Marmor Paperie

Breathing new life into a traditional craft

Marmor Paperie was launched by designer-maker Lucy McGrath in 2015 with the hope of breathing a new life into the art of paper marbling. There are so many mass-produced, boring, throwaway products about today - we hate that! We would love to herald a return to quality workmanship and give people back the joy of owning something truly special.

Paper marbling is an incredible old technique that is sadly at risk of dying out in the UK. It's done by 'floating' paints on a bath of gloopy thickened water and manipulating them carefully to create elegant, fluid patterns. These patterns are captured by laying a piece of paper onto the marbling bath to pick up the floating layer of paint. You might have seen marbled papers on vintage Victorian books - we modernise it by using bold, contemporary colours and graphic foiled accents.

Each book is made by hand using an original piece of paper marbled by Lucy in our South London studio. Every paper is slightly different, so each book made from one is a completely unique piece, made just for you. We add an extra personal touch by embossing a name or initials onto the front.

ABOUT LUCY

Lucy studied Illustration at the University of Brighton, where she fell in love with bookbinding. She had tried paper marbling as a child before, but it wasn't until a holiday to Istanbul that she discovered 'ebru sanati' (a beautiful, historic form of marbling practised in Turkey) and tried out the process. Hooked, she went on to take classes with English marblers and started practising in her studio. It was only a matter of time before she started combining the two crafts and making books from her marbled papers.

Marmor Paperie was started while Lucy was working full-time and was built up gradually in the evenings and through a market stall at the weekends. After winning the NADFAS award, Lucy decided to take the plunge and leave her day job to focus on marbling and bookbinding. She loves making custom books for clients' special moments and puts her heart into every book.