click to enlarge

Together with carnelian and ruby, onyx is a July gem for some people. Onyx is a form of quartz. The colors of its bands range from white to almost every color (save some shades, such as purple or blue). Commonly, specimens of onyx available contain bands of colors of white, tan, and brown. The word "onyx" comes through Latin ONYX, from the Greek word ONYX meaning "claw" or "fingernail". With its flesh tone color, onyx can be said to resemble a fingernail.

The name "onyx" has sometimes been used, incorrectly, to label other banded lapidary materials, such as banded calcite found in Mexico, Pakistan, and other places, and often carved, polished and sold. This material is much softer than true onyx, and much more readily available. The majority of carved items sold as "onyx" today is this carbonate material. The best onyx is found in the Arabian Peninsula, Brazil, Uruguay, and the USA.

click to enlarge

Onyx has a variety called sardonyx in which the colored bands are sard (shades of red) rather than black. Pure black onyx is common, and perhaps the most famous variety, but not as common as onyx with banded colors.

Onyx has a long history of use for hardstone carving and jewelry, where it is usually cut as a cabochon, or into beads, and is also used for intaglio or cameo engraved gems, where the bands make the image contrast with the ground. Some onyx is natural but much is produced by the staining of agate.

Onyx was known to the Ancient Greeks and Romans. Use of sardonyx appears in the art of Minoan Crete, notably from the archaeological recoveries at Knossos. Onyx was used in Egypt as early as the Second Dynasty to make bowls and other pottery items. Onyx is also mentioned in the Bible at various points, such as the priests' garments and the foundation of the city of Heaven in Revelation.

First Place Winner - Olga Pettersson

Olga says, "...In August I will celebrate two years of being a seed bead addict. My ex-coworker, Jonas Forslund, is the person to blame. One relatively warm Swedish spring afternoon we were working in the lab and I was complaining about not being able to find any decent jewelry: the entire city was wearing variations of the same design, which was a long, linked silver chain. Jonas reasonably pointed out that perhaps it was a time for me to start making my own. It has to be mentioned that Jonas himself is quite a gifted and creative person; we still have couple of his drawings hanging in our office. Curious what is on them? Microbes, of course!

click to see gallery

Well, I have listened to him and went to Panduro (a chain of hobby-suppliers in the Northern Europe) and bought some D.I.Y. jewelry kits and round-nose pliers. My first bracelet was ready in two hours. I had no idea what I was doing and if I was doing it right, but I had a blast. After that, there was a necklace, and another one, and another dozen of them... My hands started burning when I was not making anything! However, stringing quickly became boring for me, and while my newborn baby was asleep, I have started browsing the WWW for tips and inspiration.

click to see gallery

As a result, I discovered FiremountainGems.com and came across their gallery of designs. There were stunning designs by Tatiana Van Iten that left me absolutely speechless. It became clear that I just had to find out HOW on the Earth it was made! Google brought me to Tatiana's tutorial on Russian Leaves at... taaa-daaa... MyLovelyBeads.com and once there I learned about work of Zoya Gutina. And, finally, I found Sherri Serafini's video tutorial on bead embroidery and got hooked.

Those massive and spectacular designs of Tatiana, Zoya and Sherri have impressed me by their unique look, as well as the color, shape and texture. You see, I have been living in Sweden for quite some time now. Sweden is the country of simple jewelry and modest people, and you are not supposed to stand out from the crowd! My Lord, I was thinking then - how and where to are you supposed to wear THAT? Luckily for me, a voice of adventure had kicked in at that point, saying - who cares! Just look at that beauty! Why don't you try to make something like that?.."

Full article by Olga Pettersson
 
Gallery of bead artwork by Olga Pettersson
 
Email: vinnere.pettersson@gmail.com
 
Blog: mamma-foxan.blogspot.com
 
Etsy Shop: MadeByOlga.etsy.com

Second Place Winner - Evgeniya Semina

Born and grown up in a small city of Novotroitsk, Orenburg region, Russia (the South Urals), Evgeniya Semina first learned beading just a year ago, when she found out websites dedicated to that on Internet. The capability of beads as media for crafting amazed her, she got inspired and decided to give it a try.

Evgeniya is only 17, she is a very purposeful person, and when her very first jewelry making attempts were successful, she started entering beading contests. As she says, she likes the sense of excitement following the process of design and jewelry making for a contest.

click to see gallery

When Evgeniya has learned about Fashion Colorworks, she decided to surpass herself and create an unusual and non-trivial piece. Once she has found on Internet an image of a fairy girl, and kept it in her mind. That image inspired Evgeniya to create a fairy and flowery tiara for the contest.

Evgeniya has drawn a lot of sketches, doing that again and again; she has picked up materials for weeks; but she still was afraid that she couldn't create such a big and complicated piece of adornment. Evgeniya spent four months to design and make her tiara, it was her own record!

As all participants, Evgeniya submitted her entry and started waiting for the results, tracking new entries, comparing them with her own beadwork and thinking about her chance to make the final. During that, she has got so much inspiration, that she wanted beading more, and more, and more!

click to see gallery

The first wave of happiness covered Evgeniya when her work was juried into the final; her Waltz Of Flowers Tiara was in top 10 out of 132 other entries! As she said, she didn't dream to win. She picked up for herself a few favorite pieces and was glad to know, that all of them got the highest scores.

In 10 days the winners were announced, and again Evgeniya's work won, it took the Second Place! Well done! Of course, Evgeniya deserved that recognition for her hard work and full dedication to creative process. There is no doubt, that she will develop her skills, and new wins will come to her! When we asked Evgeniya about participation in the Fashion Coloworks 2011, she said, "I understand, that my chance to win the second contest in a row is almost impossible, but I will try!"

We would like to congratulate Olga Pettersson and Evgeniya Semina one more time and to wish them success! We are looking forward to seeing your new stunning beadworks in Fashion Coloworks next year!

Gallery of bead artwork by Evgeniya Semina
 
Email: semailova_biser@mail.ru

Bead Fest Philadelphia

August 18 - 22, 2010
Valley Forge Convention Center
1160 1st Avenue
King of Prussia, PA 19406

The 9th annual Bead Fest Philadelphia festival is the largest bead & jewelry show on the East Coast. Special events include Meet the Teachers Reception - come and meet the world famous instructors. Learn more about what they are teaching and sign up for workshops. Instructors will also be selling their kits and jewelry.