I went in with no intention of buying anything. But knowing I would spend money. I have a…read morecompulsion of spending money at craft stores, but can't help myself. I've never been here before, and just wanted to check it out. There was a great selection of pens, markers, pencils, paper. Jelly cats lol I had been wanting a fountain pen for a long time but never bought one. Perfect timing I guess? The JT? TJ? Super knowledgeable about the products on hand, and even the ones they didn't have on hand. I'm excited for the Lamy pen, and sailor ink I purchased. The price of the pen was comparable to what I've seen online, so I'm glad I was able to shop local. I also ended up getting some cute stickers and washi tape.

Got an email that the Oakland location will close soon. Stopped by to get pen refills for my…read moreforeign pens. Cruised around the store, picked up a few calligraphy pens and a 2026 calendar. The pen Manager explained the specific refills in detail. Bonus, she wrote down the details of each model on the back of her business card. She was very helpful and detailed oriented and a pleasure to converse with. We'll definitely miss Flax, but in the meantime, we'll make sure all of the items we need, we get 'em here. The staff that we interacted with were friendly, professional and very helpful. Super bonus = off-street parking lot in rear of store

I love blick. this location is great in particular and in a great spot. I like how they said "good…read moreluck on your project" when I checked out. I really needed that luck

They have everything one needs to complete their artistic endeavors. I use acrylic paints…read more Obviously much easier to use than oil paints. And, they have every color imaginable. I also appreciate their sales force. Their associates are very knowledgeable and extremely helpful. Don't need to look anywhere else.

Very cute store in cool area of Oakland. The have a variety art supplies, books, and stationary for…read morekids. Perfect to find gifts and school supplies.

From the owner: Drawling is your one stop shop for artful all-ages gifting! Not your typical toy store, everything…read morein the shop is curated to enable creativity in some way. We have art supplies, craft kits, fun gadgets, notebooks, pencils and pens, a selection of beautifully illustrated kids books and so much more!

They have a great selection of materials, from fabric (what I'm usually looking for) to notions to…read morechildren's play materials to funky collectibles to actual sewing machines and earrings made from their supplies (presumably). I attended a craft night there and hope I get to again soon!

I once bought a box of popsicle sticks. The box was moldy, some of the sticks were moldy, but I was…read moreusing them for a project. Yes, I paid 97 cents, but that box was ratchet. And I have to say that is true with much of the stuff in there. The person who donated them must have been non-melinated, because I have had the hardest time with my donations. So, they need donations to keep afloat and want to give you the third degree and reject your stuff. I went to give them lights, no xmas lights, but just regulary white lights, the type the a teacher will put around a board to highlight it or something. I was told coursely that they don't take xmas lights or nonworking lights. I explained their usage in my room and the guy plugged them in and reluctantly took them. Another time I came with binders, I'm a teacher, graduating from school and have more binders than I know what to do with. And they are good binders. Also, he said that they had too many of them. Where??? I didn't see them in the little donation space and I didn't see them in the store, so...The guy was so dismissive. The attitude is like they're doing me a favor looking at my stuff before rejecting it. Is this the nonprofit donation version of the black tax, where if a black hand is touching it, you reject it? Or you choose to pay less? While there, a black male dropped something off and got in his car. This guy (big and blond) chased the SUV yelling after him and said he couldn't do that. The guy parked and got out of the car and they accepted the donation. I find it amazing that they will accept junk from some people and reject reusable things from others (melinated?) That may be the pattern. They are a joke!

Service selection and value..? they have it all and sparkling personalities too! Variety ....lots…read moreto see there!

Lisa, the owner of ReCrafting is just phenomenal in every way--helpful, hardworking, makes you feel…read morecomfortable to browse and shop for yarn, beads and fabrics (not sure about fabrics, actually). I basically threw four boxes of beads at her, completely snarled and mixed up, that my sister had given me when we cleared out her house for sale. Lisa didn't skip a beat or look cross, and somehow she organized them for sale. Unbelievable! So I was shocked to see a couple of very negative yelp reviews. It turns out those were reviews of the store's previous owner. Lisa has owned the shop for about a year and a half, so the bad reviews aren't a reflection on her sunny, totally comfortable approach to customers--both buyers and sellers.

