I love visiting this shop. The plethora of colours that strike you as you enter can't do anything…read morebut inspire. The staff are friendly and willing to advise you on anything from what tools are best to use to suggesting new projects to undertake. Located in The Lanes, the atmosphere in the shop is relaxed and friendly.

the beed shop is one of my favorite places to visit! the surrounding and way its set out suits the…read moreshop, and they have a variaty of different beeds to choose from at reasonable prices.

I hate to break anyone's heart but Ditto Fabrics is not a store owned and run by Gossip singer Beth…read moreDitto. It's a specialist fabric store which stocks a wide range of high quality cotton, jersey, polyester, calico, silk, cord and wool fabrics. As well as the usual spots, stripes and checks, they sell buttons, threads and limited edition shirtings from certain high end, high street designers. Prices are reasonable and there's a special cheap section with offcuts and end of roll materials. Now, who can knock me up a copy of the dress Beth Ditto wore at Glastonbury a few years back?

Roll upon roll of material fill this North Lanes fabric and haberdashery shop. They have every type…read moreof fabric you can imagine...cotton, cord, cotton jersey, shot silk, wool...you name it, they'll have it. The prints are endless and its well worth a look, even if you have something incredibly specific in mind, as they might just stock what you're after. When I was last in I noticed they have a good selection of printed cotton jerseys...striped, floral and spotty...perfect for making a top or really soft pillow cases! As well as the reams of colourful, pretty and even sparkly fabrics, they stock more practical items too, such as heavy durable fabrics for home furnishings and upholstery and laminate table coverings for those with small messy children! If you're looking for the finishing touch to a textile project, Ditto also has a 'bits and bobs' section near the till, where you can find sequins, patches and coloured cotton etc. It's worth a look if you need to jazz up an outfit- I picked up lots of sparkly decorations for my Bestival costume here. The button collection by the door is also well worth investigating...the choice is endless- with an such an extensive assortment of colours, styles and sizes, you're bound to find what you're looking for!

Plonked in London Road's Open Market, this is quite possibly the BEST haberdashery in the whole of…read moreBrig Town. Stacked to the sky with hordes of different coloured yarns, needles, pins, buttons, fabrics, materials, elastics, curtains, and just about everything you could ever need if you're into knitting, crochet, sewing, cross stitching or anything creative. They do a vibrant collection of rara skirts and tutus, and are more than happy to offer advice and help, even if you don't know what you're doing.

Who-ever coined the phrase starving artist must have shopped at Lawrence!…read more A one-stop shop for artists, it's a brilliant but expensive store that sells everything an artist could need from brushes, pencils, pastels and paints to paper, canvases, easels and cleaning fluids. There's also a small selection of screen printing materials, woodblock equipment and drying racks for budding Warhols and more crafts-based artists. The shop is a long walk from Brighton and central Hove so it's best to grab a bus or lift from friends. They also have an online shop which stocks most of the things in the store and the staff are super knowledgable too. If they don't stock something, they'll probably be able to advise you who does.

Pricey but professional, this is a mouth watering store for the artistically minded. They have a…read morelot of novel little tools, a brilliant collection of paints and also stock the fantastic paper by Somerset in many different weights and finishes. They have a car park tucked behind the shop which is very handy as its quite a way to go out of town and very hard to park on nearby. They have a good notice board which has a lot of local arty info, great if your looking for a studio or some classes. They also have a lot of printing stock such as inks and rollers. This is THE place in Brighton for the professional artist.

Beautifully set out new shop on the ground floor at the Open Market. They have interesting stock,…read morebit of a treasure trove. Am looking forward to going again. As a maker, I find some of the items for sale are inspirational.

Having now been to a creative you workshop, I am jlhappy to say I would recommend it to anyone! I…read moream probably the least arty person I know, I find it difficult to get creative when it comes to painting and drawing etc so I was a bit apprehensive about getting stuck in. Fortunately Sarah was a wonderful leader and made me feel at ease and gave me plenty of ideas to go with. Before I knew it I was painting away and didn't want to stop! I ended up painting a wine glass with a leopard print pattern (what else!?) I really enjoyed myself and look forward to trying another workshop with Sarah soon.

