Take a look at these (which literally did make me laugh out loud):

(Sadly, I wasn’t able to give these cards out for people’s birthdays, but I am keeping them in my stash for next year.)

While the front covers are pretty funny, what I love best about these cards is that they carry an entire story throughout. Shame I didn’t photograph the inside of the Low Expectations and Facebook cards because the rest of the story is great.

And how can you not love someone who can make a card about tyrants?

If you’re in the Los Angeles area, keep your eyes peeled for the Fomato cards. Or buy one online. Or browse to get a good laugh. You won’t regret it.

Don’t despair. You can do what some of the cool kids do: Carry a journal around. Lots of people I know do it. (I actually carry two different-sized Moleskine journals around myself.)

But if you want your journal to stand out from the rest, maybe you should check these out:

(I especially like the bingo journal. I have fond memories of playing bingo with similar-looking cards as a kid. Plus, the journal is great for those bingo! moments. [And now I'll stop with the awful puns.])

If you’re loving these journals, you can pick them up at Create a Thought. There are journals of all shapes, sizes and kinds there! The Robot Love journal (the bottom one) is just about as big as a business card, so it’s perfect for your pocket or purse. And each journal is made in small batches, so you can be assured that a million people won’t be walking around with the same kind of journal (and if you lose it, well, you’ll recognize it more easily).

But Create a Thought is more than just journals! It’s a store built around the concept of creating thoughts and manifesting those thoughts into cool stuff. For instance, you can get this art journal kit to feed your artistic side. Or you can get a finger art ring like this one:

There’s plenty of stuff to look at, so do check it out.

All of the above can be found at UnaOdd. Really, the shop is just one big explosion of color — like a huge bouquet of flowers, enticing you to look ever closer.

There’s so much good stuff in the shop that’s it’s really hard to decide where to start. Maybe the polymer clay pendants, all made from original patterns, hand-detailed with acrylic paint? Or the acrylic wristbands, all hand-painted with different motifs? Or the acrylic paintings of flowers? Or these really amazing bookmarks that were made from the pages of an old accounting textbook and then embellished and laminated?

Everything is pretty affordable as well — yet another bonus!

Very cool, eh?

You’ll find these goodies at Old School Stationers, a charming operation based out of Portland, Oregon. Brian and Amy turn out these letterpress creations that you can then find on cards or ready-to-hang wall art. Each image is hand-drawn and created with an old-school letterpress from 1917.

There are also journals with letterpressed covers available.

The art is awesome, and you’ll find something nice for sure!

These super sweet journals are from Lucie Summers of Summersville. Who wouldn’t love doodling or writing in one of these?

All of these journals or sketchbooks feature patterns hand-drawn by Lucie and screenprinted onto fabric. They’re wonderful, whimsical and just gosh darn cute.

Lucie not only has the books on sale in her shop, but she also sells the fabric. There are also screenprinted buttons and even this awesome quilt!

You’ll find these handprinted and handmade cards at She’s Batty Designs. And if you head over there now, there’s a dollar sale where you can pick up most items for a buck! Better hurry, though, because the sale could end at any time!

There is a wide array of notecards and greeting cards in the shop, many of which could be used for any occasion. (Hence the stocking up of cards for those just-in-case moments.) Shop owner Jamie also does some custom work, including save the date cards, wedding invitations, Christmas cards and photo invites.

If you’re into making your own cards, you’ll also find some materials in the shop, including embossed papers and pre-cut die cuts of everything from people to animals to flowers — pretty much any theme you might need.

These journals are made with different kinds of papers for their covers, such as Japanese or Indian papers. All hand-stitched and one of a kind. And they all lay flat when opened so you can sketch or write your heart out with ease!

(My personal favorite is the coffee stamp … ’cause I’m a big fan of coffee.)

You can find these lovely hand-carved stamps at Winemaker’s Sister on Etsy. Use ‘em on cards, letters, maybe make some nice wrapping paper.

In addition to the stamps, you’ll find some other great paper-related things such as these hand-sewn quilted notecards, stamped cards and even handmade journals.

According to the site’s announcement, Universal Letter Writing Week is coming up (Jan. 8-14 this year), so maybe this is a good time to pick up some cute writing materials.

There’s also some other non-paper-related cute stuff in the store, such as tea wallets and stitch markers.

It’s been a reflective period, and a good time to maybe write some thoughts down. What better place to write a few thoughts down than these wonderfully made journals from amanobooks?

All these journals are made from mixed media: photographs, ephemera, paint, wax, stamps and all kinds of found materials. The result is not just a journal, but a work of art.

There is also some mixed media art available at amanobooks, like this lovely piece:

I was sitting on a train with headphones on and almost laughed out loud (except I didn’t want people thinking I was nuts or something.

At any rate, it’s pretty freakin’ funny and fits the mantra of Amy Smyth Made It, which is “Send a freakin’ card.”

There are some other goodies on the site, like these two cards:

There are about 175 cards available for everything from engagements to birthdays to just about every holiday under the sun. There are also notecards and invitations for when you want something better than the store-bought, cookie-cutter invites for your next cocktail party. You can also get cards customized for just $5 a box.

Do check it out.