Inspiration for mixed media and altered art projects can come from a variety of places. Some find inspiration in colors, papers, sayings or moods. This particular mixed media altered art project just so happens to be inspired by my favorite TV show, Shadowhunters.

I'm sure some of you are thinking "That tween show on that network that used to be called ABC Family?" Yes. That show. While the targeted demographic at the outset of the show was teenagers, the actual fanbase of the show has turned out to be mostly women (ranging in age from their mid 20s to their 60s, some even in their 80s!) and the LGBTQ+ community (hello, Malec!). The fans are deeply passionate about the show and what it stands for. According to Forbes, we are the most engaged fanbase online for a sci-fi/fantasy medium, toppling juggernauts such as Star Wars, Game of Thrones, and yes, even Harry Potter. It is also a fanbase that spreads world-wide. Many of the viewers are international (outside the US) and watch the show on Netflix. I happen to have music rehearsals when the show airs live on Freeform, so I set my DVR to record the show. As soon as I got home from rehearsal, I would watch the episode that recorded only hours earlier.


Shocking that the fanbase is not what it seems and is that large? Not for me. While I wasn't always the most active fan online (until recently), I did silently observe the content churned out by the show's social accounts and by fans such as fan art, fan fic, fan made videos and the countless tweets and Tumblr posts. The stars of Shadowhunters are also very active, interacting with fans online, doing live streams, takeovers of the show's social media accounts and much more. The producers, writers and other behind the scenes team members also interact with fans of the show online. We would get tons of behind the scenes content during hiatus and while the show was airing. Because of the close relationship between the crew/cast and fans, we have become what we call the "ShadowFam," because we are a family. Actor Isaiah Mustafa (yes, the Old Spice guy!) who plays Luke on the show, was the one who coined the term and we've been using it ever since.

So when the show was cancelled in early June 2018 after just 3 seasons, that very active fanbase took to Twitter to express their displeasure, and I was among them. My long dormant Twitter account that I began using bit more in 2017 for other reasons, became very, very active, tweeting and retweeting my fellow ShandowFam members online.


The Save Shadowhunters hashtag began trending world-wide within hours of the cancellation news. But this wasn't just some disparate collage of tweets. No, this was an organized effort. Large fan accounts and others who were extremely active in the fanbase took it upon themselves to organize our efforts. Not only did we have the main hashtag, but we also had a second hashtag that rotated out on a daily schedule. We had scheduled power hours to boost our tweeting numbers throughout the day. And we also have some fans who are great at analytics and have really helped our online presence.

When Shadowhunters was cancelled by Freeform, they decided to give fans a two-hour finale event to wrap up plot lines. (Apparently Freeform thought this was pretty gracious of them. ***Insert eye roll worthy of Alec here.***) This is because the show was already gearing up for a fourth season. There was no hint of a cancellation for our show that had been steadily getting better each episode and finally hitting its stride in season 3. We just couldn't understand why Freeform would cancel the most popular show on their network. When fans asked, we would get vague answers about financial issues. Because there are 3 parties involved in making the show, it added to the complications of negotiations as well. And to rub salt in the wound, the second half of season 3, which was supposed to start in September 2018, got pushed to 2019. We didn't know when in 2019, just some time in 2019.


So to channel our anger over our favorite show being cancelled, fans started a charity donation in the name of Shadowhuhnters. To date, we have raised nearly $23,000 for The Trevor Project, a US-based charity that provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ+ youth. We have also raised money for Girl Up and Together Rising/RAICES. And we have created our own line of Shadowhunters inspired merchandise with all proceeds going to those charities.

Why these charities? Shadowhunters is known for fan favorite couple, lovingly dubbed Malec. The pair consists of out bi-sexual warlock, Magnus (played by Harry Shum, Jr.), and newly out gay shadowhunter, Alec (played by Matthew Daddario). What fans love so much about this couple is that they get major screen time and are main characters of the show.  They also are portrayed in a healthy relationship. Yes, there are ups and downs along the way, but fans know that Malec is endgame. The show is also known for having a cast that is more than majority people of color, including having cast actors of color in roles where the character from the source material is white--and we love it! And, a personally important part to me, there is Jewish representation through the character of Simon (played by Alberto Rosende).


And while the title and genre of the show may be misleading, Shadowhunters is more than just about a group of young adults fighting and killing demons. The show is about diversity, learning to be comfortable in your own skin and touches on sensitive topics such as drug abuse, domestic violence and mental illness. It also has a host of strong heroins to boot! The fantasy part of the world takes a backseat to these relevant topics as the characters deal with real world issues, such as addiction, abuse and overcoming the main villain in the first part of the show, Valentine (played by Alan Van Sprang), who believes in racial cleansing. The group of young main characters are also learning to navigate and resist their own oppressive Shadowhunter government, called the Clave. In a time when racial divisions are deepening and fascist governments are rearing their ugly heads in our own world, this show is needed now more than ever.

To save our beloved show, we knew we needed to make more noise than just tweeting online. To get the attention of the networks, fans have utilized a Go Fund Me account and paid for a plane with a #SaveShadowhunters banner to fly over Netflix headquarters in Los Angeles and also paid for billboards in Times Square and the Seoul Subway. There were adverts on the side of several of the iconic red London double decker buses and we have even sent out pens, cupcakes and candies to network execs and big wigs. And this isn't the end of that list. Fans have been doing things across the world to get everyone's attention. Seriously. Just search the Save Shadowhunters hashtag. We even had a Shadowhunters Crafts Weekend where fans made art inspired by the show and shared it on Twitter (hence, the reason for this piece of art and subsequent blog post). And to thank the cast and crew for their love and support of the show, we sent them cupcakes on the final day of filming the 2 hour finale episodes.


