LOVE THIS PLACE! The people who work at Lotus Beads are wonderful!! The service and ambiance make…read moreit the right place to have a class and relax. You can easily spend an hour at Lotus looking through The selection of beads, jewelry, stones and other beautiful items. The beads are high quality and the value and pricing of the beads won't break the bank! Lotus Beads is my happy place! I definitely recommend that you stop by and peruse this beautiful space!

I love to craft! I like making bracelets, anklets and footless sandals. Lotus has ton of beads,…read morecharms and jewelry making supplies. I mostly like working with glass beads but they have a bit of everything. When you walk in you grab a little basket, it has little baggies & a marker to write the prices as you shop. The staff are usually helpful and good at answering questions. They do have a free rewards program you can sign up for which is nice if you plan on buying a lot or shopping there often.

Wowee zowee, I haven't been in a fine art store this extensive and specialized since I was…read moreliterally in college taking fine art courses and had to buy supplies from the campus store. I came here because I needed a replacement Micron 005 pen, which is a favorite among artists. I'd checked online and saw they carried them (as did Michael's, but I'm looking to vote with my dollars and spend more appropriately), but elsewise wasn't sure what to expect on my visit. I was pleasantly surprised and I am certain I will be back in the future for projects I have planned. There's stuff here that you just won't find at any big box craft store. That said, this store caters primarily to painters and drawers. This isn't a store to get kid's art supplies; it's a place for adult artists to shop. Canvases (reasonably priced) in a multitude of dimensions (some taller than I am), a staggering assortment of oil paints, paint pens, acrylic leather paint (designed to flex), a massive number of Copics, pastels/charcoal/conte crayon, Sculpey, watercolor supplies including Arches large format single sheets, huge selection of high quality spray paints, canvas sold by the yard on rollers, resin making supplies (including face masks/goggles), gloss glazes for your ceramic firing projects, mechanical pencil leads in every gauge and hardness you could desire, journals/sketchbooks, storage and easels, impulse items like stickers/greeting cards/candy towards the registers, a massive custom framing counter and a canvas stretching counter as well. The employees were all friendly and eager to help. I got asked while I was browsing if I needed any help finding anything. (I did actually need help finding the Microns but my goofy butt auto responded I was just having fun looking... which I was, but LOL I could've also used the help. I'm just so used to turning down assistance.) There's bathrooms in the back if you have need. They are gender neutral, hooray! Nothing fancy, but all functional and clean enough. The surface parking lot is a bit small (and many of the spaces are 30 minute maximum), but there's also plenty of garages nearby as well. It was pretty busy when I was there on a Friday afternoon!

The store has plenty for artists from every walk of life but there is one big issue. This review is…read morewritten from the perspective of an older disabled adult. Little thought was given to the consequences of crowding the aisles with product displays making the store difficult for someone with mobility challenges. I dropped a few brushes (which I did buy) and because it is difficult for me to bend that far I cried out for help several times using my announcer voice. Everyone in the store would have to hear this unless they were wearing headphones. No one responded. After waiting a bit I struggled to get the items off the ground. Finally someone came but it was too late. She stood directly in front of me preventing me from reaching the register. People in general have no awareness of disability. The employee who rang me up obviously didn't know how to have a short friendly chat. It made me feel unwelcome, as if I were disturbing her somehow. I have a long retail history and can't imagine why someone would treat a customer that way. It's unfriendly. She was capable of the simplest basics of operating a register. Unkind. Luckily I don't need to visit often.

I order from this store online all the time. I live 9 hours away so when I found out I was coming…read morethrough town, I of course wanted to finally visit in person. Unfortunately, it wasn't that great of a time. :( All beads and supplies are behind the counter. It's awkward just standing there waiting for help. When I was finally helped by the woman working.. I realized she was kinda rude. If you are going to have beads behind the counter then you should expect to be helping people! The employees also seemed like they were bickering and it was uncomfortable to just stand there. It's not worth visiting in person.. I think just stick to ordering online if you can.

I regularly shop here for a few hard to find goods. I have found the staff to always be kind and…read morehelpful. They have a nice assortment of food items, art and various crafts that would make great gifts. This is a place I love to take people if they are visiting the cities.

