There's not too much you can say about a card shop is there really? Well, I'll try my best…read more I went into Cards Etc. last week simply because it was the first place I came to on Town Street that sold greetings cards. I needed something special for my father that said 'I really hope this card makes up for the fact that I'm too poor to buy you a proper gift' - and thankfully I found just the thing, as the selection is absolutely huge (it puts supermarkets to shame). You'll be glad to know the 'Etc' bit isn't false advertising either - they also sell wrapping paper, gift bags and erm...envelopes. Enjoy!

It happens more often than not to receive more than one of a particular card on your birthday. I…read moresuppose Clinton's card stores only have a few cards that can apply to each celebration and personality. Even if I don't have a set of matching cards on my birthday, when I line all of them up on my fireplace they all look pink, they all have a shoe or a handbag on and they say Happy birthday in a Gothic, swirly font. Therefore it is essential that shops like Card Etc are knocking around.This is a hint to my friends to pop in and get me a different card!! Card Etc is located in Horsforth and is easy to nip into to browse around their unique cards and wrapping. Clinton's and Birthday's cards can become a little repetitive and increasingly expensive, therefore browsing around Card Etc's individual collection is a welcomed changed. Many cards are hand-made and many are created by different designers from the artists larger companies use. This adds a much more personal feel to a gift card. If it's someone birthday coming up I would head here for a card with an individual and personal touch.Many of the designs are really creative and contemporary which is right up my street.

Lidgett hill stationers is situated within a small row of shops just approaching the main shopping…read morearea of Pudsey. Being only a small town I am sure that many make use of this handy stationers. It's always nicer to go indie than big chain, and there is a Cartridge World about 10 minutes or so away, but I would choose Lidgett Hill every time. Why? The extra mile an indie store will always go to for their customers, there's always the personal touch! It's got all the usual things that you would hope for in a stationers, hoards of pens and such, papers of all varieties, folders and office supplies - no stone unturned they've pretty much covered everything. However, as you'll notice by their notices, they do offer more than the things you might expect as well! Given our recent bout of snow, which did seem relentless, they have compiled a special collection of 'snow day activities' for the children stuck at home during the impossible snow days! I realise that it's a bit of cheeky marketing, but it was pretty cute and innovative! Essentially, these kits were made up of colouring books, crayons, puzzles and so on. Still, better than the idiot box, right? All in all, it's a ok with me!

Having visited many craft shops, I have to say, I wasn't sure what to make of Lidget Hill…read moreStationers. I think I've mentioned before what a fan on stationary I am. This place was a bit of a mixed bag. There are 2 aisles to the shop, (the divider dedicated to dated greetings cards), On the left, there is everything you'd expect from a stationers: pens, pencils, pads of paper, folders and display folders, pencil cases selotape etc. On the right of the counter , tucked in the corner is acryllics, sketch pads and paintbrushes. I have to be honest, and say that I thought their arts materials were pretty overpriced. The quality of the paint was a mid-range brand, but I felt they were asking for much more than it is worth, and indeed is priced in competing city centre shops and also student unions. They do have an interesting supply of goods though. They sell many different childrens colouring books, party bags, stamps, stickers of all sorts, and card making kits, but I did get a niggling feeling that perhaps the local community was not making the most of its stationers, but instead, opting for cheaper well-known establishments.

I came here to pick up a few bits for my sketchbook after hearing about it from a friend who's…read morepretty arty. I can't say I found anything completely inspiring or unusual but the basics of the kit you need were there. Brushes, Pencils, Card, Crafty bits and bobs....etc. The shop is reasonably priced and does have some nice quality materials.

Headingley don't have many arts and craft focussed shops around, but tucked up a back road,…read moreDisdale's is a resource for the artier of Headingley's residents. It is a traditional arts and crafts shops, selling quality materials in the way of fine paint brushes, drawing pencils of many kinds, quality paper meant for certain tasks etc. As I say in many other of my reviews, I prefer a more creative way of finding imaginative materials in unexpected places, rather than conforming to these sorts of traditional (overpriced) shops, but for what it is, it is a great thing to have in Headingley, away from the busy pub ridden road.

