Juni 18, 2021

the dance of abundance

A voyage with my grand voyageur

Hi there,

My name is Lisa, and I would like to tell you a little bit about myself and my "voyage" at paper republic, which has been going on for almost a decade :)

The early days

Everything started about nine years ago, when I met Jérôme (CEO and founder of paper republic) at a design fair in Vienna, where we were both exhibiting. I was curious about his story and his journals and, before I knew it, I found myself helping out here and there at paper republic pop-up shops and in the very first office.

I got my very first grand voyageur [pocket] during those early days. I remember embossing it by hand myself, letter by letter: "Not all who wander are lost". It took me ages! The cognac-coloured leather has darkened over the years and looking at the beautiful patina never fails to remind me of my early experiences with paper republic.

Every order goes through our hands

I continued to help out whenever I could, and finally officially joined the republic! I have been part of the team for two years now and am delighted to be in charge of our stock team: literally every single piece of your order goes through our hands. We punch out the leather, knot the ribbons, wrap the refills in their paper sleeves and much, much more.

At work, I use a grand voyageur [xl] in petrol blue in which I keep my weekly planner and other refills which let me easily keep track of my to-do's and projects. For my personal notes, I keep an olive green grand voyageur [pocket] with yellow ribbons with me at all times.

A voyage in my own back garden

More than three years ago, I made a dream come true and moved to a very green and quiet area just outside of Vienna - a quiet little paradise. There's always a lot that needs to be done around the house and even more so in the garden. Whenever something comes to mind, I grab my grand voyageur and make a note.

I love using my grand voyageur to plan my garden. I keep track of which vegetables need to be sown, at what time of the year, where to plant everything in order for it to thrive. I write with my Kaweco fountain pen and sketch with a mechanical wooden pencil in Yew - I absolutely fell in love with those beautiful and smooth handmade wooden mechanical pencils from the Black Forest!

Lotti, Kokoschka and Kokina

Half of my garden remains wild, with beautiful flowers, stinging nettles, brambles and many more wild plants growing in it. I find it important to leave those spaces untouched, as they are a paradise for bees and bumblebees, beetles and butterflies, birds and badgers.

And then, there are Lotti, Kokoschka and Kokina, my three lovely hens. I've had hens since I moved here, although age and foxes have already taken some of them. Lotti, Kokoschka and Kokina are very curious, attentive, usually tame, and even my two cats (yes, I have cats as well!) get along with them. Chickens are great animals to keep, really fun to observe, and as a bonus, I get to think of fun chicken names and collect some fresh eggs too!