I've passed this Patina so many times traveling through St. Paul. I've have wanted to check it but…read moreparking is extremely difficult in this ever busy area. We were finally able to get around to checking it out & I LOVE that when you walk in it's so bright and colorful with a plethora of items. Makes me so happy. This location is 2 floors of shopping. We didn't get down to the basement but the main floor had enough going on for me. If you never been to Patina, they sell home decor, gifts and such. The store is pretty randomly organized but in a cool look at everything way. Like you can be looking at display that's different pink items, or Mn themed or food themed. It is on the expensive side but overall good quality stuff.

I have lived in the Twin Cities since 2000, and loved loved Patina when it opened. Their buyers…read morehave been excellent in their selection of highly creative, wonderfully and uniquely patterned-colored-textured-designed products. Just walking in was an exhilarating experience. The last six years we have spent more time in Florida and I had not been in a Patina store all that time. Yes, it is beautiful colorful fun and everything is displayed so perfectly. But the price points have SOARED and the uniqueness/quirkiness/extra special FUN has dropped considerably. The cards are lovely but not outstanding. Text is minimal. The entire store is more monochromatic in terms of product designs/ concepts/unique creativity. The buyers are good but not excitingly wonderful anymore. There was no service at the St Paul Highland store. A tall gentleman was aloof, just "there" to check out... Sad.

The glorious purveyor of the ever so prominent Labubu craze. They are a great addition to the mall…read more Fun little plushies or figures that are very cute.

I LOVE blind boxes so this is basically my kind of gambling! Lol…read more I love that they have displays so you can see the details of the different options of the figures. I've been wanting a legit Labubu forever, even though the hype is down now I still wanted on. I figured everything would be picked over as I went the Monday after black Friday. At first glance the Labubu version I wanted was empty but as I shopped around a worker restocked them and I was able to grab one. There's a ton of other figures I would like to collect but my poor wallet can't fund it at the moment. I ended up getting 2 free blind boxes as they extended the black Friday offer which was a nice treat. The staff at check out were really nice & patient. They have a loyalty program that's quick and easy to join.

Probably the best store in the MSP area. Their seed bead variety is amazing, and they have…read morehard-to-find Swarovsky crystals. Good choice of semi-precious and handmade glass beads as well. Prices range from expensive to very reasonable. Plenty of cheap plastic beads for children, stringing supplies, and accessories. Good amount of loose beads and finished jewelry too. Two ladies working there were super nice and helpful.

It's 3x more expensive then stormcloud and northland visions. Last time I went in with my partner…read morethe employee literally ran over to us and wouldn't stop watching us and following us around. Then her and another worker were being rude to an older native guy and he was telling them that every time he goes in he's getting racially profiled. Then when the man left, me and my partner were standing at the counter and the two employees proceed to shit talk the guy and whisper about accusing him of stealing or that his complaints for being racially profiled were invalid. Right in front of us. Really weird. Wouldn't go back.

Sad this was the only place I got to go on my vacation. Got some cool yarn but when I asked the…read moreowner if she had any local made yarn she said there is no yarn manufactured in the US... after that I just played stupid and nice and bought my yarn and left.

The owner and her cronies were loudly gossiping about how they were "keeping an eye on the woman in…read morethe grey hoodie who always comes in and steals yarn." I realized they were talking about my son's partner, who was wearing a grey hoodie, had simply been waiting while I shopped, had never been in the store before, and absolutely did not steal anything. Their racist assumptions and casual accusations were appalling, and they have permanently lost my business.

I always find some very cute gifts at Paper Source, but they can be a bit pricey. They also don't…read morecarry the kind of planners I like (I still use physical planners!) but they do offer a staggering assortment of nice journals, lined and unlined (and they carry Moleskine notebooks). I like to look through the clearance sections as I'll often find a treasure or two...on one visit I bought a unique set of Art Deco-themed blank cards (seemingly the last one available and still not cheap at $10).

There's two entrances, they have a main door and one more in the "alley". They have a nice array of…read moremixture between paper crafts, miscellaneous gifts and seasonal items. They also have a clearance section for various items too. We were greeted kindly at the beginning and checked in again later on which is always nice. The pricing can be a little higher then expected for some items but overall it's nice place to pop in and you might find something fun to take home or gift!