First of all, this place has a really good website as well as a good shop so if, for some reason,…read moreyou can't find what you are looking for, definitely do go home and try to find it online. The site is really easy to navigate. The staff in the shop, to get back into the thing that I am actually meant to be reviewing, are lovely. They all seem to be quite passionate about art and crafts, though I realise that that seems to be an odd statement. They all seem to enjoy art and crafts greatly is perhaps better? The prices are really good and the range is just fantastic so you're almost certain to find what you need. I did, as it happens but the staff are so good that I'm sure they wouldn't mind helping you out if you were missing something,

Now I'm not at all a crafty individual, however I can't deny that this shop even touches an…read moreartistic part of my soul. They have a massive selection of craft items such as ribbons, lace, stickers, stamps, and the most beautiful, delicate paper. The staff here are friendly, and even better are willing to offer advice on how to create specific items using these products. In particular I'd recommend this place for those of you who are clever (and frugal) enough to make your own cards.

Good selection of items, always find what I'm looking for. Staff nice and helpful. Can get single…read moreitems when needed and not have to buy in bulk.

Crafty Sew and Sew has the dubious pleasure of being located directly next to the ultra pink adult…read moreshop Passion Online at the Newport Road end of City Road. Whilst this business has opted to carry a cheeky little name that may occasionally raise an eyebrow or two, they have definitely been upstaged, in the controversy stakes, by their immediate neighbours! In many other ways this is the ideal location for this old-style craft shop. It is surrounded by fabric stores, many of which are within a minutes walk from Crafty Sew and Sew, and with companies like Calico selling sewing machines, and Butterfly Fabrics carrying some fabulous materials, as well as some really large fabric stores with phenomenally extensive stock ranges like Fusion, Crafty Sew and Sew couldn't be in better company. All of these businesses support the fundamental drive behind Crafty Sew and Sew, offering patrons of the shop plentiful choice where fabrics are concerned. Crafty Sew and Sew offer a good range of craft items and ready-to-make kits of all descriptions. A visit to the shop is an inspiring experience, and the people that work there are only willing to help. If you are looking to take up a hobby, but are not sure of which direction to go in, I advise a trip to this little Pandora's Box of delights. The advice you will get will be invaluable, and the choices available are impressive, and cater to everyone's budgets.

Great staff - when they know something, they really know it, and even better - when they don't,…read morethey admit it! It's so refreshing to talk to salesmen that treat you like a human being, and that act like human beings themselves. I never feel like I'm being ridiculous when I ask about strange art supplies, even when I probably am, and whilst it's not always possible to fill those odd requests, I never feel stupid for making them. The selection on offer is enormous and wide-ranging, and pretty good for it's cost - I never feel like I'm being sold the cheap stuff at bargain prices, it's all at a quality that matches the asking price.

A good place to go for all your basic stationary needs. They sell your usual pens, envelopes,…read morepaper, diaries, rubbers etc... Be warned though, most of the items here are pretty basic, if you fancy a cute, or quirky notebook, I'd recommend heading over to Paperchase instead. Another thing to watch out for is that this store can be a bit pricey in comparison to places like Staples, and your local supermarket. Where Pen and Paper excels however, is in its art materials. If you're studying art in school, University, or even if you're a professional, this is definitely the place to go. The supplies are all of the best quality, and what's more the staff really know their product, and can advise you on what would suit your particular need (which you really wouldn't get at the large chain stores). Perhaps a little randomly, Pen and Paper also has a fantastic selection of jigsaws! Now personally I'm not particularly in to jigsaws, but if they are your thing, you'll just love this store!

This is quite simply the best Welsh gift shop I have ever been in. They have a huge selection of…read morewelsh gifts available including postcards, love spoons, miners lamps, silver spoons, thimbles, t-shirts, t-towels, magnets, welsh jewellery, sweets, fudge, whiskey, soft toys, coal carvings, watches, baby clothes, toys and so much more. They are right opposite Cardiff castle gates which puts them in a prime spot for visiting tourists. I wanted to find my friend a gift he would really like for his birthday and I wanted to get something useful. He's really patriotic and loves the welsh dragon design so I popped into the store to see what I could find. They staff were really, really helpful and were able to reel off a list of items they stocked that have the welsh dragon on them. After being shown numerous items the assistant showed me a pair of welsh dragon cufflinks which were perfect. They cost less than £20 which was what I told them my budget was and my friend was over the moon with them. If you need a gift for someone and you want it to be welsh then this is the best place to come

Bottom Line: The best place I discovered in Wales with the largest inventory of Welsh gifts,…read moresouvenirs, and hand-crafted art. It is also the home of the World's Largest Handcarved Welsh Lovespoon. Extremely friendly and helpful staff. Highly recommended!

