Like every fall, we went to draw ideas for gifts made in Haute-Loire to put under the tree at Christmas. For this, we met four Altiligarian artisans who revealed to us the secrets of their know-how.
1 - Sandrine Poulet-Berger’s cardboard creations in Domeyrat
Cardboard maker. It is the job of Sandrine Poulet-Berger in Domeyrat. His speciality ? Cardboard furniture with all its curves and movements. Furniture and seats with original lines and great solidity despite their lightness that Sandrine colors using Nepalese papers, then vitrified. Malleable and robust, cardboard offers the craftswoman an infinite number of possibilities and combinations to best respond to her customers' orders, as well as to her sometimes overflowing imagination.
Want to furnish your interior with cardboard? Let yourself be seduced by an existing creation at his Domeyrat workshop or in the boutique Escandilha de Brioude, otherwise, order custom furniture! For small gifts, Sandrine also creates paintings and small mirrors using cardboard lace. Real little works of art!
And good news, to learn how to make your own cardboard furniture, Sandrine Poulet-Berger even offers internships where she reveals some of her manufacturing secrets.
2 - The quixotic ceramics of Cécile Auréjac in Vals-le-Chastel
Cécile Auréjac’s ceramics and doorware have something magical, dreamlike, almost shamanic. Rich in a universe of its own, its animal totems or utility pottery are recognizable among a thousand. “My animals are born from clay and fire”, two elements that humanity learned to master thousands of years ago and which Cécile Auréjac uses today as an ode to nature and the animal world. Totems symbols of kindness which inspire respect for animals. Almost admiration.
Like Sandrine, her works are exhibited and on sale at the Escandilha boutique in Brioude and at Vals-le-Chastel, in his workshop A la Belle Etoile.
3 - A table lamp created by Florence Grellier in Blassac
Florence Grellier is upholsterer. It's the art of giving a second life to armchairs, chairs and sofas. Whether they are damaged or obsolete, Florence has the power to give them a shine of modernity. But recently, the craftswoman has a new string to her bow: table lamps ! But what is it ? Nothing could be simpler, it's a lampshade rolled into an original shape and equipped with an electrical kit and a bulb, all ready to hang!
Thanks to her impressive collection of fabrics, Florence Grellier gives birth to lamps, each one prettier and more colorful than the last! And once lit, the spectacle is even more striking! The little extra, “ it allows me to recycle all my fabric scraps “, she specifies. A small step towards eco-responsibility.
Like Sandrine and Cécile, Florence lamps are on sale at the Escandilha boutique in Brioude and in Blassac, in his small workshop.
4 - A little indulgence with chocolates from Lilo Nectar in Champagnac-le-Vieux
Nougats, honey, chocolates, beers and other beekeeping sweets… Lilo Nectar is a little paradise for foodies. Ideal for treating yourself during the holidays with treats made on site, Champagnac-le-Vieux, a little Canada just 1 hour from Clermont-Ferrand and Puy-en-Velay. I have to say that Vincent Champilou is multi-hatted! Beekeeper, farmer (barley and hops, in full conversion to Organic Farming) and brewer, he is also a nougat maker and chocolatier in his spare time.
More Lilo Nectar, c'est aussi a cocooning eco-lodge (capacity for 6 travelers including 2 children, with Italian-style bathroom and Norwegian bath), ideal for going green and discovering life in the countryside. And in particular that of the bees that Vincent Champilou pampers daily. “We have 100 production hives and we use all-flower honeys linked to the season,” he explains on its site.
Lilo Nectar finally offers discovery workshops : immersion in an apiary, honey extraction, brewery... Enough to discover the daily life of a local artisan!
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