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! 

Cricut DIY Teacher’s Day Gift: TEA-cher Card & Tea Bag Holder

Teacher’s gifts don’t need to be expensive — the best ones come from the heart and warm the soul. This little Tea Bag Holder Card is the perfect example! With the sweet sentiment “You are a great TEA-CHER, thanks for all you do!” it’s sure to bring a smile to your teachers' face.

The best part? It’s so easy to make! Just Print then Cut on your Cricut, fold, and pop in a tea bag of your choice. That’s it! A thoughtful handmade gift in minutes — perfect for all the busy moms (and dads!) out there.

Grab the FREE layout/design on my Cricut Design Space here, and start creating your own TEA-riffic gifts today!

From Classmates to Forever: A Scrapbook Celebration of Our Journey | Featuring Cricut’s Print Then Cut and Mintay Papers

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 Lavender Farm collection for the background, adding depth with chippies, Written Memories die-cuts, and fussy-cut elements from Flora Book 4 Spring and Easter Edition. The combination of soft colors and florals gave the layout a sentimental, almost nostalgic tone—just perfect for this memory.

Page 2: My Husband’s School Journey

I thought it would be nice to create a matching page for my husband too - just a matching page right beside mine in our scrapbook, my way of preserving his graduation photos in my own little way. After all, those old yearbooks might get a little heavy to flip through someday! Although, I think our scrapbooks are kind of getting heavy as well (currently at 3 12x12 albums as of writing).

For his layout, I chose the moodier tones of Mintay Papers Nightfall and accented it with pieces from the Written Memories die-cut pack. They're dark colored so they are a little more manly than the usual Mintay collections. 

Page 3: From Classmates to Soulmates

This page tells my favorite story. 

Six years after a noisy summer PE class—where I intentionally sat far away from a certain guy—I found myself saying yes to being his girlfriend. And then, ten years later, we got married. It’s funny how life works… You never really know when you’re meeting the person you’ll spend forever with. 

For this layout, I wanted it to feel playful and creative, so I dug into my stash of @mintaypapers scraps from various collections and made rolled paper tubes, which I then cut into U and P to represent our alma mater, the University of the Philippines. It added another texture, depth, and made it a bit symbolic—and gave a lot of heart. Another reason why I love our alma mater is because that's where we got married, the UP church for the wedding Ceremony and the UP Bahay ng Alumni for our reception.

Cricut Magic

To bring it all together, I used one of my absolute favorite Cricut Design Space features: Print Then Cut. It’s such a game changer for adding personalized touches—especially when telling stories this meaningful.

This whole project reminded me why I love scrapbooking so much. It’s not just about pretty paper or fun tools (although I do love those!). It’s about honoring the journey, celebrating the milestones, and preserving stories that deserve to be remembered.

Thank you again to Cricut MEA for the fun challenge, and to Mintay Papers for creating collections that help turn memories into art. If you're from the Middle East, have a Cricut and is up to Cricut challenges, join Cricut Family Middle East! They always have fun challenges and the prizes are also great! If you haven't yet, check out my blog post about my Cricut MEA prizes.

Until the next story (and hopefully next win too!),

Ana

14 Days, 14 Cards | Craft with Sarah’s Card Making Countdown | June 1–14, 2025

I just wrapped up Craft with Sarah’s Card Making Countdown, and as always, it was a blast! 14 days, 14 different cards—and 14 chances to play with all things paper, glue, Cricut, and practicing my alcohol markers coloring! 

I’ve joined a few of Sarah’s countdowns in the past—like her Christmas Countdown and Gnome Countdowns—and they never fail to spark creativity. I actually learned my Cricut basics through her tutorials and blog posts. She makes everything beginner-friendly and so much fun. I especially love how she adds in little challenges with each project—I’ve even been lucky enough to win a few times (three and counting!).

This year’s countdown was extra memorable. I managed to finish 6 cards before we left for our Jordan trip, then jumped right back in to complete the rest once we got home. I skipped Day 7 (Add-a-Number Cards) because I didn’t want to make a card for a specific age or anniversary, but here’s a look at the rest of my creations:

All the Cricut MEA Prizes I’ve Won (So Far!)

I still remember the first time I joined Cricut MEA’s Ramadan Challenges back in March 2024. I was so excited to take part daily — crafting along with the community for almost 25 days straight — until I was told that Saudi Arabia couldn’t join. 😢

Fast forward to December 2024, and everything changed! Cricut MEA officially opened up the challenges to Saudi residents — and I didn’t waste a second. I jumped right into their Christmas Countdown Challenges, and from then on, I’ve joined every single challenge they’ve hosted.

December 2024

January 2025

February 2025

March 2025

And now… LOOK AT THIS LOOT! 😍

Watch my unboxing reel here.

A huge, heartfelt thank you to Cricut and Monster Middle East for organizing such fun and inspiring events. My crafty heart is full, and my shelves… well, they might be full too. 😅

And of course, none of this would be possible without my husband, who has been 100% supportive of all my crafty adventures from day one. ❤️️

Stay tuned — I’ll be sharing more of what I create with all these amazing Cricut goodies very soon!