I'm on the Traci Reed Creative Team!!! 💖

Aaaaand here it is!

The design team I mentioned in my last Happy Planner / Life Lately blog…

 The Traci Reed Creative Team! 

Imagine receiving an email that says I got in - or rather, Traci asking, “I’d love for you to bring your style to TRD if you’re still interested in joining the team!” Still interested??? How could I not be! Joining this Creative Team is an absolute dream, and I said yes in a heartbeat.

I could describe her collections, but I think it’s much better if you check them out yourself:

Traci Reed Designs

And of course, I immediately started creating! My first project was a Sketch Challenge, where I got to choose any collection to work with. Naturally, I picked Wander and Wonder, a bright and fun travel-themed collection that I know I’ll be reaching for often, especially with all my pending travel scrapbook pages.

Wander and Wonder

Next, I made a mini album using Bountiful, which couldn’t have come at a better time. With so many things to be thankful for, being part of this team definitely makes the list. And yes, I’ll continue my little tradition of creating a 5x6.5 mini album for every collection I work with.

Bountiful

And lastly, another mini album for the upcoming collection releasing in just a few days (can you believe November is almost here already?).

Grit and Grace — coming SOON!

Please show some love and follow my socials, IG - My Cat and Crafts, FB - My Cat and Crafts, Traci Reed Designs’ pages IG and FB, and of course, my amazing fellow Creative Team members:

@allie_scraps

@beckyinstacreative

@brunamalburg

@carolinescreativehealing

@watchcherylscrap

@weaselwatchr

@luly_scrapbooks

@m_sweetman

@appscrapper

@noemi_nm

@navaja77

@fiveoclockcrafts

@theresa_moxley

@t0reycreatesandplans

@vanessabell77

@scrapwithpenny

@ruthlewendon

@soulshinedesigns

@create.with.kaye

@scrappingsleepy

@vrielinkie

@amyrandelldesign

Digi Choosday Project | Arch Tri-Fold Birthday Card featuring Party Bear with Cupcake

This week’s Digi Choosday project is all about birthdays, and what better way to celebrate than with a playful arch tri-fold card! I designed this card in Cricut Design Space and paired it with Polkadoodles’ Party Bear with Cupcake digi stamp and patterned papers from the Noodle Panda Set 1. The result is a fun interactive card with plenty of space for decoration and hidden details.

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Materials Used

• Cardstock – assorted colors (base + scraps)

• Patterned Paper – Noodle Panda Set 1 by Polkadoodles

• Digi Stamp – Party Bear with Cupcake by Polkadoodles

• Sentiments – Noodle Panda themed messages

• Vellum Paper

• Alcohol Markers – Ohuhu (YR91, Y145, R18, E69, BG68, BG4, 0, Y06, R1, Y03, Y12)

• Acrylic Pens – Ohuhu (101 White, R402 Magenta)

• Glitter Pens – Ohuhu

• Adhesive – Bearly Art Glue

  
  

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Instructions

I’ve made this card easy to follow using my Cricut Design Space file here.

1. Cut & Score

   • Cut all the pieces with your Cricut.

     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

   • Fold the score lines of the base and the pop-up strip.

     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

2. Assemble the Base

   • Adhere panels to the front and back.

     
     
     
     

   • I alternated patterns from Noodle Panda Set 1 for extra contrast.

     
     
     
     
     
     
     

3. Create the Pop-Up Mechanism

   • Form a rectangle by gluing the short tab at the end to the long tab of pop-up strip.

     
     
     
     

   • Adhere the long side to the bottom left of the middle panel.

     
     
     
     

   • Attach the short side to the bottom right of the first panel.

     
     
     
     

   • Make sure it folds flat when closed!

4. Decorate with Digi Stamp

   • Color Party Bear with Cupcake using alcohol markers.

     
     
     
     

   • Adhere the bear to the pop-up strip so he “pops” when the card opens.

5. Add Details

   • Bunting: cut on vellum for easy assembly without overpowering the background.

   • Balloons: I used a kit die-cut and also included Cricut balloons in the DS file.

     
     
     
     

   • Pockets: glue side strips to panels 1 and 3 for tuck-in cards.

   • Enamel dots or stickers for the card inserts.

6. Finish with Sentiment

   • Use Print Then Cut for Polkadoodles’ sentiment pack or make your own in DS.

