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| Argenta Bead Company |
Last week, my place of employment sent me to Little Rock for a business meeting. Being the crafty gal/shopaholic that I am, I always love to check out new places to shop when visiting other towns in my free time. And, boy, did I find a good one when I stumbled onto the Argenta Bead Company in North Little Rock, Arkansas. I felt like a kid in a candy store during my visit.
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| One of the walls filled with Czech glass beads. |
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| Czech glass buttons "on a stick". |
This store has 3 rooms filled with all sorts of goodies. The main room is filled with all types of beads imaginable - Czech crystals, seed beads, pearls, gemstones, lampwork and even vintage German glass beads. There were 2 part lampwork beads that looked like little Chihuahuas, decorated cupcakes, monkey heads and the like. Half the fun was deciding which ones I absolutely had to take home with me.
On shelves right across from the lampwork beads, gorgeous Czech glass buttons threaded on long eye pins and displayed in glass jars reminded me of rock candy sticks you see in any old fashioned candy store. In the same area, an assortment of metal filigree stampings and soldering supplies can be found.
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| A close-up of some of the lampwork Chihuahua beads. |
The back room contains an entire wall of tools, many which you can usually purchase online or through a jewelry supply catalog. Some of the more unique items I found in this little treasure trove included a wire whacking board (just perfect for my wire jewelry making projects), liver of sulfur for antiquing silver, bronze, copper and gold, a rainbow of colored wire reels, silk ribbon, colored hemp and leather cording (to name just a few.) Another wall contained hundreds of little drawers filled with all sorts of connectors, clasps and bead caps.
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| Pendant bezels in all shapes and sizes. My favorite part of the store! |
My absolute favorite room, though, was the room located to the left of the bead room. This room holds bowls filled with big metal connectors of every shape and size. I especially love the large pewter daisy connectors. I purchased several to use in my jewelry designs, but I can also picture these being used in a belt to wear over a big shirt. Unique charms and pendants such as enameled Our Lady of Guadalupe pieces, carved ivory Geisha girl heads, gold and silver skeleton keys, Washi paper, glass tiles, dominoes, Ice resin and an assortment of goodies for the mixed-media jewelry artist can be found in this room. This room also houses a small library of beading books and a classroom. Last, but certainly not least, it also contains all sorts of bezel tray pendants in many shapes and large sizes. I usually have to purchase these online and was thrilled to be able to select my assortment in person.
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| Some of my haul from Argenta. :) |
The ladies who work in the store are also very personable and willing to assist, if needed. If you are ever in the Little Rock area, this is a fun place to shop and well worth the trip. Even if you can't make it there right away, you can check out Argenta's website for information.
Argenta Bead Company
703 N. Main Street
North Little Rock, Arkansas 72114
telephone (501)537-0928
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