Polkadoodles Digi Choosday Project | Bright & Fun Father’s Day Gnome Card

Hi crafty friends! This week’s Digi Choosday Design Team prompt is all about Father’s Day and bright colors, and I enjoyed making this cute beer-holding gnome! How cute is he?! I paired him with matching beer-themed pattern paper from the Gnome Men BBQ collection, and the result is such a fun and cheerful card - perfect for celebrating Dad.

For this project, I used my Cricut Design Space to create a custom-shaped card with a bold “DAD” design. I know I usually love sharing my Design Space files, but unfortunately, this one includes copyrighted digi stamps, so it can’t be shared. But don’t worry! I’ve got you covered with a step-by-step Cricut tutorial below so you can recreate something similar!

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Materials Used

• Cricut Maker
• White Cardstock
• Pattern Paper - Polkadoodles Gnome Men BBQ collection
• Digi Stamp - Polkadoodles Gnome Father Celebration Party
• Mirror Cardstock
• Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue

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Cricut Tutorial - How I Made This Card

Start by opening your Cricut Design Space and create a new blank project.

Create your sentiment by clicking on Text and typing DAD, pressing enter after each letter so they stack vertically. Choose your preferred font, then adjust the spacing by going to Format and decreasing the line space until the letters touch. Once they do, select all letters and click Combine → Weld.

Next, upload your digi stamp and resize it to fit nicely with your DAD design.

Now, select both the welded DAD and the gnome image, then click Effects → Offset. This offset will become your card base. Adjust it to your desired thickness.

To make sure the base cuts as one solid piece, select the offset layer and click Contour. Remove any inner cutouts (small holes) so your base stays intact.

Resize everything to fit within an A2 card size (maximum 5.5” x 4.25”). Mine ended up at 4.92” x 4.25”.

Now hide the DAD and gnome layers temporarily. Duplicate the offset, flip it vertically, and align it with the original so they slightly overlap at the top. Select both and Combine → Weld to create your folding card base.

Insert a score line where the two shapes meet, then Attach it to the card base.

Unhide your DAD and gnome layers again. Select the DAD and create a slight outline using Offset—this will be your layering piece.

To add pattern paper to the DAD letters, upload your chosen paper, place it over the DAD, then select both and click Slice. Delete the excess pieces until only the patterned DAD remains.

Now you’re ready to cut!

• The DAD letters and gnome will be Print then Cut
• The rest will be Basic Cut

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Assembly

Once everything is cut:

• Fold your card base along the score line
• Adhere the patterned DAD to the mirror cardstock layer
• Attach the DAD to the card base
• Pop up the gnome using foam tape for dimension

And just like that - you’re done! 

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I hope this little Cricut tutorial helps, especially if you’re just starting out with your machine. It’s such a fun way to create custom cards!

Don’t forget to join the Anything Goes Digi Choosday challenge over at Polkadoodles - you might even win some amazing goodies! And if you’d like to see more of my projects and behind-the-scenes crafting, come hang out with me on my socials:

Instagram: @my.cat.and.crafts

Facebook: My Cat and Crafts

Happy crafting and happy Father’s Day creating! 

Polkadoodles Layered Tags and Pattern Paper Fun with Fluffy Friend Peaches Cat

Here’s another multi-layered card for today’s project! This design is a great way to make the most of your pattern papers by turning them into adorable embellishments. With a few layers, tags, and embellishments, you can create a card that looks detailed and dimensional without a lot of extra work.

For this card, I used Peaches Cat from the brand-new Fluffy Friends collection from Polkadoodles. I absolutely love this collection and, if you know me, it’s easy to see why - it’s a cat! The adorable feline images are just oh so cute!

Materials Needed

• Pattern Paper
• Digi Stamp
• Foam Tape
• Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue
• White Cardstock
• Tag Dies (optional)
• Ribbons and Twine
• Decorative Brad
• Gem Stickers

Instructions

1. Cut a piece of white cardstock to 8.5” x 5.5”.

2. Score and fold it in half to create an A2-sized card base measuring 4.25” x 5.5”.

3. Trim a piece of pattern paper to 4” x 5.25” and adhere it to the front of the card base.

4. Cut a large tag from another pattern paper using a tag die or by hand. The tag should be approximately 3” x 5”.

5. Thread ribbon and twine through the tag opening, then adhere the tag to the upper left portion of the card.

6. Cut another piece of pattern paper to 3.5” x 4.25” and mat it onto a slightly larger piece of white cardstock.

7. Adhere this layered panel to the card front, positioning it about ¼” above the bottom edge of the background paper.

8. Using two different tag sizes, cut two additional tags from coordinating pattern papers.
Cut a stitched tag measuring approximately 2.5” x 4.25”.

9. Secure the tags together with a decorative brad through the tag openings.

10. Adhere the layered tags to the right side of the card, about ¾” from the top and ½” from the right edge.

11. Add your digi stamp to the lower left corner of the card. I used foam tape.

12. Attach your sentiment to the tag cluster. Finish by adding gem stickers around the card to coordinate with the decorative brad.

And ta-da! A beautifully layered card that’s packed with dimension, texture, and lots of feline charm. I hope this inspires you to dig into your pattern paper stash and give those scraps a starring role on your next project. Or better yet - check out the Fluffy Friends new release by Polkadoodles!

Happy crafting, and remember - every card is better with a cat on it!