A brief explanation....

OK - I've been absent for a wee while.  I'd like to say it was because I'd been way too busy crafting or living the good life but sadly that's not the case.  My dear niece Alison passed away very suddenly and unexpectedly in June.  She was just 31 years old and, naturally, the whole family has been left devastated.   As well as my niece, Alison was  godmother to my son and so holds a special place within my own little family.  It takes a long time to pick up the threads of life and make the effort to carry on when every part of you aches for a beautiful young woman who touched so many lives during her own short life.  She will be forever remembered as the life and soul of any party; she was one of those very rare and special people that manage to light up a room just by entering it.