Waterlily is one of those charming shops that combines kitschy merchandise, delightful displays,…read moreand friendly service, giving it quaint and personal feel that makes for a pleasurable shopping experience. Set against the cacophony of one of the world music CDs (taken straight off the shelf), my time in Waterlily was the highlight of my morning, which had been marked by rain, wind and freezing temperatures. The owner had popped out for a few minutes, so her mate was watching the shop, and this chatty lady was talking to me as if she had known me for years. I dug through the gift wrap, and when I failed to find the one I wanted (which was tacked to the wall as a part of a display), she took that one down and rolled it up for me. I'm a sucker for vintage-style goodies, especially when they're on sale. Waterlily is a bit like Polka Dot in Mermaid Quay, but more reasonably priced. I managed to buy two sets of gift wrap (boasting swear words and all!) and five specialty greeting cards for less than £4. I am so coming back here.

This shop sells mostly vintage style goods for indoors and outdoors…read more We got some lovely little signs for the garden there recently and they were dirt cheap. There are also lots of pretty vintage style boxes, paintings, and vases. Lots of gifts here for under £20 and if you like trinkets from the past then you can fill your home with pretty little pieces.

There are not many button shops left in the world. This is sad…read more Claire Grove has been open for over 25 years as has become one of those well loved local establishments that has a stream of people goggling in the window. I would urge you to go inside. There are buttons from all over the world. Big, small, dull, colourful, fabric, glass... You name, you can buy it and sew it on to your jumper. They're a great idea for sprucing up tired items of clothing. There's also a wide variety of beads on offer. This is a fascinating shop which will throw something new at you every time you have a look around. Certainly worth 5 minutes of you time.

Unfortunately I'm not the most of artistic of people, nor do I have the patience to make my own…read morejewellery, my best mate on the other hand is obsessed and is constantly dragging me into this shop. As Tanya mentioned there really are buttons galore here, which you really just can't help looking at. When it comes to the beads available, they're rather traditional (think wooden), but I think it's rather nice that this place can still survive in this day and age. As Tanya said, you should really check this place out for yourselves, and who knows when the buttons on my Karren Millen coat fall off for the umpteenth time (inevitably causing me to loose them), I might be brave enough to buy some buttons from here and sew them on myself.

Only open between Thursday and Saturday, Jacob's Market (aka Jacob's Antiques) is a collection of…read morevery small specialist collectors' shops under one roof. Mostly it's second-hand stuff though there is also brand new furniture to be had. There's a certain novelty to it- such as the stuffed badgers in the entrance (will anyone ever buy those?) and the sci-fi stall upstairs with its sort-of-full-sized TARDIS. All kinds and eras of 'retro' are covered, old clothes (a bit dusty), old signs, old kitchen appliances, old military memorabilia (there's quite a bit of this and some of it's quite scary). It's worth a browse round, though I would say you could have done it all in less than 2 hours, it won't take all day. Prices vary but some things are not as cheap as you'd like them to be, as some sellers are adamant that there is an 'antique' value. The cafe is a small anteroom, seating about 20 people, where one person will knock up cooked brunches on demand using a little oven and grill. The prices are dirt-cheap and the portions very very generous, the only problem is that since it's cooked from scratch when you order you may have to wait a while, not too good if you've just popped there for lunch.

This indoor market sprawls across several floors in an old red brick building at West Canal Wharf,…read morenear Cardiff Central Station, and for the last couple of decades it has been creating a welcome distraction for Cardiff's lovers of antiques, vintage and novelty goods. It is a great place to spend a lazy few hours browsing around aimlessly. The 50 or so different stalls sell a huge array of different wares, including antiques and collectors' items, vintage household goods, second hand clothes and books, jewellery, and all sorts of other knick knacks. When you walk in through the entrance, for example, you're faced with some rather alarming and fusty-looking stuffed badgers; carry on and you might stumble across vintage Bakelite phones, military memorabilia, or leather jackets - while an exploration upstairs will offer you an encounter with a full-sized Dr Who tardis. Some stalls have more reasonable prices than others, but for vintage and antique items with a higher price tag you really need a bit of knowledge to know whether it's good value. The café, on the other hand, has very reasonably priced food and HUGE portions!

I love this gallery situated on Caerphilly Road. They have prints and photos from throughout Wales…read morewhich you can buy framed or unframed. The owner is very friendly and helpful and I was particularly grateful when he framed a print for me at short notice for an elderly uncle's birthday present. So if you're looking for a special present, with a Welsh flavour, head for this gem of a store!

ThroughWelshEyes - An Exhibition of Wales. A unique…read morecollection of the finest photographic images of the Welsh landscape as collectable Numbered editions. A complete exhibition of Wales from a stable of top Welsh photographers. A collection of exciting contemporary art works from a growing number of Welsh artists with our 'On-the-wall' Collection, together with our expanding collection of originals. Visit our Cardiff gallery for a full selection of Welsh photographic images and contemporary fine art, available in a selection of sizes to suit all budgets, and framed while you wait. Customer image framing service also available.

With 100 years experience in the decorating industry in Wales, W J Gardner proudly declare…read morethemselves as 'Decorators Merchants' on their shop sign, and so seem to be targeting professional trade decorators and interior designers as well as perhaps individuals who are doing a spot of home improvement. Then shop has a fairly smart but old-fashioned look about the place, and offers a curtain make-up service, soft furnishings and accessories, paints, wall coverings and a whole host of carpets and fabrics. While they're a lot smaller than the huge out-of-town DIY stores such as B&Q, their remit is narrower and they're not trying to cover everything to do with DIY, so if you'd rather avoid the big warehouse type store and support independents, this is a good bet.

W J Gardner really caters more for a professional market of decorators than for people looking just…read moreto spruce up their homes. Well, that seems to be how they view themselves anyway and there's obviously nothing stopping individuals from doing their shopping there. Having said that, I felt a little bit like I was wasting someone's time because I only needed one can of paint (to paint a banner - not even for real home decoration...). The prices were about average and I would go back if I needed to but I'm not going to rant and rave about it to everyone.

I think this is a truly amazing idea; a relatively safe space in a bustling city centre used to…read moredisplay artwork of all kinds made by the art department of one of the local universities. A place where artists can be exposed to the often cruel gaze of the public to get their first taste of subjective appraisal outside of the relative safety of the university walls. And what's more, it's free for the public to enter and look about. This is a hugely beneficial experience for the artists in question; not only do they get their work displayed as professional artists, potentially for the first time, they also receive criticism and plaudits from the appreciating public. They get to gauge what pieces of their art touches an audience in a way they have never been able to before this, and it is placed there without the pressure of sales, or of professional criticism; it is a purely artistic endeavour. And apart from the artists, this is a tremendous benefit for the city. To have a small, secluded space to view the work of potential artists is one of those incredible little points of interest that keeps the city unique and prevents Cardiff from drifting into the same high street experience as everywhere else.

Shoving art into high street shopping spaces is no new thing. Sometimes it is done badly (The awful…read moreBlue Dot 'Gallery' upstairs in the Capitol Centre), and sometimes it is done well - think the TactileBosch invasion of performance art into disused shop fronts and commercial units a couple of years back. UWIC 's new gallery outlet in the Capitol centre lands somewhere in the middle of the spectrum what with being a showcase for Freshers and second year undergraduate art and design students from UWIC. Still any way you look at it , it serves a useful learning experience for both artist and Joe Public on showing and experiencing art in the public eye away from your usual white spaces. An interesting experiment.

I word of recommendation about going in to Hobbycraft. Please don't go in if you don't know what…read moreyou want to buy beforehand. You need a plan of attack. Head straight to the help desk and then to where they send you with blinkers on. Hobbycraft is a massive warehouse of, well, everything that you could possibly need to any hobby ever. Their problem is certainly not being able to supply us with our needs, but rather, they over supply. You stand in the middle of this store and want to scream: Argh! I know I should be using all these creativity to make something, but I don't know what! It's all on overload. That being said, I know people who live in these stores. And yes, their houses are full to bursting with ribbons and gibbons and squibbons and such, but they're always prepared and kinda nifty with a needle. So, in short. Get in. Get out. Or pay the price. Dun dun duuun.

So this Hobbycraft gives you two floors of everything arty you can think of from standard drawing…read morematerials, to specialist model making materials, framing equipment, soft furnishing stuff and lots, lots more. It is a bit of a maze and they really don't make it easy for you to navigate this store. Apart from one sign by the stairs, they is no signage through the shop and that really annoys me. They obviously want to tempt you to buy other stuff but its so frustrating when your just after something specific. I spend a good 5 minutes walking around the upstairs with no sign of any staff members to help guide me. Eventually I found the section I was after but I was disappointed by how expensive everything was. I took myself to the checkout to pay and the checkout staff were busy chatting so I was barely acknowledged. Good selection but i'd rather get what I need online for cheaper.

So many crystals…read more.. Sparkly things. Everywhere. It's so easy to get distracted by this shop when you like pretty things. To be honest though, I don't really see the point in a lot of what Swarovski sells, beyond the fact that it sparkles. The jewellery, yes. Sparkly jewellery is fine, and it has a purpose. But £150 for a crystal flower? Is that really necessary? Does anyone really need a ridiculously expensive crystal flower? But it is Swarovski, and people will buy it just because it's Swarovski. And I will want it because it sparkles and throws rainbows around the room for my cats to go mental chasing them. I don't need to tell you how great Swarovski is. However, this shop does feel very much "display only". Like it's okay for you to look in the window, but they'd rather you went home and ordered what you wanted online rather than actually going in the store and putting all their pretty displays at risk of destruction. In their defence, I probably do have a huge flashing sign with "klutz" written on above my head (and if I don't, I need one) so they would be right not to want me too close to the expensive stuff. Still, stores that act like customers are the enemy really make me want to go in and start juggling crystal hedgehogs and cause all the unfriendly sales people to have nervous breakdowns.

Walking past this shop you will find it hard not to be drawn in like a magpie…read more There are so many pretty little things so beautifully displayed in the shop. I love it! However.... For me this shop is more of a look and stare sort of shop rather than a dig deep and buy something sort of shop! Admittedly everything in here is very nice but I for one cannot justify spending huge amounts of money on a crystal duck! The jewellery is the only thing I would consider buying .... if I were flush! I found the sales woman working in here very pleseant to talk to but I could feel her eyes burning through the back of my neck when I left with making a purchase! For a VERY special occasion like a prom or a wedding this shop could provide you with the perfect accessory but if it is just something sparkly you need for the weekend I would shop else where!