Project Swap: How to Find Inspiration and Make it Your Own
The Spring 2025 SBC Fest was full of so much inspiration and stunning projects! Here's how I take that inspiration and make it my own.
Hey, crafty friend! I share my own projects online to inspire others and help them in their crafty journey. And while I'm totally cool with someone "scrap lifting" my projects (with credit given), we are all unique and have our own likes and dislikes. One of those likes or dislikes is the type of project you love to make.
For me, I love to make tags much more than cards! So in today's article, I'm sharing how you can find inspiration in a card, and turn it into a tag, plus some elements that are easy to change to help meet your personal style. So here is how I took Laura's pretty cards she created in here Spring 2025 SBC Fest class and turned them into my own shabby chic tags.
You can shop all of the supplies I used to create these tags at the bottom of this post!
Watch the most recent SBC Fest on the Scrapbook.com website!
How to Swap Projects
When it comes to swapping out the type of project, there are a few things to ask yourself.
- What elements translate well from one project to another?
- Example: If someone created a tag with a shaker element, that element also translates well to a tag.
- What elements can I swap out for something similar?
- Example: If someone used a background stamp on a card but you want to make a mixed media project, try swapping out the stamp for a stencil with a similar motif.
- What elements wouldn't work for the type of project I want to create?
- Example: If someone created a fun fold card with a large die cut as the centerpiece on the front, but you want to turn it into a tag, the fun fold element will need to be discarded, but you can use the large die cut element.
Elements You Can Change to Meet Your Personal Style
Now that we've taken a look at what would work in a project swap and what wouldn't, let's talk about what elements are easy to change that help you make the project fit your personal style more.
- Color palette
- Theme
- Making it interactive
- Using different substrates
- Changing the type of project
Tag 1: Grow With the Flow
I love the large sentiment on this card that Laura made and used the same elements in my tag. But here's how I switched it up to make it my own:
- I selected a different patterned paper from the same Bouquet A2 paper pad.
- I switched out the cardstock colors to something more muted.
- I changed out 1 of the substrates, opting to cut one layer of the bow from vellum.
- I used some different flower dies from the same Build-a-Bouquet die set.
And here's how I put my tag together:
- Die cut a tag from a patterned paper from the Bouquet A2 pad using the Nested Tags die set.
- Trace out a matte of the tag on a piece of 6x8 White Mixed Media Cardstock and cut out with a trimmer or scissors; punch a hole in the white tag.
- Glue the patterned paper to the white cardstock with Dotted Adhesive.
- Die cut 3 of the Nested Stitched Scalloped Frame from White Mixed Media Cardstock and adhere the layers together with Artis glue.
- Die cut the Grow With the Flow shadow from White Mixed Media Cardstock and the top layer from Spellbinders Dahlia cardstock; adhere the layers together with Artis glue.
- Die cut the bow and a flower from Spellbinders Sicily cardstock using the Build-a-Bouquet die.
- Die cut the tulip flower (2 heart shaped dies) using the Build-a-Bouquet die from Spellbinders Chiffon and Bellini cardstocks, adhere the 2 layers together with Artis glue.
- Die cut the stems and a leaf sprig using the Build-a-Bouquet die from Sizzix Muted Sufacez cardstock in Eucalyptus.
- Ink the leaf sprig by swiping the Bundled Sage Distress Oxide ink flat across the stem.
- Shape any of the flowers if you want, and then glue the flowers to the stems with Artis glue.
- Die cut the bow from Vellum.
- Use foam adhesive to pop the frame on the tag, letting it hang off the edge of the tag a bit on one side.
- Add the sentiment with foam and Artis glue.
- Gather a bouquet and adhere the stems together with Artis glue, then glue it to the corner of the frame.
- Adhere the layers of the bow together, shaping the cardstock layer with your fingers first and then offsetting them; then adhere to the bouquet stems with Artis glue.
- Tie a ribbon to the top of the tag and pop some of the Pinkfresh Iridescent Dew Drops on using Artis glue.
Tag 2: Bloom, Grow, Flourish
I kept the basic layout of this card from Laura, but added my own fun twist to my tag. Here's how:
- I turned this into a shaker tag for a fun interactive element.
- I glued the frame down so that it's tilted, rather than straight.
- I used muted cardstock colors.
Here's how I assembled my tag:
- Die cut a tag from a patterned paper from the Bouquet A2 pad using the Nested Tags die set.
