59; pretty tin boxes, pounds 1.50 small, pounds 2.50 medium, pounds 3.50 large. Clara Vichi is on 071-357 7957.

You could do yourself serious damage if you try and bite a chunk out of a porcelain Golden Delicious apple. These still-life portraits in clay by Penkridge Ceramics are the nearest possible to the real thing. More than 60 decorative fruits and vegetables are made, ranging from the exotic to the home-grown. For stockists, ring 0785 714943.