When Mr Treasure and I first moved in together we lived in a little apartment with not much storage. Luckily, we were able to squirrel boxes of things away in our families' attics for safe keeping. Although most of the boxes resurfaced when we moved into our house, we did discover one or two more this weekend! Look what was inside...lots of brightly coloured 1970s Tupperware...very useful!
In need of cake last week, I found my Rachel Allen 'Bake' cookbook off the shelf and tried out the recipe for cherry crumble cake. I'm not too handy in the kitchen, so I'm very relieved to report that it turned out alright and is definitely one for the 'must make again' list! 
At the very first meeting of The Wednesday Group we decided it would be fun to have a small project to work on each month so we wouldn't completely forget how to stitch! We now make a postcard-sized piece based on a different theme each month and have a 'show and tell' at our get togethers. January's theme was 'resolutions', so I thought mine could be 'making time for creativity'.
Since seeing it, I'd fancied having a go at the technique Lou Gardiner taught Kirstie Allsopp in the last series of Kirstie's Home made Home...so, I set about drawing everyday objects without looking at them, with the intention of then free machine embroidering my favourite on to fabric.
Having decided I like the cup and saucer and teapot best, I transferred them on to a piece of calico (using a magic fabric pen) and free machine embroidered to my heart's content!
On Kirstie's Homemade Home, Lou and Kirstie coloured their finished embroideries with acrylic paint. A great idea, but I tend to make a mess whenever paint gets involved, so I decided to applique some pieces of fabric on instead.
I love this 1930s fabric, it's so cheery! There's something so liberating about free machine embroidery...but I really enjoy the control you can get with hand stitching too (a great combination).
Here's my finished 'postcard'. I often find it's tricky to know when to stop adding to a piece, but I suppose that's all part of the fun of trying out new techniques and finding your own creative style. Perhaps another of my new year's resolutions should be to push my own creative boundaries and not be too afraid of experimenting with new ideas...