I had a great time painting wine glasses at a Yelp event last week! So nice to just sit back and…read morerelax with a fun activity. Reminded me a bit of art classes as a kid (only with WINE instead of juice... woooo!). Definitely would recommend.

Fiveways Arts and Crafts is a good all-purpose, er, arts and crafts shop. It's aimed partly at the…read moreyounger market with various kits like hama beads that you iron into shapes, pipe cleaners and big, tempting tubes of glitter. This would definitely be a good shout if you needed to buy a birthday present for someone pushing eight. There's also a good choice for adults of an artistic bent - sketchbooks, a limited variety of paints and pencils, and on the craft side of things, a good wool selection and some lovely beads, many of them in pots of hundreds rather than the one-by-one selection favoured by more specialist places. There are books on arty subjects as well, and the lady behind the counter is always on hand to discuss your current project. I happen to love sniffing round art shops anyway, if only for the lovely papery smell of possibilities, but she was raring to help and if you had a project in mind would doubtlessly be an enthusiastic and useful resource.

From the owner: Arts and Crafts supplies in Brighton and Hoveread more

I find it really frustrating how much some people charge to frame up prints and can sometimes take…read morean absolute age doing it. At this little shop they offer a fast, friendly and reasonable service though. They have a good deal of frames already made up which works out cheaper than having one made from scratch and the staff will happily mount your print up while you wait for a small charge. There was some fantastic prints and canvases in the window and on the shop floor. From Steve McQueen on the famous 'Great Escape' bike to some lovely ambient seaside paintings, you could really spend a lot of money here and have a house looking like a gallery.

As a crafting aficionado I'm often found wandering the aisles of this brilliant fabric store on…read moreWestern Road. It's a vast cavern with pretty much everything you could need to fashion something for yourself and if you run out of ideas, don't fear, because there's also a whole section of gifts from picture frames to vases. My favourite place is the second floor though which is an Aladdin's cave of fabrics and haberdashery as well as wools as well as crafting items: beads, paper, canvases and more. I bought myself a couple of feather cushions, buttons and cotton fabric from here for less than £12 recently, just need to find the time to make them now!

I don't know the first thing about sewing or anything like that, but I often find myself in C&H…read morewhen I'm looking for some bits and pieces to add to a fancy dress costume (big fancy dress fan here) I always find the staff extremely helpful when I visit, I always ask a dozen questions when I'm there but I'm never made to feel silly about it. I believe they have started doing sewing/knitting etc classes so it's something I would definitely consider when I get the time. I'm sick of using a hot glue gun for everything!

Moleskines were once my guilty little pleasure: I would buy them just to fill them with random…read morescribblings, doodles and notes, then buy a new one and start all over again... Just because of the love of scribbling on paper. I've grown out of that a little now, entering the electronic age and all that, but still have a youthful lusting after lovely new paper and pens. When the mood strikes me, I browse through Pen and Paper to regain that part of my life, and it always puts a smile on my face. If you aren't quite as obsessed with some stationary as I am, this probably won't register, but Pen to Paper does sell some of the nicest stationary around. Moleskines, real paper, various lovely pens and pencils (proper writing utensils, mind, not biros or something), that sort of thing: an artist's paper shop, in effect. I love the idea of being able to buy bits of paper and write on them, but then this is all such nice, expensive paper... Now, I'm indebted to the electronic age now. I'm happy to be the guy how types everything these days, or makes notes on his Blackberry over buying new notebooks every couple of weeks. Still, it is nostalgic to breeze through Pen to Paper's lovely products: if you were ever a wistful poet upon the heath, this is definitely for you!

In the digital age where most people communicate through text and email, its comforting to find a…read morestore that's with-holding the tradition of writing and sending letters by hand. As the name suggests, Pen to Paper is a cosy store that sells beautiful stationary, tissue-lined envelopes, greetings cards, fountain pens and boxes of ink. It also stocks exquisite Japanese papers, address books, journals and a wide selection of lovely, pocket-size notebooks and sketch pads.