I like to get my creative on and I find Riot do have an excellent place to find pretty much any…read moreArts or Crafty thing that you might need... What can I tell you they have all the usual suspects - paints, cardboard, stamps, stickers, pencils, felt etc and the prices seem ok.... neither cheap but not ridiculously expensive... The only thing I don't like about the store is the layout - long rows of goods - that feel either inspiring or creative.... I don't know why, but that turns me off a bit... I appreciate good aesthetics and this store seriously misses the mark...

Great place, has everything you need! A lot cheaper than the other store in Westfield, staff are…read morefriendlier and they offer a good range of products

Excellent service with super friendly and knowledgeable staff. A large selection of art supplies at…read morereasonable prices and a generous rewards program. This my shop of choice for art supplies and advice. i highly recommend this strore

This is definitely my kind of arts and crafts store. Positioned across the street from Lincraft…read more(the generic, mega-chain of the art supply world), Erckrsley's provides style and quality that far surpass the competition. I was recently in the neighborhood looking for supplies to make my fascinator for Melbourne Cup. I was able to find my base materials at Lincraft, but was looking for some speciality origami paper to make paper cranes out of for the purpose of affixing to my fascinator. The Lincraft staff sent me across the way to Eckersley's and I was able to find exactly what I was looking for. Their individual paper selection here is incredible. Not cheap though, that's for sure. I think each individual paper sheet I chose was around $3 a piece. Eckersley's also has a great selection of painting supplies, brushes, canvasses, etc. This is a shop for the serious artist or the crafter who wants to ensure their hard work is accented by only the finest materials. I wouldn't personally be able to afford sourcing all materials for a project here, but it's definitely worth dropping a dime on crucial accent supplies. The staff is friendly, the store is well stocked and the quality is high.

Lots of books. There was a large amount of bilingual books although it was hard to findread more

After I was done with having lunch at The Galeries, I went upstairs to floor 2 to check this place…read moreout. They're a Japanese chain bookstore. I've been to their locations in Los Angeles, CA and Seattle, WA. My goodness, they had quite the extensive manga selection! Of course all of the super popular ones were available. If I had one of these bookstores closer to where I live, I would be giving them a lot of my money! Everything was so well organized, so everything was very easy to locate.

Basement Books is a dangerous place on many levels…read more Danger number one: It's in Central. It is right in Central. Central is a place you meet people, so you might say, meet you in central at 4pm and then you get there at 3.30pm and you have to wait. So what do you do? You go to Basement Books and peruse their countless books with bright yellow stickers advertising their low and affordable price. Danger number two: Because these books that you're perusing are cheap, you can justify the price even if you're not sure whether you even need the book. 'Oh, a history of Physics' I've always been interested in Physics, and it's only $9.95 I should probably buy this and learn about Physics. Danger number three: Their range is gigantic! I almost said 'ginormous', but that's not a word. What I meant was Hugantic! There are literally thousands upon thousands of books and they're always receiving new stock. They have art sections, computer sections, history, film, personal growth, science fiction, literature, even books like the dictionary, which, had I purchased a copy last I was in, would have saved me the embarrassment of using a non-word like 'ginormous'. So beware of Basement Books. You have been warned. The bookshop is in a great location, the titles are cheap and the range extraordinary. I have a pile of books in my room almost as tall as I am that I have yet to read, opportune purchases that came at me as I strolled amidst the aisles killing time. A book on deadly diseases for $4.95, I'm not going to find that bargain again. Buy! Buy! Buy!

In this day and age of Kindle and Kobo and Nook, a solid read (and I mean one that you can…read moreliterally hold and turn pages beneath your fingers) comes pretty cheap. You really do need to head in to see what they've got because I find their online catalogue lacking and sometimes the staff don't even know what they're stocking. The outside disguises how big this place really is, as it has sections for anything from classic fiction to travel books and bios. It has a pretty decent selection of art supplies as well (I'm no art student, but it does cater for scrapbooking hobbies or the amateur artist if you're after it). Right in the back corner they have a little children's section which I found perfect for my six year old sister who's going through her first reading phase. I bought her a collection of these tiny Winnie the Pooh classics, and a special anniversary edition of Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit and Friends stories which averaged around $4 and $12 respectively. They have tons of different hard cover books (some of which are pop up!) which were surprisingly cheap, but more importantly, were invaluable in keeping kids (of all ages) entertained for hours.

This was like an outdoor flea market and farmers market…read more It was lovely to check it out! My favorite vendor was the porcelain figures. They had a wonderful selection of beautifully hand painted miniatures! The market itself isn't too large. It took me about 30 minutes to view the whole thing and stop at vendors I wanted to see. There was a good selection of hand made goods, like totes, paintings and other goods. This is a wonderful spot to shop local!

From 10 am until 4 on weekends over a hundred artisans set up tables under large tents. It was…read morecrowded, we moved slowly admiring prints, photographs , jewelry, clothing, crafts , chocolates, fragrances, oils, paintings ... everything that says Sydney. The crafts were beautiful & expensive. Food vendors were preparing & selling ethnic foods such as paella, Egyptian, Turkish, Italian, Indian ..

