When I was a little girl. . .

. . .I loved to write.  I scribbled in my notebook all the time, stories with riveting titles like, "Quest Through Cannibal's Jungle" and "Soldiers of Iris."  I planned on becoming an author or an editor.   I wrote all throughout high school, and even chose English as my major in college.   I earned my B.A., and then I met my husband.  He was just finishing a degree in Art.  It quickly became apparent that my focus was going to change.  And believe me, it was the best decision I ever made.

Nearly fifteen years later we're still happily married, with five incredible (and incredibly busy) children.  I've done the Stay-At-Home-Mom thing since our first daughter was born, thirteen years ago, and I've enjoyed it thoroughly.  Last year, however, our focus changed again.  We decided to finally pursue my husband's Master's degree.  This had been a dream of his, but babies demand a lot, so we'd put it off over and over again.   This time, however, it felt right so he applied for an accelerated degree (Translation:  two-year degree crammed into ten months).  We knew this was going to be crazy for us, so my hubby suggested that I pursue some of my old dreams, too.

It seemed possible.  I'd worked hard to train my kids to work alongside me and to share responsibilities in the home.  They played well together (as well as five siblings do, anyway), and for once I didn't have a baby needing me 24/7.   So I took the plunge.

I'd been scrapbooking for years (did I mention that I love photography almost as much as writing stories?), so I started taking classes at my favorite website:  JessicaSprague.com.  Within a few months my entire world had opened up.  I discovered this magical realm called "Photoshop," where I could play with pictures and words and anything I wanted before ever printing anything out.  It was amazing!  There was no mess; I didn't have to worry about hiding the scissors and adhesive at the first call of "Mommmmmmy!"  I could just put the computer to sleep and come back to it later. I had time to think about my layout before I started "cutting" or writing.  Mistakes?  No problem!   I discovered two amazing buttons:  Control and Z.  And best of all, my husband--who had been using Photoshop for years--could get just as excited about my work as I was.

Over the past year my little journey has suddenly become much more than a creative outlet.  That's why I decided to call my blog "Kbear Art."  I'm not satisfied with simply doing scrapbook pages anymore; I want to understand the whys, the principles, and all the hows of creating something beautiful.   And part of learning that is the desire to share my creations with others.  So here I am.

Where will this blog take me?  I don't know.  It may last a week, it may last a year or longer.  I have no expectations.  This is simply a place where I can share a little of what I learn, maybe talk to a few people, and pass a little joy onto others.  Regardless, it feels good to be writing again, even if it's sharing stories about my family's tears and laughter instead of grand adventures in a made-up world (although there might be a little of that, too).