Ambrosia Bead Shop

Well, I think most of you know that I haven't yet found the perfect bead store in my new city of Baltimore.  Good bead stores are very hard to come by and if you are lucky enough to have a good one near you, you should do whatever you can to support that store.

Whenever I get some free time, I continue to check out bead stores in the greater Baltimore area.  I've been fairly disappointed in the quality and variety of beads and findings available here.  However, yesterday I ventured out to Columbia, MD and discovered a pretty nice bead store.  It is very convenient, just about a mile off 695.

The store is the Ambrosia Bead Shop located at 9143 E. Red Branch Road, Columbia, Maryland.  you can find their website at www.ambrosiabeadshop.com.  The store is small but they have a fairly good selection of high quality gemstone beads.  In addition, she has a couple of rotating trunk shows that she changes about once a month.  She generally doesn't have any idea what will be showing up in the trunk shows but it is usually something interesting.  She also stocks a few gold and silver plated findings along with vermeil and brass findings.  I also found glass beads and Swarovsky crystals.  A small bit of bead stringing materials are on the wall as well.  I didn't see any sterling silver wire but I found silver and gold colored wire.  She doesn't carry any seed beads at all.

By far, the best part of the store was their gemstone beads.  In addition, her pricing was ok.  However, she doesn't currently sell wholesale but is trying to figure out how to give discounts for purchasing in bulk.

The store is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11:00 am. - 5:30 pm. except for Saturday when they close at 5:00.

One very positive comment I need to make about Ambrosia Bead Shop is the the store is very clean.  There was no dust accumulating on anything in the store and the beads were sparkly clean.  It's very difficult to keep your stock dust free but Ambrosia has succeeded.

I still haven't found the perfect bead store in or around Baltimore but I'm planning to continue my search.  I suspect I'll not find a replacement for Scottsdale Bead Supply (which I've blogged about in the past).  Rather, I'll end up with several different stores for different things.  Of course, there is alway online but I'm one of those folks who want to touch my beads before I purchase them.

Do you have a favorite bead store in the Baltimore/D.C. area?  If so, I'd love to hear about it.

The Perfect Bead Store

I've been searching for the perfect bead store for several years.  I have visited some that come very close but most of the time I'm completely disappointed.  First of all...to all owners of beading supply stores, you cannot stock only the most commonly used components.  For example, I was in a beading store the other day that only stocked 8 mm beads.  WTF?  Who even thinks that is a good idea?

If I were running a bead store, I would understand that each beader is different.  They like using different techniques.  They are attracted to different colors, sizes and materials.  Therefore, in order to run a "great" bead store, you have to stock all kinds of things.  You need sterling silver and gold wire.  You need memory wire.  You need craft wire in all colors.  You need wire gauges from 14 to 38 and you need hard, 1/2 hard and dead soft in each.  You need copper wire.  You need silver plated wire.  You need every crystal every made and all types and sizes and colors of seed beads.  You need high quality and special cuts of gem stones.  You need faceted gem stones.  You need silver findings, silver plated finding, gold findings, copper findings, brass findings.  You need Czech Fire Polished beads.  You need beading wire. You need thread, needles, and crochet hooks.  You need tools.  You need everything that can possibly be used to create a handmade masterpiece.

If you approach your beading store with this in mind, I promise you, we will all come.  We'll drive extra miles to get to you and spend more money that we have ever spent anywhere else.  I'm currently living in Baltimore and I have been looking for this type of bead store for almost one year.  It just doesn't exist around here.  This is a constant source of grief for me and is probably responsible for my grumpier days.

If you are lucky enough to have a great bead store near your home, please let me know where it is.  Brag on them.  I would like to visit it.  I've been known to drive great distances to visit good stores.

I'll share just one more WTF moment I had at a beading store in Baltimore.  The back wall was loaded with gemstone beads of all sizes and types.  However, it was behind a counter and they won't let you have access to it.  If you tell them which strand you are interested in, they will show it to you but you are not allowed to touch them.  How can you buy beads without touching them?  It is physically impossible for me to buy without touching.