Knitting is sexy, did you get the memo? I did. I got it the first time round when I was living in…read moreLondon and the V&A were holding knitting-related parties. I bought Stitch & Bitch and got some needles and red wool and tried to knit. I was rubbish. You Tube didn't exist in my world back then. In the last year, thanks to You Tube video lessons and some real knitters I can knit. Not brilliantly. Not fast. But I'm on my way. Knitting is cool for the second time. Just google Yarnachy Swansea if you don't believe me. All ubercool knitwits need to buy, beg, borrow or steal wool. Charity shops are good for getting odd balls for stripy things but for bigger projects you need to head to a specialist shop. The Wool Pack can help you, they sell a myriad of wool types as well as patterns, needles and other useful knitting get up. Get sexy, learn to knit.

The Beads Nest is a lovely little bead shop occupying a prominent position in the Wellfield Court…read moreArcade. It is a small business run with loving care by the owner / manager, Vivienne Whitty, who is eminently knowledgeable, and ever enthusiastic. There's a great range of beads in the shop, with everything from dolly mixture sweet beads to Venetian and Czech glass, as well as a good range of findings and other jewellery making supplies. But you will find an even bigger collection on the easily navigated website, where you can also buy on-line. Nevertheless, I recommend a visit to the shop. It's in a pretty little mall with a great café, and the assistance you'll get from Vivienne will be invaluable.

Despite being rather on the small side, this shop contains a rather lovely selection of beads…read more The Beads Nest provides all the essentials for jewellery making along with a diverse range of beads of all different sizes, colours and styles, as well as strings of beads and a few ready-made pieces. It's not quite the treasure trove that Clare Grove Buttons is, but there is still plenty to choose from, and a lot of the stock is different so it's worth looking in both stores. As with most shops of this kind, there is plenty of assistance available, and The Beads Nest is rarely busy. Personally, I prefer the bigger bead stores in the city centre, but for anyone who makes a lot of jewellery, this shop is handy for grabbing the essentials, and there's always the possibility of finding something here that you wont get in town.

This is the place where the hole from the polo mint ends up…read more Recreate is an Aladdin's cave of scrap, stuffed full of things that sparkle and crackle, plus cheap as chips arts and crafts stuff to boot. With boxes and boxes of industry offcuts from see-through acrylic sheets to extra long cardboard tubes. The Recreate motto is "Reduce, re-use, recycle" and that's just what I did on a recent visit, purchasing a carrier bag full of soft drink 'can pulls' aka 'dragon scales' for a quid. Recreate also offers a hire service, equipment includes a badge making machine, giant Jenga, parachutes, a smoke machine and more. You will need to become a member to hire equipment but it only costs a quid for schools or individuals. Recreate is great for Wombles and those in search of material for an art project. Fill up a colourful customised trolly and pay with a pocketful of change. Just watch out if you're a magpie and leave plenty of time for scavenging and thinking up weird and wonderful uses for the odds and sods you'll find. Top tip: Sign up for the Recreate online newsletter and get alerted when the latest 'goodies' come in. Open Monday, Tuesday & Thursday 10am - 5pm, Wednesday 10am - 5pm, Friday & Saturday 10am - 4pm

I word of recommendation about going in to Hobbycraft. Please don't go in if you don't know what…read moreyou want to buy beforehand. You need a plan of attack. Head straight to the help desk and then to where they send you with blinkers on. Hobbycraft is a massive warehouse of, well, everything that you could possibly need to any hobby ever. Their problem is certainly not being able to supply us with our needs, but rather, they over supply. You stand in the middle of this store and want to scream: Argh! I know I should be using all these creativity to make something, but I don't know what! It's all on overload. That being said, I know people who live in these stores. And yes, their houses are full to bursting with ribbons and gibbons and squibbons and such, but they're always prepared and kinda nifty with a needle. So, in short. Get in. Get out. Or pay the price. Dun dun duuun.

