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Glossary of Scrapbooking Terms
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A
ABC Album: A method of Scrapbooking using a letter to signify the events for each page. A simple way to organize memories that don't fit into other albums.
Acid: Acids weaken the cellulose in paper, which leads to its break down, causing discoloration and disintegration.
Acid-free: Materials that have a pH balance of 7.0 or higher.
Acid is removed during manufacturing and papers and supplies will be labeled
as such.
Acid-Free Paper: Any Scrapbooking paper whether it be a
design or plain cardstock that has been approved as acid free. Newsprint
and construction paper are not acid free!!
Acid Migration: The transfer of acid from one source to
another on your page.
Placing acidic memories on a page can pass the acid from the source to
your photo if you don't take steps to buffer and prevent this.
Adhesive: The glue used to secure items in the scrapbook. These can be tape or glue. Make sure you choose only photo safe products.
Archival: The use of such a product could preserve your photographs and memories for years to come. Businesses using it are not policed at this time, but usually it is given only to products, which are chemically stable at the time of sale. Check the reputation of the company.
B
Brag Book: A small album that is easily transported usually containing photographs of children or grandchildren.
Buffered: Adding alkaline substances to materials after removing the acids to protect the product against acid migration in the future.
C
Cardstock: Sturdy, solid colored papers used in Scrapbooking.
| Chalk: Not regular children's chalk, this is specially designed to be safe for Scrapbooking and used in similar paper arts. |  |
Chalking: The art of using chalks to enhance your scrapbook pages.
Circle Cutter: Any number of devices designed solely for the purpose of cutting a perfect circle in different sizes. A very popular brand is Coluzzle.
Computer Clip-Art: Pictures you can find online and in computer programs to print out and use as die cuts.
Corner Rounder: A punch specially designed to round the 45-degree angles of photograph corners or paper.
Corner Punch: Similar to the corner rounder but these come in many decorative styles when you want something fancier than a rounded edge. Victorian is an example.
Creative Memories: A company that sells it's Scrapbooking products through home parties and classes. They specialize in simplicity.
Crop: Trimming the photo to highlight a certain area or cut out unwanted activity, or simply changing the photograph's shape. Also a term used for a gathering of Scrapbookers to work on their albums. (A crop.)
D
Dauber: Is a round miniature stamp pad which can be dabbed onto a stamp to apply ink.
Dauber Duo: A dauber applicator with a different color or shade on each end.
De-acidification: The act of removing acid from a memory using such products as "Archival Mist".
Decorative Ruler: A normal ruler with a special edge used in designing scrapbook pages.
| Decorative Scissors: Any number of specialty scissors that cut anything but a straight line. Some examples are Zig Zag, Victorian, and Waves. |  |
Die Cut: Shapes or letters cut from card stock by special machines such as the Accu-Cut for use in Scrapbooking.
E
Embossing: Decorating using raised edges.
Embossing Powder: Powder sprinkled, usually on stamped images, and heated to create raised edges.
Encapsulation: Sealing a memory between two sheets of transparent polyester film (not to be confused with lamination) for the purpose of protection from handling, weather, and acid migration.
Eylette: A round metal embelishment added by punching a hole and hammering down the back.
F
Fiskars: A very reliable company specializing in scissors. They make both regular and decorative.
Font: The style of lettering.
G
H
Hand Tinting: (also photo tinting) A method of applying color to a black and white photograph.
Heirloom: Used in regards to many aspects of Scrapbooking. It can mean an old fashioned "looking" page, or an actual antique photograph or memory.
| Hermafix: A brand of dispensing tool for photo mounting squares. |  |
Hinge Album: A plastic strap binding allows your albums to expand. These tend to lay flatter than the post bound albums.
I
J
Journaling: The words or stories you add to your scrapbook pages.
K
Kaleidoscope: An artistic method of displaying photographs on a scrapbook page, the end result resembling something similar to what you would see looking through a kaleidoscope.
L
Lamination: Sealing a memory between translucent plastic pieces for the same reasons as encapsulation, but not as safe due to heat exposure and pressure.
Latex Pages: Will discolor pages in a very short period of time. Usually found in magnetic albums.
Light Box: A small light table used for viewing negatives
or embossing.
Lignin: Lignin is the natural material, which holds wood
cells together. It causes the break down of paper over time.
M
Magnetic Album: A photo album which uses a special adhesive to hold photographs in place and creates static for the plastic page cover to cling to. These are not okay for Scrapbooking!
Matte or Matting: Placing a piece of acid free paper behind the photo to accentuate it or act as a buffer between the photo and the page.
Memorabilia: Anything which reminds you of an event or time in your life. Artwork, matchbooks, postcards, tickets, locks of hair, and brochures are all memorabilia.
Memory Book: Another name for scrapbook.
Mounting Squares: A small square of double sided tape-like adhesive dispensed from boxes.
N
Neutral: Having a pH of 7.0. It is not acidic or balanced.
O
Opal Laminate: This is the film that is "stuck" to the top of opal stickers. It has a "pearl" look to it.
