What a gorgeous store! Such a beautiful collection of different locally sourced handmade items…read more Definitely worth a drive to Pelham.

From the owner: We make handmade plantable stationery and illustrated gifts. Our products are available online, at…read moreover 1,500 retail locations worldwide, and for wholesale purchasing to approved buyers.

One of the things that makes Northampton, well, Northampton, is Essentials. I started shopping at…read moreEssentials almost twenty years ago, and it's been a staple of my quirky life ever since. It's changed hands twice in my awareness, and just keeps getting better and better with age. This is a design-focused, design-heavy shop, and there are things I can pretty much only get AT Essentials; for instance, they've got a cut-to-custom-length ribbon bar, and some of that ribbon is vintage, and my absolute favorite is the hand-dyed silk. Also, they've got the best collection of Tintin and other European character favorites (like Barbapapa and Babar) this side of the pond. Oh, and the staff is wonderful. Knowledgable, friendly, thoughtful, and creative. Over the years, the cast of characters has changed, but it's always top-shelf. One giant boon: they've helped me put together a gift in no time, saving my bacon on numerous occasions! On a typical day, you can find stationery of all kinds, the indier the better; dishware; rubber stamps; intriguing books (think Chronicle); bath goods; bags of all shapes, sizes, and purposes; clothes and scarves; eight million things for kids, from blankies to onesies to stuffed alligators; jewelry; small home goods; special pens; DIY kits; custom furniture; large sheets of beautiful artisan paper; and a ton of things I'm forgetting. And one other thing about Essentials I am not forgetting, but which I saved for last, because it's my favorite. Essentials has an in-house design and print studio. And they also work with a select group of indie designers and printers who create everything from business cards to party invites. Here is where Colette, the current owner, really freaking shines, in my opinion. There was one thing I wanted when it came time to get married. One. Thing. That one thing was letterpress wedding invitations from Essentials. Colette took us from beautiful nebulous idea to flawlessly-executed product without ever breaking a sweat. I don't know if you've ever worked with people who are about to get married, but we are not always the most poised, cool-headed, or unflappable of people; Colette sat us down in the big comfy chairs and made sketches and phone calls, and really made our family feel like we were the only people in the entire world. Go see what I'm talking about - our invitation is probably still hanging in its golden-framed, green-paper-backed glory. Nearly four thousand miles away now, and I'm still bouncing in my chair as I look forward to my next trip to Essentials, whenever it may be.

I like this store and their merchandise. The prices are high, as the merchandise is of a high…read morequality. However their store policies are not up par with many upscale stores. We received a lovely gift of several girls garments, however we have a male child. The store manager, who did not have the courage to call us, rather made a sales associate do their work, informed us without a receipt we can not get a store credit. So wonderful Essentials, you made some money from this sale, but you lost a lot more revenue from this here shopper.

I just bought ten skeins of their Valley Yarns (Valley Yarns by WEBS* America's Yarn Store - 60%…read moreSuperwash Merino Wool/40% Acrylic Microfiber). I'm on the third skein and I just encountered my third "knot" - it appears that they tie two pieces of yarn together within the skein. Very disappointed - I don't think I'll be making the long drive to go there again.

Used to love this store. Unfortunately it has drastically gone down hill. If you went here 5-10…read moreyears ago, be aware that this is not the store you remember. Mostly mass produced garbage but prices have gone up. Selection of tools is a joke. Winders and swifts are always broken or barely functioning but won't be labeled as such so use at your own risk. Yarn is disorganized and low stock. Employees are no where to be found most of the time. Really sad to see a place that used to be an amazing local resource for fiber artists turn into a glorified hobby lobby.

They carry what many stores do not. The owner is amazing and took time out of her day to meet us to…read moreget what we needed. This store will be my go to store for now on!!! The prices are well above great!!!

Fantastic drinks, great ambience, and friendly personable owners. Upscale artistic vibes with zero…read morepretentiousness. We ordered a couple of drinks (all of which were delicious!), chatted with the owners, and left with some cool art supplies. They told us about some other local hotspots that we're excited to come back and try. We will definitely be visiting again!

It's a good thing they have a giant inflatable man wildly wiggling in the air, and also a large…read morebanner advertising their location because otherwise it's pretty much impossible to find them. Even following Yelp's directions, they ultimately lead to you to a parking lot where the building beside it looks abandoned. We almost gave up and as we were walking up the street, the wiggling inflatable man caught my eye, and I realized that's actually the art store. This was a fun store to browse. They have a lot of supplies for all your artistic needs, and at pretty reasonable prices. I was looking for pottery supplies on this visit and found a few. They only carry speedball glaze, not sure why but it would be nice to see them carry brands like Laguna or Amaco. Perhaps they don't have enough people buying glazes to justify supplying a large array? Regardless, I ended up buying one, especially since it was a few dollars cheaper than online. It felt good to support a local art store in this way. They had a great sale going on, especially with regards to paint brushes. I didn't buy any as pottery glaze tends to be harsh on bristles so I always get whatever is cheap but if you're looking for oil, acrylic, watercolor supplies this place would be great for that. The people working here were stellar! Very friendly, and easy to talk to. Would be a regular if I lived here.

