As with many crafts there are specific terms that apply only to that craft. Scrapbooking is no different. The following is a list and short explanation of some of the more commonly used ones:
- 12 x 12 – Standard size of pages and scrapbooking albums/covers, measured in inches.
- Acid Free –As acid will make your paper weak and brittle, acid free paper is essential to longevity.
- Brads – Decorative split pins used for embellishment and/or affixing items to pages.
- Color Fast – Term used to describe inks, papers and card stock that won’t fade, or won’t bleed when glue is applied.
- Corner Rounder – A tool used to trim a square corner to give it a rounded finish, particularly useful for photographs but can be used for page corners too.
- Cropping – Cropping is trimming a photograph down to a smaller size or to remove excessive background or an element not wanted.
- Die Cut – Die cuts are shapes that have been punched (see term below) out of paper or cardstock to use as embellishments.
- Embellishments – Any decorative item used to add interest to a page. Examples are buttons, brads, lace, ribbon, stamps, and stickers.
- Eyelets – Eyelets are very similar to shoelace holes and are placed into pages and can be used to “tie” an item onto a page or to tie several pages together.
- Heritage – A term given to an album that consists of old photographs. Often given as gifts to grandparents or parents.
- Journaling – This is the act of writing on the pages to provide an explanation of photographs, dates, events and other important details.
- Lignin Free – Lignin can cause paper made from wood pulp to turn brown so along with acid-free the paper you use should also be lignin-free.
- LSS – Acronym for Local Scrapbooking Store. Used often among online groups and forum members.
- Mat – A piece of card that is slightly larger than your photograph. When the photograph is affixed to the card it will leave a border visible. A mat will also raise the photograph off the paper a little bit to make it “pop”.
- Memory or Keepsake Album – These are just alternative names for scrapbooks. Album is a very commonly used term for a completed scrapbook.
- Mount – To “mount” is to simply affix a photograph to a page or mat.
- Page Protector – A clear polypropylene sleeve that the scrapbook page is slid into for protection from fingerprints and dust.
- Photo Corners – Used to hold photographs in when not wanted to be affixed permanently, these are small triangular “pockets” that are affixed to the page.
- Photo Safe – This is a term used typically to describe paper that is acid-free and lignin-free.
- Photo Splits – Small pieces of double-sided tape used to affix photographs to pages.
- Punches – Tools used to punch out shapes to use as embellishments on scrapbook pages. Come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
- Punchies – The shapes that are punched out of card or paper with a punch (see directly above).
- Punch Art – Sometimes called paper piercing, punch art is a form of embellishment that largely consists of punchies.
- Template – Templates come in various forms. Much like a stencil a template can be used to crop photos in specific shapes, and a page template can be used during the layout planning stage to arrange photographs and embellishments.
- Title – Many scrapbook pages include a title as part of the layout. A title is simply a name given to a page.
- Trimmer – A tool much like a guillotine that cuts straight lines with a sharp blade.
The terms above are just a few of the terms used in scrapbooking but this list is by no means exhaustive. As you progress through your scrapbooking journey you will quickly pick up quite a few more.