This lovely old-style arts shop is one of my favourite in Bristol. Cheap, cheerful and stocked to…read morethe brim with useful arty essentials. It reminds me of when I studied at Art College - smell of acrylics, hard to manoeuvre around and filled with brushes, paints and canvases. The staff are very warm and welcoming, so if there's something specific you're looking for - they'll be happy to help. Quite far from the city centre, but great for locals to Gloucester Road.

Great little art supply shop best visited for their canvas which is always on offer and with plenty…read moreof choice on sizes and styles. The shop is in that lovely higgledy piggledy style that all art shops should have, and packed with ll the pens, pencils and paints you need.

Southville is such a great little area in Bristol and it just got better! Recent addition Paper…read moreVillage is a gem for everyone. Its appeal to crafters is obvious but it also offers so much more than your average shop. get making with courses of all kinds such as t-shirt design and sewing, interesting items for sale including little fun things for all the family. Owner Vic is very helpful and brightens up your day as much as the shimmer and sparkle that can be found in this aladdins cave!

dj fak says this a fab shop and a lovely experience. you will will leave with a smile on your face.read more

Are you arty or crafty? Are you into beads or jewellery or embroidery threads or frames or paints…read moreor glitter or ribbons or lace? Then at Creativity you'll be in good company. Creativity is an independent art and craft supplies shop, and they stock everything in their tiny shop, all of the above and much much more. Anything you can't find you'll probably be able to order from their website.

Creativity is an art supply shop just off Whiteladies Road. It's got things like beads and cloth in…read moreabundance. As well as plastic stuff they've got some more exotic bits and pieces, including semi-precious stones and crystals. A good place to get a bit of alternative or DIY jewellery. An absolutely essential for for my friend that's into costume design. They've got an extensive supply of textiles and ribbons, as well as everything you'd ever need to do with knitting and needle work. Cards and stamps are the other thing they mainly do. If, like my mum, you like to make your own cards, this is a great place to come. Somewhere for the enthusiast this does its various little niches in a lot of detail.

Since I was a teenager I have loved the Paperchase chain. Their quirky stationary, their…read morebeautifully designed wrapping paper and their comical cards makes them my number one choice when it comes to birthday, Christmases and Bar mitzvahs. But what I love most about the Clifton branch is how they go to town on their window displays. Situated on the edge of Clifton Triangle, their fairy lights and neon signs shine out from the sea of bland and beige. Paperchase have stayed true to their vision of offering top-end design at a high street price which is why this small shop is always packed to the rafters whenever I go in.

After the demise of Boarders the place to buy Paperchase products narrowed to just House of Fraser…read moreuntil this dedicated store opened up on the Triangle, just a few doors down from where Boarders used to be. I'm a sucker for stationary anyway but Paperchase makes the experience of buying birthday cards or wrapping paper way more fun. The choice of cards and paper in this store is huge - way bigger than in a department store concession, although it can be a little on the pricey side. Having said that, if you like something like a diary or notepad it is worth waiting a few weeks as the sales here are fantastic, with products often being reduced by more than 50%. The travel journals and notebooks are a particularly nice way of showcasing a trip or holiday, though these are not often in the sale.

You might have seen the warehouse next to the organic supermarket in St Werburgh's and wondered…read morewhat it was. Behind the doors is a fiesta of paper and fur fabric and bright bits of card. A scrap warehouse charity where people donate all sorts of bits and bobs of craft resources for local schools and youth groups to utilise. You need to sign up for a membership card to shop at Artrageous, but if you have an NUS card you can sign up. Pick up some bargains - perfect for theatre groups, art projects or even a fancy dress party! Despite not being a student, I recently helped out at a local festival, so was allowed to buy some resourses from the warehouse. It is a gigantic treasure trove of foam, plastic pots, tubes and tubs, netting, fabric, books, CDs and a whole load of oddities. I even discovered a job lot of fake Christmas trees and fake fur jackets somewhere in the depths of the place! The suggested donation for a trolley of scrap is only £13.25 - that can get you a whole lot of fun. The best thing about this colourful wonderland is that all profits from Artrageous go back to the children's charity.

