BUTTE — A Butte woman is bringing the unique concept of farm to boutique to Uptown Butte with alpaca products that are grown and made right. Now she’s celebrating one year of selling her products at a storefront on Park Street.
Betty Kujawa is the owner of Snowdrift Alpacas; she's an alpaca farmer and fibre artist, and for a decade she has been raising over a dozen animals on her homestead north of Butte.
See how Betty turned her alpaca farm into a business:
She has traveled the art market circuit for years, selling her yarn and other products made from her animals’ fibre, but last year she put down roots at a boutique in town.
"It’s kind of the evolution of ... the farm and me as a fibre artist – going from just doing occasional shows and the farmers market to finally just putting down roots and saying, 'No, this is ... where we are. This is what we look like," says Kujawa.
At Snowdrift Alpacas, you can find an array of Betty’s hand-dyed alpaca yarn. She also sells socks, gloves, shoe inserts, and felted hats.
Soft alpaca rugs and soft sculpture teddy bears, chickens, and pumpkins are on display next to art made by family and friends.
"The majority of everything that we have there is stuff that we do take pride in and make ourselves," says Kujawa.
Becoming a member of the Uptown business community is also a source of pride for the small business owner.
"I’m just very proud of being here for a year, and it's amazing.... life... and when a door opens... if you don’t step through, you don’t know."
The store is at 127 West Park Street. Click here to visit the website.
