Glossary

A – B – C – D – E – F – G – H – I – J – K – L – M
N – O – P – Q – R – S – T – U – V – W – X – Y – Z

A

Acid — You don’t want products that contain acid because they will cause paper and photos to yellow and disintegrate.

AF/LF — Acid Free/Lignin Free

Album — Blank book used to store photographs and scrapbook pages.

Analogous Colors — Colors that are next to each other on the color wheel.

Aperture — The opening in a camera that lets in light. The aperture opens and closes when the shutter is released.

Archival Quality — Term used to indicate materials that have undergone laboratory analysis to determine their acidic and buffered content is within safe levels.

ATC — Artist Trading Card

B

B&M — Bricks and Mortar (referring to a physical store instead of an online store)

Blending Pencil — Tool used to blend colored pencils to create different shades of a color.

Buffered — Word used to describe products capable of maintaining the core of a solution. For example, buffered paper prevents acid from moving from a photograph to paper.

C

Calligraphy — Formal, old-fashioned lettering.

Cardstock — Thick, sturdy paper available in a variety of weights.

CK OK (Creating Keepsakes Okay) — Scrapbooking seal of approval. Items that have the CK OK are considered safe to use in scrapbooking.

Clip Art — Art purchased in book or software form with pictures that can be applied to scrapbook pages.

Collage — An artistic composition made of various materials (paper, cloth, wood, etc.) that are glued onto a surface.

Color Wheel — Shows color relationships and placement.

Corner-Edger Scissors — Scissors that cut corners. Each pair creates four different types of corners.

Corrugated Paper — Thick, wavy cardstock available in many colors.

Crop — 1. To cut or trim a photograph. 2. A scrapbooking party hosted by an expert who shares techniques, products and information with the group.

D

Deacidification Spray — Spray that neutralizes acid in newspaper clippings, certificates and other documents.

Decorative Scissors — Scissors with a decorative pattern on the blade.

Die-Cut Designs — Paper designs cut from die-cut machines. Paper is placed on the die and pressure is applied either by rolling or pressing down on the handle.

Double-Mount — To place a photograph on two background papers.

E

Embellishment — Any scrapbooking extra (stickers, die-cuts, punches, etc.) that enhance the pages.

Emboss — To create a raised surface by applying heat or pressure.

Embossing Powder — A fine-grained substance that will melt when heat is applied to it.  The powder, when melted, leaves a raised design.

Encapsulation — A method of displaying three-dimensional memorabilia and protecting nearby items from acid contained in the memorabilia. Items are encased in stable plastics.

F

Film Speed — Refers to film’s sensitivity to light. Lower-speed films are less sensitive (use these on a bright, sunny day). Higher-speed films are more sensitive (use these in low-light situations).

Fine and Chisel Pens — This pen has a fine tip (0.5 mm) and a chisel tip (6.0 mm). The fine tip is good for lettering and it’s extremely versatile.

Focal Point — The element of a design where lines converge. The eye is naturally drawn to the focal point in an image.

G

Gel-Based Rollers — Pens with pigment ink.

Genealogy — The study of the descent of a person, family or group from an ancestor. Many people who wish to create a family tree by researching their family’s genealogy.

General Pattern Paper — Paper with patterns (stripes, dots, plaids, etc.) that is made to be used for any occasion.

Gift Album — A compilation of photographs and mementos created with a person or event in mind.

H

Handmade Paper — Paper made by hand that is often rough and uneven in texture. There are flowers and leaves in the paper sometimes, which can add to the natural look.

Handmade Scaps — Embellishments made from layered-looking die-cuts.

Heading — The caption or title that explains the theme of a layout.

Heat Gun – Also called Embossing Gun or Heat Tool.  This tool blows hot air that will melt embossing powder and should not be used near photos or delicate materials.

Heritage — Traditions passed down from generation to generation.

I

Idea Books — Books usually about one aspect of scrapbooking. Some are written for particular themes (weddings, babies, pets, etc.) while others are devoted to a particular product (stickers, die-cuts, templates, etc.).

Intensity — The strength of a color based on how true it is to the primary color.

J

Journaling — Any words you write in your book or on the scrapbook page, from titles and captions to long descriptions, poems or stories.

Journaling Templates — Templates with space left for writing.

K

L

Layout — The grouping of pages in your scrapbook that go together. Some layouts fit on one page, most fit on two and some are put on panoramic layouts.

Letter Templates — Templates in the shape of letters of the alphabet.

Light Refraction — Light bent through a prism that shows the colors of the visible light spectrum: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, Indigo and violet.

Lignin — A naturally occurring acid substance in wood that breaks down over time. Paper with lignin is not suitable for archival projects.

LSS — Local Scrapbook Store

M

Mass-Merchandising Store — Stores that sell a large variety of products from sundries to automotive tools to craft supplies.

Master Family Album — Holds photographs of everyone in the family and family documents, typically in chronological order.

Memorabilia — Certificates, documents and other items that tell a story. Memorabilia can include souvenirs from trips and mementos from special occasions or historical events.

Monochromatic Color Scheme — Employs different values of the same color.

Mount — To adhere a photograph, embellishment or other item to another piece of paper.

Mulberry Paper — Paper made from the Sa tree.  This handmade paper has raw fibers so when the paper is torn or ripped the edge of the paper has a feathery look to it.

