Spellbinders Spring In Kyoto Collection: Kokeshi Dolls

These gorgeous projects are brought to life with the enchanting Spring in Kyoto collection from Spellbinders — and let me tell you, this die set is nothing short of magical!

Inspired by the charm and tradition of Japanese Kokeshi dolls, the intricate layering dies let you build sweet, stylized figures with endless customization options. From the delicate fans and hair accessories to the beautifully detailed kimonos, this set allows for both minimalist elegance and maximalist flair — depending on your creative mood.

For my first card, I went clean and simple with a bold black, white, and violet palette, letting the doll and sentiment truly shine against a crisp background.

The second design leans fully into the ornate beauty of the collection, featuring layered fans, stitched blossoms, and metallic accents that make it feel like a miniature art piece.

Whether you’re crafting for love, friendship, or just to celebrate beauty in the everyday, these Kokeshi dies are the perfect focal point for a heartfelt handmade card.

✨ Craft tip: Paper piecing with glossy cardstock adds that perfect lacquered finish to mimic real Kokeshi dolls — and foam tape gives just the right amount of dimension.

Would love to know — are you team minimalist or maximalist when it comes to cardmaking?

Thanks for stopping by!

💮 Wendie Bee | @stamprightup

PinkFresh Studio Delighted For You

I have been trying to actually *use* supplies as I buy them, so when I purchased this Delighted For You stamp / stencil / die bundle from my local craft shop I made a point to use it!

When I saw this set, while I knew it would be versatile for color ways, but I immediately saw tiger lillies, so I chose a peachy-orange palette to start. The card base is Spellbinders Barely Peach (I think it would be Bellini equivalent now with the refresh)

Here is a list of the inks I used:

  • Honey Bee No Line Coloring Ink (background)
  • Lawn Fawn
    • Apricot, Peach Fuzz, Pumpkin Spice, Cilantro, Artichoke

The background was made with a technique I learned from the fabulous Gina K. I took a piece of 65lb card stock and scored it at every half inch; then I took the Honey Bee No Line colouring ink pad straight to the card stock (laying it flat down) and just lightly brushed it. That created that faux wood grain/ shiplap look.

Foiling sentiments is wonderful, but it’s a lot of work for me to drag out my glimmer machine, so I happen to have a pouch of pre foiled & cut sentiments from PinkFresh so I just popped one on from that stash.

A few baubles to fill in & balance white space and voila! A card done. It took maybe 30 minutes in total but I’m super happy with how it turned out.

Stampin Up: May Flowers Workshop for Mother’s Day

I am pleased to say that this weekend marks another successful workshop!  I had the pleasure of running a private workshop with Leyla – it was a great experience for us both. As she is new to paper crafting, card making and Stampin Up in general, I really loved having the opportunity to work one on one with her to show her all the tips & tricks that I have learned along the way.

When I was planning the workshop, I tried to put a lot of thought in to which techniques would be good to work with for beginners while still making fun & appealing projects.

The theme of the workshop was “May Flowers” so I wanted to make a card similar to one that my upline had made with the Fancy Flower punch.  I found this video tutorial from Dawn on how to make a different style of a paper flower and LOVED the look of this technique.
I added an extra step to Dawn’s tutorial and sponged the edges of each flower layer with crumb cake ink;  it is a bit time consuming to ink / sponge the edges, but it REALLY makes a difference and give the flower so much more dimension.  You could also use the coordinating ink to match your card stock, or use a contrasting ink to give it an extra punch of color.

Stamp Right Up Mother's Day Paper Flower Card

Mother’s Day Paper Flowers Card

Here’s what we used to make this lovely card:

  • Crumb Cake card stock (4.25 x 5.5)
  • Very Vanilla card stock (4 x 5.25)
  • Pretty in Pink ink (background stamped image)
  • Crumb cake ink (sponged on edges of flower petals & along edge of very vanilla mat layer)
  • Fancy Flower punch
  • Itty Bitty Banners
  • En Francais background stamp
  • Pink Pirouette card stock (flowers)
  • Champagne glimmer paint (on flowers)
  • Pearls
  • Twitterpated buttons

 

As always, your comments & feedback are welcome and appreciated!

 

Until next time stampers!