This lovely little shop is yet another gem in the crown of Horsforth. The sign says "Card" the shop…read morewindow says "gifts" and the open door leads one to a "chocolatiers". It may or it may not be confusing, but does any of that matter, since the effect is that you simply must venture inside. And you won't regret having done so, either, oh no. The instant that I wandered in my eyes were drawn to the stacks of old school sweeties and goodies that were piled upon the sweet laden shelving to the left of the entrance. Blackberries and rasberries (the little chewy ones), jazzies, jelly buttons, pink and white mice, black jacks, cola pips, lemon bon bons, jelly babies - and more than I could possibly list. Heavenly. And if that wasn't enough, they sell belgian chocolates too, as the lovely assistant was pleased to inform me! The chocolates come in a number of pre-packed varieties, from specially selected packs and best seller trays. Alternatively you can pick your own - 100g for £3.95 (I think) which amounts to about 7. 9 for £4.95 and there were also 12 and 24 selections, though I've forgotten how much those came to! I went for 9, I couldn't not buy some, and they were delicious. My favourites were the white chocolate pistachio ones and the little noisette. Yum! As for the cards selection, they have them all nicely arranged so that it's easy to find what you want, and they've a really nice set to choose from. The gifts are varied and thoughtful too, ranging from some deliciously scented fragrance candles, bath sets, quirky lamps, a range of really cool wine and beer glasses (decorated in glass paints with various phrases and such) and my favourite, the quirky mugs with curious sayings such as "Camp Coffee! Daddy likes it full." This strange mug had a picture of a little girl carrying an overfull mug of coffee, presumably for her father. I did not understand the joke, but it was certainly amusing! With clearly passionate owners, a fantastically tempting range of stock, and helpful friendly assistants you can't go wrong for gifts in this lovely store. I highly recommend!

Again the name of this shop is slightly misleading because this shop is an absolute hotchpotch of…read morenovelty gifts. If you are lacking inspiration for a gift then this shop should help you out loads. Immaculately ordered and neat shelves house large T-Rex size egg lamps, decorated martini glasses, bath bomb gift boxes, varied and interesting jewellery, pots by Terramund for storing and containing various things and somewhere inside are some cards.

Lovely little shop, reminds me of my school days when we would buy the 'forever friends' range…read morewhich was all the craze at the time! Lovely cards, even though a small shop still lots of choice.

Brilliant choice of cards and gifts, a very warm welcome from Alison too! Anything you can imagine…read moreshe will get for you! Personalises cards and gifts for you too! Little pricey on some thongs but regular customers do get slight discount! All round better than clintons or card factory as the quality is a lot higher

From my experience it seems as though Pudsey has two obvious options for choosing the perfect…read moregreetings card; one is the more discounted and standard option (Greetings) and the other is the more up market, specialist job. The latter being, Card Box. Literally comparing the two shop windows gives enough information, as to what to expect, to the more discerning shopper but that is what I am here for. I will clarify things. Card Box is a really cute, and really rather tiny, little card shop. Out the front they also sell a selection of fresh flowers which, whilst aren't quite special enough to challenge a florist's work, make the shop a bit of a winning challenger in the gift card shop stakes. They were lovely enough, decorated bunches with feathers for a finishing touch, and I certainly wouldn't have been disappointed to receive those for Valentine's day. (Albeit, I would have been happy with hand-wrenched dandelions considering how often I receive flowers...) All in all though, for the more specialist card shopping experience, I'd suggest you try here over Greetings of Pudsey. I found it to be altogether a bit more of a satisfying experience!

This stationers is conveniently located in Hyde Park, the student centre so now if any student…read morerequires a pen or post-it note they don't have to make the effort of dragging themselves to town or even the University. It must be new as I hadn't spotted it before and the inside seemed a little sparse. It would fulfill most peoples basic stationary needs with staplers, pens, paper and even pushes the boat out by offering sketch pads and what I think WH Smiths terms 'fashion stationary'. But its probably cheaper than Smiths.

Tammy's is just a beautiful little florist situated along the main shopping street of Horsforth…read more The difficulty with being a florist anywhere, let alone Leeds, is that there are so many to compete with. To some extent you can rely on local trade but to drum up customers, from further afield, I imagine is a pretty tricky thing. I thing that standing out from the crowd would be the first trick, and Tammy's is one that does this for sure. Not only do they sell all the usual suspects, beautiful pre-arranged bouquets and custom made, but they also sell some gorgeous potted plants. Not so unusual, I hear you say? Well, perhaps not but I haven't told you about the display yet! These aren't just your standard hyacinths stuffed into a plastic brown pot, oh no! You can get little wooden wheelbarrow arrangements, bright pink bowls and (my favourite) tea cup and saucer arrangements! They also had some really cool felt flower pot arrangements too. I was really impressed at how imaginative their window display was and can imagine that a gift of a potted wheelbarrow would be so much nicer than the plain alternative. For some thoughtful gifts Tammy's is worth travelling just a little bit further than the city centre!

I half expect a florist in this well-to-do part of town to be all £100 single lilies and artfully…read morestructured displays, but Tammy's is a traditional florists and all the better for it. You can buy one of the 'off the peg' colourful, seasonal bouquets that are on display, or get the helpful, smiley assistants to make one up to your own specifications. They also stock a variety of potted plants and shrubs that you can take home and plant, although it would be a lot cheaper to make a trip to your local garden centre. For flowers though, prices are about average - more than a garage forecourt, less than a designer florist - and not much to pay for the smile they'll bring to their recipient's face.