.* INTRODUCTION *.

I have been shopping here on and off for a long time now, and I have to admit I love it. I'm a creative person and this shop is right up my street, this shop offers everything that I need to create perfect cards, and also fulfils my cross stitching needs. I do tend to spend a small fortune when I visit here but its all value for money. Let me tell you more about the shop, and the products they sell here.

.* WHAT IS HOBBYCRAFT? *.

Hobbycraft is nothing more and nothing less of a hobby and craft store, with a wide range of crafting products. My local hobbycraft is situated on a retail park, it's a very large shop. The store is based on 2 floors, separated by stairs, although the ground floor is larger then the top floor; almost everything is sold on the ground floor. You will also find the cashiers on the ground floor situated near the doors, along with sweets and chocolate around the tills, sometimes you will find small items at the front of the tills, like tape, glue things like that.

.* PRODUCTS AND VALUE FOR MONEY? *.

As I have already mention there are loads of products to choose from, and all are value for money. I am going to briefly tell you what you will expect to find here:-

The ground floor will consist of everything you will require for

- CARD MAKING & SCRAPBOOKING - There is card & envelope packs, all cut differently and different size and colours, embossing & cutting machines, scissors, paper, embellishments, flowers, foam, sticky tape, polethene bags for handmade cards to slip into, ink & ink pads, Stencils, and much more. As I have also mentioned I love creating beautiful cards for any occasion, and this store provides a lot for me to succeed. I haven't tried scrapbooking but there are plenty of items and products for you to choose from to help making the perfect scrapbook.

- NEEDLECRAFT - Anything you will need for cross stitching, knitting, and embroidery is find here too, consisting off wool, thread, needles, needle cushions, kits, sewing boxes, and much more. You will even find patterns, magazines, and books to inspire you.

- CUSHION AND BLANKET MAKING - you can find everything you need to make blankets, rugs, teddy bears, dolls, cushions, including wool, fabric, needles, yarn, patterns, kits, you will never be looking else where as this shop will provide everything you need.

- PAINTING & DRAWING - My son loves this bit, he is only 5 but loves the paints and pencils, there are crayons, pens, paint brushes of all sizes, blank canvas's, paper, blank pads for painting and drawing on, easels, paint and pencil boxes and much more.

-BANNERS DECORATIONS - Here you buy anything to help with the creation of your own made banners, and decorations, brilliant for the creation of birthday, Christmas, and all occasions banners, balloons, you name it you can create anything you desire.

- CHILDREN ACTIVITIES - Anything from paper to activity kits are here too, pencils, crayons, wash off paint, ace painting, colouring books, stencils and loads more.

Other creations like flower arranging, jewellery making, jigsaw puzzles & mats, photo frames, in different styles and sizes are sold here too. There are lots to do.

Then we head upstairs to the top floor, where there are more products, mostly for the boys and the men.
- MODEL MAKING - you can buy model kits here where you build them, paint them, and have them as decoration, some you have to buy the paints and brushes separately but others come with them in the kits. You can build helicopters, aeroplanes, boats, ships, cars, and you will need to buy the glue for these too. Be careful though as these do contain small parts.

- TRAINS - here you can buy train sets, parts, accessories, trains, anything to make a train set more realistic. You really have to take a look to know what you can buy.

- DOLLS HOUSE - anyone that have built there own dolls house for there kids or as an hobby will know you need the furniture etc to finish it off, hobby craft provides all that and more, helping with the building, furnishing and decoration of the dolls house.

-PAINTS AND GLUES - most of the painting and glue can be found on the ground floor but that is only for crafting, model building will need stronger glue and different kind of paint for the complete of the model. These are provided in various colours and sizes and different types.

Bargain bins can also be found in the shop, this is where you can find good deals and cheap prices, ok they might contain what you are looking for but they could come in useful, you can find anything from card, to cross stictch mini kits. So worth taking a look.

.* PARKING *.

My local hobbycraft is situated on a retail park which is ideal for the parking, although there is parking outside the shop it is very rare you can park there.

.* FINAL THOUGHTS *.

I have to say I love this shop; it contains everything you need for your hobbies, and creativity. You do not have to be crafty to come here but helps, there is so much inspiration in magazines and books, and most of the productions will come will instructions too. I wouldn't say this shop I cheap but you can grab yourself a bargain sometimes, you just have to keep your eye open when you visit. The shop is never busy so you can't move around, and never any queues.