Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. As always, all opinions are honest and my own.
For those of you who long for more playtime as adults, and would love to experiment with color and making pretty things for the home, Molly Mahon ’s block printing class on Create Academy could be a wonderful experience, and a productive way to express yourself creatively.
Block printing as a craft has been around for thousands of years and has remained practically unchanged over the centuries. At it’s purest form, it is the art of creating a print on a surface (paper or fabric, for instance) using a carved block, and some paint. The block can be as humble as a piece of potato carved with a cookie cutter (perfect for making stars and tree shapes this time of year) and the surface can be anything from a piece of scrap paper, some blank cards, or a scrap of fabric you’d like to turn into toss cushions.
The actual process of block printing is all about rhythm and repetition and, just like meditation, it can be a great way to calm your mind and bring your focus into the present moment. If all of this sounds intriguing to you, then you’re in luck because enthusiastic printmaker and business owner Molly Mahon has teamed up with Create Academy to teach a wonderful course on the ancient art of block printing, and the course – through 25 detailed lessons, 6 hours of instruction time and downloadable workbooks – will have you not only inspired to start block printing but also excited to create designs of your own.
Inspired by nature and her travels to India, Molly Mahon celebrates color and natural beauty in her prints and brings a modern approach and a fresh color palette to the block printing process. She creates bespoke homewares for herself and her business, and she generously shares her knowledge through Create Academy to anyone who’s interested in learning the necessary skills.
The beauty of block printing, and one of the reasons why it has endured for millennia, is that anyone can get started printing right away, and the basic equipment can be readily found in your fridge or pantry. The humble potato is one of the first ways to get color and pattern onto paper and will allow you to involve your little ones in the process. Printing with a potato feels much like child’s play, which is all the more reason to give it a try, but the result could be something beautiful, bespoke and handmade, that you can gift your friends or decorate your home with.
One of my favorite things about block printing so far is the idea of embracing imperfections. Because everything is handmade, every print will look slightly different, and that is where the charm of this process lies, and where the mark of the maker shines though. Imperfections add movement and energy to your designs, and are a lovely way to celebrate letting go of expectations and enjoying the process of creating something unique.
If you’d like to enroll in Molly Mahon ’s block printing course and learn all about creating beautiful, bespoke wares for your home, including wallpaper, you’ll be happy to know that Café Design readers enjoy a 15% discount on this and all courses, using the promo code cafedesign15 at checkout. Happy learning!
If you’d like learn more about Create Academy and their interior design and gardening courses, please make sure to check out the following Café Design stories:
Learn Modern Upholstery with Micaela Sharp
Make Beautiful Curtains with Gemma Moulton
Learn About Cut-flower Gardening with the Land Gardeners
