Sisters Julie O’Brien and Theresa Anderson are obsessed with paper, and they're betting on the idea that nothing says love like a note arriving via snail mail.

Sweet Paper is their store. The shop is located in a charming house in La Jolla once inhabited by one of Picasso’s mistresses who also later became Jonas Salk’s wife, Francoise Gilot. She lived in the house in the 1970s and used it as her art studio.

The sisters opened the paper boutique last September and almost immediately began drawing in customers looking for a way to reach out to friends and family the “old-fashioned” way—through paper.

The irony is that many of the designers the girls at Sweet Paper work with they found through Facebook and Twitter. “We’ve got nothing bad to say about social media," says O'Brien. "It helps our business, no doubt. But, that doesn’t mean we aren’t strong believers in sending someone a card. It speaks volumes. It sends a message.”

Anderson and O’Brien have re-modeled the space with new hardwood floors, removed walls, painted, and basically upped the cuteness level. It’s a warm and inviting place to shop.

The store is filled with cards, gifts, paper of all kind, and everything’s at a very good price -- an easy place to pop into and buy that last-minute item.

The store’s biggest business is made in the wedding invitation department. Designed for the comfort of the bride and groom, a little picnic table is set up and time with the sisters is offered to look through books and make your special day all the more special with the personal touch of O’Brien and Anderson. There’s no consultation fee, and although the cost is the same as buying online, paper choices are easier with a lot of Sweet Paper handholding.

All the paper companies used by Sweet Paper are eco-friendly and use only bamboo or cotton papers—which has become a standard with most consumers.

“In the digital age, Evites are common, but not when it comes to people’s most momentous life events," O'Brien says. "Weddings -- we do about 6-10 wedding invitations a month -- baby births, showers etc … no one wants to send an Evite.”

The women say that when it comes to trends in invitations, blue is the trend of the moment.

Sweet Paper | 7527 La Jolla Boulevard, Number 1 | (between Pearl St. and Prospect St.) | La Jolla, CA 92037 | phone: 858.456.1446