Spring is Here!

It's not quite spring, but close enough. Spring in D.C. is one of my favorite things. A few of our favorite activities are coming up.

The Smithsonian Kite Festival is happening on Saturday, March 27 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Washington Monument. The atmosphere here is always so carefree and fun...how can you not be happy while flying a kite? There is an actual competition, but many people just show up to fly their own kites for fun. Click here for more information.

And of course, the Cherry Blossom Festival. For a complete list of all of the events, click here. Last year, we really enjoyed attending the fireworks at the end of the festival. This year, they are at the beginning of the festival on Saturday, April 3 at the Southwest Waterfront. We watched them from Hains Point and there were hardly any people there. It's a great display.

Another great place to see blossoms is the National Arboretum.

Printing with handmade stamps

A little while back, I got a wonderful surprise in the mail from a fabulously crafty friend of mine. It was this book:



I love trying out various printing methods and this book has some fantastic ideas. I recently attempted some handmade rubber stamps. I'm having fun experimenting with the whole process and I'm excited to try some other printing projects soon. I have a plan to screen print a new duvet cover for our bed, although I'm a bit intimidated by the prospects of printing on something so large.

Here are the results of my attempts with the rubber stamps. I carved two different stamps and printed a few bags and some stationery: