This is my new favorite store in Vancouver. I know, I know,…read moreit's not a new store. It's been around a long time. But it's new to me - and I FREAKIN' LOVE IT. I was wandering around Gastown the other day - I'm not often in the area, - and I stumbled upon this fabulous gift and card shop. It's small but wow, it packs a punch. I'm a sucker for stationery stores. I love greeting cards - the wittier, the more twisted, the better. I love funky household gift items (mostly for myself, truth be known!). I love fun tchotchkes that I can collect through the year and then put in my adult kids' Christmas stockings or give to them, out of the blue, to cheer them up. I love fun socks, clever games, colorful jigsaw puzzles, gorgeous wrapping papers and gift bags, Vancouver ornaments and Prosser art canvases. In other words, I love everything this store sells. They have a box that says "FREE" on it and it contains various items - all free. I got a small structured mylar-esque lunchbox that zippers up and has cute graphics of bike riders all over it. Totally new, with tags! I put all my purchases in it and carried it home, planning to give it to a friend who's a big bike enthusiast. SO nice. Another bonus is how incredibly nice the folks are who work here. As soon as I entered this place, I could see it was my kind of store, so I told the guy behind the counter that I love this store and I am going to be here a while (lol). He and I laughed and chatted and I browsed the store for a long, long time, getting a bunch of fun things along the way, chuckling at the funny (and some risqué) cards, admiring all the framing work they do (oh yeah, I should mention that they're essentially a framing shop!), and just loving everything about this fun shop.

What a great shop to find funny/unique cards and small gift items. The staff are wonderful and…read morekindly provided me with a Blue Jays balloon for my son. I come here for all of my birthday and other greeting cards.

I loved their letter writing club! First Thursday of every month. Two seatings. I went to the…read more7:00-8:15pm and got in line at around 6:20pm to ensure a spot. A line forms quick so be sure to get there early, or you can grab a ticket for the next seating. The staff are so nice in explaining how to use the typewriter. There is scrap paper, letterhead paper and even envelopes. There's even tea! How wonderful.

What a cute shop!…read more This is a bit of a belated post, as we visited back in August. BUT, I wanted to delay the review because we ended up using one of their fun services, and I wanted to make sure we received the product in the end. So, hubby and I were casually walking down this street to window-shop, and noticed this shop (there's also a chance that hubby notated this shop down in his notes because they sell stationery, and we love stationery, sooo, there's that possibility). Walked in, was warmly greeted, and we perused what they had. Lots of creative juices flowing in there and great inspiration for one to take some of their stuff to create your own artistic visions. The main item that we did with them was to send a postcard back to ourselves, but sort of by "telegraph" (the postal service). We actually wrote out the postcard to our future selves, and they typed it out on a real typewriter, pasted it nicely onto the wooden postcard, and shipped it out to us internationally. We got it around two weeks later (Vancouver to California), and it was packaged in a nice padded brown envelope so it wasn't damaged along the way. It's now sitting on one of our travel/memento shelves! Would love to make another visit whenever we come back to Vancouver. Seriously, whenever there's a fun or unique service/experience, it's so nice to try it out; it's a gift for your future selves!

Amax has wonderful stationary products including notepads, journals, dayplanners, pens of all…read moresorts, toys, puzzles, stuffy's, cards, wrapping paper and so much more! Staff is very friendly and helpful as well.

Lovely stationery store! Good front space, but it actually is a fairly deep store filled with…read morestationery goods, toys, plushes, puzzles, lovely decorations, etc. I actually like that all of the stuff that the older kids (adults) would want are closer to the front, while things for smaller kids are in the back. It sort of helps keeping an eye on the kids to make sure they're in a certain area. Nice! They have a nice selection of fountain pens, including Kaweco, Sailor, Pilot. Tempted on some of the Sailor pens, but I ended up getting another Kaweco pen with an inverter. They also have inks, of course. Loved the selection of Jellycats and Amuseables. I didn't end up getting any (this time around), but we'll see. Lots of great fun quality gifts you can get at this store. The staff was great! One specific employee helped me out the most, and was able to find me the last of the stock of the specific pen I wanted, and answered all of the questions that hubby and I had. Very appreciative of her kindness. Prices were fair. Across the street is Buchan (another stationery store), but their selection of pens/inks are slightly different. Would come back.

I was recently in the market for a good puzzle glue, of all things, and it had to be REALLY good,…read moreas the puzzle in question was very special and pricey (limited edition, and a gift from a dear friend). I am familiar with DeSerres stores as they are a national, high-end arts supply store, and when I used to be a student in design school, we'd often get specialized items here in Montreal, years ago. I went online and saw that they carry not one but TWO good puzzle glues, so off I went, to find this store. I found the place easily, on Grandview, close to the Italian Community Center where I got my COVID booster a while back. And right off the bat, I was impressed that there was a dedicated parking lot for their clients. Free parking? Yes, please! Upon entering the store, a young woman who was manning the cash greeted me, and I asked her where the puzzle glue was. She knew exactly where and told me which aisle. As I walked to the area, I was struck by all the canvases, acrylic paints and brushes. What a great selection, and all of excellent brands. (Not the kind at generic craft stores). I also was struck by all the artsy "toys" - the kinds I've not seen elsewhere. Know a kid who's creative? This truly would be the place to get him or her gifts. I didn't go upstairs, but it was clear there was a second floor. I was amazed at all the puzzles they had. I didn't remember DeSerres having puzzles and toys, only art supplies. And the puzzles they had were excellent quality ones, like Ravensburger, and all depicted scenes and artworks that I've never seen on puzzles before. I don't think you'd have to worry about missing pieces or ill-fitting pieces if you got any of these puzzles. I couldn't find the puzzle glue, but the employee who greeted me came to check on my progress in finding what I came here for, and when I told her there were no glues in the aisle, she said they just got a shipment of stuff "in the back" and she'd go check. So nice! Unfortunately, when she returned she said that no glues were in that shipment and the next shipment isn't for another week or two. Darn it. I had assumed if an item was on their website, it'd be in stock in the store. Next time I'll know to call first to check. The employee suggested I try maybe Michael's or another craft store (I forget the name), and I thanked her for her help. She really tried to help me out and I appreciated it. The prices at this store are not cheap, but we're not dealing with cheap merchandise. Just call first if you're looking for a specialized item.

