These 5 Valley craft stores carry everything an artist needs

Crafty people unite at these five amazing arts and crafts stores across the Valley. With amazing varieties of supplies, tools, and colors to choose from, each unique store has something for everyone. 

From experts to beginners, any artist searching for a muse or a medium should check out these locations. 

Arizona Art Supply 

4025 N. 16th St., Phoenix

Hours: Monday to Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. | Sunday, 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. 

Website | Instagram 

(Photo by Analisa Valdez)

First on the list, and located in the midtown Phoenix area, is Arizona Art Supply. Pulling from various styles and art forms, Arizona Art Supply carries a wide range of material. From the smallest 2-by-2-inch sketch pads, to the largest 36-by-24-inch drafting tables, there’s plenty to choose from across the vast store. 

Arizona Art Supply carries unique art supplies, like a selection of calligraphy pens, bamboo sumi brushes and ink, colorful pigment sticks, and PanPastels. Luckily, Arizona Art Supply does demos on unique materials for guests to try or check out. The store also carries plenty of popular supplies like open-air dry clay, Winsor & Newton drawing inks, cans of spray paint, and every shade imaginable of Tiziano drawing paper. If you’re searching for a new medium or are in need of a restock of artistic materials, Arizona Art Supply is a perfect stop to shop. 

Family Arts Needlework Shop 

5555 N. Seventh St., Suite 144, Phoenix

Hours: Tuesday to Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

Website | Instagram 

(Photo by Analisa Valdez)

Located inside the Cinema Park Village Shopping Center is the Family Arts Needlework Shop. Specializing in delicate threading, stitching, and sewing, the Family Arts Needlework Shop has been teaching needlework since 1967. And despite being relatively small, the little storefront certainly doesn’t lack in supplies, with either a sewing template or a rack of thread covering nearly every square foot of the shop. 

Avid sewing enthusiasts and threading beginners alike are welcome to the Needlework Shop classes or group meet-ups they host. And if you’re just starting out, the Needlework Shop has plenty of starter kits and stitching templates to try. The Needlework Shop has a wide range of sewing and art material, including beads, buttons, vibrant ribbon, and textured threads like stardust, silk, angora, alpaca, and eyelash. The Family Arts Needlework Shop is definitely a craft store worth checking out. 

Blick Art Materials 

930 E. University Drive, Suite 10, Tempe

Hours: Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. | Saturday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Website | Instagram 

(Photo by Analisa Valdez)

Located within the popular Cornerstone shopping center between Tempe Improv and Trader Joe’s is Blick Art Materials. Blick is a one-stop shop for practically every art supply you could imagine. With a colorful palette of paper rolls along the wall behind the register, there’s more materials to browse throughout the rest of the aisles. Labeled by types of supplies, each aisle contains different materials like sketchbooks, a variety of different-tipped pens, textiles, multi-sized canvases and frames, and an entire row dedicated to a large assortment of paint brushes.

Naturally, there are aisles filled with a rainbow variety of Sharpie markers, gel pens, watercolor palettes, and pastels, but Blick also has sculpting materials like sponges, carving knives, colored glazes, and even individual blocks of different types of clay. There are melding materials, woodwork supplies, and near the back, there are also supplies to help craft an artistic portfolio, like folders and display cases. Blick is the perfect place to shop for established artists as well as individuals just searching for expert quality art supplies. 

Tempe Yarn & Fiber 

1415 E. University Drive, A102, Tempe

Hours: Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. | Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Sunday, 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. 

Website | Instagram 

(Photo by Analisa Valdez)

Located within the University Plaza shopping center is Tempe Yarn & Fiber—a popular spot among crocheting, knitting, weaving, and overall yarn enthusiasts. And for people eager to learn and connect, Yarn & Fiber offers classes on many techniques and tools set out on their online schedule. 

Tempe Yarn & Fiber is a smaller storefront, but don’t let the size deter you from discovering their expertly crafted selection of thread, yarn, and fiber. From wall-to-wall, Yarn & Fiber has spools of yarn stretching across the store, all hand-dyed in Arizona. Guests that are seasoned in knitting and crocheting can find nifty tools like dryer balls, thread mini-rulers, keychains of a triadic and complementary color wheel, and the smallest pairs of scissors imaginable. 

Jerry’s Artarama Retail Store

4421 S. Rural Road, #1-3, Tempe

Hours: Monday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. | Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. | Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. | Sunday, 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. 

Website | Instagram 

(Photo by Analisa Valdez)

Last, but not least, is Jerry’s Artarama Retail Store located within the Fairlanes Village Center. Jerry’s Artarama makes artists feel right at home with paint-splattered floors and handmade decorative signs in every aisle. Featuring affordably priced frames, canvases, and portfolio materials, Jerry’s Artarama has a wide variety of art supplies and materials. 

A painter can’t begin without a canvas, which is probably why a large portion of the store is dedicated to canvases. From a 2-by-3-inch mini canvas for $2, to a 36-by-48-inch mega canvas for $40, Jerry’s Artarama has canvases of all shapes and sizes. Jerry’s Artarama also features unique tools and materials like gallons of pouring resins with molds, book-binding supplies like linen thread and beeswax, and an entire shelf of sizeable palette knives. And if you’re searching for gift options for artistic friends and family, be sure to check out their different style art kits complete with a bag and wrapping.

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