Creating in the studio
mother/daughter creating together
Mosaic inlay work begins with stone selection. We shop from several suppliers. We like to use a variety of colors that Mother Nature provides; most are in rough stone form and some are cut into slabs and bricks.
Once we select stone/shells, I (Janie) start cutting the material from rough form into slabs then into small pieces. I use a 6" lapidary saw. Small pieces are cut without any guides other than placement of material in my hands. I make sure they are all similar sizes. They are washed with soap and water then left to dry before being used in next step. As you can see in the images below the pieces are a bit dirty in the cutting process. I will then cut shells into the base for the inlay portion.
Next, Mom (Rose) takes over with the shell/barrett/comb base. She will mix the epoxy to bind the pieces together onto the base. The first stone/shell is placed on the base and is the anchor and cures for 8 hours. Next 'row' is added for another 8 hour cure time. This cycle continues until the base is fully covered (see images below). Rose doesn't dry fit her designs. Dry fit is when an artist will place all the pieces onto the base before applying epoxy. 
Janie takes over, again, with grinding the inlaid product with a lapidary arbor fitted with a diamond wheel. She does a rough grind that leaves scratches on the product (see heart image). Then, she'll sand using 600, 800 and 400 grit sanding belts. The product is washed with soap and water and left to dry for the final step of polishing.
After the product is dried, then Janie or Rose will polish all the product. I (Janie) have a confession. I really dislike doing the small pieces so I polish those last in the hope that Mom finishes them for me. LOL 
We then drill a hole on product that will become a pendant or dangle earring. As you can see its all done by hand/eye coordination and sometimes our hands and eyes don't want to coordinate very well. Mom or I will inspect the jewelry however a few may slip past our inspection with a small scratch or maybe the holes don't align perfectly. It's all part of the HAND MADE process. We take joy in making each and every piece of jewelry. We hope you enjoy our art. Many blessings to you all!