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How to get the Best Results with Acrylic Pastes and Stencils
Do you ever use acrylic pastes with your stencils? Acrylic pastes can create beautiful dimension and crisp images in your art journal, if you know how to apply them. Here are some tips and techniques for how to get fantastic results with acrylic pastes and stencils. Hop-A-Long Studio is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no cost to you. Learn more. Types of Acrylic Pastes Acrylic pastes are beautiful, but they can be a little overwhelming at first. There’s so many brands and types of pastes to choose from. As I’ve been teaching online and in-person, I’ve realized that most of…
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Amazing Ink Techniques for Your Art Journal
Looking for creative ways to use ink techniques in your art journal? So often when we’re working in our art journal, we like to use acrylic mediums. But inks can also create amazing results in an art journal. The benefits of dye and archival inks is they are easily available, aren’t super messy, and have so much versatility as an art journal medium. Earlier this week I was asked the question by a reader, “Can you use ink in a journal?” Yes, you absolutely can. Today we’ll look at several creative ink techniques for your art journal. Hop-A-Long Studio is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site,…
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In A Rush? 3 Beautiful Holiday Tag Designs for Last Minute Gifts
Do you ever forget that you need holiday tags for your gifts? Often a few days before Christmas when I’m wrapping presents, I realize that I need to make holiday tags. These holiday tag designs can be very complex or extremely simple depending on how many layers you add to your holiday tags. Today I’m sharing 3 holiday tag designs with different amounts of layering. This way you can make a tag in a few minutes or add a few more layers to make a more complex but beautiful holiday tag. Holiday tags can also make fantastic Christmas cards. You can mount them onto a card back or you…
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Techniques for Creating Beautiful Layers with Alcohol Inks
Alcohol inks are a beautiful and fun art medium, but how do you create layers and dimension with alcohol inks? This may seem difficult and complicated, but alcohol ink layering techniques are easy to do if you understand the right methods. I’ll be working on a page for my art journal, but these techniques can easily be adapted for card projects or tags too. Hop-A-Long Studio is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no cost to you. Learn more. Creating Layers with Ink Blending For this project, start by choosing your favorite alcohol ink surface. My recommended surfaces for alcohol inks…
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Beautiful Smudge Free Pan Pastel Christmas Cards
Looking for smudge free results with your Pan Pastel Christmas cards? These easy Christmas cards take advantage of the beautiful blends you get with Pan Pastels without the smudging that sometimes occurs with this medium. Hop-A-Long Studio is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no cost to you. Learn more. Blending with Pan Pastels I love the beautiful blends that we can get with Pan Pastels. This is what makes Pan Pastels so forgiving and fun to use. If you are new to Pan Pastels, check out my How to Use Pan Pastels video where I walk you through the basics…
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Amazing Alcohol Ink Cards Using Hardware Store Foil
Are you looking for alternative surfaces to use alcohol inks on? Yupo isn’t the only surface that you can use for alcohol inks. There are so many ways to create beautiful alcohol ink cards using hardware store foil and other household items. Hop-A-Long Studio is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no cost to you. Learn more. Using Foil Tape and Aluminum Foil for Cards If you haven’t seen last week’s post, I shared how you can make beautiful card bases using aluminum foil and metal ducting tape. To see how to make these foil backgrounds, click here. Once you have…
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Easy Foil Alternatives for Cards and Art Journal Pages
Looking for foil alternatives for cards and art journal pages? There are household products that can work amazing on your art journal and card projects, at a fraction of the cost of craft foiling sheets. These techniques are a must know for any creative. Today we’ll go over a few different materials, the positive and negatives of each, and how you can add them to your creative projects. Hop-A-Long Studio is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no cost to you. Learn more. Alternatives to Foil Cardstock Foil cardstock is an amazing option for creating mirrored surfaces, beautiful sentiments, and details…
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3 Christmas Card Ideas Using One Die Cut Design
If you’re new to making Christmas cards or are looking for a simple and easy holiday cards, today I’m sharing 3 Christmas card ideas using only one die cut. I love choosing beautiful and intricate dies for my cards. If you choose the right die, it can be used for so many different designs! Hop-A-Long Studio is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no cost to you. Learn more. Creating Colorful Backgrounds One of the keys to a beautiful and unique Christmas card designs is creating a beautiful, colorful background. There are many patterned papers and colorful cardstocks that will give…
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The Best Gifts for Artists that Love Watercolor and Acrylic Paint
It can be hard to know how to choose a gift for the artist in your life. Choosing the best gifts for artists can be challenging, especially if you don’t know much about art supplies. In this guide I’ll share with you some fantastic gifts for artists and how to decide which gift is the best for the artist in your life. Hop-A-Long Studio is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no cost to you. Learn more. Choosing the Best Gifts for Artists Part of choosing the best gifts for the artist in your life is to answer the following questions.…
The Art of Self-Care
