Scrapbooking Glossary of Terms

Here is a good guide for scrapbooking beginners to get to know some of the most commonly used scrapbooking terms.

Acid-Free
A term describing materials with a pH value of 7.0 or higher. Materials with pH level of 7.0 are neutral and those with pH level greater then 7.0 are alkaline. You should only use Acid-Free products on your scrapbooking pages.

Adhesive
Any substance that allows two or more surfaces to adhere to one another. Adhesives include double-sided tape, foam tape, photo taps, glue dots, glue sticks, sprays, liquid glue and xyron machine.

Album
Available in various sizes, 12"x12" albums are most commonly used in scrapbooking. Choose from a variety of styles like post bound, ring bound and strap hinge. Post bound ones are the most popular as you can add extra pages to them. Albums come with protective plastic sleeves that will house your layouts.

Archival Ink
Dye ink that is fade proof, waterproof, lightfast, acid-free and non smearing. This is ideal for stamping on your pages.

Brads
Similar to typical office brads, but now available in different sizes, colours and patterns for scrapbooking. They can be used as a functional tool or as an embellishment.

Brayer
A craft tool which looks ike a small rubber rolling pin on a handle. Made from sponge and used with plastic stencils to make background paper.

Buffer
An alkaline substance, generally calcium carbonate, added to the paper to make it acid-free.

Cardstock
A general term for heavier papers commonly used as the basis for pages, torn accents, photo matting, journaling blocks and lettering.

Chalk
Used for shading colouring and highlighting accents and titles, paper piecing and backgrounds. Decorative chalks are applied with cotton buds, eye shadow sponges or special applicators especially created for scrapbooking.

Charms
Embellishments for pages that usually dangle from decorative fibres, strings and ribbons.

Cropping
A term used to describe reshaping or re-sizing an original photograph.

Cutters
These include kraft knives, which are used for precision cutting, and have pointed, replaceable blades. There are also specialty decorative scissors that cut anything other then a straight line. Some popular styes include zig-zag and Victorian.

Die-cut
A shape or letter cut from paper or cardstock with a special die-cutting machine. Popular brand in Cricut, Sizzix and Accu-Cut.

Embellishments
A variety of different decorations that include tabs, tags, eyelets, wire, charms, stickers, chipboard, frames, ribbon and fibres.

Embossing Paper
A fine plastic powder that will adhere to wet inks and tacky surfaces. The powder melts on heating to form a raised, glossy finish.

Eyelets
A metal ring for lining a small hole. Used for the passage of ribbon, cord, wire, string or as an embellishment on a layout. Available in a wide range of shapes and colours.

Eyelet Setter
The tool used to apply eyelets and snaps to various projects. With just a few taps of a standard hammer, the setter evenly splits the eyelet or snaps flat to the page.

Fibres and Ribbon
Used for attaching tags, creating embellishments or borders, they are flexible and come in a array of colours, textures and patterns.

Journaling
Refers to everything textual on the page. Can include titles, poems, stories, captions, stickers and phrases that are handwritten or computer-generated.

Lignin-Free
Lignin is an organic substance which, when combined with cellulose, forms the main part of woody tissue. It's important to make sure your products are free of it when scrapbooking pages.

Matting
This term is used when a photo is placed on a larger piece of cardstock that then becomes the frame or mount. This technique adds colour and dimension to your page and it's all about personal taste.

Paper
Available in many varieties including patterned, handmade, textured and specialty, and can be a feature, background or you can print text on it.

Paper Piecing
Paper piecing is collating a range of cut-off paper pieces to create a theme or idea. There are many patterns available, or you can create your own with scanned images or drawings.

Photo Tabs
Used in the corner of a photo when mounting it.

Punches
A hand tool available in different themes and sizes that "punches out" a particular shape, which can enhance the overall look of a page.

Stamp
Rubber impressions that, when pressed with ink, leave a permanent mark. Make sure you use ink that is acid-free, non-bleeding and fade-resistant.

Tag
A piece or strip of strong paper that can be hung loosely by thread or attached to the layout. You can also purchase metal rimmed tags.

Template
Anything used as the basis or guide for tracing a pattern, letter or shape.

Paper Trimmer
Offers precise, straight-edge cutting. Just lay the photo or paper down on the base and slide the blade across it.

Vellum
Normally used as an overlay, it can be patterned or plain and is semi-transparent, giving a great effect. You can also print journaling on it.

Article By: Melanie Pracas