I just want to write this review to counter-act against "Scott S" one-star review because his…read morereview is so ridiculous. I should mention, I am in no way affiliated with this shop whatsoever in any way, shape, or form. However I do live in the neighborhood and when I was searching for paper stores, this shop came up in the search. It took me literally 2 seconds to see that it's not the type of store I'm looking for (I'm looking for more of a stationary/paper store as opposed to art supply anyways, but alas this shop came up.) I personally think it's really cool to have a shop specifically for materials more geared toward graffiti/spray paint art...because graffiti IS ART. Therefore this shop IS an art supply store! That guys review would be almost like if I went to Whole Foods and got mad because they don't sell Hot Cheetos and Swishers. That would be ridiculous, right? Of course it would be! People should do their own due diligence! I'm sure Scott S. refuses to take such responsibility though, for he mustn't have the basic sense to make such high agency decisions in his day-to-day life. But that's okay. Because I'm here. To suggest to anyone that comes across this shop, to simply look at the images. Look for yourself. Is this the type of store you're looking for? If you are unsure, the store owner's phone number is right here on this very listing. I'm sure you can call and ask. Don't be like Scott. Not now. Not ever.

I was looking for an "art supply store" close to me. Saw good reviews for this place on Yelp. Went…read morethere but a total waste of time. This is not an art supply store. They only have supplies like spray paint for graffiti. They don't have drawing paper or paints or canvases or anything you need to make art. Unless you're doing graffiti don't bother with this place.

Katie is an outstanding employee here. She assisted me with finding the items that were necessary…read moreto complete my intended tasks. The selection was a bit limited and the simple items I purchased were quite expensive. I appreciate the store hours though, being that they owned at 9am. I would visit this location again if necessary.

What is happening to Michaels? I accepted that all the…read moresmaller Mom & Pops art supplies stores have been overtaken by Michaels & that quality arts & crafts are no longer available to buy locally, but now it seems like Michaels has done something crazy. I filled up my cart today with hundreds of $$$ of supplies - as I tend to do once or twice a year... and headed to the check-out. There were a group of 5 employees chatting about life behind the registers, but none of them were helping customers check out. It was 100% self-checkout. I am handicapped & asked for help, but they all told me they were not allowed to help any customers check out unless the customer was paying in cash. I was surprised. I went ahead and paid for everything, then asked for a bag - which they always supplied to shoppers in the past. I would definitely need a bag to take everything in my cart with me to my car. They told me that they don't have any bags for customers any more. I asked if I could pay for a bag & they said they didn't have any bags - they girl just said "We're Out!". I was just shocked at the lack of customer service and this new policy where they are not allowed to help any customers. I will also add that when I first arrived at the store, I asked three different employees where a product was that I was looking to purchase. They all said, "Oh yeah, we carry that", just look around the back corner".. or they would point "just go in that direction". I never found the product & got tired of asking the employees who seemed to make it their 'job' to not help anyone. The only people who seemed to have any sense were the two women in the framing department. They actually were kind & professional & wanted to help me find the product I was looking for, but they did not know where the product was, nor if the store carried it because they were just focused on framing art and photos. All the employees were polite when they talked to me, all friendly conversations. I really blame the corporation - as it seems that they do not care for their employees. When cashiers are replaced by customers doing their own 'check out', they will soon no longer hire cashiers/employees, and the current employees will lose their jobs. I see this happening everywhere & the unemployment rate is climbing along with the price of basic food, etc.. shame on Michaels. I will be looking to find another arts & crafts store. Very disappointed. I wonder if all the Michaels stores have this new policy of not helping customers - even handicapped customers with checkout? Also - no bags? They could have put a sign at the front of the building announcing that customers need to bring their own bags - but no - they just embarrass customers by letting them find out after they have filled their shopping carts & paid for a zillion items & have no way to bring them out of the store. I woudn't be surprised if the next time I walked in there, the only employees were a couple AI robots.

