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The Art of Self-Care

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  • CLASSES
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  • SHOP
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
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  • CLASSES
  • COMMUNITY
  • SHOP
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT

Recent Posts

  • Abstract Holiday Cards Made with Paper Scraps from Simply Stated Design Golden Evergreen PapersUse Your Scraps to Make Stunning Holiday Cards
    In Projects, Techniques
  • Festive and Fabulous Gel Print Holiday CardsThe Best DIY Gel Print Holiday Cards
    In Art Classes, Techniques
  • How to get past a creative block- try this amazing mixed media art journal page!Struggling with Creative Block? Try this Easy Art Journal Page!
    In Art Journal, Artist's Journey
  • Mixed Media Shaker Card Using Distress Glazes, Brusho Crystal Colours and Wild Whisper Designs Paper and sequins
    Projects,  Techniques

    How to Create a Mixed Media Shaker Card

    November 19, 2021 /

    With Christmas just around the corner I wanted to show you how to create an easy mixed media shaker card. I love making cards around Christmastime. It is one of my favorite Christmas traditions! The process of coming up with unique designs, writing messages to my friends and family and sending them through the mail brings me great joy. I remember as a child my parents getting dozens and dozens of Christmas cards with family updates and kind messages inside. The practice of giving and receiving cards is not as popular as it used to be. But I believe it makes giving or receiving a handmade card so much more…

    Read More
    Nadine Milton

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    Paint Your Season's Greetings: Simple Watercolor Christmas Card Designs

    Paint Your Season’s Greetings with Simple Watercolor Christmas Cards

    December 1, 2023
    How to Decoupage in an Art Journal

    How to Decoupage in an Art Journal

    May 14, 2021
    How to Get Comfortable with Your Watercolors an Easy Art Journal Project

    How to Get Comfortable with Your Watercolors

    February 10, 2023
  • Travel Greeting Card Using Photos and Wild Whisper Designs Road Trip Paper Collection
    Projects

    How to Make a Travel Greeting Card

    June 18, 2021 /

    Today we will talk about how to make a travel greeting card using beautiful paper and your personal photos. When I create cards, it is usually an art card or a photo card. This week, I thought I would show you how you can these two creative styles together. Creating a Travel Greeting Card Creating a travel greeting card with photos and other elements can be challenging. The key is figuring out the right balance for these images so that the card feels cohesive. For this card, I used a landscape photo with die cut imagery. By using a simpler photo, this allowed the die cuts to add to the…

    Read More
    Nadine Milton

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    Looking to Improve your Painting Skills? How to Paint a Tree with Ink using Yasutomo Traditional Chinese Ink Silver Black and Chinese & Watercolor Brushes

    Looking for an Easy Painting Exercise? How to Paint a Tree with Ink

    February 24, 2023
    Doodling with Stencils with Tim Holtz Distress Inks and Posca Paint Pens

    Doodling with Stencils: Using Stencils to Improve your Drawing Skills

    October 22, 2021
    Finding A New Normal

    Finding a New Normal

    May 29, 2020
  • Detail of Heart Focal Image from Valentine's Day Slimline Card
    Projects

    Valentine’s Day Slimline Card

    February 12, 2021 /

    As Valentine’s Day is just days away, I wanted to share with you how to make a Valentine’s Day slimline card. Valentine’s Day cards are fun to make, but what if you want to move away from more conventional colors for these cards? In this tutorial we will be creating a card that does not use red or pink, but the more muted greys and greens. Slimline Cards Slimline cards seem to be everywhere. The style and dimension of these cards lead to some great creative possibilities. The panoramic style of them allows you to approach creativity and cardmaking in a different way. When used in an upright format, the…

    Read More
    Nadine Milton

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    Collage with Dried Leaves in Your Art Journal

