Three minutes with free papers!

Hello! I hope you had a wonderful Easter break. I've had a few days off to celebrate with my family but I'm back in the saddle for today's Three Minute Thursday slot. Stampin' Up is giving away a free paper pack with orders of £45 or more this month and I've been having a play with my favourite from the range, Beyond the Garden. Come and see what I came up with:

Sometimes a paper is so striking that it easily stands alone with minimal embellishment - and that's just what's going on here! Wow - this paper is amazing isn't it?!

I simply cut a panel for the front of my card base and added a ribbon-tailed sentiment strip and some bakers twine which stays perfectly in place because I've made a tiny notch at each end of the paper. The four-petalled flower in the Itty Bitty punch set did that job for me - it's amazing how many uses each punch has!

And if, like me, you've been wishing for bakers twine in Stampin' Up colours like this gorgeous Island Indigo version, be patient and watch this space!

Here's what you'll need to make today's card:

Stamps: Thank You Kindly

Ink: Garden Green

Card stock: Pacific Point, scrap of Whisper White for the sentiment strip

Other: Island Indigo bakers twine, Itty Bitty punch set, stamp-a-majig

I'd be delighted to order any of these items for you and can have them delivered to your address in the UK. I'm committed to providing excellent customer service and am always happy to offer help and advice. To place your order, just send me an email or give me a call on 01280 820593. And don't forget to add a free pack of designer paper if your order is £45 or more (Offer limited to one pack per qualifying order - click here for details).

Buckingham had comedy weather over the Easter weekend but we had a lovely time indoors enjoying great company and good food. I made a huge treasure hunt for the children, with cryptic clues which they had enormous fun solving. It ended in a mountain of chocolate eggs and after that things became strangely quiet (apart from the sound of munching and slurping!) 

I thought you might like to see our Easter tree - we went for something a bit different this year. The children and I stamped birds (from Nature Walk, Young Vermillion and Touch of Nature) and coloured them using an ancient bird book from our bookshelf as a guide. Then we cut them out and stuck them to our Easter tree with glue dots - you can see a blackbird, robin and grey wagtail in the photo below.

While we were making these, my oldest son kindly shared his bird impressions with us. The first one was supposed to be some kind of hawk but sounded like a demented parrot. He came out with five more bird impressions which all sounded exactly the same until we, helpless with laughter, had to beg him to stop!

Thank you for coming to see me today. I shall be back tomorrow with something floral - do come and join me again!

Hugs,