We have even worked with and became friends with fans of other cancelled shows, tweeting out their hashtags as well, binging their shows online or on demand and in general, just making noise for each other. We helped the Lucifer fandom with tweeting, had watch parties of Shadowhunters and Lucifer and then cheered for them when Netflix saved their show.

When the E! Network's People's Choice Awards came around for open voting, we organized for that too. Shadowhunters had only been nominated for Sci-Fi/Fantasy show. But we decided that our show was amazing enough to warrant a nomination for The Show, Bingeworthy Show, TV Actress and TV Actor. So we organized a write-in campaign for Shadowhunters and for actress Katherine McNamara and actor Harry Shum, Jr. for their roles of Clary and Magnus, respectively. And we got our show and actors nominated for the final round of voting in all 5 categories! As far as has been researched by entertainment journalists, this is the only time a fan led campaign got their show and actors nominated in 4 additional categories. And the only other show that had as many nominations as Shadowhunters, was heavyweight Grey's Anatomy.


And when that final round of voting came around, we voted like maniacs. I admit, I had 15 different emails I was voting from on nearly a daily basis. (Those emails are from the many websites I run.) My mom and sister used their emails to vote for the show as well. And then the moment of truth! I tuned in to the red carpet coverage and the first two actors to show up on the red carpet and talk to the E! network itself were Kat and Harry! The ShadowFam exploded on Twitter. We knew we were winning big that night, especially when other actors from the show walked the red carpet and joined Kat and Harry.

And we did. We won all of the categories we wrote nominations in for: The Show, Bingeworthy Show, TV Actress and TV Actor. The only one we lost was the Sci-Fi/Fantasy category, but we were happy to lose to Wynona Earp. Now we are friends with the Earpers online (we refer to ourselves as ShadowEarpers) and have watch parties for both shows. And suddenly there were people on Twitter wondering what the heck was this TV show called Shadowhunters and why were they sweeping all these awards? Over the past several weeks, we have welcomed several new fans to the family via Twitter.


So here we are, now over 6 months from the cancellation of Shadowhunters. We are still active online. When school started up in the fall, the tweeting slowed. Power hours have gone by the wayside as we all just tweet when we can. We encourage and remind one another to take some time for ourselves because we know we are in this for the long haul. When we started the Save Shadowhunters movement, we knew it wouldn't be easy. We finally got an air date for season 3b and the 2 hour special (we mostly refuse to call it a finale). Thankfully it is February 25 and not September 25, 2019. The Shadowhunters TV social accounts have been more active in the past couple of months too. It went pretty dormant after the cancellation news and we've been fed tidbits from the cast and crew to keep us going. (Thanks, guys!!!!) For the holidays, the Shadowhunters TV accounts are now giving us 25 days of behind the scenes content for season 3b.

But the ShadowFam remains hopeful that another network or streaming service will pick up Shadowhunters. Just as Alec tells Clary in the show, "Impossible just means try again." And so we keep tweeting, donating and more for our show. That is why I chose this quote for my Shadowhunters Crafts weekend project. It also features the stamina rune, because this fight is a marathon, not a sprint.


My project starts on an upcycled base. It is actually an old cutting pad for my Vagabond machine. Instead of throwing out my cut up and warped cutting pads, I keep them. Its the perfect canvas for a mixed media project! I added even more texture to the old cutting pad with some graphite paste and a stencil.

Next I layered on some chipboard from some embellishment packaging (another reuse, recycle!) and some fluted cardboard from a box that a shipment of scrapbook supplies came in. I used some old plastic packaging that the small Prima typo bulbs came in with some paper clay to mould some little lightbulbs. I love the fact that they aren't perfect--it really gives the piece some character. I also used a silicone Finnabair mould to create the keyhole then added on some metal embellishments, including some old costume jewelry. Finally I added some micro beads, Tim Holtz wings, a bottle cap and some paper flowers.

When It was all assembled, I used black gesso to coat the whole thing then used Prima paints and waxes as well as some glimmer mists to color the piece. To finish it off, I used my WeR typewriter to add the quote from the show, using Tim Holtz inks to add color to the edges of the paper.


Products Used
Sizzix: Die Cutting - standard cutting pad | Prima: Art Basics - heavy body gel, heavy black gesso; Art Extravagance - graphite texture paste; Art Alechemy Metallique - dark velvet, brass hardware; Art Alchemy Wax - rose gold, amethyst magic; Art Ingredients Micro Beads - crystal; Rodanthe - seaboard; 12x12 Stencil - bamboo; Finnibair - mould, paper clay | Tattered Angels: Glimmer Mist - fully purple | Marion Smith Designs: Color Lab - galaxy | Tim Holtz: Distress Ink - dusty concord, wilted violet; Idea-ology - regal | WeR: Typecast - typewriter, black/red ribbon | Recollections: Flower Shoppe - small white flowers; Cardstock - white | Other: pop dots, chipboard, cardboard, metal findings, jewelry, old packaging

I hope that you enjoyed this crafting project and my explanation as for the reasoning behind creating it. For those that aren't fans of the show, be sure to check out the Save Shadowhunters campaign online then watch the show to see what all the fuss is about. Watch it on demand in the US or on Netflix around the world.

Happy Crafting!
Adrienne