This little shop is quite neat. They've got imported souvenir crystals which can be personalised…read more Very pretty! They also stock an assortment of gifts suitable for kids and women. They have a display table showcasing the crystal souvenirs and they look so beautiful and elegant. It really makes for a good decoration around the home or as a gift for someone. It's similar to Swarovski but without the huge price-tag. They've got other products which are quite random but suitable for children, including a funky designed laundry bin. I would say the nature of this shop is a mixture of imported Asian crafts and products. I think the location of this store is all wrong. It is located on the 4th level near the cinemas and next to an internet cafe. It should be located closer to a Kikki K or other gift stores so they can get the drive of people to their store. What I think happens here, is people walk straight past it as they enter the Westfield, knowing they can always come back, but by the time they've come back, it's only to exit as they've already bought the gifts in the lower levels. Customer service here is okay. They are nice and allow you to have a long browse in their shop. Be care while walking through as it does have breakables on display. So mind your bags, body and children- if you have any.

Perfect moment is a store I have always been meaning to go to but always forget because it is in a…read moreodd location. But today I finally went and loved it. It has a variety of kids toys beautiful jewellery and my personal favourite is all the hello kitty stuff. Most if not all of there stuff is a really reasonable price. The staff where very friendly and let me browse with out being pressured to buy anything. I walked out happy with my 2 hello kitty bags. I love this store.

Being a fan of art and illustration, I find framing stores really appealing. Usually they are too…read moreexpensive to warrant the money for the 5 minute scribble I come up with as an illustration but I like them anyway. The Framing Corner has a great range of frames. The sample board across the back of the store showcases a range of materials, cuts and colours for frames so you can mix and match with what you need. I also like the prints they have on display of different posters and artwork. It is a nice place to browse and to keep in mind for your next potential masterpiece.

Now I haven't exactly frequented many framing shops, but maybe that's just because most of them…read moredon't place themselves as strategically as this place - in a busy shopping centre with an open store for everyone walking past to be able to get a good look inside and see exactly what they do. While I may not be an expert, these guys sure are. Every inch of the shop is covered with framed pictures showcasing the work they do, while half of one wall has a closely packed display of all the different types of frames on offer here. When I visited there were two people working, which might seem like an extravagance for this type of shop, but I guess that indicates just how busy they are.

This shop is like a cornucopia of strange little gifts, knick-knacks, cards, and bits'n'bobs…read more Exactly the kind of store you pop into in search of a birthday card for someone, and end up browsing amongst the eclectic gifts for at least half an hour. There was everything from teddy bears to photo frames; mugs and calendars to christening gifts; musical jewellery boxes to happy birthday banners. I can't lie and say everything was top notch, but I do recommend a potter if you've got time for a browse, or you have some time to kill while waiting for a bus. Like Mary Poppin's handbag, you never know what's going to come out of it...(or what you'll come out with!)

My partner and I recently had some old posters framed at The Framer and they did a beautiful job on…read moreboth. One is a rare WWII propaganda poster that my boyfriend wanted to keep well protected. Choosing the cheapest frame (75x100mm), but with gallery quality glass and UV protection, it set us back around $400. For another, less precious, slightly smaller poster we had it done in the same frame without the special glass and it cost $220. The woman who works there was really lovely to deal with, had both jobs done on time and they look great. The Framer also doubles as a gallery and rumour has it there's a cafe coming soon too.

This was an unexpected find. I only went in here to ask for directions and ended up staying half an…read morehour. So what was it that captured my attention? It's more than just picture frames, which, to be fair, wouldn't have interested me for 30 seconds let alone 30 minutes. I loved the recycled trestle table (amusingly called an iTable) on sale for $250...which was long, but just wide enough for an iPad and a printer. I also loved the cute, sketches on canvas by Cary Davies - all little family tableaux; the antique style mirrors; and most especially the paintings for sale by mainly local artists (keep your eye out for the Brisbane cityscapes done by Vanda Hudson). All of that to look at, and I still managed to get the lovely store owner, Kerry Hart, to give me the right directions, too.