    How to Collage with Dried Leaves in Your Journal

    October 21, 2022
    Printing with Gelli Plate Minis Gelli Printing Plates

    Printing with Gelli Plate Minis

    September 3, 2021
    How to Decoupage in an Art Journal

    How to Decoupage in an Art Journal

    May 14, 2021
  • Easy Brusho Christmas Card
    Projects

    Easy Brusho Christmas Card

    December 22, 2020 /

    As Christmas is only a few days away and the pace of the season can get a little hectic, I wanted to share this easy Brusho Christmas Card. This card does not take long to make, but the simplicity of the design makes for a very effective card. My hope is that this easy Christmas card project will give you an opportunity for creative self-care. Easy Brusho Christmas Card Creating the Brusho Paper The first step of this easy Brusho Christmas Card is to color the paper to be used for the Christmas tree shape. Using 90lb watercolor paper I spritz water onto the surface, tap out the Brusho powders…

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    Nadine Milton

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    Merry Christmas from Hop-A-Long Studio

    Merry Christmas from Hop-A-Long Studio

    December 25, 2020
    3 Christmas Card Ideas Using One Die Cut Design with Brusho Crystal Colours and Nuvo Shimmer Powders

    3 Christmas Card Ideas Using One Die Cut Design

    November 11, 2022
    How to Use Deco Foil with Deco Foil Transfer Pen, Deco Foil Adhesive Pen and Laser Prints

    Deco Foil all the Things! How to Use Deco Foil

    October 1, 2021
  • Easy Alcohol Ink Christmas Card
    Projects

    Easy Alcohol Ink Christmas Card

    December 4, 2020 /

    This week I want to share with you one of my favorite easy alcohol ink Christmas card designs. I love using alcohol inks and Yupo as these mediums work so well together. I find the process of using alcohol inks to be very relaxing. It is an opportunity to create is a less structured manner and allows me to find mindfulness in the moment. Alcohol Ink Christmas Card What I love about this easy alcohol ink Christmas card is that every card is unique and different. The nature of ink is to flow and when used with Yupo, which is a slippery surface, you can get unexpected results. This means…

    Read More
    Nadine Milton

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    How to Make Gelli Prints

    How to Make Gelli Prints

    May 15, 2020
    Fall Leaf Card Project

    Fall Leaf Card Project

    November 6, 2020
    Mixed Media Fall Greeting Card Using Distress Crayons, Archival Ink and Wild Whisper Designs Paper and Stamps

    Mixed Media Fall Greeting Card

    October 8, 2021
  • How to Make a Simple Christmas Card
    Projects

    How to Make a Simple Christmas Card

    November 27, 2020 /

    As Christmas is drawing near, I wanted to share with you how to make a simple Christmas Card using stamps. It is easy to get wrapped up in completing elaborate projects around Christmastime, but sometimes our intentions and our available time do not align. Today I want to share a simple Christmas Card that can be completed under 10 minutes. Card Making for Self Care Card making is an essential part of my seasonal self care. It presents an opportunity to sit down for a few minutes and make something simple and creative. We often get so busy that we do not take time to pause, to rest and regroup.…

    Read More
    Nadine Milton

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    How to Live Fearlessly During COVID-19

    How to Live Fearlessly During COVID-19

    March 20, 2020
    Beginner Friendly Acrylic Painting Techniques

    5 Beginner Friendly Acrylic Painting Techniques

    May 13, 2022
    Festive and Fabulous Gel Print Holiday Cards

    The Best DIY Gel Print Holiday Cards

    December 5, 2025
  • Snowflake Christmas Card
    Projects

    Snowflake Christmas Card

    November 20, 2020 /

    As we are coming up to the Christmas season, I wanted to share this simple snowflake Christmas card project. Card making during the holidays can be a great self care practice. It is an opportunity to use our creativity to bless others through the gift of a beautiful and simple card. Relaxation Through Creativity The process of making Christmas cards is very relaxing and rejuvenating. I enjoy the process of coming up with simple card designs. Though I enjoy making cards, I also love my time in my art journal and painting canvases. This means that I usually do not spend hours and hours working on a single card. That…

    Read More
    Nadine Milton

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    How to Use Layering Stencils to Create Dimensional Images

    How to Use Layering Stencils to Create Dimensional Images

    September 23, 2022
    How to Use a Dip Pen

    How to Use a Dip Pen

    October 23, 2020
    Struggling with Contrast when Gelli Printing? Here’s How to Fix It

