Ursa Minor Miniatures

Heavenly miniatures designed to
delight the eye and touch the heart
lovingly created by

Shelley K. Bossert

Bears, pouches, all photographs, design, content and layout of this website

by Shelley K. Bossert, Copyright Š1998

Show Schedule &
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If You Saw Me On TV

What's New

My New Jewelry Line

For the last three years, I have been teaching classes at A Better Bead & Crafts in Brevard. My teddy bears are for sale there and I teach classes in teddy bear making. I also teach jewelry making at the shop. In addition, I design and make one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces that are sold in the shop and on the shop's web site. I have decided to add my jewelry designs to my web site. Here are some samples of my more recent work. To see a complete selection of my currently available pieces, click here.

Lariat w Luigi Cattelan's Lime Green Chevron

Mother-of-Pearl and Venetian Chevron Lariat

This impressive piece was a marriage of of mother-of-pearl, Swarovski crystals, lime cat's eye and seed beads as a foil for one of Luigi Cattelan's chevrons. The chevron is an inch and a half long, the necklace is 25" long and the tassel ends of the lariat add an additional three and a half inches of length.

$250

Double Drilled Jasper Tile

The double drilled jasper tile is the focus of this 18" necklace with its mix of natural stones, Czech glass and Swarovski crystals.

$65

Garnet Lariat Set

This set is a a breath-taking mix of garnets in seven shapes, garnet colored fresh water pearls, black onyx, with just the tiniest touch of seed beads and Czech glass to be sure you can't miss the garnets.

Earrings $35

Bracelet $225

Lariat $450

Black Onyx & Mother-of-Pearl

I mixed faceted black onyx beads, faceted double drilled mother-of-pearl tiles and potato shaped freshwater pearls. The finished necklace is 16 inches long with a sterling silver clasp.

$75

I'm thinking of branching out:

I have had a number of customers who just cannot afford my bears. I love what I do and know that if I am going to be able to continue doing it, I must be able to make a living at it. While I cannot afford to hand craft my bears at a price point low enough for those on a tight budget, I can, however, license a commercial company to mass produce an 18 inch, plush version of some of my bears at lower prices. To that end, here is the first bear made from one of my patterns, altered with a friend's help, to be commercially produced. This bear is a prototype and not for sale but hopefully I will have many more in a plush version of the original Mickey's brown fur with white tips available soon. The prototype is photographed with the original Mickey bear that inspired the larger bear. Take a look and let me know what you think of him.

Please note that the mink bear in the center of this collage was made as a special order for the baby pictured with her. The bear's name is Velva Dean and the adorable baby's name is Grace. Velva Dean was made from Grace's great grandmother's mink stole. Judging from the picture taken when Grace and Velva Dean first met, the relationship is likely to be a long and loving one, as loving as the legacy of that tender emotion passed through three generations to this lucky little girl.

Grace's grandmother approached me to make a bear for this charming child but she wanted the bear to be a large bear. As you all know, I only make little bears. But, since this commercial bear pattern was planned already, I enlisted a dear friend, Lucy Terry, to help me enlarge the pattern and make the mink version for Grace as well as the prototype of the Mickey bear. If you like Lucy's work and want to talk to her about making a big bear for you, please e-mail me and I will put you in touch with her. Lucy works in plush, mohair and recycled furs, yours or hers.