So this Hobbycraft gives you two floors of everything arty you can think of from standard drawing…read morematerials, to specialist model making materials, framing equipment, soft furnishing stuff and lots, lots more. It is a bit of a maze and they really don't make it easy for you to navigate this store. Apart from one sign by the stairs, they is no signage through the shop and that really annoys me. They obviously want to tempt you to buy other stuff but its so frustrating when your just after something specific. I spend a good 5 minutes walking around the upstairs with no sign of any staff members to help guide me. Eventually I found the section I was after but I was disappointed by how expensive everything was. I took myself to the checkout to pay and the checkout staff were busy chatting so I was barely acknowledged. Good selection but i'd rather get what I need online for cheaper.

Where on earth can you get fireworks out of season? Here of course at the Four Seasons. There are…read morealso outfits galore "over 4000" according to their website. These include halloween costumes, kids fancy dress, masks, funky accessories, jokes, wigs, hen party paraphernalia and giggleables, scary stuff, sexy stuff...oh and they also sell cards for all occasions. Not the friendliest of staff, but then they're perhaps too used to dealing with virtual sales I suspect (the majority of their sales are online), however their huge selection of costumes for every occasion well makes up for this. Four Seasons are always adding on weird and wonderful extras to their store, they used to also sell fresh flowers and they are soon to be offering military-ware where the flowers used to be (rather like tarmacking paradise I fancy). The outfits are not cheap, but they are reasonable. The slightly incongruous rack of cards however, contain not the most attractive or modern cards you've ever seen, but very cheap ones. Bargain.

I will admit, the window display left me a bit underwhelmed, but once inside, you'll find pretty…read moremuch anything you need to create the fancy dress outfit of your choice. Four Seasons stocks everything from kids' party favours and fireworks to postcards and helium balloons, establishing itself as a party superstore that may even be the largest of its kind in Cardiff. They also carry some of the widest range of military fatigues I've seen, perfect for paintball excursions, hunting, or hen nights out. The store set-up reminded me a bit of a pound shop, with its dim lighting and cheap shelving units, but the wide selection of stock more than makes up for the lack of atmosphere. And yes, I know it's an overblown-useless-American holiday, but nevertheless, I was excited to see a range of Halloween items on display for those festive souls who buy into the enjoyable consumerism. I know I do.

Like Caban, in the Pontcanna / Canton area, at the other side of town, Paperweight stocks a broad…read moreselection of Welsh greetings cards to compliment the ranges that are in English. And it's not just about endearing themselves to the locals by pandering to a whim. There is a very serious demand for goods written in the Welsh language, ranging from books, magazines, cards and instruction manuals etc... The Welsh are determined to keep their language alive no matter what, and the growth rate that it's experienced since consciously deciding to preserve it has mushroomed. I am half Scottish, and have often heard people bemoan that Scottish culture is being diluted because the native tongue is in decline. But there's not such a clear intention up there to preserve it. In Wales there is no doubt! Everywhere you go you see evidence of the Welsh being fiercely patriotic; every shop, every pub and public place, and of course, within people's homes... and there's a lot to be proud of... the Welsh do things pretty well. I have respect for this, but what really makes me love the Welsh is their warmth and sense of community. Maintaining the language, very probably, is helping to keep communities together. Paperweight also stock wrapping paper and tags, stationary, and a small selection of funky gift ideas for the home, as well as accessories like key fobs etc...

A card store which has a nice variety of generic cards available. However they absolutely excel on…read moretheir selection of Welsh language cards. The variety is without a doubt impressive, and I guarantee that any Welsh speaker (or perhaps non Welsh speaker) will be truly satisfied, especially when it comes to the age specific cards. They also stock wrapping paper and gift bags, though not enough for my liking. I do love the small and large dishes available to purchase, which are covered in pictures of either; popcorn, marshmallows, smarties, or strawberries. These are very good value for money and I know for a fact that Urban Outfitters sells them at a far dearer price.