Warning: Self-indulgent, long-winded, photo-less post ahead—just to let you know that I am, in fact, still alive.

I am a bad blogger. I know it. You know it. Now let's get over it. I'm a bit embarrassed to even show my face around here after having been gone for so long and not really knowing how committed I can be to this space in the coming months, but I'm here now and want to share a few of the recent goings-on, crafty and otherwise, with you.

I kind of dropped out of the blogosphere and fell back down to earth in mid June. I was swamped with freelance deadlines, had a conference to attend in Chicago,  a wedding anniversary to celebrate, and a bunch of medical and health-related changes happening in my life. I was still crafting away, but just not documenting or sharing it with anyone other than those who stopped by our house.

Then July rolled around and quickly passed. And now August and most of September have nearly come and gone. Where does the time go? Somehow, even without kids or pets or a slew of local friends banging down our door to go out, we manage to stay incredibly busy and are constantly searching for that perfect balance between work, play, and being a part of the lives of those we love—however illusive that balance may be.

I've recently been getting caught up on my blog reading and have noticed that so many of the bloggers I admire are out there asking really difficult and challenging questions. What do you want to read when you come to blogs? What do you want to see? Do you care about the every-day activities that make each blogger a person, or do you primarily want to see crafty goodness. Do you even visit blog sites anymore or do you just quickly scan in your reader? These are all questions that I wonder about despite not having really taken the time to tend to my own blog.

When I first created beauty in the details, I really did envision this as a space to share myself with anyone who cared to watch what was happening. I didn't really have a particular audience or reader in mind nor did I have any goals in terms of the number of followers I hoped to reach. Truth be told, I wanted to blog for myself—for dipping my toe into the digital word, for becoming more active on Flickr, for documenting what I was doing as it was happening. Back then, I was passionate about so many things that I thought would make a great blog—sewing, quilting, scrapbooking, writing, photography, decorating, etc. As time has gone on, my passion for these things hasn't waned, but my time for them has. And, as I see all of the beauty in the work of the bloggers around me—in each of you who are reading this—I've just discovered that I can't be the best at it all and to really focus on the things that I love. And, these days, that has meant spending more time with my family and fitting in the crafty goodness where I can.

This year has been full of changes for us and I'm not quite sure where it is all leading. I'm feeling inspired and have a really deep desire to continue crafting—especially in these past few weeks when I've really needed a distraction from the more serious things in life.

So, for those of you who have stuck with me through this post—whether you came here for a soul-dump or not—I thank you for reading and for sticking with me. And, as others continue to struggle with the questions of what you want to read, I will continue to struggle with the questions of how much to share about what is going on in my life right now. I can't promise that I'll post every day or every week, but I can promise that when I do post, it comes from my heart and I am grateful for the time you take to be with me and let me share with you—crafty and otherwise.