- Trace out a matte of the tag on a piece of 6x8 White Mixed Media Cardstock and cut out with a trimmer or scissors; punch a hole in the white tag.
- Glue the patterned paper to the white cardstock with Dotted Adhesive.
- Die cut the Nested Stitched Scalloped Frame twice from Spellbinders Cascade cardstock and adhere the layers together with Artis glue.
- Cut a piece of Acetate to fit the window and glue it to the back of the frame with Artis glue.
- Die cut the larger flower from the Grow With the Flow die from Spellbinders Blush and Tutu cardstocks; adhere the layers with Artis glue.
- Die cut the small tulip flower from the Grow With the Flow die and the 4 petaled flower from the Build-a-Bouquet die sets from Spellbinders Lavender cardstock; shape the 4 petaled flower for dimension.
- Die cut the leaves from Sizzix Muted Surfacez in Eucalyptus.
- Stamp out the "Bloom, Grow, Flourish"sentiment from the Blooming Sentiments stamp set on White Mixed Media Cardstock with Catherine Pooler's Verbena ink.
- Die cut the stamped sentiment with the coordinating die.
- Add 3mm thick foam to the back of the frame, pile some of the Spellbinders Aura Opalescent Sequins onto the tag, then place the frame over the sequins so it is tilted to one side.
- Glue the sentiment to the center of the shaker element window with 1mm thick foam adhesive.
- Create 2 clusters of flowers on opposite corners of the frame, adhering them in place with foam and liquid adhesive.
- Tie a ribbon to the top of the tag and pop on some of the Pinkfresh Iridescent Dew Drops on using Artis glue.
Tag 3: Spring Bouquet
This fun card from Laura got my shabby chic treatment and layered a fun way. Here's what I changed:
- I swapped out the Wavy Rectangle frame for the Nested Stitched Scalloped Frame.
- I inset the white rectangle inside the frame and popped up the frame with foam to create different levels of layering.
- I used more muted cardstock colors.
Here's how I put the tag together:
- Die cut a tag from a patterned paper from the Bouquet A2 pad using the Nested Tags die set.
- Trace out a matte of the tag on a piece of 6x8 White Mixed Media Cardstock and cut out with a trimmer or scissors; punch a hole in the white tag.
- Glue the patterned paper to the white cardstock with Dotted Adhesive.
- Die cut the Nested Stitched Scalloped Frame twice from Spellbinders Dahlia cardstock and once from the White Mixed Media Cardstock, reserving the white internal cut.
- Glue the 3 layers of the frame together, with the white on the bottom.
- Die cut several of the flowers from the Build-a-Bouquet die set from Spellbinders Dahlia, Carrot, Lavender and Fairytale cardstocks; shape the 4 petaled flowers for dimension.
- Die cut the stems and leaves from the same die set from Sizzix Muted Surfacez cardstock in Eucalyptus.
- Adhere the flowers to the stems with Artis glue.
- Die cut the bouquet wrapper twice from some Tim Holtz Neutral Kraftstock, cutting the die once on the front side of the cardstock, and once on the backside of the cardstock.
- Fold one of the bouquet wrapper dies on the score line and adhere the flap in place with Artis glue; cut the other die on the score line and pop on the pice to cover up the backside of the Kraftstock.
- Adhere the bow tie to the wrapper with Artis glue.
- Add Dotted Adhesive to the back of the bouquet wrapper and then arrange your flowers and leaf sprigs into a bouquet.
- Stamp out a sentiment from the Blooming Sentiments stamp set onto one of the bottom corners of the white internal cut of the frame with Catherine Pooler's Rose Petal ink.
- Add foam adhesive to the back of the pink frame and pop it onto the tag, letting it hang off the tag on one side.
- Apply dotted adhesive to the white internal cut with the stamped sentiment and place it inside the frame.
- Adhere the bouquet inside the frame with liquid and foam adhesive.
- Tie a ribbon to the top of the tag and pop on some of the Pinkfresh Iridescent Dew Drops on using Artis glue.
I hope you enjoyed this look at how I found inspiration in Laura's SBC Fest class and turned her cards into my own little shabby chic tags! How would you change up Laura's cards to make it your own? Let me know in the comments below, and until next time, happy crafting!
Adrienne
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Below are products that I used for this project.
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