We went into the Michaels at 5:45 PM. They were open with customers. We had a shopping cart full of…read moreitems and were getting ready to check out but needed to use the restroom. I asked an older female employee if I could use the restroom prior to checking out and she said "no" that the restroom was closed for the evening for customers and told me to walk across the parking lot to the Safeway. Note that it was raining at the time. This was extremely unprofessional, and we left without purchasing any items and will not be returning. I would have been a paying paying customer and there is no reason unless it was out of service that I should Not have been allowed to use the restroom that is designated for customers. They even had the restroom area barricaded so you could not get to it. The female employee did not say the restrooms were broken she simply said they were closed for the evening, Yet they were open for at least another hour. I hope Management addresses this matter. I understand having to monitor the restrooms in stores due to People that misuse them but that's not me. I should Not be prohibited because of those that do. I am very Disappointed with Michael's in Alameda as this has not been an issue in any of the other Michael's I frequent.

You can sign up for free rewards account from Michaels. They pretty frequently will send you a 30%…read moreor 40% off regular price item coupon. This can be a good or bad thing, depending on if you're prone to impulse shopping. I appreciate that they have self checkout and they have a bathroom that doesn't require a code or talking to an employee to access. There are frequently some items on sale. I was surprised that it's end of August but they already supposedly have some Halloween decor on sale. I was able to buy a large quantity of stickers and then apply a discount code so that it was fairly inexpensive. They often sell candles at a pretty cheap price, compared to other places. A friendly store employee at the checkout checked in on me just to make sure everything was okay and let me know to ask them if I had any questions. There's plenty of parking in this plaza, but also a couple of AC Transit bus stops within 5 mins walking.

Incredible selection of colors, fibers, lengths, weights! They have local brands and brands from…read morearound the world. A comprehensive browse of the offerings would probably take an afternoon. The staff member was friendly and helpful. Outside of yarn and tools, they have a lot of fun knick knacks, purses, handmade items, crafting kits, kid-friendly crafts and toys.

I visited ImagiKnit in San Francisco many years ago and was thoroughly impressed with their huge…read moreyarn selection. Yesterday I visited their new-ish location in Berkeley and once again was impressed. It's a fairly large space (for a yarn shop) and in addition to yarn they offer lots of books, bags, and accessories, including craft items for kids. Their yarn selection doesn't seem to be as large and varied as the one in their SF location, but I could be remembering wrong. The shop was very busy on this Saturday afternoon. It was the end of the 2025 Bay Area Yarn Crawl, so they were offering door prizes and free homemade cookies. My sister won a prize of two skeins of Cascade yarn, a bag, a couple patterns, and a sticker. It was also fun visiting the cute neighboring shops on College Ave. and having lunch across the street at In the Wood. Don't forget to pay for street parking with a credit card; there aren't any signs to let you know it's required.

I've been following Jessica Hische's work and career for a while now, and I was super excited to…read moresee that she opened up a shop. At the time, I was pretty sad, because I lived on the east coast. Little did I know, I'd find myself in the area after all. This shop is a nice little oasis for designers who just love nicely designed little every day objects. Hische stocks this place with all kinds of delightful things. I think the best part is that there are things at all price points. It's not just some snobby place, where nothing costs less than $100. There are solid quality and affordable pens, as well as some specialty items that are on the more expensive side. There is even original designs/works of art from Hische herself. Definitely a fun spot to check out if you're in the area. Highly recommend!

Do people give any less than 5 stars to local arts and crafts, woman owned businesses? Anywho, any…read moredesigner knows who Jessica Hische is but her store is for anyone. There's actual art supplies, pins, art books and kids books, some branded items like shirts, totes, onesies, and cool stuff like gorgeous desk clocks or hourglass timers that I can't afford lol. Anyways, worth a visit if you're in the area. I ended up getting a bunch of my holiday shopping done for my creative friends.