Healing the Soul: Shadowhunters Rune Tags

I have been counting down the days, no the minutes, the seconds until Shadowhunters premiers on ABC Family soon to be Freeform!  The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare is one of my favorite book series.  After the movie City of Bones didn't do well enough at the box office, we Shadowhunters fans were super disappointed to learn there wouldn't be a second movie.  But we were overjoyed when we learned that a TV series adaption was in the works.

And now we are literally less than a day away from the premier!

Still from Shadowhunters Episode 1001; Courtesy of ABC Family/Freeform.  Clary and Jace meet for the first time outside of the club Pandemonium.  

I've already made a pair of Clace (Clary and Jace) tags and a Silent Brother tag.  Now it is Sizzy's (Simon and Isabelle's) turn!  For those of you who don't know anything about this series, it's not just a fantastical work of fiction with demons, vampires, warlocks, werewolves, fairies and shadowhunters, but it has some amazing friendship and love stories in it!  There isn't just a love triangle and that is what makes it so fun to see all these characters navigate their relationships with one another.

In the end, everyone ends up with the person you were really rooting for them to end up with.  Shadowhunter fans are very adamant that it's all about Clace, Sizzy and Malec!

In the beginning, Simon only has eyes for his best friend Clary.  But when he meets Izzy, things start to get complicated.  And when Sizzy finally happens, boy is it wonderful!  Izzy's sexiness and Simon's nerdiness balancing each other out and getting to see their vulnerable sides.

That vulnerability is why I chose this more delicate look for Izzy's tag.  We all know Izzy as that badass fashionista who can take out a demon with one flick of her whip--the girl who isn't afraid of anything.  Well, except getting her heart broken.  And this vulnerability is what really shapes Izzy when it comes to her personal relationships.  This is why I chose the Iratze, or Heal rune, for Izzy.  In the end, I think it is Simon who really heals her heart.

Silver metal angel wings glued to the back of an iridescent heart makes the perfect backdrop for the healing rune.  

Simon, on the other hand is full of witty sarcasm, loves video games and Manga and chilling with his BFF, Clary.  But when Clary meets Jace and runs headlong into the shadow world, she drags Simon right along with her, because as Luke puts it, Simon always fights to be right there next to her--whatever it takes, because that is his place in life.  And that is how Simon meets Izzy.

Simon's tag doesn't have a rune on it but I did put a sun/moon icon on his tag to represent him.  I won't spoil the surprise for those that haven't read the books yet since it has to do with a key plot line for Simon, but for those of you who have, you know why I chose it.

A golden sun-moon to foreshadow what happens to Simon in the second book, City of Ashes.  

These tags are easy to make.  Cut out all the elements with a die cut machine or by hand on white cardstock--be sure to make a few of the hearts for Izzy's tag broken, to match her quote.  Start with a Ranger Ink manilla tag for your base and paint it with a light coat of white gesso.  While that is drying, mix some Cold Pink iridescent mica powder from Prima into some clear gel medium.  Using a palette knife, I applied some to the Izzy tag (don't cover the whole tag with it!) and also to some of the hearts.

For a few of the other hearts, I applied Ranger's Glossy Accents then covered them in Tim Holtz Distress Glitter in Rock Candy for Izzy.  For the largest heart for Izzy, I spritzed them with Prima's iridescent Color Bloom mist in Pearl White.  For Simon's large heart, I inked it up in yellow Distress Inks, then splattered on some Prima Color Bloom in Gold Foil then splattered it with water.  Finally I lined his heart in Glossy Accents and sprinkled it with Distress Glitter in Mustard Seed.

Metallic silver ribbon over girly pink organza ribbon add texture and shine to Izzy's rune tag.  

For Izzy's Iratze rune, I covered it in clear embossing ink then sprinkled some Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE) from Ranger on it.  Using my heat tool, I heated it just enough to get it to melt and bead up a bit.  The nice thing about UTEE is that it takes 2 coats to make it smooth.  Because I only used one coat and I heated it for a short time, it gives it a distressed look and I can add some other mediums to it to color it.  So I spritzed it with some silver colored iridescent mist from Heidi Swapp.  I used the same process for Simons sun/moon as Izzy's rune, but used a gold mist instead.

Then I glued the large silver Tim Holtz angel wings to the back of one of the hearts using the heavy gel  gloss medium.  Don't worry if it oozes out a bit.  Just wipe it smooth with a finger.  It dries clear and glossy so any excess left on the wings will become invisible when it dries.

Yellow and orange satin ribbon match the colors of the golden sun.  

When all your elements are dry, use some Tim Holtz distress ink (pink for Izzy, yellow and orange for Simon) to go around the edges of your hearts and your tag.  (The gel medium acts as a resist so don't worry about the hearts totally covered in that.)  Finally, print out the quotes and cut it out.  Edge them with matching Tim Holtz distress ink.

I recolored one of Tim Holtz's large arrows gold with Vintaj's Patina in Victorian Gold.  Then I used my Imaginisce distress tool, once the patina had dried, to take some of it off again and give it a distressed look.

At one point during the series, Izzy reveals her vulnerable side to Clary, lamenting how her brothers give away their hearts so easily.  "Hearts are breakable.  And I think even when you heal, you're never what you were before."

Then just start layering it all on!  I used a few foam pop dots to glue on the most important elements and to give the tag more dimension.  Loop some ribbon through the hole in the tag.  With more ribbon, make a bow.  I used my Bow-It-All to make a double bow.  Then glue the bow down with either foam dots or gel medium.  Add some sequins, gems, flowers, mirrored stars--whatever you like!  I like to glue all these on with the gel medium to give it extra hold.

Products Used:

• Ranger Ink:  Manilla Tags - size #10; Glossy Accents; UTEE; Adirondack Alcohol Ink - butterscotch
• Tim Holtz:  Distress Ink - spun sugar, tattered rose, spiced marmalade, fossilized amber, mustard seed; Distress Glitter - rock candy, mustard seed; Idea-ology - regal, arrow, mirrored stars
• Vintaj by Sizzix:  Patina - victorian gold
• Recollections:  Mini Sachet - white; Droplets - pearl
• Kaiser Kraft:  Min Paper Blooms - dusty pink, sunset; Paper Blooms - sunset
• Prima:  Serenade - pink; Color Bloom - pearl white, gold foil; Stencil - 12x12 bamboo; Art Basics- gesso in white; Art Ingredients - mica powder in cold pink
• Golden:  Gel Medium - heavy gloss
• Heidi Swapp:  Color Shine - tinsel
• Craft Medley:  Cup Sequins - pink mix
• Hazel & Ruby:  Cup Sequins - gold mix
• The Paper Studio:  Cardstock - white
• Other:  various ribbon

Somewhere along the way, Simon realizes he loves Izzy, not Clary and confesses his love to her.  "There are things our souls want, and mine wants you."  

Happy Crafting!

Adrienne