Utiles et futiles

Aparté is a small company near La Rochelle created in 2022, with the objective of modernizing the puzzle image and offering an artistic and responsible alternative. After 11 years in the insurance sector, Maxime Vachon decided to leave everything behind to embark on this adventure, realizing that the puzzle, like many manual activities, had made a comeback in our homes during the various COVID-19 lockdowns. He enjoyed the activity a lot but noticed that the visuals were not very to his liking, and that the price of the puzzles was often high due to their manufacturing process. He therefore decided to ask a few illustrators whose work he admires in order to find out if creating a visual for a puzzle could interest them, and at the same time approached a French manufacturer to learn more about the manufacture of a puzzle. The project seduced and in just a few months, Aparté was born. The puzzles are made in Romans sur Isère and are sold online or from distributors.

Puzzling is a family activity. I remember spending hours assembling pieces on the carpet in my bedroom as a child, seeing my mother also make pieces on boards of all sizes to make it easier to move them around different rooms and the frustration of not having enough light at certain times of the day to light the precious sesames. I rediscovered the joy of puzzles more recently while on vacation with my children. It is an ideal activity to rest your brain, spend time together and experience the satisfaction of hard work done. So, even if it means buying puzzles that are actually rarely original in terms of visuals, you might as well turn to a French house, which loves its job, and surrounds itself with artists and artisans to offer a 100% eco-responsible, beautiful and useful product.

Some career paths are closely linked to personal life, necessary changes that are necessary due to the challenges of life that push us to reinvent ourselves. Karine, mother of three children, saw her life turned upside down by her youngest daughter, a little warrior who was born with a heart defect. A daily presence makes a traditional paid life impossible, and after a few years of break and part-time work, entrepreneurship is essential, encouraged by her husband who had also already taken the plunge. It is by following social networks about creative know-how that Karine starts. The year 2023 is devoted to setting up her small business: she works on compositions and dosing, she is training on business creation and regulations, imagines packaging, and from test to test, she finally arrives at her ideal compositions. Having shared her daily life on social networks, accompanied by the Petit Coeur de Beurre Association, created a beautiful community for her: Maison Vaissière opens its doors in early 2024, dedicated to the art of home and daily living.

Big crush on this brand and its creator Karine who is brimming with kindness and humanity, talks about her career and her creations in all simplicity. His universe is similar to him and the bet is extremely successful: his products are delicate, pleasantly scented, and very affordable in terms of the quality of the compositions. I discovered vacuum cleaner powders which are, it must be said, pure madness and bring cleaning to the height of refinement: vacuuming and perfuming at the same time. A very nice discovery also with perfumed oils that brilliantly replace fondant. His products are now available on his Instagram page or on local markets: do not hesitate. It is the ideal place for customizable gifts for weddings, baptisms, birthdays, etc...

From the world of graphic and web design studios to that of crafts, there seems to be a mountain, and yet it was a magnificent typical Charente-Maritime residence in the middle of nature called Le Séjour that was the starting point of this professional reconversion. Together, they decided to set up a new project closely combining their environment, their creativity and their know-how: Maison Séjour was born, a crazy project that is nourished by beautiful collaborations with big retailers or cosmetic brands until becoming their exclusive activity in 2020. The SARL was created, a 200 kg melter and an adapted filling machine integrated their workshop, a third person joined the team: Maison Séjour could satisfy a larger production. The watchword: a manufacturing process that respects the environment and health, plants harvested by hand and dried locally, stoneware containers handcrafted in the region, the taste of beauty, of good living, and wonderful candles, votives or fondant, and wonderful candles, votives or fondant, appear, absolutely magnificent with subtle fragrances.

The photos speak for themselves: goodbye candles that are uncharming, industrial or sold at exorbitant prices because of their brand. Here, everything is beautiful, elegant, and becomes a decorative object to beautify everyday life. Floral postcards adorn wardrobes, candles are placed on sideboards or bookcases to give a cozy and warm look to a room, and when you finally decide to burn them, the smell that comes out delicately perfumes your home. An address to remember and to share without hesitation.

The art of making handmade watercolors. In her studio surrounded by greenery in the Paris region, Isabelle maintains this absolutely fabulous profession of creator of watercolors using traditional techniques. Mineral or organic pigments, gum arabic, a homemade binder to handmade honey, turns of a wheel, drying time in successive layers in cups, and here come out these magnificent watercolors in incomparable colors that you can admire in the photos below. A wonderful alchemy, the fruit of patience and passion, which can only be carried out in small quantities, on its own scale, in order to respect all the stages of production. Lovers of watercolors, professional or aspiring, can only marvel at the quality of the pigments, exceptional colors, which make these products real little jewels of know-how and excellence.

In addition to the craftsmanship that did not fail to seduce us at first glance, we must recognize that these color sets grouped by theme are divine. In their small metal box, watercolors have a delicate, elegant side. Each set has an inspired name, “Sublime Barks, Lapland, Heliopolis”, and each cup as well, which immediately invites you to dream and poetry. Small, these sets can be easily transported everywhere, and even without being a great artist in the field, owning them is already imagining being one. Friends of cosmetics, we would like to find these same colors in makeup boxes.

Passionate about interior design, candles are, for this generous and accessible artist, more than just a decorative element: they are above all objects that contribute to a warmer atmosphere while living a sensory experience. Like many artisans, the adventure begins with personal creations that, pleasing those around them, lead to the expansion of production and to offer it on markets. Her candles, made by hand, are all unique: flowery, personalized, with a delicate scent, they have a poetic side that cannot leave anyone indifferent. The scents are subtle, they burn very well and the icing on the cake is that you can keep the containers.

Whether the candles are big, small, round, square, they all have an irresistible charm, including the melts that have a scent to die for. Go for a walk on its site, everything is magnificent, the hardest part being choosing. Here are our favorites that made us enter her universe: an Urban Apple Cinnamon, orange cinnamon melts, a Gingerbread Gingerbread, a Dreamy Freesia.

Cheyenne-Marie Carron is an exceptional artist for more than one reason. Director of more than a dozen films written and produced by her own against all odds, she has developed a very varied artistic universe at the same time, combining painting, handmade products and even home decoration. She goes for it, raises mountains, goes to the end of her ideas and that's what gives her strength and talent: she dares and trusts herself, for our greatest pleasure. A complex and complete woman who is difficult not to admire, as she is the epitome of “dare to be what you want to be”. Her creation forms a whole and for those who follow her on social networks, everything is thought out, organized within a universe of her own and which can be summed up in a few words: the passion for the beautiful, the real, the battles, the defense of her beliefs.

Svivias chose and tested a “The Taste of Childhood” candle in tribute to his grandmother's plum tarts and a sensual and inspired “Le Parfum d'Yseult” perfume. Refined is the adjective that comes to mind spontaneously when evoking his universe. The bottles are elegant, the fragrances subtle, the names poetic, the details meticulous. They are very beautiful creations, made with care and love, whose sale often also finances his films.