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.

This place is a cornucopia of quirky local arts and crafts. There are home knits, greeting cards,…read morepaintings, all manner of tat and charm. It's a big hall! And it's right to celebrate local artisans. However being a city type I draw the line at seeing a handmade pottery Golly for sale and accordingly had to make a complaint to the woman in the shop who it is fair to say seemed a bit bemused as she promised to make a note of the fact that I found it offensive. I couldn't get out of there fast enough after that, and despite the lure of cream teas, thatched cottages, sunshine etc was confirmed in my appreciation for the big old metropolis of Bristol, warts and all.

I loved the Lynton Valley Art and Crafts center. There was a wide range of art and craft with a…read morelittle bit of something for everyone. They had handmade items that were great for the home (peg bags, tea cosies, knit items) as well as art items that were beautiful. Not every item was big-city ready, but the center had charm and variety. I would highly recommend this center for anyone who loves handmade items.

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.

The Textile Studio is across the hallway from the amazing Het Couture Millinery studio, making a…read morevisit to the craft barn a double whammy in terms of exposing yourself to the exquisite delights of luxuriant fabrics. Although very different in terms of the end result, both studios use similar raw materials, making this faction of the studio space a positive techni-colour explosion. The studio is always crammed with finished items such as wall hangings and quilts, but there are always a number of items that are essentially works in progress, making a visit highly educational as well rivetingly interesting! There's no question that a visit to the Craft Barns is a really inspiring and fun thing to do. I highly recommend that you make the time to give it a visit. All of the artisans are happy to talk about what they do, and the good people of The Textile Studio are no exception. They are incredibly friendly, and what they have to say is always fascinating.

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.

The last time I was in here was before the center was basically torn down and rebuilt as the new St…read moreDavid's mall connected to the Queens Arcade. This was a nice House of Fraser and I had some very helpful staff members who assisted me looking for warm winter coats and Green Tea scented stuff. They were very helpful and I managed to get everything I needed despite feeling like I had to walk around all of 2 floors to do it :-) It was a pretty much standard Huse of Fraser though and really they don't vary too much from city to city unlike Debenhams where I found laver bread, a Welsh specialty and other Welsh foods on sale (which would not happen in Oxford or London!).

High end department store (part of the House of Fraser chain) that has a truly irresistible food…read morehall downstairs selling high quality, fresh produce and deli items. There is also a confectionary area and a corner for continental and American imports. The wine hall (next door) sells a massive array of delicious wines, champagnes and spirits including Welsh brands like Penderyn, Brecon gin etc. Moving on from the food and drink area there's a large stationary range (Paperchase) and huge cosmetics section seeling all the top brand like Creme de mer and Origins. Big clothing range fill up the remaining floors of the building and a large crockery and electronics section downstairs. Everything you want under one roof!

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!

An excellent art gallery and shop, with constantly changing exhibits of mainly local artists in a…read morevariety of styles.