Craft Supplies in India | Where, what and how

Dear crafters,

Today is a beautiful Sunday, with gently, soothing winds in Delhi. And I have a lot of craft ideas on my mind but with an itch to get my hands on more and more craft supplies, I thought you guys might be interested in knowing where to get these at best prices and how. This post is divided into 2 sections, first deals with specific craft supplies and the best places to get them and the second deals with some of the stores I have shopped from and their shipping methods.

Let's get started.

BASIC CRAFT SUPPLIES AND THE BEST PLACES TO GET THEM: 

1. Branded stamps and dies: We all have a tendency to hoard these, don't we? There are some articulate designs that you just can't live without, available only in select brands. They are also required when you wanna participate in challenges organised by these brands. You can get them cheap at craft sales at various stores (details in second half of this post) OR GET THEM AT DESTASH GROUPS on Facebook. The latter does not ensure that you will get value for money but it's a risk I am willing to take if I am paying only 60-70% of the original MRP.

2. Unbranded stamps and dies: Dies such as stitched circles and beautiful, generic , flower stamps are available at dirt cheap prices on Ali Express and other such Chinese shopping sites. Watch a haul and review video here.

3. Paper: It really depends on what kind of paper are we talking about. 

Pattern paper: Regularly check destash groups, OLX and even some Instagram sellers for branded as well as unbranded pattern paper.

Ivory Cardstock: I recently got Lotus Ivory paper and it's lovely. It is cheap (Rs.62 for 25 sheets) and works well for making cards. 210 GSM, what more do I want! Ivory card stock doesn't really allow ink blending and all, so I refer to you Papericious Sigma card stock. They are good for flower making. 

Colourful plain paper: I use pastel sheets as yardstick because they are so thick. And I got some unbranded thin craft paper from Book fair at Pragati Maidan. 

WaterColour paper: I bought Sitaram's water colour paper from Book fair. They are of great quality and really fulfilling my purpose.

4. Colours: Again, what kind of crafter are you? Do you like to just do it as a passionate hobby? Or are you just a beginner showing interest and want to experiment? If it's the latter, go for cheap ones. Even branded colours can be cheap BTW. It's just that they will have less pigment than the Artist quality ones. Here I am suggesting cheap brands. I don't think the unbranded ones are really any good. What use are cheap pencil colours that won't blend, or plastic crayons which are barely visible.

Water Colours: Camel water colour (I love the student quality, so I can only imagine how much will I love the artist quality ones)

Acrylic Colours: Beginners should go for a set of 12 colours (10mL tubes or bottles), which ever brand you find cheap. But if you are becoming serious about things, get bigger tubes. Try going for basic colours.

Pencil Colours: I own Staedler water colour pencils and they are just amazing. I have them for years now and trust me they last a long time. You can go for PrismaColour if you got more money! ;)

Alcohol markers: Copic markers are the talk of the town but they are super expensive! So, I got Touch New alcohol markers and they work fantastic.

Watercolor markers: Just get Camlin water colour brush pens. They are outright one of the best cheap brush markers and they blend sooo well! (The technique you use for blending does matter). I had Marvy Uchida markers as well. These are expensive and I don't really like them, may be just coz I had to shell out Rs.1000 for 12 pens.

5. Inks and Inkpads: I really believe that a basic black inkpad, which dries permanent is a must for any crafter. See, all such good quality ink pads are expensive! I tried the cheap ones and they leak oil after a while. Sooo, how to make it a cheaper venture? Invest in a good quality ink pad and then, buy a reinker! I have Archival ink and a Tsukineko Black reinker. ;) Yes, I mixed 2 different brands but hey, they are the same type of ink and that's what matters.

If you have a query about any other product, let me know in the comments or get in touch at sweetygupta1203@gmail.com.

INDIAN CRAFT STORES AND SITES:

Now, let's have a look at some Indian stores and sites. I speak from my experience and the post is not a sponsored one:

1. ItsyBitsy: This is a site where you can get almost all types of craft supplies, for paper crafting, knitting, clay, art, almost everything. Also, they stock both branded as well as rebranded Chinese stuff. I would suggest you to wait for their sale, which actually brings down the prices quite heavily. But, during sale, there is a probability that they will call you up to tell you that the colour you ordered isn't available. They are managing issues like this better now I suppose. I am still a sucker for their sale and shop for over 1600 every fortnight! So, you can imagine the pros to be on a much higher side than the cons.

Site: www.itsybitsy.in 

They do have physical stores. Woohoo!

Shipping: Free on orders over Rs.999

2. TheCraftShop: They have a huge range of branded stamps and dies and what not. They even launched their own brand Craftangles recently.

Site: www.thecraftshop.in

They just opened physical store in Chennai.

Shipping: Their shipping charges vary, depending on the weight of the order. 

3. Hndmd: They stock both branded as well as Chinese stuff. 

Site: www.hndmd.com

Shipping: Shipping again varies with what you order. They do have free shipping on orders above Rs.1500.

4. CraftGully: If you are into jewellery making or even if you want some cheap scrapbooking supplies, it is the way to go. 

Site: www.craftgully.com

Shipping: Free for orders above Rs.499.

5. CraftersCorner: It has a huge variety of branded stamps and dies. But I have found the prices on this site to be on a higher side, for same products, compared to many others.

Site: www.crafterscorner.in  

Shipping: Free for orders above Rs.2999.

6. Book and Stationery Fair: Every year in February, we have a Book and Stationery fair at Pragati Maidan. And I visit Hall no. 12 at last, because I know most of my hands will be full once I go in the Stationery Hall.

7. CraftsNeed: It also has a huge variety of branded stamps and dies. But again, I have found the prices on this site to be on a higher side, for same products, compared to many others.

Site: www.craftsneed.com

Shipping: Varies

I have never had any trouble with these sites. The products always came well packed. ItsyBitsy used to include a free gift with every order but they stopped doing that. :( But hey, stuff is already cheap here. And yes, if you do have any trouble, just mail them and they mostly reply promptly. I hope that you too have a happy experience shopping from them, just as I did. 

For any queries, comment below or reach me at sweetygupta1203@gmail.com

Until next time, happy crafting,

Sweety.