They had a nice selection of papers but outlandish prices. I picked up similar quality at Dymocks…read morefor about 1/2 the price. The staff didn't even acknowledge our presence. There was a sign in the window announcing store closure in Feb. 2018, so check before you go.

I love stationery. Leather bound notebooks, journals of all shapes and sizes, felt tip pens,…read morepaperclips, cards, - you name it I love it and want it. It's been a fetish of mine since I was a kid and it's never gone away. If it's my addiction, then Paper2 is my dealer - this place is amazing. I can spend hours in this store and it's really not big enough for that but the range of cards and gifts on offer here is superb. There's an excellent collection of vintage style posters and cards which I can't get enough of at the moment. Stop in here for journals, notebooks, craft supplies, wrapping paper, globes... I could go on and on. The staff are lovely and helpful, which is no surprise I'd be super happy if I worked here too.

This place might be nothing special but for me it's quite something. I wouldn't buy lottery tickets…read moreso often but when I buy it at this place it is big possibility for me to win! Yey! So I try to come here to buy lottos occasionally. This newsagent is just in front of Town Hall Station entrance so you won't miss it. They have everything like cards, stationeries, small gifts, books, magazines and of course newspapers and many more.

This must be one of the busiest newsagents in Sydney. Situated in The Galeries Victoria just at the…read moreentrance to Town Hall Station, the Lucky Charm certainly lives up to its name as far as location is concerned! Your first mission will be seeing if you can break through the non-stop stream of commuters without hurting yourself (or someone else!). If successful, you'll then find yourself in a well-stocked, but rather humbly outfitted newsagency; one that will almost certainly have you desired magazine to hand. This isn't a store where you'll want to linger, browsing the stock or pondering over the perfect birthday card. No, this newsagency is more attuned to its customers: that non-stop stream of commuters....some of whom will pause for a split-second to pick up their morning paper.

Half of it's a bookshop and the other half is an art supply shop, then the third and final half of…read morethe shop is a studio and educational institution. It's one and a half shops really. With a wide selection of all the latest 'got to have' books from hot authors and less attractive ones, the right side of Art on King is dedicated to books on any subject, not just the artistic. Then, if you turn your body to the left in a kind of left turning movement, you'll see, if you haven't already, all of the art supplies. Paints, chalk, rulers, paper, cardboard, models, clay, plastercine, pencils, anatomical figurines and much more, all at reasonable prices and in great supply. I was surprised how cheap the acrylic paint is there, seeing as it can cost a pretty penny elsewhere. The store also holds art classes and acts as a studio in the upstairs area. Home to various lessons in life drawing, specialised arts and the like. The go to place in Newtown for art, books and art based education.

I wish I could paint, unfortunately my artistic abilities tend not to lean in that direction, I am…read morebetter with words than I am with brushes, so rarely would my have any need to enter an art supplies shop, however Art on King shares its space with adjoining shop Modern Times, so while I was there I decided to have a wander. Art on King have all your Art and stationary needs from paints, brushes, pens (what an artist would expect). They also have an extensive range of beautiful large sheets of paper, from delicate embossed papers to Nepalese paper. Also as I am seeing more often, they have a unique range of wrapping paper which would be much better suited as a wall hanging than wrapped around a box, particular note should be made of the human skeletal diagram paper and mushroom paper.

One of Sydney's newest art spaces. Sew Make Create has been around for almost a couple of months…read morenow. The owner, top Sydney designer Melissa Tan-Lu and Sew Make Create's resident dog Pepper are just adorable. The whole shop is quite funky :) I was fortunate to have been invited (through another blog) to experience their beginners crochet course with Bronwen. I arrived on a Wednesday night at 7pm a little tired yet eager as anything to learn, and learn heaps. My manual dexterity skills deflated me for a while, yet I was amazed with the crochet stitch and getting into a granny square so soon with confidence. The class sizes are rather small which is great. Lindt chocolate balls were provided with water as stunning refreshments, as well as biscuits and tea. This course is also available on selected weekends. Sew Make Create also run a variety of other craft courses. After the beginners crochet course, if you wish to take things further, then the crochet clinic is for you. Instead of yarn, turn that yarn into 'plarn' with a plastic bag crochet course. Sew Make Create is a dynamic arts space that also rents out sewing machines, and hence provides ample working space to design some pretty clothes. Sew Make Create also sell sewing machines and craft supplies. Sew Make Create (from the request of many parents) have put together a fantastic course schedule for the kids school holidays coming up, as at the time of writing this. Beginners crochet is also covered, and kids can also learn cupcake decorating and also learn how to make these adorable felt brooches. Located in Chippendale right near the Broadway Shopping Centre. If you're curious (in more detail) as to how my beginners crochet experience went recently, then follow this link: http://www.weekendnotes.com/crochet-for-beginners-sew-make-create/ For more information on the various courses put on especially for kids these school holidays, then follow this link: http://www.weekendnotes.com/crafty-school-holiday-activities-sew-make-create/ With many initiatives to ensuring that Sydney is an arts and crafts focused city, when is now a better time to learn a new craft? Go on, unleash the craft master within!

From the owner: Sew Make Create aims to encourage learning and creativity through providing the right environment,…read moreassistance and facilities