I love the humor and high-low kitsch of the series! (It also doesn’t hurt that she included many of my favorite characters, books, and movies.)

I think my favorites are the “cast” of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and Carmen San Diego, for that clever use of map.

Check out the gallery for lots more, and here for even more.

Thank you to Dave Pedra for sharing!

Images via Swiss Miss and Amazon.

I am such an admirer of papercut work for the sheer amount of loving attention and time it takes to create. It’s the kind of thing I wish I spent my free time doing– cutting clever crafty cards to send to loved ones– but I’ve had to accept that I never will, and instead I’m glad to find artists like Ashley Pahl who make pretty things like this and sell them to ADD people like me!

PS – Bunting is already one of the best things ever, how freaking cute is it in miniature on a notecard??

It first caught my eye because of the graphics used for the story– creations made out of paper by artist Chloe Fluery that somehow remind me of the work of  Wayne Thiebaud.

Then, the wonderful intro essay (below) by Sasha Darling about coming around to classic country music later in life after an early education by her dad totally sucked me in. I too developed a love of the music I grew up listening to with my dad– though it was more along the lines of The Rolling Stones, early soul, and anything with a good beat to dance to– and Darling put it more eloquently than I ever could have.

Finally, I love reading a good city guide (or really reviews of anything, also inherited from my dad) in the same illogical way that I love reading a cookbook cover to cover. It doesn’t make a ton of sense to read such things as leisure reading, when they’re meant for specific research. You can’t take advantage of the acquired knowledge at that moment. But still, just immersing yourself in the details takes you on a little escape as your imagination creates a preview of the thing you’re going to do/cook/go to/read/etc. Point being, I loved reading the descriptions of all these country joints that I now definitely want to check out in SF!

Below, the essay by Darling, and click over to the article to read about the spots she highlights.

“My dad bought me my first turntable when I was in third grade, and searching for records was our bonding activity. We spent all weekend hitting up record dealers and flea markets in search of rare scores. We agreed on almost everything when it came to music – except that I refused to listen to country.

Country was for rednecks and I was becoming a little new wave, punk rock girl. I couldn’t understand how my incredibly cool father could listen to such crap. He insisted that when I grew up I would appreciate country music. I firmly stated, never!

Of course as I grew older, I ate my immature words. In my late teens I got involved in the budding rockabilly scene. This new world of ex-punks turned hillbilly opened my mind to honky-tonk. As the years went on, I found myself putting on George Jones and Patsy Cline more often than the Descendents or The Smiths.

I was shocked at how connected I felt to the music. As much as I tried as a child to block out the lonesome and rebellious crooners, I knew the words to every country standard by adulthood. I still love all types of music, but these days I’m definitely a little bit more country and a little less rock and roll.

In this rock- and electronic-heavy city, it can be hard to find some good honky-tonks to hang out at, but with a little country know-how, you can find that hillbilly spirit within these urban confines.”

This one’s for my dad – if there’s a country singer, or rather duo, he loves, it’s Waylon and Willie, and particularly this song. He bought me an album of their duets before a cross country road trip, and I’ll forever associate the album with that trip. We even made a detour to go through Luckenbach, TX, just so we could listen to this song there.

Your cards made me laugh out loud.

Thank you for making something so clever.

Eliza

Know who else nailed this concept? Abraham Lincoln. When you think Abe, you think beard. Probably height too, maybe hat, but definitely beard.

As it turns out, he owes his famous beard to the advice of a little girl that he received via letter (and responded to). Check out that before pic above! What if he had looked like that all along?

And I’ve gotta say, that little girl was right, the ladies do like whiskers. I love some good scruff, myself.

From Letters of Note.

”When Norman Bedell returned home from a political fair late-1860, poster of clean-shaven Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln in hand, his 11-year-old daughter quickly took it upon herself to assist the future U.S. President with his campaign. Her plan – simply for Lincoln to grow a beard – was quickly set in motion by way of the following letter, in which Grace urged him to “let your whiskers grow”; before long, Lincoln replied. They met in the coming months, as the newly-hirsute President-elect travelled victoriously to Washington, D.C. by train.

“He climbed down and sat down with me on the edge of the station platform,” she recalled. “‘Gracie,’ he said, ‘look at my whiskers. I have been growing them for you.’ Then he kissed me. I never saw him again.”

Here are the transcripts of their letters (actual copy shown above, hers on the left, his on the right):

Aren’t you going to think about that every time you see an image of him now?

And how awesome was that little girl? So opinionated, articulate, and sassy! If the actual letter didn’t still exist I wouldn’t even believe it because she’s such a skillful letter writer! I love her!

And I love that he not only wrote back, but also took her advice!

And the spiral-binding allows it to lay flat! One of my must-have features for a planner. I hate when they won’t lay flat on your desk.

And, it’s cute.