The name of this store is fairly self explanatory. It's quite an impressive shop for the moderate…read morespace, packed from floor to ceiling with anything and everything an office might need. Pens, aesthetically pleasing items for desk organisation, numerous methods for filing, paper, notebooks, even some furniture including desks, chairs and filing cabinets. The staff were attentive and friendly; more than one offered to help me. I would venture to say that this store could fulfil any needs you may have just as well as the giant office supply chains can. I am not really in the market for any office items, but I was interested in their daily planners. I know most people have graduated from the paper version of these helpful tools, preferring the electronic mode provided by that occasionally frustrating piece of technology they call a smart phone. I still find actually writing things on paper with a pen the best way to organise myself, so I spent some time browsing their planners. They had a great range of these, from tiny ones in various shades of the rainbow that cost less than $5 to the more traditional large black variety. I like to put a great deal of thought into choosing my yearly planner, somehow linking it with how successful my year will be, so I didn't make a purchase but this shop is on my shortlist for providing me with this oh-so-important item for 2012.

I'm a bit of a stationery junkie - love the pens, fancy paper, cardboards... I've been going to…read morethis store for years and have had the happy and sad business of selecting stationery for parties, and funerals, from here. They have a really tasteful range of paper and envelopes and a good range of pens, diaries and office gear.

This is not your typical photo and camera store. In fact, it's more of a service than a store. In…read moreterms of merchandise, they only have a small selection of frames on offer. Their focus is on printing photos, quite a change from all the other photo printing places trying to make an extra buck on the side. I haven't had anything printed there myself; I was in there to have a (as it turns out, very, very quick) browse at the frames they stock, but the guy in the shop was very friendly and I felt welcome.

A tiny little nook of a shop but full of myriad surprises, (m)art is associated with the acclaimed…read moreArtisan Gallery in the Fortitude Valley. As you survey the intriguing range of jewellery, ceramics and other one-off pieces, you get the feeling that you've walked into a modern art museum (though on a small scale), the difference being that you can buy the artworks and take them home with you. The prices aren't cheap, as you'd expect for works of such quality. I've noticed some lovely bespoke ceramic cups and bowls going for $66 each, which I would happily buy for a wedding present or for my home. However, a series of commonplace objects encased in rectangular prism made of resin (the only I can remember was a dead bee) going for $220 each seemed a bit rich to me. Perhaps there's some special reason unbeknownst to a layperson such as myself for their seemingly exorbitant procetags.

(m)art design store has got to be one of my favourite shops in South Bank! This design space, come…read morejewellar, come book store, come gift shop is a mixture of different artist's work and boasts some gorgeous things. The design of the store itself is fantastic, and is one of the first things to catch the eye of people passing by. All of the shelves and display tops are made with upturned takeaway coffee cups. It adds a completely new dimension to your average shopping experience and really gives it the feel of an art gallery. Sure, the prices in (m)art aren't exactly cheap, but be careful to keep in mind that the work on display is primarily by local artists (and let's face it, us creative types are hard-pressed earning a crust). For this reason, I would say that the prices are fair. Next time you're in South Bank, make sure you head in to (m)art for a browse. It's the perfect place to buy a gift for someone who has everything, or even for a wedding present. Plus, it's always great to support local and emerging artists.

Tucked away within the Queensland College of Arts, you'll be forgiven for walking past Oxlades two…read moreor three times before noticing it. This specialist art shop is open to the public although QCA staff and students receive a 10% discount. They carry a wide range of fine art products from oil paints to charcoals and a variety of canvases, drawing paper and sketch books. They also carry multiple brands of the same product to cater for the emerging artist who may not want to pay a premium for professional products while they're still training. Although they don't stock much in terms of craft products and they have a limited range of instructional art books, Oxlades is well worth a sticky beak for the hobby artist.

Oxlades Art Centre at QCA sells a good variety of art supplies, but the stock isn't stellar…read more Because it's such a tiny store and more catered for on campus emergency supplies, i.e. when a student is in dire need for new brushes, or they've run out of a certain paint colour, they can just duck downstairs and head back to class. But if you're shopping as an outsider, which I was, I found the stock and service a little underwhelming. I was after a specific type of paper for an art project I was working on and the staff member either didn't know what I was on about, or didn't know whether or not they stocked it. That said, they did have a great variety of inks (if that's what you're after...I know I was!) and weren't bothered that I spent a bit of time there trying to figure out exactly what blue (they sold many tints and shades) I needed. I wouldn't recommend coming here if you're after an art supplies store with a giant range, but if you're in the area and dying for a tube of paint or a can of fixative, by all means duck in and have a browse.