<p class="p1">This is such a fun time of year as I start to get acquainted with first-time exhibitors I&#8217;ll get to meet in less than five months at National Stationery Show. One of them is <a href="http://ourheiday.com/" target="_blank">Our Heiday</a>, a downtown Los Angeles stationery and gift design company founded by illustrator and hand-letterer Patricia Shen.</p>
<p class="p1">Like so many before her, Patricia came to stationery after deciding a career in another realm was not for her. &#8220;I started at UCLA Law immediately after graduating college, and it took two years to realize that I was not willing to spend my entire career behind a desk reading contracts, briefs or filing paperwork,&#8221; she wrote me. &#8220;I left just before my third year began, hoping to pursue something that pushed my boundaries and made it easier for me to get out of bed in the morning. There was so much creative frustration brewing internally and it soon exploded into what is now this little company.&#8221;</p>
<p class="p1"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-8347" src="http://thepaperchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Workspace1-e1422366880874.jpg" alt="Workspace" width="618" height="412" /></p>
<p class="p1">Looks like there was a quite a vision brewing! I am loving Patricia&#8217;s sophisticated, painterly look. Mesmerizing lettering too.</p>
<p class="p5"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-8339" src="http://thepaperchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Bouquet-III1.jpg" alt="Bouquet-III" width="400" height="400" /> <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-8340" src="http://thepaperchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Celebrating-You-Today1.jpg" alt="Celebrating You Today" width="396" height="396" /> <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-8341" src="http://thepaperchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Dad-You-Mean-The-World-To-Me1.jpg" alt="Dad You Mean The World To Me" width="396" height="396" /> <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-8342" src="http://thepaperchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/I-Love-You-Mom1.jpg" alt="I Love You Mom" width="396" height="396" /> <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-8346" src="http://thepaperchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Poppies-Thank-You1.jpg" alt="Poppies-Thank-You" width="400" height="400" />So far the line, just launched last June, consists of greeting cards and art prints, with notebooks and wrapping paper in production. If you&#8217;re lucky maybe a <a href="http://ourheiday.com/pages/stockists" target="_blank">stockist</a> is nearby!</p>
<p class="p5"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-8343" src="http://thepaperchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Our-Heiday-III1.jpg" alt="Our-Heiday-III" width="618" height="412" /> <img class="aligncenter wp-image-8345" src="http://thepaperchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Our-Heiday-VII1.jpg" alt="Our-Heiday-VII" width="618" height="412" /></p><div class="inline-post clearfix"><div class="see-also byline">See also</div><div id="block-wrap-83348" class="block-wrap-native block-wrap block-wrap-23 block-css-83348 block-wrap-classic columns__m--1 elements-design-3 block-ani block-skin-0 tipi-box block-wrap-thumbnail ppl-m-1 clearfix" data-id="83348" data-base="0"><div class="tipi-row-inner-style clearfix"><div class="tipi-row-inner-box contents sticky--wrap"><div class="block block-23 clearfix"><article class="tipi-xs-12 clearfix with-fi ani-base tipi-xs-typo split-1 split-design-1 loop-0 preview-thumbnail preview-23 elements-design-3 post-17045 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-favorites tag-coasters tag-journals tag-national-stationery-show tag-notebooks tag-notepads tag-personalized-notecards tag-personalized-stationery tag-sarah-schwartz tag-shades-of-expression-designs tag-stationery tag-thank-you-stationery tag-the-paper-chronicles tag-watercolor tag-watercolor-stationery" style="--animation-order:0"><div class="preview-mini-wrap clearfix"><div class="mask"><a href="https://thepapernerd.com/spring-is-in-the-air-at-shades-of-expression-designs/" class="mask-img"><img width="100" height="100" src="https://i0.wp.com/thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Collage-Coasters-Journals-Notepads_edited-1.jpg?resize=100%2C100&;ssl=1" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Collage-Coasters-Journals-Notepads_edited-1.jpg?resize=150%2C150&;ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Collage-Coasters-Journals-Notepads_edited-1.jpg?resize=200%2C200&;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Collage-Coasters-Journals-Notepads_edited-1.jpg?resize=293%2C293&;ssl=1 293w, https://i0.wp.com/thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Collage-Coasters-Journals-Notepads_edited-1.jpg?resize=75%2C75&;ssl=1 75w, https://i0.wp.com/thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Collage-Coasters-Journals-Notepads_edited-1.jpg?resize=390%2C390&;ssl=1 390w, https://i0.wp.com/thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Collage-Coasters-Journals-Notepads_edited-1.jpg?resize=585%2C585&;ssl=1 585w, https://i0.wp.com/thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Collage-Coasters-Journals-Notepads_edited-1.jpg?resize=24%2C24&;ssl=1 24w, https://i0.wp.com/thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Collage-Coasters-Journals-Notepads_edited-1.jpg?resize=48%2C48&;ssl=1 48w, https://i0.wp.com/thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Collage-Coasters-Journals-Notepads_edited-1.jpg?resize=96%2C96&;ssl=1 96w" sizes="(max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px" /></a></div><div class="meta"><div class="byline byline-2 byline-cats-design-4"><div class="byline-part cats"><a href="https://thepapernerd.com/category/favorites/" style="color:#b79b0d" class="cat">Favorites</a></div></div><div class="title-wrap"><h3 class="title"><a href="https://thepapernerd.com/spring-is-in-the-air-at-shades-of-expression-designs/">Spring is in the Air at Shades of Expression Designs!</a></h3></div><div class="byline byline-3"><span class="byline-part date"><i class="tipi-i-calendar" aria-hidden="true"></i> <time class="entry-date published dateCreated flipboard-date" datetime="2017-01-25T13:44:52+00:00">January 25, 2017</time></span><span class="byline-part likes-count"><a href="#" class="tipi-like-count " data-pid="17045"><span class="likes-heart"><i class="tipi-i-heart-o" aria-hidden="true"></i><i class="tipi-i-heart" aria-hidden="true"></i></span><span class="tipi-value">0</span></a></span></div></div></div></article></div></div></div></div></div></tipimidc>
<p class="p5"><a href="http://ourheiday.com/" target="_blank">Our Heiday</a> is named for Patricia&#8217;s mom and her four sisters &#8220;who are some of the most artistic people I know,&#8221; Patricia said. &#8220;Three of my aunts started a painted greeting card line about ten years ago, and my mom has run a business since I was four years old. Together they fostered my creativity growing up and without them, I would never have imagined a creative career for myself. All their Korean names begin with “Hei,” and they’ve shown me that everyday can be my heiday.&#8221;</p>
<p class="p5"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-8344" src="http://thepaperchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Our-Heiday-IV1.jpg" alt="Our-Heiday-IV" width="720" height="1080" /></p>