Bead Embroidered Cross Pendant

I got a "hint" some time ago from my cousin that he wanted pendant with a cross, and now, with Christmas getting closer, I decided to respond to his hint.

Of the fact that this is for a male, I also had to go back and think out of my feminine box and try to work it as masculine - or Unisex as possible.
I think I managed to create a pretty unisex piece though, the more I stare at it, the more I actually notice that it doesn't really yell any specific gender around the pendant.

I wanted to add something extra, and just not bead embroidered a "bead-painted" cross, so I decided to add a little 8mm Black Onyx cabochon to give the piece some soul, heh.
The colors I chose for this piece where kinda dark, as I wanted the cross itself to be in gunmetal, I decided that a black background would enhance the shiny gunmetal beads, which makes out the shape of the cross even more when the light hits it. However, just a black and "grey" piece would be a tad bit boring, so I decided to add a row around the first rows around the cab, with gold metal iris beads, and I personally like it :P

It wasn't that hard to pick out a chain, as I had a piece left of gunmetal plated chain from previous projects. I didn't want to make it complicated and add a clasp, so I just made it about 60 cm and attached both ends of the chain together, so it can easily be slid on and off the neck.

BTW - 23rd of May 2012

First to say; I had a great and really nice week here, together with mom and my bf. We went to a Monastery for monks not that far from here (Tongerlo). The place was HUGE and so beautiful, and you could just see all the elements from the medieval age (the monastery is from about 1500 century). The special thing was that they have a museum about Leonardo DaVinci, and also the best preserved replica of "The Last Supper", in real size, which was a wonderful sight for the eye and very interesting. They also had gorgeous replicas of a bishop hat and robe - I can't remember what the actual words for these things are in English, but I'm sure it's not "hat" and "robe", heh. They had rows and rows of beads and gemstones embroidered to the fabric. I wish I could show picture but you weren't allowed to take any :(

Anyway.
This Wednesday I have a bead embroidery project laying on my table. What a surprise, huh? (lol) I'm currently working on a larger piece this time. A necklace. And so far I've had in mind of mainly using black in different finishes on the beads. I might add some coral red at some point, but until I've "drawn" out the exact design I want, I won't add anything else.
The cabochons I chose to work with so far in this piece are mainly black onyx. The red one... I'm not really sure of what it is. I got it in a gemstone cabochon mix that I bought some months ago. If anyone might have a clue, I would love to hear what you think it might be :)

Besides the bead embroidery laying on my bead table, I've also been sorting some beads that I received from my younger sister as a late Christmas present, which my mom was kind enough to bring with her. I really love the pink round beads in this photo, they are so gorgeous, and the sparkly ones too of course, nom nom.
The hardest part to sort (still sorting, not done) is the seed beads that was in the box I got from my sis. They had been really rough with my mom's traveling bag on the air port, so all the beads had ended up in a big soup. Luckily all the beads were still in the box, heh.