The boutique stationery company, which specializes in unique, handmade stationery products, was the brainchild of two entrepreneurial women, Willow Glen resident Tricia Launder and Almaden resident Lisa Hayashi.

The women recently unveiled their Little Ones line, featuring more than 30 distinct invitations and baby announcement designs.

Founded in 2003, Paper Laundry offers whimsical designs that utilize a soft color palate, hand stitching, original illustrations and a variety of ribbon and papers.

Launder and Hayashi are childhood friends who grew up in Willow Glen and attended grade school at St. Christopher's. In high school the women attended different schools but remained close friends. Eventually Hayashi joined Launder at UCLA, where they completed their junior and senior years of college together.

"All in all, we've been friends for close to 25 years," Hayashi says.

In 1999, after working for several years in marketing at a high-tech company, Hayashi opened Signed and Sealed, 1315 Lincoln Ave., a stationery store in downtown Willow Glen. While running the store, Hayashi came up with the idea of starting her own stationery company.

"I had the store, and decided that I wanted to come up with a line of products that were unique--something that I hadn't already seen," she says. "I recruited Tricia to help. She is an illustrator, and we worked on ideas together and had such a great time we decided to start a business."

In 2003, Hayashi sold the store, but the new owners kept them as a vendor.

"Signed and Sealed is one of three Bay Area stores that is featuring our just released Little Ones album," Hayashi says. "Right now we're developing new ideas and will incorporate them into two more albums. Our parties album will be available this summer, and we plan to release a holiday album in September."

"People can choose a design from the album, or we can do something custom based on a sample they've seen," Launder says.

In addition to running the business, the two volunteer at St. Christopher's and donate Paper Laundry products for use in silent auction fundraisers for the school.

The fledging business has the women doing everything.

"Right now it's just the two of us, so if we get a big order it can be stressful, especially if one of our kids gets sick or we get sick," Launder says. "When this happens we just divvy up the order, with one or the other picking up the slack as necessary. The best part is we have the flexibility to work in the evenings because right now we work at home and don't have to go anywhere. Plus our kids get into helping, and so do our husbands and the rest of our families."

Launder has a 5-year-old daughter and a 2-year-old son. Hayashi has a 4-year-old boy and is pregnant with her second child.

As orders increase, the duo plan to bring on more people do to the production, while keeping their hands in the design side.

"The fun part of what we do is the design," Launder says. "Eventually, we would like to have someone else doing the manufacturing."

Even though business and family obligations keep Launder and Hayashi at a steady clip, they continue to nurture the bond that brought them together.

"We realized that we were getting to the point where all of our conversations were about Paper Laundry," Hayashi says, "so we make sure we take time to be friends."

For more information about Paper Laundry, visit www.paperlaundry.com.