There's a little corner in St Werburghs where there's a higher than normal level of wholesome…read morenutritious energy buzzing out the foundations. Downstairs is the Organic Supermarket bashing out more than enough delicious and healthy meals and food stuffs (check out previous Yelpers' reviews). Upstairs is this place, an outrageously extravagant art store. The by-line is 'art and crafts for all' and this is a claim easily reached. Once inside expect to find all the materials that you would actually use if you were an artist or craftsman. That is to say, don't expect the cellophane wrapped tools and items from a high street store - but rather the raw materials in the basic form. Big tubs of PVA glue, blank masks for painting, wire framed sculpture sets and big packets of clay and modelling putty are a few examples. Face paints, colourful chalk and internal mechanisms for various models are on hand for the serious artist. For those a little less keen there's a good kids section for musical instruments, bouncing balls and finger puppets. With a big car park and an adjoining scrap store this is a perfect one stop for all your creative and artistic needs.

Dutty is an interesting new(ish) shop on Cheltenham Road. Its primarily a clothing shop and aims to…read moremix art, music and fashion, with ranges of exclusive handmade garments, hand-printed T-shirts and hoodies. They also stock a good selection of spray paints. The fashion is a little 'out there' but if you are looking for something a bit different and unique then Dutty is definitely worth a visit. The shop currently lists over 25 local designers, so if you are interested in getting some of your designs sold then get in contact with the owners. The owners (who I am guessing were art students) were pretty knowledgeable when we visited to get some spray paint. They sold a can for roughly £4 which isn't bad.

This shop always looks closed! It might be the abundance of stickers and drawings on the windows…read moreand the fact that the door is always closed, but the next time you walk by, make sure you check the sign on the door (they are mostly open most of the time!) and head on in. I really love their stock in here; they sell vintage clothes, reworked vintage, and local designer duds, and boy are they good. Prices are really affordable too; especially if they are having sales! They have a great selection of jewelery, half of what's there is handmade by the owner sitting in the store, behind the counter with a sewing machine in front of her, working on clothes and other bits throughout the day. They stock graffiti markers and spray paints too. A lovely, lovely shop that's awesome.

Looks a bit like a yellow mess sat there on North street, in actual fact sells everything you've…read moreever needed and some things you haven't. By definition it's a hardware store, they describe themselves as selling 'all those thingummy bobs and what-you-ma-call-its' like brooms, cloths, screws, paint, brushes, bolts, polish, pet food etc, etc. Their DIY section including quality branded tools and ironmongery is second to none, with prices that surpass B&Q and knowledgeable staff to go with it. A good combo. Despite it's very traditional appeal and seemingly like it's stuck firmly in the 1970s (Open All Hours, anyone?) it's also a good place to get fireworks all year around (should you need them).

As you'd know if you read an earlier review of mine you could tell i'm a massive fan of shops like…read morethis. This one is especially brilliant because it feels like it's going to implode at any moment. I went in the other day and they had two people working in the shop and there were just 3 customers inside (me included) and I asked the chap inside if he had any Yellow electrical tape (at this point in my life I needed about 30 roles of the stuff! ... don't ask!). So there was this brilliant choreography as the 5 of us in the shop moved around each other to let the guy look for the electrical tape, it was crazy, messy, unmanigable, unthinkable, but boy, oh boy was it a joy to behold! Unfortunatley he wasn't able to find any electrical tape, but I was so pleased to have discovered this gem of a shop, I ended up buying a really thick bristled broom. Maybe I felt like I needed to offer some sort of thanks to the effort he had gone to in order to move around his shop to find an obscene amount of yellow electrical tape, or maybe I just needed a thick bristled broom...