Wilton women open beading studio and jewelry store in Ridgefield
Two women from Wilton, Martha Buttenheim and Pam Minish, have opened Sugarbeads at 113 Danbury Road, a beading studio and jewelry boutique in Ridgefield, for people to come and create custom jewelry by choosing from thousands of beads.
“We designed this space to be conducive to creativity, ” said Ms. Minish. “We wanted it to be bright and light and soothing, a place where people would feel welcome and relaxed while they worked on their projects. We have a long table for designing and comfortable chairs. Everyone is welcome to sit and use our basket of tools any time for as long as they like — we don’t have studio fees.”
The beads are arranged along the walls of the store by color. Beads are sold by the strand and individually and there are different kinds: semi-precious gemstones, handmade and dichroic glass, carved bone and wood, acrylic, fabric, ceramic and shell.
“We’re particularly proud of our large assortment of sterling and vermeil beads and findings,” said Ms. Buttenheim. “It makes all the difference to have a lot of choices — when you are designing, you want just the right thing and subtle differences really matter. We have a huge selection for a new store, which surprises people when they come in. But we will be continuously expanding our selection so that people can return again and again and keep seeing new things.”
“Our freshwater pearls are particularly high quality compared to other places,” said Ms. Minish. “We hand select almost every bead in the store, but I personally adore pearls and I carefully examine every strand. It’s like a treasure hunt to find really unusual shapes and colors with great luster — I often teach customers how to compare pearl quality.”