These are a few things that I am loving right now:

I love thank you notes - sending them, and receiving them. It is just a lovely, and warm way to tell the recipient that you appreciate all that they have done for you - even if it is something silly as making you laugh, or trivial as sharing their chocolate stash at work. They didn't have to, but they did and your life is better off (even if it was for that fleeting moment) for it. What to write in a thank you note, you ask? My advice would be: be honest, let your gratitude come straight from the heart - nothing feels more insulting than a thank you that is fake and forced, and not handwritten - write what you feel, and hand write it. For more tips and techniques check this link out - the anatomy of a thank you note. Also the coolest thing about this link? A picture of a thank you note that Barack Obama sent to Yann Martel. Not only does this man writes hand written thank you notes to authors of books he reads with his daughter, his writing is really nice! I don't always agree with what he does as the President of the United States, and in fact, he has disappointed me (and millions of his supporters) more than a few times in the past four years, but when it comes to just him as an individual and the things he does, I absolutely adore him! (Via ohsobeautifulpaper)

They Draw and They Cook - an amazing project, and now a book, that collects illustrated recipes by artists all over the world. It will make for a great gift for the artist or the cook in your life.

This video of Japanese artist Riusuke Fukahori at work. The first time I saw a picture of his work, it made me cringe because his paintings of gold fish look very life-like, so I thought he was actually using real gold fish in his art installation. Thankfully, he just paints them on some form of resin and then encases them in resin. Beautiful! His work is on display at the ICN Gallery in London till the 12th of this month. There is no chance I will be able to make it to the UK by then, but if you are in London, you should go see it!

A very good friend N sent me a pdf copy of this gem of a book illustrated by Edward Gorey. I can't believe that I never knew of it's existence. Now need to own a copy of this, like STAT. You can find a review here.

ETA: So according to the New York Times, the book had gone in to obscurity and out of print until very recently when a blogger posted a pdf of the book (possibly the same that N emailed me). The ensuing popularity of the book prompted a new reprint of this and a couple of other Edward Gorey out of print books. Yes, at least a couple of these books are being ordered from Amazon as I write this :-)

The remake project is a project that aims at reinterpreting famous works of classical art - paintings mostly - through photographs. There are so many creative entries, and I can't decide which ones are my favorite. (Via A cup of Jo)

These are a few thank you cards that I have had my eye on for a while: