BC is Bear Country - fall time in the Kootenays.

Well it's that time of year
The long hot sunny days of summer, with colourful blooms, birds, and butterflies are fading away into long shadows and shorter, rainier fall. The Kokanee have been spawning, kids are settling into school, and it's time to shift into autumn mode.
 Harvest season is coming to a peak and everyone seems to be busy, picking, pickling, canning and  gathering firewood.
 We didn't really do a garden this year, but we can count on our walnut tree, which is just starting to drop a few walnuts- time to get out the buckets & rubber gloves :)
 There's so many things I want to write about, but right now, I've got bears on my mind since there's been 3 different bears in our yard this week & have been so many sightings in town and all around. I have some great pictures to share, here's a few and I'll add more later :

A bear on a hill

I'm so fortunate to have a good zoom on my camera.

We were getting firewood when I spotted this bear in the distance.

He's been watching us.

Usually, this is all I see- a brown blob in bushes.

A few minutes later, I saw another black bear.

                                                       A bear in the backyard...

When you're taking pictures of trees & stuff & see this silhouette in the background!

   

so you take a couple of zoomed photos...

but it's not holding still... or is the photographer moving?

nope it's the bear....

finally a couple of good shots!

A  healthy (brown) black bear watching us... and posing for just another moment.

 

A bear beside the highway

We stopped to watch this bear across the highway-

zooming in to see what it's doing/eating.

  

Spotted- it sees us in our car (a long way away)

Running for cover?

Hiding?

Nope- bringing a friend

Click here to See my Black bear/s video 

Note: While making this blog- we had another bear visit- next door... it was a big one! Here's another healthy looking brown (black) bear...

A blue bird and a bear head... finished.

I've just completed two clay pieces that I'm quite proud of. 

An adorable blue bird figure, and a bear head wall hanging.

To see them before painting... click here.

I hope you don't mind if I show them off.

This is my blue bird before I painted a 

glossy finish on him. 

The gloss protects the paint, and enhances the colours,

but makes it hard to get photos without glare.

This is the bear head before the glossy finish.

These are after the glossy finish. 

Simply charming...

The short version: I bought some charms and made simple, earrings with them.

The long version:

  I enjoy shopping for unique pieces to use in my jewelry.

Combining pretty charms, colourful glass, or precious stones, into a pair of earrings, is almost instant gratification.

 The other day, I received a new order of charms, and was anxious to go to my studio and make some new earrings. However, my son was on Skype, and we were having such a good visit, so I opened the packages, and we just kept talking.

    I have a couple of tools in my desk, so I made several pairs of earrings while we visited. 

They're simple, lovely, and Inexpensive.

Clay pieces often take weeks from start to finish. 

Paintings also take many hours to be completed.

Earrings are one of the few things I can make from beginning

to end, in one sitting AND they are easy to ship.

But, just adding a charm to an ear wire? Anyone can do that… if they want to.

Makes me reluctant to call them "handmade", however, not everyone is willing or has the patience,
to fiddle with tiny things. 

 So... 

A simple charm hanging from a hook.

Easy to make, and yet so pretty to wear.

It'll take time for me to get them all listed in my Etsy Shop, but I did 

add the butterfly earrings.