Who doesn't love a good book?  My favorite past time is curling up in a cozy spot and getting lost in a new world, one far away from my own life.  It's like an escape.  

I read waaaaaaay past my bedtime!

And that new book smell?  Love it!  The first thing I do when I crack open a new books is smell it.  I know, it's a bit odd, but I just love that smell of freshly printed paper.  And returning to a favorite old friend…exploring the stains, dog eared pages and the like while rereading a book adds to the experience.  

My yet to be read plus a few other favorites…Oh I am so behind in my reading list!

And I can't forget ebooks!  Oh has that spurred along my book addiction.  It came to the point that I had to have another book waiting to be read before I finished my current book. 
But at least I wasn't running out of physical book shelf space as badly…well okay, maybe I still am…Okay, I'll admit, I have an addiction a problem.  That's the first step in recovery, right?  WHO AM I KIDDING!?  I don't want to go into a 12-step, ummm…a 24-step, no a 36-step   *ahem*    A one million-step recovery program from books!  

I was running out of space so badly I had to have a neighbor build a book shelf desk!  Nothing like multitasking…okay…so I can't do anything else when I read.

And when your favorite books series is being turned into a television series it's even better, especially for a video editor and book nerd like myself!  

Uh oh!  Where is my hardback version of City of Ashes!?  I hope my mom has it…Speaking of, have you seen the new covers for Cassie's books?  Amazing!!

So in anticipation of Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series being adapted into a television series called Shadowhunters on ABC Family; because I am patiently not at all patiently waiting, because this 31-year-old, childless dog-owning nerd names her pets after her favorite book characters (Jacob & Magnus!!) and in honor of #SHFanArtFridays, I created these amazing Shadowhunter rune tags!  

***I know this week's subject matter is Clace, but these tags take more than one day to make and they only give you the subject matter on Thursday.  Because it takes me a day to design the tags, at least 2 full days to make them due to all the drying time involved and a third day to take photos and make my blog post, there is no way I could have these ready in time for Friday with a Thursday subject matter release!***

Author Cassandra Clare's book series The Mortal Instruments is being adapted into a TV series for ABC Family.  It premiers sometime in early 2016 but as the cast and crew film and edit, Shadowhunter fans are getting tons of behind the scenes sneak peeks and Twitter chats with the cast!  It makes it very hard to wait patiently with all the excitement building up so far away from the premier date.  In the meantime, fans of the books and upcoming show, are encouraged to share their fan art with the hashtag #SHFanArtFridays.  I decided to make these tags as my contribution!

I'm so happy with the way they turned out!  The galaxy-like background, delicate background die cuts and loads of shimmer that even High Warlock of Brooklyn Magnus Bane would be proud of, really make the runes pop!

A lot of the exciting action scenes in Clare's novels take place at night, plus shadowhunters wear all black while fighting demons.  I wanted to make the background of the tags dark and have them mimic the night sky and make the runes light and bright since they are in essence, magical.

I thought it appropriate to first choose the angelic power rune and clairvoyant sight rune for my first set of Shadowhunter tags.  (Yes, I plan to make more of these!)  

Shadowhunters draw runes on their skin with their steles to help magnify their strengths and give them power to defeat demons.  It is said that shadowhunters are part angel so the angelic power rune is one you will always find on their skin.  The clairvoyant sight rune is the first rune a shadowhunter receives and helps keep their sight of the magical world clear.

I then chose quotes from City of Bones that I felt matched each rune.

Angelic Power:  "Shadowhunters:  Looking Better in Black than the Widows of our Enemies Since 1234."

In Clare's first Mortal Instruments novel, Jace jokes with Clary about a Latin inscription above the entrance to the City of Bones.  He says the inscription translates to "Shadowhunters:  Looking Better in Black than the Widows of our Enemies Since 1234" when in reality it translates to "The descent into Hell is easy."  Apparently it's a joke among the Silent Brothers who reside in the City of Bones.

Clairvoyant Sight:  "It's your gift, to see the beauty and the horror in ordinary things."

In the beginning of Clare's first novel, The City of Bones, Clary starts to see things that she realizes others around her can't, including the "murder" of what appears to be a human.  She then asks her mother's friend Luke what he would do if he saw something that no one else could see.  Luke appears startled by the question but eventually tells her she is an artist and she sees the world in ways that others don't.

When designing the tags, I wanted to layer some delicate die cuts underneath the runes.  For angelic power I chose a feather and angel wings for obvious reasons.  For clairvoyant sight, I chose a swirly flourish and a flourish of tiny stars.  You know how you always see more stars in the night sky when you are further away from bright city lights?  The stars are always there no matter where you are, but sometimes you just need to remove the layers of paint to see what's hidden underneath.  

Teal and black ribbon accented with silver organza ribbon add shimmer and shine to the tops of the tags.  A Tim Holtz mirrored star glued to the center of the ribbon keeps with the star theme and a Prima flower in a matching teal adds dimension.

After creating the background on my tags with various mixed media and adding shine to all of my other elements, I layered it all on--die cuts, jewels, flowers and ribbon!   




I can't wait to use these tags as decoration at my Shadowhunters premier watch party!  I hope you like them as much as I do!  Sound off in the comments below to let me know what you think.  (Anybody interested in me making a video tutorial or offering a free rune die cut download?)

Happy Crafting!
Adrienne

No, that is not a complete Poe anthology displayed on my crafting table shelf…Okay, it is!  I love Poe!  Wow, two of my favorite hobbies are mixing more than I thought...