Found exactly what I was looking for right away. Shop is well organized, staff is very helpful…read more Parking was a little dodgy but not horrible

The service was great! Tejas has a huge selection of beads and some actual crystals one which I…read morebought. They have equipment to help you make any kind of jewelry. It does not make the jewelry for you but has all the types of beads and supplies you may need. It's a bit overwhelming how many choices they have but we managed to look at everything. Don't be in a rush if you go there. It takes time to browse all their delightful beads from all over the world. We spent an enjoyable time there and brought home some great treasures and things to make. I highly recommend Tejas Beads if you like to make your own jewelry or need things and can take them somewhere else to be made. The prices were fair and reasonable. We had an enjoyable afternoon there!

I have been purchasing semi-precious and metal beads from Tejas Beads for more than 2 years. My…read moreexperience consistently has been positive. The items I receive are as described and pictured on the website. The chemistry of the individual stones, facts such as whether beads have been enhanced or heat-treated (vs. entirely in their natural state), specifics such as bead diameters and available cuts or bead shapes, hole diameters, the length of each strand and/or number of beads per strand, etc., all are carefully detailed. If I have had a question, my emails are answered promptly by customer service. In addition, discount sales are offered frequently, and clearance items always are available. Further, I never have received items as quickly from any other company; Tejas Beads typically ships the day I place my order, and beads arrive carefully packaged. The sets I make are given as presents. As the gifts are opened and the beads are handled, the most frequent response I receive is a very reinforcing, "Wow!" Finally, I appreciate that Tejas Beads shares the designs created by their customers via a revolving carousel at the bottom of the home page.

Booklink is an independent bookstore in Thornes Marketplace in Northampton. It has been at this…read morelocation for 25 years now. This bookstore is so beautifully set up. The upstairs section is children's books. Given that I am an elementary school teacher, I was very impressed by this section. There was a good amount of books I haven't seen before. They have all the book categories you'd find in most bookstores, but books popped out at me that I hadn't seen before, that I'd love to dive into. Their selection of greeting cards was also beautiful. You won't find Hallmark here, but independent maker cards that are worthy of being framed. I was pleasantly surprised that they only charge $3.00 for them. The downstairs will lead you to more non-fiction and fiction for adults. This bookstore also sells a really nice amount of tea. I didn't get any this time. But the line of bottles of loose tea went on forever. They have some books on sale, unfortunately the sale prices are still very close to the retail price. Booklink is such a lovely independent bookstore. You're guaranteed to find something new here!

Hearing the rational "We are a small independent establishment" to try to justify the creation of…read morenon-reasonable/non-friendly customer service policies is becoming very old. Booklink is an establishment with bothersome and questionable quirks. I visited this seller with the intention of purchasing a specific book. I examined the half dozen copies on the shelf to choose the one that was in the best gift quality condition. A bearded man (owner) suddenly approaches me with "Can I help you? (No, thank you); Do not disrupt our displays (I am not); What exactly are you doing? (My plan is to purchase a book). He walked away, I purchased the book from the associate at the counter, and I immediately felt like a fool for doing so. Never again will I purchase from Booklink. There are other independent bookstores in this town, nearby towns, and of course on-line.

If you visit, you will find an excellent selections of fabrics, kits, and notions. Really, this…read morestore has one of the best, most eclectic selections of fabric I have seen in a quilt store.

I had a disappointing experience at Valley Fabrics. I was really looking forward to shopping for…read morenotions and fabric, but I walked out with nothing. I asked about pinking shears, but I couldn't remember the name and I called them zig zag scissors. Apparently this was ridiculous, and they don't have them anyway, and I was directed to shop at Walmart or online. If I wanted to shop at Walmart or online, I wouldn't have gone out of my way to go to a locally owned business.

Just learned of this little gem yarn store ! Mary assisted with a knitting afghan and went out of…read moreher way to assist. Made sure I returned to support this quaint - local shop. Mary again assisted with my questions.

This yarn store got really good reviews, so I was looking forward to going and seeing what it was…read morelike. I'm completely new to this area of Connecticut and thought I would try to search out the local yarn stores. I called first before going to make sure that they were open and the woman who answered the phone was very polite and friendly. When I went to the store and walked in, there were only three people in the store (it is a small store). One person was working behind the counter, and the other two were having a conversation. I was in the store looking around for probably 20 minutes and at no point did anyone say hello, ask me if I needed help finding something, or what I was making etc., etc. I'm used to yarn stores in New York City, and that hustle and bustle, but I have to say even in the NYC stores, they say hello and welcome you in--and a lot of times they ask you what project(s) you're working on, what yarn you're looking for, and if you need any help. They try to engage you. That is part of what makes for a good yarn store experience. At this store, however, there was no engagement whatsoever. I thought it was very odd. The vibe was cold. Then, I guess the one customer they had left the store, and I was alone with these two people for another 10 minutes and they still never said a word to me. I just found it really strange. In terms of their selection of yarn, they seemed to have a lot of Berroco. Some Malabrigo, and small representations of Sandnes Garn, Istex, Madeline Tosh, and Jamieson & Smith and others. The store is very clean and tidy and nicely merchandised, with numerous store samples. I think the general lighting in the store could be improved upon, but many yarns stores seem to suffer from lighting challenges. There seems to be plenty of offstreet parking in a small parking lot in front of the store. Will I recommend or go back to this store? No. Why not? - No customer engagement/strange, standoffish vibe. Life is too short for that. - Small yarn selection; not enough higher end yarns. There are other yarn stores out there with better selections. Not worth the drive.