• Attach with foam tape for extra dimension.
• The pockets can hold decorated inserts, but you can also swap them out for gift cards or cash—a perfect surprise tucked inside your handmade card!

And that’s it—you’ve got a playful, interactive 3-panel card ready to make someone’s birthday extra special! 

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Join the Fun!

This project was made for Polkadoodles Digi Choosday—a weekly challenge full of inspiration, tutorials, and crafty deals! Come join us, play along, and don’t forget to check out more Polkadoodles goodies.

Follow me for more crafty inspiration:

Instagram: @mycatandcrafts

Facebook: My Cat and Crafts

Cricut Design Space: My Cat and Crafts

Birthday Platform Pop-up Card featuring Polkadoodles’ Noodle Panda Bear Birthday Surprise

For this week’s Digi Choosday project, I made a fun and festive Birthday Platform Pop-up Card using the adorable Noodle Panda Bear Birthday Surprise digi stamp from Polkadoodles. I love how this style of card gives you so much room to play with dimension, color, and embellishments—it really feels like a party in card form!

Materials Used

• Sizzix Big Shot

• Cricut Maker

• Bearly Art Glue

• Glue Gun

• Pompom Ribbon

• Cardstock

• Lawn Fawn Platform Pop-Up Dies

• Lawn Fawn Platform Pop-Up Add-On

• Cricut Vinyl in Black

• Pattern Paper – Polkadoodles Noodle Panda Set 1

• Digi Stamp – Polkadoodles Noodle Panda Bear Birthday Surprise

• Sentiments - Polkadoodles Noodle Panda Themed Messages

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Instructions

If you’ve followed my previous Platform Pop-Up card tutorial, you’ll recognize the basic steps. We’ll start by following steps 1–3 from that post, with one small adjustment:

Add extra strips to the T-strips to make them sturdier and able to hold more embellishments.

Now let’s build the birthday fun:

1. Assemble the platform pop-up as instructed.

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

2. Cut the base backdrop using the Lawn Fawn Platform Pop-Up Add-On in the same cardstock color as your platform. For mine, I used a cheerful blue.

   
   
   

   
   

3. Die cut the backdrop panels with the included dies from the add-on set. I used a colorful striped paper from Noodle Panda Set 1.

   
   
   
   

4. Adhere the panels to the main backdrop base.

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

5. Add your digi stamp (Noodle Panda Bear Birthday Surprise) to the platform— it’s the star of the show!

   
   
   
   

6. Cover the platform panels with pattern paper cut using the Lawn Fawn dies to keep everything neat, cute and coordinated.

7. Attach the backdrop securely to your platform pop-up.

   
   
   
   
   
   
   

8. Decorate with pompom ribbon along the base of the platform for extra cuteness and texture.

   
   
   
   
   
   
   

9. Fussy cut gifts from the gift pattern paper in the Noodle Panda Set (I have a fussy cutting tips video you can check out for help).

   
   
   
   
   
   
   

10. Adhere the gifts around your platform to create a festive, 3D birthday scene. 

11.  Add your sentiment. You can personalize this part however you like—write directly on the front panel, stamp your greeting, or even print it out before adhering the panel. For mine, since I had already glued down the yellow panel, I used my Cricut to cut the sentiment “It’s your special day” from the Noodle Panda Themed Sentiments set on black vinyl sticker, then placed it neatly on the panel.

And that’s it—your birthday platform pop-up card is ready to celebrate! 

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Join the Fun!

Don’t forget to join us at Digi Choosday every week for amazing deals and tons of crafty inspiration.

You can also follow me here for more crafty projects and inspiration:

• Instagram: @my.cat.and.crafts

• Blog: mycatandcrafts.blogspot.com

• Facebook: My Cat and Crafts

Weekly Happy Planner Layout: Halloween Week

I remembered I still had the Seasonal Happy Planner Sticker Book and luckily just in time for this week’s Halloween layout! Otherwise, the Halloween window of opportunity to use it would’ve totally lapsed. Haha! Of course, I I just had to pair it with some my Recollections washi tapes. I had to use at least two because, well, it’s a once-a-year chance to do so! I also used LOL Quotes box stickers for this week's layout.

