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

Nice gift selection. I came here recently to purchase some gifts for an upcoming birthday, and it's…read morea huge plus if I can also support local makers at the same time. One recommendation is to maybe have some non-branded bag options available for patrons who spend above a certain amount to make their purchases gift-ready (or offer a selection of gift bags for purchase at the store). Otherwise, it's great to have a brick an mortar gift shop in the neighborgood featuring local art and products.

Great place to buy unique local theme gifts and great vibes…read more I'm also a artist who has merch available at this store. Make sure to stop by and support small business and say hi to the cat on the way in.

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.

Jacques at Hyegraph is professional, kind and made this experience seamless!…read more He worked with me to make my wedding invitations exactly how I envisioned. Would recommend for high quality, personalized invitations!

Excellent work! Very creative designer, proactive communication, delivered everything on time and…read morethe price was very reasonable. They created the seating chart, table numbers, and guest cards for my son's wedding party. Quite a few of the invitees pinned this business for future projects, Yes, it was that beautiful ! Because there are names everywhere I won't upload photos but they did a really nice job.I'll be happy to work with them again.

After all these years, Walden Pond Books is still a place I like to go into to see if I can find a…read morebook to purchase and read on BART. I always find a good book to read. Good reason to take BART and walk over is the Grand Lake is a great place to sit around as if we are tourists from a planet named Saturn.

The store is surprisingly big and has a pretty solid inventory. Their used books are in good…read morecondition, so you can expect to pay more for them than you would at an old-timey used bookstore where some of the books are pretty seasoned, but also will get them in better shape. I had a super negative experience when I went during their book buying hours to offer them some books, though. Their buyer was out during the buying window, and the person they had step in was shockingly rude. I was offering six recently-published books in new/mint condition from a popular radical independent press. She took one look at them (I'm pretty sure she had no idea what she was looking at), spat out a bunch of gibberish about different types of store credit so quickly that no one could have followed a word she was saying, and when I asked whether the amount they would offer in cash was the same as store credit, she basically sneered at me and said she would offer me maybe $6 (for three of the books I'd brought, about $75 worth), clearly implying that they were garbage and not worth anything. It was such a needlessly disrespectful and off-putting way to talk to someone for no apparent reason (if she wasn't interested in the inventory that's of course totally fine, but the rudeness was completely uncalled for). I haven't had my day ruined by someone working in a shop like that in a really long time. Obviously I said no thanks. I had just found this store for the first time a week ago and bought a haul of books, and was looking forward to being a frequent customer, but I won't be going back.

Letterpress is the musthave of the year, it seems. If you want beautifully designed and unique…read moreletterpress, check out Painted Tongue Press in Oakland (great samples on their website). You honestly never knew there were so many options for letterpress--business cards and menus, as well as your typical wedding/birth/etc. announcements and accompanying components. Kim created our framed wedding vows using the chrysanthemum design off my dress and the color of Mr. B's aloha shirt. I've been unable to top that anniversary gift... Kim also teaches at the Center for the Book and offers classes at her studio. I would not recommend stopping by the studio without calling first--if you check a map, it's not the kind of area for an afternoon stroll. However, she or Bill are often there on the weekends and can always arrange a late afternoon appointment .

Unbelievable!!! I went to Painted Tongue for my wedding invitations and I have gotten so many…read morecompliments about them. The entire staff at Painted Tongue is professional and friendly. I was very impressed with how flexible they were with their schedule. They worked with my fiancee and I the whole step of the way. Beautiful art and unmistakable creativity. Thanks.

I had called Ace Embossing for leather embossing a few days before actually getting the work done…read more I was told that the turn around time would be 1 day. I had work during the week and completely forgot to follow-up with them for a time to bring in the item to get embossed. I called on a Thursday, close to their closing time and asked to drop off the following day and pick up on Saturday. Unfortunately, I was told that they close on the weekends. However, the owner mentioned he could do it the next day, if I brought in the item. He conversed with me over text to show me the different typefaces they offer and made sure that the embossing set up was ready for when I came in. I went into the shop today and literally less than 10 minutes and my item was embossed. Absolutely love the result. Mahalo, mahalo, mahalo for your fast, friendly and amazing work!

I bought a makeup bag for my gf and she wanted it embossed, so I googled different places and came…read moreacross Ace Embossing! Derek was great and got my bag done in a timely manner. He stayed in contact with me and kept me in the loop with the process. The work was amazing and my gf loved it! Thank you Derek. I will definitely be back.