VERY BELATED HAPPY 2026 EVERYONE

Hi Everyone

A very, very belated post from me .. .. I hope you all had a good Christmas (which already feels like a lifetime ago) and I still need to wish everyone a really good 2026.

The world has had other plans for my time these last few months unfortunately.  Not many of which have been particularly enjoyable.

No blog visiting and next to no crafting either unfortunately .. .. ..  in fact the only visiting I have been doing has been travelling to various places to see my Mum, who continues to be on a downward spiral.

Over the last few months she has spent time in two different hospitals, been on numerous wards, and has eventually taken up residence in a lovely nursing home where she is sadly receiving end of life care .. .. which has been the thing I have been dreading the most.  

But the decision was taken out of our hands and is now what Mum needs.  We were told Mum has to have someone looking out for her 24 hours a day, and we as a family are sadly not able to provide what she needs.  Even if we agreed to be with her for the whole 24 hours, one person on their own could not cope.  Sometimes it has taken three people (who know what they are doing) to be able to deal with her needs, so one of us kids on their own would stand no chance.

This has also meant us having to part company with Mum's old home, and along with my siblings we have been busy emptying and cleaning it ready for a new occupant.  It certainly felt sad to leave it for the last time as Mum and Dad moved there together some 35 years ago and I remember moving them in there like it was yesterday.

Visiting Mum still remains the number one priority, even though I am convinced she has the foggiest idea who I am.  But alongside trying to win the battle I am having with the never ending paperwork I need to sort out for her .. .. I finally feel I am getting somewhere on that front though, and a little bit of crafting has been slowly sneaking back into my life again .. .. .. .. yay!!!

No rash crafty new year promises, but I am going to try harder with the one that I make every year, which is to tame my snippets.  I make the same promise every year but always feel like I finish the year with even more snippets than I started with.  Hopefully this will be the year I turn that all around .. .. .. .. and not by just throwing them all out which is what most people suggest I do with them LOL!!

So here we go .. .. the "year of the snippets" is underway and here is my first blog creation of 2026 using a crafty Christmas present that Santa very kindly delivered.  

This used;

Santa's delivery of a beautiful die (one of several) which I think appeared via Amazon  :-)  (love this very much! mwah"")

Snippets of design paper stored in the back of a First Edition Paper Stack called "J'Adore"

Penny Black Sentiment "Sprinkles and Smiles sentiment set 30-297"
My Trusty Sewing Machine

I am taking this over to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge where they would like to see "something new" featured .. .. so this will be my lovely new die .. .. lets face it, my snippets are ancient and nowhere near something new LOL!!!.