The sticker book only had one page of Halloween sentiments, but I didn’t scrimp. I probably used all the big ones and have maybe 30% of the small ones left. But then again, YOLO! I have a Harry Potter Happy Planner Box waiting in my Shipping Cart, so I’ll probably use those stickers for next year’s Halloween… or probably use more of those Halloween washi tapes that are probably eight years old by now.

Anyway, we decided to move our Bahrain trip to this coming weekend, perfect timing since it’s Halloween! I’m curious to see if they celebrate it there. They definitely don’t here in Saudi Arabia (unless you live in a compound, of course). 

Funny story - sooo, I cleaned my craft table this morning to help clear my “head” too. I wanted to plan and schedule all my deadlines and upcoming projects. While I was taking photos of my planner and Christmas crafts, a construction guy suddenly set up a scaffolding right outside my window! Now I’ve had to relocate to our bedroom instead. Guess there’s no crafting while he’s out there!

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Projects I Made This Week 

Bee Happy Weeklies – Halloween Theme

I didn’t make a lot of Halloween projects this year and skipped Craft with Sarah’s Halloween Craft Countdown since my Christmas decor is already up (oops!). But I still used one of the project files from that event, a super cute Kawaii shadow box! I’ll bring it home for my friend Kaye’s daughter, Rainbow in December.

Miqueka Scrap – Bienvenido Otoño Projects

I finished my last two projects for the Bienvenido Otoño collection! Here’s my second-to-the-last one - the final will go live on my official post date next week. This is a mini album I recreated from one that I made when I started crafting. I blogged about that mini album before, I mini album about me. You can read it here.

Mini notebooks Galore!

I made 16 mini notebooks using Mintay Papers and my Thermal Cinch! I loved how my first batch of handmade mini notebooks turned out, but since I’m running low on binding wires, I decided to switch things up and use the thermal cinch this time. These will be part of our Winter Bazaar lineup!

Power Word Challenge (Cricut MEA)

I repurposed and redecorated my easel card for the Power Word Challenge. Fingers crossed that I win! 

Holiday Crafting & Bazaar Prep

I joined the Cricut Crafting Holiday Adventure Summit to get into the Christmas spirit (and add a few more Christmas crafts to sell at the bazaar). I don’t have a lot of Christmas stuff ready for selling, so why not make more? Plus, unsold ones will be added to my current home decor! hehe! 

Here are those I've made so far:

Christmas Market Stall Ornament & Photo Holder

Gnome For The Holidays Cards

Adorable Nutcracker Gift Boxes

Festive DIY Shadow Box Ornaments

Display & Recycling Wins

Ton finished one of our two card display stands for the Winter Market and it turned out so good! The best part? It only cost less than PHP 100! I’m trying not to overspend or invest too much for this event since it’s more of a test run - to see how handmade items and cards are appreciated here. My crafting friends and I always talk about how giving handmade cards is so common in the US, and we hope it catches on in the Philippines (and here too someday!).

I also painted and repurposed Lucky’s cat food boxes to use as card bins! Ton trimmed the sides, and I painted them with gesso and acrylic paint I already had. Zero expense and a nice little recycling win! 

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Crafting News 

Eeeek! I got into another 2026 Design Team! The term runs from November 2025 to October 2026, and while I can’t say which team it is yet, I already extra love this one. The designs are gorgeous! I already have the newest collection (and a travel-themed one too), so I’m beyond excited to scrapbook our trip photos soon! I'm also thinking of learning and starting digital scrapbooking so let's see!

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Christmas Countdown: 58 days to go!

Reading: Finishing It’s Always the Husband and recently reread The Housemaid in prep for the movie this December!

Watching: Just finished binge-watching The Summer I Turned Pretty (Thought of reading the books because, I'm #TeamConrad girlie, but Belly tests my patience so I just cannot read about her). We’re also finishing House and waiting for Nobody Wants This to be released in Saudi.

Food photos incoming… because what’s a week without good food?

Dates treat from Ton's officemate

Homecooked Spaghetti (my mom's recipe!) and Pizza delivery

Tuna sandwich (still my mom's recipe!)

Chicken Pastel

Tempura

Chicken BBQ and java rice

Signing off with pumpkin spice vibes (though I don't like Pumpkin Spice Latte haha! this just sounds cute!) and crafty fingers!  Here’s to a week full of happy planning and spooky-good creativity!