If you can't be bothered walking across town to the main Paperchase, this small subsidiary of the…read morestationary and art supply store is tucked away on the first floor of Borders, between the Fiction department and Starbucks. There's a condensed selection of the giftware they sell in the East Street store - namely, candles, tea-cups, travel journals and recipe books - as well as a small selection of greetings cards and wrapping paper. The cards seem to have been chosen with a mainstream customer in mind so there's less camp and kitsch and more polka dots, kittens and golfers. Still, a good place to run in if you need a last minute card.

This little Paperchase store, cunningly situated in Borders, en route to the Starbucks, is a great…read moreone stop shop when you're in desperate need of inspiration for a gift idea. Well, actually gifts for girls mainly , if you'll pardon my sexism. You'll find decorative/cute/kitsch/flowery/pretty cards, stationary, diaries, stickers, decorations and random things like teas sets, sewing kits, glasses cases...

Fans of Paperchase's flagship stores in London and Manchester might be surprised by the size of…read moretheir Brighton branch. The small square footage means there's no room for the gorgeous range of pastels, paints and art paper the shop specialises in. Instead, there's a small selection of cool and quirky diaries, travel journals, stationary and giftware at the back of the store and a large selection of fab greeting cards at the front. The stock isn't as unique as in Malarkey in the North Laines but there's still a great range of birthday, good luck, get well and condolences cards as well as seasonal ranges like Christmas, Halloween and Valentines. Personally, I'm a big fan of the Bikini range they stock with 50s and 60s pin-up girls and boys covered in glitter.

I'd never heard of Paperchase before this afternoon, but I appear to be in the minority. The store…read morewas swarming with people who must have known the wealth of Christmas decorations, cards, and gift wrap that were going to be on sale. Prices were pretty decent - I picked out a really nice 'tree topper' for £4.50. Of course, the shop isn't always centred on Christmas supplies. They have a huge selection of notebooks, loose paper, pens, fancy mechanical pencils, art supplies, day planners, journals...everything to do with paper. I also saw some office décor - picture frames, small clocks and paperweights. I'll definitely remember this shop when I need more school supplies and the Christmas rush is over.

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.

This is a small but well-run greeting card and photographic processing shop in Seven Dials,…read moreopposite the 'Good Companions' pub. They have a very good range of cards, including gently humorous ones I have not seen elsewhere, and plenty of those in which you can write your own message. I've never left empty-handed (and I'm quite picky when it comes to birthday cards). They also have a small range of stationery and post-cards. I've not used the photographic services here, but the staff always strike me as very pleasant.

Digital photography means the photo developing side of this business must surely be fairly…read moreredundant these days, but I'm sure they'll survive with the brilliant range of stationery and greetings cards they have here. It's really hard sometimes to find decent cards - they're either soppy pastels or bad jokes, but the range here covers all bases. They have lots of colourful cards with decent pictures, and some humour cards which are actually funny. Also plenty of other useful party stuff such as balloons and streamers, and a small range of standard stationery items. Staff always seem smiley and friendly

Just about the most charming little shop in Kemptown. Cards…read moreand doodads and trinkets and doohickies. Lovely staff, lovely layout and a card for any occassion.

I'm really not much of a crafty kind of person. Me and sewing machines certainly don't have a good…read morerelaionship. However, even the likes of me occasionally need to buy some fabric - in my case it's generally to accessorise some fancy dress outfit or other. Fabric Fair is stacked high with roll after roll of any kind of material you can imagine - it's hard to see how they fit so much into such a small shop. Prices are really reasonable, and staff are always helpful. They even managed to advise me on how to make a vampire cape.

There are two fabric shops in the Laines- Ditto Fabrics and New Fabric Fair. New Fabric Fair is the…read moremore chaotic of the two! There is loads of good stuff here- chiffons, cotton prints, wool, tweed- you just need to have a bit of time to hunt through to see what you might uncover. If you despair at finding the exact right fabric for that dress pattern then the staff are super helpful and seem to uncannily know what is piled under what. The chaos extends outside where they have rows of ends of lines that you can get for a bargain- you can negotiate on most prices actually but the stuff out front is really reasonable. They also have an excellent stock of ribbons and finishes. If ordered chaos inspires you then this is the place for you!

A magical place for people who love Teddy Bears. The bears are brill and so are the clothes.read more

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.