Origami: The Asian art of paper folding.
Over-alls: A product printed on cardstock with a title and borders or pictures to cut out. An easy way to decorate a page because it's all-inclusive.
P
Page Protector: A PVC free plastic sleeve or cover to protect each page in a scrapbook. They as sleeves that fasten directly into your album or covers that slide over your page especially useful in spiral bound albums.
Page Toppers: Like Overalls, a product that can be used as is or cut up to create a title and die cuts.
Paper Piecing: Die cuts or punches put together to create an image for your scrapbook page.
PAT Test: Photographic Activity Test (not sure of the exact
nature of the testing)
Permanent: It stands the test of time resisting chemical
breakdown. Also can mean unmovable.
| Personal Trimmer: A small paper cutter used for trimming or cropping photographs and paper. |  |
pH: The measure used for acid and alkaline. The scale runs from 0 to 17, with numbers over 7.0 being safe.
pH Testing Pen: A pen used to test the acidity of paper or other Scrapbooking materials.
Photo Safe: acid and lignin free
Photo Squares: See: Photo Splits
Photo Splits: Squares of double sided sticky tape.
Photo Tape: Double sided sticky tape on a roll with a paper backing. Good for sticking larger items like boarders.
Photo Tinting: see hand tinting
Pigma Pen: A pen with special pigment that is acid free used to be permanent.
Pocket Page: A scrapbook page with a built in pocket. Useful for holding memorablia you may want to take out and look at like programs or other booklets.
Polaroid: A type of camera that prints out a photo instantly. These photos should not be cropped because it contains chemicals that will damage the phographs as well as your pages.
Polyester: The common name for Polyethylene Terephthalate, a clear plastic safe for Scrapbooking.
Polyethylene: A transparent plastic safe for storing photographs and other memories.
Polyvinyl Chloride: Also known as PVC, this plastic is not stable and has a chlorine gas discharge which will damage photographs and albums.
Post Bound Album: Uses metal posts to bind the pages in the album. This gives you the most flexibility in size, as you can continually screw in extra posts to add more pages.
Punch: A small gadget similar to a hole puncher that creates shapes and comes in a variety of choices.
Punches: The product of using a punch. They can be used in paper piecing or alone to decorate scrapbook pages.
Punch Art: Similar to paper piecing but is art solely made up of punches.
Q
Quilling: A paper art featuring curls of long, slim pieces of paper.
R
Red Eye: An effect that happens when the flash of a camera hits the eyes during picture taking. The eyes literally look red in the photograph.
Red Eye Pen: A special pen used to color in red eyes in a photo. They look like ordinary pens to me, however.
Repositionable: A type of adhesive that doesn't have the permanent stick so you can put it down on the paper and pull it back up and restick.
Rubber Cement: An adhesive that is not safe for Scrapbooking.
S
Sans Serif: (See Serif) Lettering which doesn't have the extra decoration of a Serif font. Verdana is an example of this.
Scrapbook: An album used to display photographs and memorabilia.
Scrapbooking: The science and art of organizing your photos and memorabilia into albums
Self Healing Mat: A mat you can repeatedly cut on that retains it's form.
Serif: Curves or little lines decorating the edges of a letter believed to make a font easier to read. The font I am using is a serif font.
Shaker Box: A new trend similar to a snow globe with out the water. Use a die-cut and a piece cut out from a sheet protector. Seal in bits of confetti or small beads, etc.
Side Loading: Page protectors that slide over your album pages and are sealed at the top and bottom.
Silhouettes: Just the shadow of an object. An old fashioned practice of tracing the shape of one's shadow as a memory or art.
Slipcover: Usually made of plastic, it covers your album to protect it from spills and dust.
Setter: A tool used in attaching eyelettes.
Spiral Bound: An album bound by winding a wire through the spine in a circular pattern.
Sticker: A sticky backed picture. Self sticking.
Sticker Art: Combining any number of stickers to create a larger project.
Straight Edge Scissors: Scissors without any decorative edges used in cutting continuous lines.
T
Tape Runner: A dispenser containing small pieces of double sided sticky tape. Doesn't have the mess of Photo Splits.
Template: Like a stencil, a template is made of sturdy plastic and has shapes cut into it that you may trace onto your paper.
Theme Album: An album in which all the photographs belong to a specific subject such as a holiday, age, or vacation.
Three Ring Binder: Your basic school binder used as a cover for your scrapbook. These don't hold pages well, but are good starting points for children.
Time Line: A spread containing one subject over a certain amount of time, like hair color throughout the years.
Top Loading: An album or sheet protector in which your scrapbook page slides into your book.
Tote: A bag you carry or pull on wheels used to carry your scrapbooking supplies.
U
Undo: A brand of adhesive remover.
V
Versamark: A brand of ink pad or pen that when used on a solid color of paper will stamp one shade darker. Similar to a watermark.
W
X
Xyron: A machine that creates stickers, magnets, or laminations without the hazards of lamination.
Y
Z
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