Muted Colors — Subdued tints or shades of colors that tend to be more suitable for backgrounds.

N

Neutral pH — The center reading of 7.0 on the pH scale of 0 – 14.  It is neither acidic nor alkaline.

Non-Bleeding — Ink, dye or paint that does not spread from the original mark on the paper’s surface.

O

Opaque — Substance or surface that will not allow any light to pass through.

Oval Croppers/Cutters — Paper trimmers that cut paper and photographs into ovals.

P

Page Protectors — Plastic sheets that display and protect pages.

Page Toppers — Hand-drawn illustrated phrases in bright colors meant to be used as titles at the top of pages.

Page Exchange — Participants are invited to create a page to share with other scrapbookers. Often, a theme is given (Halloween, Christmas, etc.). Each participant brings enough copies of an original page to trade with the others.

Paint Pens — Pens with soft, brush-like tips. The amount of ink dispensed is controlled by the pressure that is applied to the tip.

Paper Trimmers — Paper-cutting tools used by placing paper, lining it up on a grid and moving down a blade.

Pattern Paper — Paper with designs repeated on the entire page.

Perforated Punches — Shapes that the scrapbooker can use as embellishments on a page by punching out on the perforations.

pH Level — Measurement that tells a scrapbooker how acidic or basic something is. For scrapbooking, you want to use products with a pH level of seven or above.

pH Testing Pen — A pen used to test the acidity of paper. The pen mark changes colors, depending on the level of acid present.

Photo Activity Test (P.A.T.) — This test, created by the American National Standards Institute, determines if a product will damage photographs. If a product passes the P.A.T., it is safe to use with your photos.

Photo Corners — Paper with adhesive on the back used to adhere photographs to a page on the corners. Used to adhere photos in scrapbooks and photo albums without applying adhesive directly to the photograph.

Polypropylene, Polyethylene and Polyester — Stable plastics that are safe for photographs.

Post-Bound Albums — Albums that are held together with metal posts that run through the pages.

Pre-Embossed Paper — Paper with a raised design. Some of it is thick, like cardstock, and some is vellum.

Product Swap — A scrapbookers’ swap meet where the host gathers up duplicates of products or tools that she/he doesn’t use anymore. The guests also bring their unwanted scrapbooking items to trade.

Punch — 1. A tool used to create small shapes. 2. the shapes created by the punches.

Puzzle Templates — Templates in puzzle shapes.

PVC (Polyvinyl Chlorides) — Because this substance is harmful to photographs, scrapbookers should avoid it and use products that are composed of polypropylene.

Q

Quilling — Coiling and shaping very thin, lightweight paper strips into designs or accents.

R

Red-Eye Pen — Used to take red-eye out of flash photographs.

Reversible Adhesive — An adhesive that can be undone.

Rubber Stamp — A detailed, intricate design cut out of rubber and mounted on wood or foam. A design is made by applying color to the rubber and imprinting on paper.

S

Scraplift — Taking a feature that you see from one project and recreating it on another project. There are various degrees of scraplifting and no steadfast rule on what is acceptable. Credit should be given to the original project.

Scroll and Brush Pens — Pens that have one tip for coloring and one for writing.

Secondary Colors — Colors created by blending primary colors. Orange, green and violet are the secondary colors created b mixing a combination of red, yellow and blue.

Shade — A color with black added to it.

Shape Cutters — Tools designed to cut shapes (ovals, circles, squares, etc.). The cutters can be adjusted to create different sizes of these shapes.

Specialty Paper Books — Books that contain information about different papers, both pattern paper and plain. Some may come with extras, such as templates.

Spiral-Bound Books — Albums that are secured with a metal or plastic spiral binding running up the side of the album.

Stationery — Paper with a decorative border that is blank on the inside.

Sticker — An adhesive decorative accent ranging in size from a few centimeters across to a full page.

Strap-Binding Albums — Albums secured with plastic straps that run through a holder directly on the pages and keep the book in place.

T

Tape Roller — A device that distributes tape on the back of photographs and scrapbooking pages.

Template — A stencil used to trace shapes onto scrapbook pages or photographs.

Tertiary Colors — Also called intermediate colors, these are blends of primary and secondary colors. Colors such as red-orange and blue-green are tertiary colors.

Theme — The overall emphasis of a page or scrapbook.

Theme Album — A scrapbook devoted to one idea. Some popular them albums focus on birthdays, weddings and school days.

Time Capsule — A container holding historical records or objects that represent a culture and that is deposited for preservation.

Tint — A color that has had white mixed in.

Title Sheets — Pages with a variety of premade titles. They are often used as the starting point for a section in a scrapbook.

Tole Painting — Painting on wood, typically done in a rustic style and depicting country scenes.

Triad — A group of three colors that form a triangle on the color wheel.

U

V

Vellum — A lightweight, translucent paper.

Velveteen — An archival paper with fabric-like, velvety texture.

Vivelle — An archival paper with fabric-like texture similar to a terry-cloth towel.

W

Wax (or grease) Pencils — Soft pencils designed for use on photographs.

Wide-Edge Scissors — Decorative-edge scissors that make a cut that is five times deeper than normal scissors.

Workshop — A class usually held at a scrapbooking store and taught by an expert. Participants bring photographs and pages to work on and get advice from the instructor.

X

Xyron Machine — A machine that applies adhesive to pages and can also laminate.

Y

Z

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