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Charoite is a very rare translucent mineral of intense lavender to purple color. It has an unusual swirling, fibrous appearance, sometimes chatoyant, and pearly luster. The only deposit of charoite in the world is located in Siberia, in Russia, on the border of Sakha Republic (Yakutsk region) and Irkutsk region, in the Chara River valley. This area was completely uninhabited and very difficult of access because of rocks, mountains and wild Siberian forests. The boulders with inclusions of unknown violet mineral were found in 1948 by the Soviet geologist V.G.Ditmar, he called them conditionally "kumganit slanets".

The first deposit of charoite was discovered in 1960 by the Soviet geologists Yuriy Gavrilovich Rogov and his wife V.P.Rogova. In the early 1970's, thorough research of this area and it's mineral deposits (including charoite) started because of the Baikal-Amur railroad project. In 1977 charoite was officially recognized as a new mineral.

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The charoite deposit covers about 20 square kilometers, and the age of rocks is about 125 to 145 million years old. The limit of charoite mining is set at 100,000 kilograms a year by the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation and by the Sakha Republic law. 1 kilogram of rough charoite costs $30-150, depending on the mineral color, inclusions and so on.

English Wikipedia states: "Russia has fairly strict prohibitions on the exportation of charoite. Generally, charoite is permitted to be exported only after the stone has been worked, for example, into figurines or other type ornaments. It is therefore difficult to procure "unworked" or "rough" charoite in a form suitable for further working into jewelry such as cabochons."

Tales, legends and stories on charoite

1. Russian Wikipedia says nothing about the name "charoite", but it does indeed come from the Chara river. English Wikipedia says, that the mineral is named for the Chara River, though this etymology is disputed by some.

2. Here ( www.webmineral.com ) it is said that the mineral charoite is "named for the impression that it gives: "chary" in Russian means "charms" or "magic" and not for the Chara River, which is 70 km away from the locality". Most likely, that is the legend, at that times new minerals, metals and so on were usually being named after persons or geographical names.

3. The discoverer of charoite, Y.G.Rogov, was in Paris on business and stopped by the Louvre Museum of Mineralogy. They were proud to have what they thought to be a complete collection of all the minerals of the Earth. Rogov showed their experts a piece of charoite, and asked them to identify the mineral. They had to admit that they didn't know what this unusual gem was. They asked to buy the sample, but Rogov refused to sell it to them.

Born and grown up in Belgrade, Serbia, Ella Des graduated from the University of Economic sciences with a master's degree in Marketing Management and PR. Crafting has been her passion for years and she liked it much more than the job she was doing, but she has never had enough time to completely devote herself to creativity. And all of a sudden...

Ella says, "After 15 years of permanent stress and working more than 10 hours a day I left my usual environment and I chose to live on a 45-feet sail boat and to sail around the world with the Man-I-Love. Making that decision wasn't so easy to me. I remember that my brother told me, "You can't change your life when you are 42." My answer was, "You can't change your life only when you are dead." And I could do that! I stepped out from the "rat race" and went to live a totally different life.

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In the beginning it was very stressful. I used to live in an apartment with all facilities in the downtown of a big city. Suddenly I found myself in totally different surroundings and I had to learn a lot of new skills. New terms of life made new habits. I have never sailed before. My first serious sailing was when crossing the Atlantic Ocean with my husband. You should be crazy or at least very brave to do such a thing! I still don't know if I was brave or crazy or both?

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I'm used to work hard and when we didn't sail I didn't have so much to do, and I was thinking about my needs to create more and more often. I'm a person who has to be busy, and my husband and I both had to find out how to spend the time during free days. I had some strong knowledge from all my diplomas and work, but I couldn't use them in my new circumstances; I've already lost my creative craft skills during those 15 years in the "rate race". So, I needed a niche...

Happily, soon I met a German woman in a marina on the Gran Canaria Island and when I saw her very simple peyote stitched bracelet I realized immediately - that is something what I want to do!!! I almost screamed, "You have to show me, you have to teach me this!" I spent about hours on her boat and she showed me the even peyote stitch. You can't believe how clumsy I was at the beginning! She gave me a list of materials that I needed; it included of course Miyuki Delica and round seed beads, Nymo thread, needles size 12..."

Full article by Ella Des
 
Bead artwork by Ella Des
 
Email: info@ellad2.com
 
Website: www.ellad2.com
 
Etsy Shop: www.ellad2.etsy.com

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Timing is everything! We happen to know that two Russian artists were short of time on June 15 - the last Fashion Colorworks 2012 submission day. The reasons were different, but it's not important, we couldn't accept their beautiful beadworks for the contest. We decided to ask them to send us the photos to show them to our readers. Enjoy beadworks by Julia Mukhamediarova (Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia) and Irina Vorobieva (Pavlovsk, Leningrad region, Russia)!

Beadworks by Julia Mukhamediarova and Irina Vorobieva
 

Coco L'Hopital-Navarre

Here is the second lesson of netting beading (lace beadweaving) by Coco L'Hopital-Navarre, "How to decorate your netting with openwork". Since "openwork" can be created in sheets' embroidery you can design it in vertical nettings.

The goal of using openwork in decoration is to make more elaborate designs and create nice "breathing "adornments. One more lesson is coming - "How to decorate your netting with fancy beads".

 
In English: Lace beadweaving basics. Part 2
 
In French: Lace beadweaving basics. Part 2

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