National Post

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These days motifs like wrens and finches are for the birds. Instead, Canadian entrepreneur Amy Kwong opted for a zig-zag take on a pop culture moment with her Smitten Kitten line of gifts and stationery. The line’s new ‘Put a Burt on It’ stickers – Burt, as in Reynolds – are her cheeky 1970s-inspired twist on a favourite Portlandia episode and are for sealing her new letterpress greeting cards.

And for writing the quip inside, Kwong has revived an old-school grade school staple: the #2 pencil ($10 per 5-pack at Bookmark: The Library Store in Vancouver, Vanderburgh Flowers, Kid Icarus, the Drake General Store and Nathalie-Roze in Toronto; and in Smitten Kitten’s online store). Each wooden pencils is engraved and riffs on a group theme, from Zombie lore and Woodys (Allen, Guthrie) or Chuck Norris’s killer moves to break-up clichés (“I need some space”) and recent Twitter hashtag memes (#potentiallyawesomesupergroups and #winnning). It adds up to a stationery kit that’s so irresistibly retro, we’ll all be putting pencil to paper this season. Canada Post should be sending her a thank you letter.