My Cat, My Crafts, My Life

This week’s planner layout is all about  Mickey Mouse magic!   I used stickers from the  Happy Planner’s Large Icons  and  Magic Plans Mickey Mouse  sticker books - because truthfully, I’m drooling over Spellbinder’s new  Say Cheese Mickey Mouse  collection . It’s sooo cute! But it’s a little on the pricey side and I’m still deciding if I really want to splurge… so while I think it over, I channeled all my Mickey cravings into this week’s spread! Now, Mickey Mouse isn’t really my all-time fave,  but  he is my sister's fave and I grew up with Mickey and the gang  literally  in our room—those classic plastic wall pop-ups of Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy were part of our childhood bedroom decor. So I definitely have a soft spot for Mickey. He feels nostalgic, familiar… kind of like a little hug from the past that brings out my inner child. Char! But oo, parang ganun na nga. I did this layout during our Bee Happy Craft Mee...

I recently came across Altenew’s fun #AltenewMess challenge in celebration of Organization Month, and I thought - why not take this as a sign to take some nice photos of my craftroom, a space I lovingly call my  happy place ? This room is actually our second bedroom-slash-guest room-slash-cat room (yes, it wears many hats!), but most importantly, it’s where I create. I can honestly stay in here all day and not notice the hours go by. It’s a cozy little corner of our home that brings me calm, peace, and a whole lot of crafty satisfaction. Though I think the kitchen brings me that too - especially when I cook but I don't like washing dishes so the craft room gets the "fave" room award. What makes this space even more special to me is how far it has come. When I first arrived here in KSA, all my supplies were stored on the guest bed, and I’d either work at our living room table—or straight up on the floor. Then I got my first shelf. Eventually a proper table. And little by ...

I’m writing a blog for this project of 3 scrapbook pages because they recently  won a spot in the #GraduationWithCricutMEA challenge!  Plus, this lot is extra special - not only because of the theme (and prize), but because these pages made me revisit and preserve our school memories in the most meaningful way - both for me and the hubby. Page 1: My Graduation Memories This layout holds a special place in my heart. It features my graduation photos from  preschool, high school, and college —images that were once damaged by  Typhoon Ondoy in 2009 . With the help of prints of photo of these photos, I was able to give them  new life  through this page, and it truly feels like a full-circle moment. Some of my pre-school photo had smudge marks from the original so I covered it with another photo! hehe! Love, love scrapbooking and creating - because any imperfection can be covered or just passed on as creativity. hehe. I used the beautiful  Mintay Papers Lave...

I truly believe in  romanticizing your life -  finding beauty in the little things and making even the simplest moments feel special. That’s exactly why I’m here, blogging about this week’s Happy Planner layout using the  Floral Memories  sticker book from Happy Memory Keeping! Hehe 💕 This week, I went with big, bold floral stickers and sentiments that really spoke to me: “One Happy Life” “This Moment is all there is” Such a lovely reminder to stay present and grateful. Now, if you spot the big sentiment stickers in the corners looking a little… askew—yep, that happened! I was still figuring out where to place them when they accidentally touched the paper. And with these big stickers, once they’re down, they’re  down.  It happened  twice!  But hey, that’s part of the charm, right? My crafty friends and I always say, in crafting, there are no mistakes - only happy accidents and I guess that's the same with decorating my journal.     Also...

For my fellow crafters living in Saudi Arabia—or even in the Philippines—where international brands can be hard to find or ridiculously expensive, let me introduce you to one of my new favorite online stores:  Scrapbook.com  (not sponsored, just really happy with the experience!). Shipping fee? Reasonable. Shipping time? Not bad at all. Product selection?  Crafting heaven. My friend Kaye has been ordering from Scrapbook.com while in Manila, and she usually gets her parcel in about 1–2 weeks. She picks it up from the post office, and despite it being an international shipment, it’s been quite smooth for her. So I thought, why not try it from here in Saudi? Okay fine, let’s be honest—I’ve been “studying” how different companies ship to Saudi Arabia (hi to my husband if you’re reading this!). But for real, when I first moved here, I struggled to find a legit  intense  crafting store. Jarir Bookstore became my go-to—it has an arts and crafts section with some intern...

 Ready-to-make Cricut projects featuring star-spangled Polkadoodles charm! This month, I had the chance to create a couple of fun, patriotic-themed projects for Polkadoodles—and I’m excited to share them just in time for your 4th of July prep! Whether you’re crafting for a party, gift-giving, or simply adding a handmade touch to the holiday, these ideas are perfect for Cricut lovers and digi stamp fans alike. Project 1: Hat-Shaped Treat Holder For this project, I created a hat-shaped treat holder using my Cricut Maker and decorated it with the  Gnome Men Football USA  collection from Polkadoodles. It’s a fun little box that works great for sweets, small gifts, or party favors—and with its patriotic colors, it’s spot-on for the 4th of July and even Father’s Day! Project 2: Star-Shaped Treat Box Next up is this star-shaped treat box, also cut with my Cricut and decorated using one of Polkadoodles’  Honeypie . I colored her up in red, white, and blue for a festive twis...

This week’s layout is… fashionably late. 😅 But better late than never, right? I reached for my  Happy Planner Rainbow Dreams  sticker book and paired it with a rainbow polka dot washi tape that’s been in my stash  forever . As I was admiring how it’s still sticky after all these years (unicorn magic?), I tore it mid-unroll and realized — sticky, yes… but also brittle. A little fragile, a little fabulous — much like me at the end of laundry and ironing day! 😂 Why rainbow this week? Honestly, no deep reason — Bee Happy’s weekly prompt was  Rainbow , and I had zero plans for it yet. So, I figured I’d let the stickers do the thinking for me! The sticker sentiments I used are little doses of positivity: Hustle and heart ,  Always radiate love ,  Choose happy ,  Yay yay yay ,  You go girl , and  Stay magical  — because who doesn’t need a little pep talk from their planner? As for life outside the pages: ✅ Post-trip laundry — done! ✅ Card Mak...

Day 1: From Al Ahsa to Riyadh to Amman Our Jordan trip officially began at 3:00am when we left Al Ahsa, our city in Saudi Arabia, for a two-hour drive to Dammam airport. This time, we tried something new — long-term parking outside the airport. It was more than 50% cheaper than airport parking, and thankfully, some friends had tested it before us and gave good feedback. Gotta love those travel tips from friends! We had connecting flights: Dammam to Riyadh, then Riyadh to Amman. While waiting for our flight at Riyadh airport, we camped out in Terminal 4’s food court. It wasn’t as packed with options, but we grabbed some food from Hardee’s and waited there. I even managed to sneak in some work on a blog post for Polkadoodles while we waited — productivity win! This was our first time flying Saudia Airlines. Overall, it was a good experience — the food definitely exceeded typical economy expectations. We were given a choice between pizza and a muffin (which they called cake), so Ton and ...