The Art of Paper Lampshade Making

No experience is required — Rosi taught herself at her kitchen table while her children were at school, and she breaks the process down into straightforward, repeatable steps. Everything is demonstrated slowly and in detail, and you can rewatch any fiddly sections as many times as you like. As Rosi says, anyone can do this with the right bits and pieces, a little time and a bit of table space.

Surprisingly little: pencils, a rubber, a Stanley knife, paper and fabric scissors, a few inexpensive paintbrushes, clothes pegs, rulers, a cutting mat, water-based glue and good-quality double-sided tape. You'll also need lampshade templates, fittings and your chosen paper — Rosi explains exactly where to source each item, and the full list is included in the course workbook. She also offers lampshade making kits online that contain everything you need.

Rosi dedicates two full lessons to understanding paper, covering printed, marbled, handmade, Japanese screen-printed, rice and even leftover wallpaper, along with the ideal weights (around 150gsm) and sheet sizes (A2 minimum). She explains how pattern scale, colour and translucency change once a shade is lit, and which papers are more forgiving or more fragile to work with. She also shares practical tips for choosing papers that suit your own home, like carrying fabric swatches when you go shopping.

It's both. Alongside the step-by-step making lessons, Rosi takes you through her kitchen, sitting room, den, bedroom and bathroom to explain the lighting decisions she's made and why. You'll learn how to create warmth and zones with lighting, work around rooms without wiring for wall lights, and use colour and pattern to link spaces — all achievable changes that don't require a lighting plan or a builder.

All of our courses are online, meaning that you are able to watch them whenever and wherever suits you best. There is no beginning or finish date and they’re completely self-paced so that you can stop, start and pause each lesson to fit around your own schedule. You can begin watching a course as soon as you purchase it – simply login to your Create Academy account whenever you have a quiet moment to yourself.

Yes! You can rewatch each lesson as many times as you’d like. If you have purchased an individual course, you will have lifetime access to it, so you’ll be able to rewatch and dip in and out of each lesson forever - perfect if you have a busy schedule! If you purchased an annual subscription, you can enjoy full access to all of our lessons until you choose to cancel.

If you have purchased an individual course, you will have life time access.

An annual subscription gives you access to all courses for 12 months from the date of purchase, including those released during that period. Our subscriptions are set to automatically renew after 12 months so you have the benefit of uninterrupted access! If you choose to cancel, you will no longer have access to the platform.

Below each video lesson you’ll find the link to download the corresponding workbook pages. If you’d like to download the whole workbook at once, simply navigate to the very first lesson in the course and click 'Download Workbook'.

We’re on a mission to help you build your creative confidence and live a more creatively fulfilled life. Through beautifully curated video courses, we give you unprecedented access to the expertise of today’s best designers, makers, gardeners and chefs - allowing you to unlock your creativity whenever and wherever you want.

Yes – all our courses are available internationally. Please note, all our courses are taught in English.

The easiest way is the Create Academy iPhone app: start a lesson, tap the AirPlay icon in the player and choose your Apple TV or AirPlay-compatible TV. On a Mac, Safari shows the same AirPlay icon in the video player.

If you have a Chromecast, open the lesson in Chrome on your laptop and use the browser’s Cast option to send the whole tab to your TV. Connecting a laptop to the TV with an HDMI cable also works well and is the most reliable option for long viewing sessions.

We don’t yet have a dedicated smart TV app.

On the website, click the CC (closed captions) button in the video player controls. Subtitles are off by default, and the player remembers your choice for future lessons on that device.

In the iPhone app, tap the speech-bubble icon in the player and choose English to turn subtitles on, or Off to hide them.

Yes. On the website, click the speed button (shown as 1x) in the video player controls and choose a speed between 0.5x and 2x. In the iPhone app, tap the playback speed option in the player menu.

Yes. We save your position as you watch, so when you reopen a lesson it picks up where you left off. Your progress syncs between the website and the iPhone app as long as you are logged in to the same account.