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Gorgeous Nature Inspired Polymer Clay Cabochons by StudioStJames

What happens when an artist turns to jewelry design? You get the incredibly gorgeous work of Jo Anne of StudioStJames who is based in Farmington, Connecticut. I featured her once before several years ago. She still wows with her beautifully made natured inspired polymer clay cabochons.

Her cabochons are clearly designed for other jewelry makers who need that special centerpiece to wow their overall jewelry design! My favorites are her landscape ones. Some designs are achieved by blending and layering polymer clay and finished with resin. Others are by meticulous image transfer onto polymer clay.

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BeadAndNeedleDesigns' Pretty Beadwork Jewelry Tutorials and Kits

I stumbled upon UK designer, Rebecca Webster's store, BeadAndNeedleDesigns, after I found her awesome beaded starfish pendant necklace tutorial (shown below). I had not known before that she offered both patterns/tutorials and kits. Kits are always handy because you don't waste any time trying to gather or buy the right supplies.

Rebecca's been beading for many years. She started a bead shop back in 2005 but has since switched to designing.

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Why is Moissanite Trending as a Diamond Alternative?

Sometime ago, I wrote about cubic zirconia which is an inexpensive, synthetic diamond alternative. A reader nudged me to write about yet another diamond alternative, moissanite which has been increasingly popular over the last two decades or so. That is because it has some distinct advantages over diamonds, not least because it costs a lot less than actual diamonds - about 90% less.
Moissanite is silicon carbide, a rare element and the rarest gemstone which was originally found in a meteorite crater (Meteor Crater, Arizona) back in 1893 by Nobel Prize winning French chemist, Henri Moissan. The element was later named in his honor.

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A Sad Goodbye to TierraCast | TierraCast Jewelry Component Tutorials

Some of you may already know this. But TierraCast, the US maker of high quality pewter based jewelry components is closing, by the end of this year, after a storied 45 year history. This is indeed a sad goodbye to a company renowned not just for excellent products but also for wonderful customer service.
Here is a snippet of the announcement I received :

As a manufacturer we have faced increasing challenges, including compliance and regulation demands, rising costs, supply chain issues, changes in the market, overseas competition, and declining sales. Over time these factors have proven to be insurmountable.

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How to Tell the Difference Between Fake and Real Sea Glass | Sea Glass Suppliers

Fake sea glass can be made by tumbling in a small tumbler or even in bulk with a cement mixer. I have shared the how-tos before - see links below. Sea glass is getting harder to find simply because the garbage people toss into the sea in recent decades have been plastic which replaced glass as containers.
It's hard to collect sea glass if you don't live near the sea but you can either purchase the real thing or make or buy fake sea glass. There is nothing wrong with using fake sea glass in jewelry making. Indeed, recycling old glass bottles and even pottery is a good way to divert unwanted containers from the dump. What is wrong is when fake sea glass is passed off and sold as the real thing.