MISSOULA - Caras Park played host to the 15th annual Summer Made Fair in Missoula on Sunday, June 18, 2023.
“Well, we’re very grateful that so many amazing artists that want to participate in our events as well as people wanting to attend, and shop and support them. Today we have 160 plus artists here and all of them are pouring their heart and soul into what they make and there’s definitely a shift in people’s purchasing choices and a lot more people are trying to support the local businesses," explained event coordinator Carol Lynn Lapotka.
People who stopped by the event had a great opportunity to shop for handmade clothes, jewelry and other unique items.
One of those items was guitars made out of cigar boxes. The maker of these guitars, James Rendle, tells the story of how he got started with them.
“So we had a house fire and we lost the house and my guitars and I bought one of these on the internet and I was busy packing it up to send it back and you know I thought, as an engineer, maybe I could improve it so I did.”
Improving that first guitar jumpstarted Rendle’s business Crafted in Montana, he says he will only sell his products in person so getting out to a handmade crafts event means a lot to his business.
“It means… It’s everything to me for my business and I do quite well. I do farmers markets. I do this, the handmade shows especially are great, there's always a big crowd, they're very well organized and I’ve been to a half dozen of them already.”
For more information on upcoming events from Handmade Montana visit https://handmademontana.com/.
