Reliquary ~ Theresa’s Cross
Reliquary ~ Theresa’s Cross
It was the nun’s blue eyes that inspired the blue theme in this reliquary. It was a wonderful bit of fate that I found the cross with the blue stones in a thrift shop. It’s hard to tell from the photo, but the columns are rather wide, and so was the book. Carving out the niches took a long time and put quite a strain on my wrist. I experimented with other methods of cutting the book, but nothing has worked as well as my monster Exacto blade. I use it to alter all my reliquaries.The vintage image of the blue-eyed nun is the centerpiece of this small reliquary. Glittering rhinestones and blue rox surround her. Columns are wrapped with gold paper and blue satin ribbon. Vintage sapphire arrowhead stones shine upon her.
In a thrift store, buried inside a bag of discarded junk jewelry was a small white box. I shook it expecting silence, but instead heard a tiny rattle. I looked inside and found sandwiched between squares of cotton the gold painted cross with the mottled blue stones. A torn slip of paper underneath had the the words “To Theresa” written faintly in pencil. This is her reliquary.
The cross is stitched to cornflower blue velveteen paper and set apart from the Italian gold leafed paper by a gold woven trim and vintage square sapphire rhinestones.
The outside of the reliquary is wrapped with velvet embossed paper and sheer blue ribbon. Gold painted and glittered filagree adorns the ribbon along with a golden button which holds a deep blue glass pebble.