    Struggling with Contrast when Gelli Printing? Here’s How to Fix It

    December 8, 2023
  • Fall Leaf Card Project
    Projects

    Fall Leaf Card Project

    November 6, 2020 /

    Are you looking for some creative inspiration for this fall season? Fall leaves have been part of my inspiration for the last month, including this fall leaf card project. In Calgary I feel so fortunate to have enjoyed such a beautiful fall. Between the mild weather, changing leaves and sunny, crisp days, it has been a beautiful season.   Thanksgiving and Gratitude Thanksgiving in Canada was in October, but as Thanksgiving in the USA is coming up soon, I thought sharing this fall leaf card project was rather timely. During this time of pandemic, it may be harder to visit family for the holiday celebrations.  But there is no reason…

    Read More
    Nadine Milton

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    Easy Foil Alternatives for Cards and Art Journal Pages

    Easy Foil Alternatives for Cards and Art Journal Pages

    November 18, 2022
    How to Use Watercolors with Stencils

    How to use Watercolors with Stencils

    August 26, 2022
    Monochromatic Art Journal Project Be Brave Using Blue Color Palette and Wild Whisper Designs Products

    Monochromatic Art Journal Project

    April 9, 2021
  • Adding Your Own Art to Stencil Images
    Projects,  Techniques

    Adding Your Own Art to Stencil Images

    August 28, 2020 /

    Today I wanted to share with you a way of adding your own art to stencil images. Many of us struggle with our drawing skills, so we often use stamps or stencils to help us create images that we are happy with. I was working on a scrapbook page recently and wanted a focal image that was larger than any of the stamps I owned. When I was looking for an image I found a stencil that was the correct size but it lacked the detail that I wanted for an image. The thought came to me, “Why not just add in the detail by adding in my own art…

    Read More
    Nadine Milton

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    Everything is Figure-outable Art Journaling Page with Fluid Acrylics

    Using Fluid Acrylics in the Art Journal

    July 22, 2022
    Merry Christmas from Hop-A-Long Studio

    Merry Christmas from Hop-A-Long Studio

    December 25, 2020
    Finding Creativity Through Art Journaling, Art Journal Books, mixed media books

    Finding Creativity Through Art Journaling

    November 19, 2019
  • Wet on Wet Watercolor Technique
    Projects,  Techniques

    Wet on Wet Watercolor Technique

    July 31, 2020 /

    This week’s project is an easy watercolor card using a wet on wet watercolor technique. I have been watercolor painting more lately as part of my personal self-care routine. Setting up your space for watercolor painting is so easy. All you need is watercolor paints, water and a watercolor sketchbook or a pad of watercolor paper. The easy set up gives you more time to paint when you don’t have unlimited time. Lately, I’ve only had about a half hour a day for painting, but I can do a lot in that time when I am painting with watercolors.   Part of building a healthy self-care habit is making a…

    Read More
    Nadine Milton

    You May Also Like

    The Intuitive Collage Process | How to Get Past a Creative Block

    The Intuitive Collage Process | How to Get Past a Creative Block

    June 12, 2023
    What is Art Journaling and Why Should I Try It?

    What is Art Journaling and Why Should I Try It?

    June 3, 2022
    Art Journal with Napkins Technique Tutorial

    Art Journaling with Napkins

    January 14, 2022
12

Nadine Milton

Visual Storyteller & Mixed Media Artist

Welcome to Hop-A-Long Studio! I would love for you to join me in the journey of self-care through artistic expression.

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Recent Posts

  • Abstract Holiday Cards Made with Paper Scraps from Simply Stated Design Golden Evergreen PapersUse Your Scraps to Make Stunning Holiday Cards
    In Projects, Techniques
  • Festive and Fabulous Gel Print Holiday CardsThe Best DIY Gel Print Holiday Cards
    In Art Classes, Techniques
  • How to get past a creative block- try this amazing mixed media art journal page!Struggling with Creative Block? Try this Easy Art Journal Page!
    In Art Journal, Artist's Journey
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