I am reviewing this based on my experience as a disabled person and also the parent of a child who…read moreuses a wheelchair. This place COULD be accessible but it isn't. The door opens directly on to the sidewalk, but there is no handicapped door opener. They keep sale items upstairs. There is an elevator but a key is needed and it takes you to a staff only area. It's clear that the primary purpose of the elevator is staff moving items and not accessibility for people who can not use stairs. We felt like complete afterthoughts trying to shop here.

Great Gifts cards photo frames fantastic selection of Caran D'ache pens and fun helpful staff…read moreeveryone was so helpfull greeted with a smile when I walked in and I got lots of fun gifts. Will return on our next visit to Vancouver. Obsessions Im Obsessed !!

Our family visited this store and the only worker at the store glared at us, said "oh great", and…read morerolled his eyes when he saw us. He was unwelcoming and unhelpful as he kept glaring at us while we perused through the store. I don't expect very much from a vendor except polite behavior but this worker wasn't even respectful. I would not recommend this store to anyone.

The best service! So many amazing finds! Are you looking for craft supplies? Trinkets? Craft…read moresupplies you weren't looking for? It's all here and it's all so well priced. One visit isn't enough, there's always new products!

These guys are great and have lots of quirky unusual art supplies that are great for anyone with…read moresome creativity or does mixed medium art. One side of the store has a variery of items where you can fīll up a paper bag starting at $8 and change and the items are always changing. You can find things like ink stamps, feathers, beads, jewelery findings, marbles, gold leaf, various papers and boxes, stickers, Sew on patches, vintage pictures amd magazines, fabrics, paints and brushes, and much more. Friendly staff, great store, I love this place!

If you love silk, you'll love this place. When you enter on the left, there's a silk worm terrarium…read morewhere you can see the little guys in action. The main display area of the store is finished products (woven and felted), but they sell it from cocoon to clothing. Unfortunately they don't sell fabric, which is my only complaint. They have the silk fibre on its own and mixed with other natural fibres, as well as a colorful selection of silk yarns. They even have silk elastic, which I had never even heard of before I visited the shop. If you only go to one store to buy silk-related products in your lifetime, go here. But I think the best part of the shop is the giant looms that sit in the display area, where you can usually see staff members weaving the silk into fabric.

Our textiles class had a field trip to Granville Island this afternoon, and one of our stops was at…read morethe Silk Weaving Studio, after just having learned a few things about Silk and Silk Worms in class. I was really really thrilled to see a loom in real life.. which makes ME sound really interesting, I'm sure. There are ladies working at the looms as customers browse the studio and it's quite fascinating to watch. I wanted to give it a shot myself, but there are signs on all the looms saying not to touch them. They were totally cool with me hovering over them like a creep to watch them work though. The rest of the studio is filled with various silk woven garments and other things that are absolutely gorgeous with very very informative tags on them. And I was shocked (in a good way) to see that they actually had live Silk Worms!! There were a few glass aquariums around with the various stages of the worms, and a little plate with a fat little guy eating some Mulberry leaves! SO COOL. You can also buy hardened Silk Worm cocoons at the front counter. They are (I think) 25 cents each, or 5 for $1.

This is my absolute favourite store in Vancouver, maybe my favourite store in the world. Anytime…read moreI'm back in the city, I have to hop over to Granville Island to visit this amazing tiny shop. It has one thing and one thing only: postcards. The name doesn't lie, it is THE place for postcards. This tiny store within one of the arts and crafts buildings on Granville is jam packed with postcards from floor to ceiling. Prices can range from $2-$5+ depending on the size. You can buy postcard sets or individual ones. There are special occasion cards (birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, etc.) but also just random ones that reflect all types of themes. She also showcases a lot of local artists which is great. I've gotten tons of unique Vancouver-themed cards every time I visit. As a snail mail enthusiast who spends way too much time on Postcrossing, stamp chain cards, and general swapping, I've sunk quite a bit of money here. The postcards are cheaper once you get to the buy 5 / buy 10 mark and there are just so many to mix and match from. The lady who runs the store is also incredibly nice. When I told her I was from out-of-town, she gave me her card and mentioned that if I find anything I like, I can email her and she would be willing to ship them to me. I haven't taken her up on her offer yet, but one of these days!

This little shop within a building of little shops was one of the main reasons I drove to…read moreVancouver. As I recently started collecting postcards, I put the Postcard Place in my Yelp bookmarks. This little store is so cute and there is such a variety of nontraditional and non-touristy postcards. They were a little bit more expensive than your regular run-of-the-mill postcards but the quality in the majority of them was on par. Honestly I was kind of taken aback simply by the variety here. Variety in the subject matter and the types of papers available. There are so many unique cards, almost too unique to want to let go of them by mailing them to someone else. It might just makes someone's day though to get such a special treat in the mail. I will definitely be back if I'm in the Granville Island area the next time I'm in Vancouver.