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.

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 shop specialises in greetings cards but also has a small selection of gifts such as soft toys…read moreas well as wrapping paper and accessories. As it sells so many cards there is a wide variety of styles to choose from. Befitting its location in the Victoria Quarter it doesn't stock many of those cheap, tacky cards featuring naff cartoons and 'hilarious' lewd jokes. Expect more of a refined selection, several featuring vintage photographs or interesting stylised illustrations. I wouldn't say it's the best card shop I've ever been to but it definitely tops the offerings of most high street card shops with many more unusual finds than say, Clinton Cards and it should have something to suit everyone.

This is an exquisite gift card shop. If I ever have a birthday or occasion I will come here rather…read morethan use a Clintons or similar, as they are just not as special as this shop. Bayliffe and Lupton house a whole variety of specialist gift cards from a variety of designers, from beautifully painted prints, to exquisite photography to humourous vintage photograph and caption cards. It has a huge range of different gift cards and will cover all the standard areas, but makes the difference by really finding some special designers. As well as this they sell other related goods, wrapping, canvas prints and the odd trinket or gift item, but the main reason for visiting is the quality of the gift cards. I can always choose a special card that really says something about who I am buying for, which makes all the difference when you are sending to someone special. You might pay a little more than usual, but in my book it's worth it.

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.

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.

You can't really argue with this shop - it certainly has a whole load of cards for sale. Bordering…read morethe shop, wall to wall, there are cards stacked up by category - Mother's Day, Fathers' Day, Birthday (and all the major ages), condolences, weddings, congratulations and more. There are plenty of options here, albeit very standard options. The majority of their cards were as cheap as 99p, which is excellent if you are a little less than flush, although I will say that for that price you won't get the most inspiring choices. As I was browsing I overheard a frustrated customer saying "All I want is a simple 'to my sister' card!" They sell a number of other bits too, like gift wrap for a few pounds, and amusingly "ideal gifts", as they were labelled. I'm not sure why an empty tacky perfume bottle for £12.99 is an "ideal gift" but kudos for trying! At least they make an effort, right? Anyhow. If you are stuck and that birthday is edging ever closer, this shop will sort it. But if you want something special, jog on.

Seeing Paperbox as I slowly descended down the escallator in St Johns Centre made my heart skip a…read morebeat. As I approached it sunk. As a stationary fanatic, I thought it a personal insult to call a (sorry, if you read my reviews, I have a real hatred for tacky card shops) stationary shop something that could easily be mistaken for a paper shop, which in my opinion would be so so so much better. The reality is that Paperbox is a below-par car shop that I'm sure if you routed around long enough, would be able to sell you a semi-decent card... you'll have to really search though. If you need a card pronto, and don't really care about what is on the front, this is probably a cheaper bet to Clinton's accross the way.

This cute little shop is primarily card shop. Situated on the main high street of Chapel Allerton…read moreit certainly stands out from the plethora of other gift-style shops that surround it. In the window there is usually a selection of fine art paintings. On entering there are a a number of card stands with beautiful individual cards on sale, from hand made to equisite prints and more. There are a few gift items too, including some hand made jewellery, which must be made in store as when I was browsing I managed to sneak a peak at the workshop area since the curtain was open! As a fellow crafter I can certainly vouch for the quality of the materials and the items - very nice! All in all this shop is one of the nicer places for cards and gifts in Chapel Allerton. If you're in the vicinity go and take a browse!

There are a few of these independent gift/card shops in Chapel Allerton that always have more…read moreoriginal things on offer than chains like Clintons you will find in town. This one has a real personal feel - when I asked what time they were open on the weekend the lady behind the till light heartedly said they didn't believe in opening on a Sunday and mentioned there was another 'Angel' shop up the road, with Radio 2 playing unobtrusively in the background Whilst the other sells wrapping paper, this one sells mostly cards but also jewelry that looked unique and hand made. Some of it that I really liked looked well made and of good quality whilst other pieces were not so interesting. There were a couple of very large teddy bears, possibly the largest I have ever seen! I'm not sure if they are hugely tasteful but someone must buy them. Perhaps for people with children? More unusually, this gift shop sells paintings - not just bog standard wall-covering ones but some that I could really imagine having in my home for aesthetic pleasure! I also noticed some ceramic figures, which aren't really my thing but these were lovely, very sensitively made.

I travel through Otley on business on a regular basis, and often pop in to Mounseys for a magazine…read more- I've never seen such a wide range of magazines on offer! They also stock lots of greetings cards and other gifts, and the staff are both knowledgeable and friendly.

Mounsey's is a huge stationary and gift card store situated in the heart of Otely. To find it all…read moreyou need do is hop off the bus, go past Savers Fashion Nett and head up onto Market Street - should be easy to spot from there as it has a huge glass window and big signage with the name branded over! There are all sorts of cards in here, you will be truly spoiled for choice, as there are rows and rows of them! Obviously Mounsey's wouldn't survive on card sales alone and so there are a number of other related items for sale here. You can purchase a wide selection of books although there doesn't appear to be any order or theme to the titles stocked - which include British Wildlife and Stephen Fry in America for example. There are also plenty of magazines, Lottery and tons of puzzle books and calendars! As it has been established since 1859 I think it's only right that should you be in need of a birthday card, or indeed a crossword book, that your purchase be made in Mounsey's. After all, Clinton's are two a penny and will almost certainly cost you more.

The quintessential place to buy an elderly relative a card that would receive appreciative sighs. A…read morelarge quantity of twee sentimentality has been injected into this shop and although the style does not comply with my own, The Card Room does provide a more intimate, local setting in which to purchase this style of card. Alongside the vast array of aforementioned cards, there is a random miscellany of gifts. Ranging from handmade jewellery to calendars, umbrellas to clocks, and photo frames to keepsakes, The Card Room has the bagatelle market covered. There is an entire baby section at the rear of the shop, and whilst I was there recently, a staff member was expertly guiding a gentleman around the selection of photo memory books for babies. The man in question did not take much encouragement to proudly announce that he had just become a Grandfather for the first time, regaling his assistant with her name and weight. It was a touching moment to overhear! If you were wondering, the baby was called Amber. The Card Room is a perfectly adequate shop in which to purchase a fairly conservative range of cards and knickknacks. Although I doubt I would make the detour from the city centre to visit the shop, for certain recipients, I would consider the trek.

The Card Room is a pretty standard gift shop selling a huge range of reasonably expensive cards,…read moreand loads of gifts. Gifts include rather cute sort toys to mugs, drinking glasses, picture frames, decorations, hand bags, umbrellas, clocks and placemats. The shop is quite large with products well-displayed and the staff are friendly and helpful. Like most gift shops, the majority of items are quite expensive, but if you like gifty paraphernalia you're likely to find something to fork out for.

At last! The British weather finally matches the lovely sunny greeting that is always waiting for…read moreyou within! If any store keeper/retail outlet wants to know the real meaning of customer service then this is where they need to visit. I just popped in for a drink and some chewing gum and stayed a good 5 minutes talking. The owners really do have the right attitude. A big old 5 stars!!